Eric & Will make a B Movie

I shrugged. This wasn't my day job. If Leah and Dorian, or the rest of the people working on the project got some mileage out of it, good for them.

Chapter eight

I was still writing, after all, it was what I did. My newest Issabella book was taking shape, and I was quite pleased with it. There were a lot more sex scenes this time, in keeping with what the reviewer had said. I was down to the end, and had three directions I wanted to take. Unable to decide, I wrote all three, then I called Leah in. She still didn't know what I did, just accepted I was one of the idle rich, like Eric. Once she told me I wrote well enough to consider it a career, and I just shrugged.

"I need your word, your absolute bond, that you will tell no one what I'm about to reveal. I'm doing it because I trust you, and need a professional opinion. Do you agree?"

Of course she agreed. Curiosity was consuming her, and after all, she was a woman. I opened the file. "I want you to read this. Here. In this room. It doesn't go out of here, understand? It should take about two hours, so if you can't do it now schedule a time you can. And Leah, you can't tell a soul, no one, not even Dorian. Do you agree?"

She looked from the screen and back at me several times, but in the end female curiosity got the better of her. "Now would be good for me. And I promise, not a word."

"Good. I need to see Dorian about a few things, and talk to our business manager. I think it looks like we might go over budget, and I want to make a few adjustments."

I left her, and went to my meetings. Two and a half hours later I walked into my suite, to see an almost empty box of tissues, the rest strew across the floor. She looked at me like I was from Mars or something. I just grinned at her and asked what she thought.

"You really wrote this?" I nodded, watching her face. "It's wonderful! I've already got half the screenplay written in my head. It'll make a killer movie. You should publish it. I'm sure somebody will be interested."

"I already have a publisher. I've even got the name I'm going to write under. It'll be a woman's name. Want to know what it is?" Of course she did.

"Issabella."

Her hands flew to her mouth and her eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Remember, you promised not to tell."

"Oh shit, oh wow! Now I know where your money comes from. I gotta tell you, I think the screenwriter on the last movie butchered the script. It could have been a lot better. Does anyone else know?"

"Just Eric, and believe it or not, he can keep a secret. And I agree with you about the last movie. If this one goes to the screen, well, I know more about moviemaking now, and I'll retain a lot more control. Know any good screenwriters or producers? Think about it. Now, which ending did you prefer?"

She was in her element here, and her response was immediate. "The middle ending. The first was too strong, the third was too wishy-washy, for lack of a better term. Actually, you should bring in some overtones of both the other endings, for balance."

I smiled. It was exactly how I felt, but it was nice to hear it from someone else. I pulled up a fouth file. "Something like this?"

It took her twenty minutes to read. She had tears in her eyes but a smile on her face. "Damn near perfect. Now I want you to listen to me. If you give anyone else the screenplay, I'll hunt you down, and when I'm done, you'll be a lot closer to a real Issabella, because I'll do some serious damage to your equipment. You hearing me?"

She said it with a smile, but the look in her eyes was enough to make me take her at her word. "Agreed. If I decide to let it go to the screen, you get first option, but only if Dorian is included in the deal." The big smile was back, then she frowned.

"How can I keep this from my husband? He can look me in the face and know something is up."

"All you need to tell him is that I confided a big secret in you, and you can't tell him just now. Then say no more. If he trusts you he'll let it go. When we decide to make the movie, you can tell him."

She left, after I promised her she could have a copy to use for work on the script.

All the sound stage work was done by now. It was late October. The snow had fallen, so it was time for the location shots. I grinned, thinking about Savanna in her shorts. We had hired her, because with her body shape she was perfect for the part. Jet black, she had a huge rack and a very plump bottom. Tory and Cathy had recommended her, so they let her read. I suspected she had a background in porn, but wasn't sure. I was amazed no one had made the connection, especially in the topless scenes.

We had found our leading man in Canadian television. He had the rugged good looks and the natural accent we were looking for. He was fine until we were almost done shooting. He was arrogant and demanding more of the focus than the film called for. It got so bad they called me in. Eric didn't like to handle the hard stuff.

"I hear we've got a problem."

He looked at me, arrogance on his face. "I think the focus needs to shift to me. After all, I am the leading man. The blonde and the redhead are just window dressing."

I sighed. The girls were actually better actors than he was. "Mr Fielding, you were hired to do a job. You read the script, knew the direction the film was taking. What makes you possibly think we're going to change directions two thirds of the way through? Now, I suggest you do your job, follow directions, and get this thing done. There will be no rewrites, and the script stands, unless I say otherwise. Understand?"

He sputtered and fumed, but when I threatened to fire him immediately and reshoot his scenes with another actor, he shut up. He glowered at me though, and I knew I'd have to watch him. His revenge caught me by surprise. He went after Cindy, and got her, making sure I knew.

I decided to follow his script, walking in on them. It didn't hurt me nearly as bad as they expected it to. I knew she was short term. I just sighed.

"You could have at least had the decency to have not used my bed. Now, your point has been proven, so I suggest you both leave." He smirked, enjoying the scene immensely.

"I don't think I'm done yet," he said, reaching for her. She had slid all the way across the bed, huddling under the covers.

"I think you are," I replied, grabbing him by the long hair he was so proud of and dragging him off the bed to his hands and knees. He moaned and cursed as I dragged him along, still on his hands and knees, until we got to the door, kicking him through it to sprawl naked on the floor. I then shut and locked the door. He'd have a bruise or two on his ass tomorrow, I hoped. His room was three floors down. It took him about fifteen minutes of pounding before he realized I wasn't going to open the door. A maid finally felt sorry for him and brought him a robe. A lot of people had seen him, and word spread all over the hotel. At dinner that night there were quite a few giggles and a couple of outright laughs when he walked in. He turned around and went back upstairs, ordering room service.

Cindy, well Cindy was sorry. She never meant to, he was just too persuasive, too handsome, she was a little buzzed, a whole host of platitudes and excuses until she ran down.

"I get it. Doesn't matter, we were probably going to split soon anyway. I just wish you'd have come to me, ended it on good terms. Don't worry, you still have your job, and I won't speak ill of you. But you're moving out of my suite, right now. Get dressed, get packed, and I'll have a room for you by the time you're done."

She started to protest but I shut her down. "Don't. Leave with a little dignity, don't force me to throw you out, because I will if you push it. What's done is done, and you can't change it. Oh, and it wasn't about you. He could give a shit less about you. This was about me and him, and revenge. I hope he dug two graves, because I'm about to bury him. My advice would be to stay as far away from him as possible in the near future."

She left, and I lay back on the couch, thinking.

Three days later you could hear him screaming all over the set. "Bullshit! I won't fucking do it. I'll quit first."

Leah and I stared at him. She had a small grin on her face. Dorian just sighed. "If that's how you feel. If you do, it'll be really hard to find work for awhile. No one is gonna hire somebody who quits when a project is three quarters through. It will cost us a little but we can find somebody else and reshoot. We release you. Go home, have a good life."

His face said it all. In his wildest dreams, he never thought we'd tell him to go. "I'll get a lawyer! I'll sue your ass off!"

"Over what?," I asked calmly, "we're not the ones breaking the contract. Rewrites happen all the time. You even suggested it. The director and producers agree with the plot change. You're just an actor, and you have no input into such decisions. Now either go do your job, or leave. Tonight."

He called his agent. He called a lawyer. Both told him the same thing. Suck it up and finish, or suffer the consequences. In the end he stayed because he really had no choice. I made sure I was present when they shot his final scene, him obviously wetting his pants while running from a bear, screaming like a girl. I actually had them dub in a girl screaming to make it more realistic. I felt eyes on me, and looked up to see Cathy. She had a little half grin on her face as she nodded. Later, we met in the meal line. She invited me back to her table with Tory and Savanna.

Of course I went. I hadn't talked to either of them very much, it just seemed I was always doing something else when they shot. They both eyed me coolly, like they were expecting something.

Tory finally broke through the idle chitchat. "You know, don't you?"

"I know a lot of things. Which specific thing are you speaking of?"

"Oh, he's cute, and clever. Stop pretending, we can see it in your eyes. You know about our past. How come you've never said anything?"

I shrugged. "It never came up in a conversation where it was relative to the subject. Yes, I remember you. You and Cathy right away. It took me a while to remember Savanna. Modern Jungle Love is the one I finally remembered."

I didn't elaborate. They knew I knew, so it had to be on their minds. Cathy brought her thoughts into the conversation. "Why did you cast us, knowing our past?"

"In the first place, I didn't cast you, the casting director, the scriptwriter, and the producer cast you. I was just an observer. I'm curious though, since it's out in the open. Where have you been? None of you have done porn in at least four years."

We were talking quietly, because we didn't want anyone to hear. Tory suggested we take it up in private, so we decided to meet in one of the hotel conference rooms at nine. It had me wondering what they wanted to talk about.

They gave us a small room, that even had a fireplace. It had a small conference table, and couches scattered about if you wanted to be a bit less formal. The hotel was old, and had been added on many times over the years, but the core remained, down to fireplaces. I'd asked for and gotten a small bar set up, not knowing what they wanted to drink, of if they even drank at all. I started a fire, for atmosphere.

To my surprise, when they showed up, they had Dorian, Leah, Savanna, and Eric with them. Eric had just gotten back, he still held his meetings, watching his money, as he put it. I raised an eyebrow. Cathy shrugged. "Dorian was telling me about a project he has coming up, and that there might be a part in it for me or Tory, or both. We both wanted to tell him the truth, see if he still wants us. He has no secrets from Leah, and Eric deserves to know because of his investment. But first, let's relax for a bit."

I knew she wanted a little alcohol in them to soften the news, so I started mixing drinks. After about an hour, we all ended up sitting at the small conference table. Tory took the lead.

"I'm about to tell you some things you might not want to hear. Dorian, I'll understand if you don't want us with you on your next film when we're done. Savanna, Cathy, and I all have a film background. I can't speak for Savanna, but Cathy and I have made forty-three films together."

"I don't understand," said Dorian. "Forty-three films? Why don't I remember you?"

"Because they were all porn films, honey," Cathy explained, "and it's been over four years since our last one. What you have before you are three verified porn stars. Look us up, we're on the internet. Our residuals are actually pretty good. But you need to understand, we haven't, Tory and I anyway, done that for years."

There was absolute silence in the room. Everyone seemed shocked, with the exception of Leah. I knew instantly she'd known or they had told her at some point. I watched Cathy, and while she didn't seemed ashamed, she didn't look happy either. Dorian wondered out loud if it would affect the movie.

"Of course it will," I said, grinning, "think I'll be the only one in the universe who recognizes them? But you know what? They did a good job in their roles. I think it will add a new dimension to the film. A little notoriety can be a good thing. A certain segment of the audience will want to watch just because of them. That's perfect for a B movie. Press is press."

Tory looked up sharply. "You're going to exploit our past for the movie?"

"Not at all, but we'll probably end up exploiting your present. I can speak for everyone when I tell you the knowledge won't leave this room if you ask. But like I said, people will recognize you, guys my age anyway. If you weren't prepared for that, you shouldn't have taken the roles."

Cathy put a hand on her arm, more of a little caress. "Calm down, honey. We talked about just this type of situation before we decided to do this. Who cares if they figure out who we were?"

I noted the caress and smiled. It verified what I suspected. They were a couple. That explained why they shot down all the people who had hit on them for the last few months. She caught my smile.

"That's right, Will. I see you get it. We're in a serious relationship, have been since the porn days. Problem with that?"

It was said with a firmness that brooked no argument. "Why should it? I don't recall if we asked when you interviewed for the part if you were in a relationship with anyone. Like everyone else involved, what happens outside the set isn't my concern. Nor is it anyone else's in this room. But tell me, why come out now?"

Tory answered. "Because you were good to us. You, at least, never hit on us(she gave a sharp look to Eric, who just grinned)or offered to expose us. You needed to know this before the film was released, to be prepared for the press we'll probably get. Of course, you can edit us out, get new actresses, and reshoot."

"The film is almost in the can. We're not going to the expense of hiring new actresses and refilming. You stay in." Everyone looked at Leah, surprised by her statement. "Like Will said, it will get the film attention whether we want it of not. Best to be on top of it. You may have to do interviews to pitch it, are you up for that? If not, we'll spin it as respect for your privacy, which is what it will be. It'll add a little mystery to the film. Like he said, press is press."

They looked thoughtful for a second, before Savanna spoke. "Screw it. In the unlikely event we get interviewed, we'll talk about the film and nothing else. Now, let's do some serious drinking."

So we did.

Chapter eight

We were still sitting around the conference table, bottles piled in front of us. I'd chosen straight rye, my favorite, and while everyone else proceeded to get blasted, I just sipped. The conversation went all over the place, until it finally came to romance. Dorian and Leah told how they got together. Savanna was between relationships, and she and Eric ended up beside each other, flirting lightly. Now that they had come clean, Cathy and Tory gave each other loving touches, even kissing a few times. Inevitably, they got around to me.

"Sorry about Cindy." Tory was talking, watching me closely. I shrugged.

"I'll miss her, she was a lot of fun, and was a great dancer. But she was just too young for me, and except for sex and dancing, we really didn't share many interests. I knew I had an expiration date going in, I just didn't expect it to be so soon."

Cathy wanted to know why I became involved if I knew it wasn't going to last. "She was fun. Capable of holding a conversation. And she was a tiger in bed. I wasn't looking for anything else."

"No serious relationships in your past?"

"A wife, years ago. She left me for a man with more money, wanting the high life, I think. Called me a loser and said I'd never amount to anything in this life. It kind of soured me on anything permanent." I looked around the room, at the three couples, Dorian and Leah, snuggled together, Eric and Savanna lightly touching, Tory and Cathy sitting so close Tory was almost on her lap. I was the odd man out. With that thought I prepared to leave.

Tory grinned. "I think she may have miscalculated in this case. I don't know exactly what you do, but you seem successful at it. What do you do beside writing stories that turn into films?"

I was deciding how to answer that when Eric spoke up. "He's a real life Wizard." Nobody understood what he was talking about, and I gave him a warning look, that he completely ignored.

"A wizard? Really? What kind of magic does he do?" This from Leah, grinning. I had the feeling I was about to be outted.

"He's a Wordweaver." Eric was smirking while I shot another dirty look at him.

"Words? How do you weave words?" This from a buzzed Savanna.

"Oh, he sings songs of seduction. I've seen him work. it's awesome."

"Eric! Enough!" But it was too late. Cathy looked at me, a slight smirk on her face.

"Really? Sing us a song of seduction, Wizard. See if you can impress us."

I was a little pissed by now, a little buzzed, so I looked them up and down, starting with Leah. "The pixie smiled, working her charms on the man of her dreams. A tiny wood nymph, oozing sensuality as she seduces her chosen one. Her petite frame is designed to entice, her attributes making the man weak with desire. Tiny nipples, sitting high on her chest, hardened beacons of her intent. Her body was firm, vibrating with arousal, as she teased her prospective mate."

Leah, of course, wasn't wearing a bra, and her nipples popped straight out while she flushed. Unconsciously, she stuck her chest out, making the nipples more prominent. I continued, in the crooning voice I had used on the Goddess.

"The man, overcome with desire he can't understand, stands before her. Right now, in this moment, he would do anything she asked, his desire to worship her exceeding all reason. He touches her, and the feeling courses through his body. He must have her. Now."

"The pixie smiles, knowing her magic has worked. She guides him down to the moss in the glen, dropping her simple covering, exposing the nubile, toned body. The breasts firm and as beautiful as he suspected. Her tiny waist flares out into generous hips, the tangle of sparse pubic hair visible between her legs, the lips swollen and leaking with arousal. She mounts him, not in dominance, but love, and rides him to a crashing climax, before rolling over, offering him her body in the classic position, submissive but still in control. The man moves with an urgency he'd never felt before. The forest stills, the birds and animals at some level realizing what they were witnessing, before bursting forth in songs of joy, knowing that a new life had been created, as the man slows, and then falls beside the pixie, who gazes at him with loving eyes, knowing he is now hers."