by Kailin Gow
“There goes our little Sookie,” Meecham, John, and Nadine said, taking a Polaroid of me as I turned around to wave them ‘good-bye’ and headed to the old Jeep Cherokee in the driveway.
There was a honk, and I noticed a silver BMW parked along the curb.
I walked up to the car, and noticed Dan in front. “Get in! You are late!”
I climbed into the passenger seat, and Dan leaned over to put the seatbelt securely over me. It was so sweet but intimate at the same time.
He seemed to be conscious of how he was affecting me, too. He coughed and started driving. “When you’re in my car, you have to wear a seatbelt…no matter how much of a daredevil you are.”
“I’m a daredevil?” I asked.
“When it comes to some things,” Dan said.
“So you already know me that well?” I asked.
“I can read people quickly,” Dan arched his brow, which gave him a rakish expression.
I swallowed. He was so sexy. Why didn’t I noticed that before?
“Hold on,” Dan said. “I know a shorter way to get to your work.”
I laughed, “I can’t believe you’re driving me to work.”
“First impressions count. You can’t be late for your first day on the job. Plus I know these streets pretty well. I can get you there in half the time.”
“Dan,” I protested, “You didn’t have to.”
“I want to, Sookie,” Dan said.
“No, you don’t,” I said. “I know you’re like this with all the girls. You’re a charmer. You don’t have to be like this with me. Put on an act.”
Dan looked confused. “What? What are you talking about?”
“You date a lot of women,” I said. “You don’t have to act all charming and flirty with me like with other women.”
“Who said I’m acting?” Dan said.
“Aren’t you a player? A womanizer?” I asked.
Dan scoffed. “Who said I am? Just because I haven’t committed to having a girlfriend, I’m now a player?”
“Don’t you date socialites, models, actresses?” I asked.
“Well, I did,” Dan said. “I dated around because I didn’t want to go into anything serious. I’m not ready to get serious or get married.”
“But you go around making women feel like they’re the special one with you when you really are not looking for the one?” I asked.
Dan blew a deep breath. “I did. I admit I wasn’t that great of a guy when I went on a date. That’s because I didn’t want to get involved in a relationship.”
“So everything you’ve said to me before was…acting? The way you act with the other women?”
“No,” Dan said. “It’s not like that at all with you. With you…you’re different. I actually care about you. At least starting to.” He let out another deep breath. “I’m confused about you. I want to hold back, play it cool, and push you away. You’re like forbidden to me, but at the same time…I can’t help liking you.”
I didn’t expect that from him.
“I don’t know if you feel anything for me,” Dan said. “I want you to, but at the same time…you’re like a sister to Nadine, and she’s now my stepsister…”
“It’s complicated,” I sighed. “I know.”
“So for now,” Dan said, “I can’t act on how I truly feel for you. All I want for now, is to be able to hang out with you, get to know you better…”
“I think that’s probably the best thing to do,” I said, a little disappointed. It was the right thing to do, but why did I feel so down?
“Hey,” Dan said, reaching over and touching my cheeks gently. “You will always be special to me, and I will do whatever I can to always help you.”
“Thanks,” I said dejectedly.
Dan looked conflicted as though he wanted to reach over to kiss me, but was holding back. “Sookie! I…”
He made a sharp turn, and I nearly fell out of my seat, but he reached over with his right hand to hold me in.
“We’re here!” he said, pulling up to the sidewalk to the front door. “Sorry, you didn’t get to eat your breakfast, but you can still save it for lunch.”
“Aww,” I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheeks. “Thank you. You are too good to be true, Dan.”
“If you need me to take you home, call me. I’ll be working on more music for the band. I have a surprise at the end of this week for everyone. You’ll see!”
“Like I said,” I said laughing, “Too good to be true!” I waved and headed into the modern building.
Inside, I was immediately spotted and joined by the handsome young man I met yesterday in the parking garage. Brent.
I didn’t even bothered looking at his card for his last name. Where was his card?
“Hey Sookie,” Brent said, handing me a cup of coffee.
“Hi Brent,” I said, as though we’ve been friends for years. He had that easy-going casualness about him that made it easy to be instant best friends with.
“Are you heading into the meeting about the new film Horizon Studios is starting production on?” Brent asked. “Most of the staff will be in there.”
“It starts at 9 am?” I asked.
“Yes, I’m on my way there,” Brent said. “Walk with me?”
“Sure,” I quickened my pace.
Brent smiled and whispered, “Don’t be nervous. I know it’s your first day. Just go with the flow. Listen, observe, and learn.”
“Hey Brent!” a group of men and women dressed in all black casual business clothes walked by.
Brent nodded at them.
“They started where you are,” Brent said. “Now they’re the ones running projects and calling the shots.”
A young man dressed in all black walked by. “Hi Brent.”
‘Hey”, Brent said.
A group of people all dressed in black walked over to us, headed towards the conference room.
“Hey Brent!” they said.
“Hey,” Brent said.
As we all turned into towards the conference room, our steps all became like a march, and soon we were all in harmony.
“Listen, observe, and Learn…” everyone hummed.
“Listen, observe, and Learn…”
“What is the best advice you’ve been given?” Brent asked loudly.
“Listen, observe, and Learn…” the chorus of people hummed while marching steadily towards the conference room.
I marched along with Brent besides them.
“If you want to make a good impression and move up the ladder, what do you do?” Brent asked loudly.
“Listen, observe, and Learn…” everyone sang.
“If you want to someday run a company like Horizon, what do you do?” Brent asked.
“Listen, observe, and learn!” the chorus sang, before marching one by one in a straight line into the conference room where everything was stark black and white.
Brent turned to me and said, “Keep L.O. L. (Listen, Observe, Learn) in mind when you’re in here.” He winked at me, left me standing in the back, and headed to the front of the room where he stood at the end of the conference room table. The head chair and sat down.
“Hi, everyone,” Brent said loudly. “As some of you may already know me, I’m Brent Holloway. You can call me Brent. And as some of you are still new to Horizon and to who I am, I am your new President. I was the head producer at Horizon and even ran my own production company for years before I sold it to Horizon, and now…here I am. Ready to begin bringing Horizon into the next wave of innovation. It’s an exciting time for us. We’re more technologically advance than we’ve been for years since the Talkies took over Hollywood. Now we’re going to have digital surround sound in movie theaters so the effects are bigger and better. We have computer graphics. Great big blockbuster films like E.T. and Jurassic Park are making the experience for movie goers into real entertainment. Going to the movies are like going on an adventure. A ride. A trip. That’s where I will take Horizo
n in the next few years. Do you want to be part of that innovation? Do you want to make film history? Then I welcome everyone of you who is willing to work hard. Willing to be passionate, and willing to be committed to being the best, to join my team. What do you say? Are you with me?”
The entire room burst into applause and cheers, while everyone yelled, “Yes!”
I found myself yelling “yes,” too.
Brent Holloway, who is the first person I made as a friend at Horizon, turned out to be the biggest person running the company. So down-to-earth, nice, and unassuming. Who knew?
The company meeting was dismissed, but some people were asked to stay behind to continue another meeting.
I was about to head out of the conference room when Brent gestured that I remain. “Please, take a seat. You don’t want to miss this.”
Everyone was looking at me as I walked over to the conference table and took a seat.
Brent indicated for the lights to go down and a movie screen behind him came down. Clips of a new film, which I haven’t seen or heard of, came on.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Brent said. “This is a sneak preview of a secret film we have been working on. With some of our overseas partners.” He played the clips and when it was over, he indicated for the lights to go on.
“What do you think?” he asked the crowd.
A man in his forties said, “It looks expensive.”
A woman wearing a suit said, “No doubt this will get good press when we let the story out.”
“Sookie?” Brent called out. “What do you think?”
I was stunned, shocked to be called out for my opinion. I cleared my throat and said, “I know I will pay good money to see it. It is visually stunning, and beautiful to watch. I feel like I just stepped into the world of this film. But the story, from reading the intro to the film, it instantly brought me in. I get it.”
Brent smiled at me and said, “Sookie, you hit the nail on the head. That was exactly what we wanted the audience to get from this film.”
I couldn’t help blushing, as everyone nodded in appreciation.
“Everyone, Sookie is our newest team member at Horizon so she brings in a fresh perspective. She is too new to have seen what we’ve been doing for decades, which needs to be updated. We’re going into a new decade and a new era of the big blockbusters, and things from the past has to change in order for us to become the leader in this new wave.”
Everyone nodded.
“So the first steps in revitalizing Horizon…is to start thinking fresh, like a new person…like Sookie here,” Brent said. “Got it?”
“Got it,” everyone in the room agreed.
“Good. Meeting adjourned,” Brent said, as people start to get up from their chairs and gather their things.
I got up and wondered what was it that I would be doing next when Brent came to me and said, “Got some time for lunch?”
“Lunch?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Brent said, “I have some time before I have to go into a marathon of meetings for the rest of the day.”
“Sure,” I said. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to go back to the front and ask what I’ll be doing or…”
Brent pulled me aside and said, “Listen, don’t worry about that. You were hired to work here, and even if you were hired to be an intern or whatever, you need to get your feet wet. Move around, do several types of jobs, learn as much as you can. For now, while I’m here, and the President, you should stick with me.”
“But, I thought I was to be doing…”
“I read your resume and background, Sookie,” Brent smiled. His eyes looked down, and he seemed to get a little shy. “I was interested in knowing who you were when we met yesterday so I asked for your files. I know you’re here to be an intern, but I think you would be much more effective to me and the company if you were my assistant.”
“What?” I asked.
“Consider it a promotion,” Brent said.
“But you don’t even know if I am good at being an assistant,” I said.
“You can learn. You’re bright. You’re brutally honest, and you seemed to have your own opinions. I need a person to tell me when they see something wrong or when something is right. Not any of these people who would nod “yes” to me when even the most obvious flaw is glaring right at us. Playing safe by agreeing with me or going with the crowd doesn’t help me when hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on a film which should not have gone out.”
I nodded and said, “So, if I tell you things you don’t want to hear…I wouldn’t get fired?”
Brent laughed. “Hopefully not. With me, I want to hear your thoughts.”
“Okay,” I said. “Thank you for giving me this opportunity. And for valuing my thoughts. I truly appreciate it.”
Brent laughed and said, “You are a breath of fresh air, Sookie.” He grabbed my hand as though it was something he did all the time, and led me out of the conference room to the parking garage.
We walked over to a blue Porsche and he opened the passenger door for me to get in.
“Ever have Cuban food?” Brent asked.
“I’m from New York,” I said. “I’ve about tried all kinds of food, New York style.”
“Well, I know of a good hole-in-the-wall place where you can get the best Cuban food outside of Cuba,” Brent said.
“Saves me a trip there, then,” I said.
“I knew you were the adventurous type,” Brent said, looking me over.
I grew a little warm as I felt his eyes settled on my lips. “I’m all kinds of types,” I said. “But mostly, I’m the type of girl who would leave a job if I think something’s fishy.”
“Oh,” Brent said, “I hope you won’t leave this job. I don’t want you to think anything fishy is going on. I hope you don’t.”
He moved back.
“I don’t think there is,” I said.
“Good, because I do value your thoughts, and if you feel as though I am crossing any lines between professional and personal, let me know. I think we have an easy connection that is hard to come by these days so I feel comfortable with you.”
I smiled. “You know. I feel that way, too.”
“Good,” Brent said, “Because in Hollywood, it’s all about the relationships.”
“That’s what I’m told,” I said.
“So,” Brent said. “If there is anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable, let me know. We don’t tolerate harassment at Horizon. And because of your youth, your gender, your personality, and looks; you will get some attention from people who think it’s okay to use their authority to harass a woman. I don’t think it’s okay. I have sisters of my own, and well…you do sort of remind me of them.”
I laughed, feeling at ease. “Thanks, I now have a friend and a protector at work.”
“You should feel that you can tell me anything, especially about something I can help you with,” Brent said.
“Thanks,” I said. I shook my head. “I think I can’t stop saying ‘thanks’ to you all the time.”
“You don’t have to,” Brent looked over at me. “Just accept that there are nice people…good people in the world, and sometimes, they just want to help people out.”
Chapter 11
Sookie
Brent drove me home after everyone left work, and he closed up the building. I wasn’t expecting him to, but he insisted.
When he pulled up to the beach house, he looked around and said, “So this is where you live?”
“It’s my friend Nadine’s place,” I said. “I’m staying here with my sister Meecham until we can find a place of our own.”
“You like it here?” Brent asked.
“Yes, absolutely,” I said. “We used to spend our summers with Nadine here. It’s home.”
“Malibu…” Brent said. “It’s nice.”
I got out of Brent’s car right when Dan’s silver BMW pulled up.
I waved to Dan, and Dan waved back while he scrutinized B
rent’s car.
Brent looked over at Dan, and a dark look briefly came over his good-natured face. “Who is he?”
“He’s Dan,” I said. “Nadine’s new stepbrother.”
“He’s staying here with you at the house?” Brent asked.
“Just this week. We’re all here for a kind of family gathering.”
“So he’s not anything to you?” Brent asked. “Boyfriend?”
I shook my head.
Dan had gotten out of his car and walked over. “How was your first day?” he asked.