by Luke Young
Steve pushed open the door and gave her a sympathetic smile. “Hey, are you okay?”
“What the hell was that?” She shot him an incredulous look.
He sat in the chair beside her. “Look, we’re just trying to capture genuine moments and to do that we need to surprise even our reality stars.”
She looked at him, opened her mouth to speak, but had nothing.
Placing his hand on her arm, he spoke in a soothing voice, “It’s going to be a great episode. I promise you that.”
A tear streamed down her cheek. “You don’t think I killed my husband do you?”
“No, I don’t.” He rolled his eyes. “That even surprised me. That will never air. Trust me.”
She shook her head, sniffling. “Where’s Jim. I can’t find him.”
“He had a rough morning so we let him go early. I’m pretty sure he’s at the tennis club just blowing off some steam.”
“I don’t want Rebecca on my show at all. I don’t.” She leaned back and covered her eyes with her hands.
“Hey, what if I give you final cut?”
“What’s that?” She looked him in the eye.
“You’ll get final approval of what we’ll air.”
“We can do that?”
“Yes, definitely. It’s your show.” He rose to his feet and studied the wedding photo of her and Jim on the wall. “My God, you were a breathtaking bride.”
“You’re kidding.” She chuckled, wiping her eye with her finger. “That’s a lousy photo and I had just been on a plane for five hours.”
“You could have fooled me.” Steve turned to her. “You look spectacular.”
“I know you’re full of crap.” She pointed at him. “But thanks.”
Returning to the chair, he leaned forward and looked her in the eye. “Have I ever lied to you?”
“I…” She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“I haven’t. I promise you that. I’m on your side. You want a second season don’t you?”
“Yes, I’ve never enjoyed doing anything more than this.”
“And you’re a natural.” He placed his hand atop hers. “We’re done for the day. Why don’t you take a bath or just relax? We’ll be finished filming in less than a week then we’ll be out of your hair.”
“And I’ll get to approve the episode?” She brushed a tear from her cheek. “Seriously?”
“I promise.”
“I want it in writing,” she said.
“Um, well, yeah.” He paused a moment. “Definitely. I’ll get the lawyers to draw it up.”
“Okay.” She nodded then looked down to the carpet, closing her eyes.
50
It wasn’t until Jim completed his three-hour-long match that he returned to his phone and discovered Victoria’s messages. He called her immediately and she told him it could wait until he returned home. After his late shift he walked into the living room at just after 11:30 and discovered Victoria sitting on the sofa sipping a glass of wine. He kissed her, frowned then plopped down next to her. She poured him a glass and while he drank it, she filled him in on the details of her session with Rebecca, who exactly she was and the crazy accusations. He listened gape-mouthed and chomping at the bit to tell her his own outrageous story for the day.
He asked, “And you’re sure he said you would get final cut?”
“Yes.”
“Did you get it in writing?” He rolled his eyes. “You know these slimy Hollywood types they lie about everything.”
“He said we would get with the lawyers.”
“Right,” he grumbled sarcastically. “We’d better talk to our own lawyers.”
“I think so too.”
After emptying his wineglass, he leaned his head back on the edge of the sofa and took a deep breath. He looked to her and shook his head, frowning.
“What is it?” She topped off her glass.
“I have something to tell you too,” he admitted as he held his glass out for her. After she poured he continued, “I was in the shower today around lunch time and—”
“Where?” She narrowed her eyes. “Here?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Someone spilled coffee on my head. It was crazy.” He sipped from his glass then sighed. “Look, when I was in the shower, Michelle came into the bathroom.”
“What the hell for?”
“Just let me finish.” Turning to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Just let me get through this.”
“Okay.”
“I didn’t know she was in there. I was washing my hair and she came up behind me. I thought it was you. I did. I swear.”
“What are you saying?”
He exhaled deeply. “She touched me.”
“Touched you?”
He widened his eyes then glanced in his lap. “I mean she really touched me. Like to completion. I had soap in my eyes and I was… I don’t know. You believe me don’t you?”
“I do,” she said. “But I’m going to kill that little cunt.”
“She’s gone. I told him she had to go. Steve said they would get rid of her and pay her off so she didn’t tell anyone.”
“And you believed him?”
“I don’t know.” He took another sip then shook his head. “And now after your story, I don’t know what to believe.”
“Do you think we’re been played by them?” She turned to him with her mouth hanging open. “Do you think this whole thing is a setup?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. You said there aren’t any cameras allowed in the bathroom, right?”
“That’s what they said.”
“When I finally realized that it was her I didn’t see anyone else. She didn’t have a phone or anything. When I threw her out I didn’t see anyone else there. Not even in the living room. Everyone was outside.”
She placed her head on his shoulder. “What the hell should we do?”
“I think we go to the lawyer and tell them what’s going on. We make sure we get that final cut thing in writing or… or we refuse to let them finish shooting here.”
She lifted her head and looked him in the eye. “But what if they sue us?”
“Fuck them. Let ‘em.”
“I don’t know.” She took another sip.
“We can’t do anything tonight.”
“I know. I’m so tired.” She sighed. “Let’s just go to sleep and call the lawyer first thing in the morning.”
After a mostly sleepless night, Victoria left two messages for her team of lawyers and finally received a call back that afternoon. They rushed down to the offices for a meeting and after another two-thousand-dollar session with their team of three lawyers they found that if they refused to finish shooting the season they would, in fact, be in breach of contract. The production company could sue them for the cost of the renovations to the house along with the full cost of the production so far. Without a full season to air, the episodes already shot would be worthless and the couple could be responsible for almost a million dollars in costs, not to mention possible punitive damages. They would be completely wiped out financially and then some.
The attorneys recommended returning to their home to finish the remaining three episodes and to not count on getting final cut approval. They were told only true celebrities were given that for their reality shows. They didn’t stand a chance.
Victoria and Jim returned home, spent most of the weekend sulking and worrying about all of it. They were definitely dreading the early Monday morning call time.
51
At 7:00 am Monday morning Victoria opened the door to find Steve and Marci standing there. He held a DVD in his hand and wore his standard smarmy smile.
Victoria looked past them to find nothing. No crew. No trucks. No one rushing around. “What’s going on? Where is everyone?”
Steve stepped into the foyer. “We pushed it back to eight.”
Victoria asked, “Why didn’t anyone call us?”
�
�Because we wanted to talk and show you this?”
“What is it?”
Steve handed her the DVD. “It’s the episode we just shot.”
“So soon?”
“Yep, we were so jazzed to get it finished I had the editors work overtime.”
“But I thought we were getting final cut approval.”
“This is better.” Steve plopped down on the sofa. “Put it in.”
Holding the DVD in her hand and looking completely lost, Victoria turned to Marci. The production assistant returned a hesitant shrug.
Steve asked, “Where’s Jim?”
“He’s here.”
Steve said, “Great, get him and let’s watch before everyone starts rolling in.”
“Okay.”
Steve called out, “Marci, where’s my coffee?”
“Oh, sorry I think I left it in the car.”
He gazed at her wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open. “Well…”
“Sorry. Sorry.” Marci rushed out the door.
When Jim appeared the four sat down to watch the twenty-two-minute episode, which featured the coffee spill on Jim, but none of the aftermath with Michelle. A few new clients were also shown, but only a few minutes was dedicated to Rebecca and none of the accusations were shown. Only a little of Victoria’s frantic reaction appeared and overall she was shown in a positive light. While the episode was not boring, it wasn’t all that riveting either.
Afterward, Victoria turned to Steve. “So that’s it?”
“Yep.”
“That is what you’ll air?”
“Yes, just like that.” Steve nodded. “You have my word.”
“But we want it in writing,” Victoria said.
“Yeah, we need it in writing,” Jim repeated more adamantly. “Our lawyers said we shouldn’t finish shooting unless we get it in writing.”
Steve broke into a loud laugh. “Then you must have the stupidest lawyers in the world. Look, no first season reality stars get final cut.”
Victoria began, “But you told me—”
“I tried.” Steve placed his hands over the back of the sofa. “Right, Marci I tried, right?”
Marci nodded. “Yeah.”
“All I can tell you is that there are three production companies involved in this deal and for you to get final cut from all three would be impossible. Without it, from all of them, you have nothing.”
Jim and Victoria looked to one another and shared a frown. Jim whispered, “So what should we do?”
Victoria opened her mouth to speak, but Steve interrupted. “The only thing you can do is finish the season. Otherwise you open yourself up to a shit storm of litigation.”
Victoria pointed to the screen. “I want to show this to our lawyer.”
“Go ahead.” Steve flipped his hand at them dismissively. “Pay them to watch it. It’s your money.”
Steve’s iPhone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket. Rising up from his chair, he shot them with a single super-cool finger gun. “I’ve got my massage in five… so are we done?”
Victoria and Jim shared another frown then Jim said, “I guess.”
“Good.” Steve put on his best fake Hollywood smile. “I would not fuck you over. Look at me, do I look like the kind of guy that fucks people over?”
Jim and Victoria shared a hesitant look.
“M-kay.” Turning on his heels, the slick producer headed for the door.
The production assistant rose to her feet wearing a solemn expression, narrowing her eyes for a moment at the tormented couple before quickly turning away.
“Marci let’s go.” Steve called out as he pulled the door open.
Victoria and Jim remained seated with their heads obviously spinning under the weight of all of it.
A new nanny was brought in. A middle aged and extremely unattractive one. One that even Arnold Schwarzenegger would have second thoughts about banging in the pantry. She was the nicest woman on the planet though, with a resume even more impressive than Michelle’s. Both Jim and Victoria approved her without question.
The shoot for that day was uneventful. Several new clients with interesting cases were introduced and some heartwarming family time was captured with the doting parents and their adorable daughter.
When the last of the crew had left and the house was returned to normal, Victoria and Jim were heading outside with Kaylie when a car pulled quickly into the driveway.
Marci glanced shyly at them, looked quickly behind her then climbed out of the car carrying a DVD case. She rushed to Victoria, nervously looking around then handed over the disk.
“What’s this?” Victoria asked.
“The real episode.”
“What do you mean?”
Marci replied, “Just watch it. My card’s in there. Call me after if you want to talk about options.”
“What?” Jim shook his head as he watched the young production assistant head to her car. “Options for what?”
Without a reply, Marci backed her car out of the driveway
When she was gone, Jim looked to his wife. “Should we call and cancel?”
“No, get in the car.”
52
With the twins trapped safely in their playpen, throwing out stuffed animals to be retrieved by their older, yet somehow never tiring cousin, Jillian, Brian, Jim and Victoria were glued to the screen in the family room. A glass of wine was in each hand and appetizers were on the coffee table.
The episode opened with Jim staring out the kitchen window. He said, “My God, is she hot.”
An unseen voice asked, “Oh, you think so.”
Jim said, “Definitely. I never get tired of looking at her.”
The shot cut to an image of, not Victoria, but Michelle in a tiny string bikini, her nipples barely covered by the tiny top. Next a close up of her shapely ass filled the screen.
“Wait, I never said that.” Jim looked to his wife. “I mean, I said that, but I was looking at you.”
“How can they do this?” Victoria gasped, shaking her head.
As the image of Michelle’s tiny young ass continued to occupy the screen, Jim’s voice was heard saying, “I would totally have sex with her anytime.”
The shot cut to Jim’s big smile and raised eyebrow look. “I can’t get enough.”
Jim’s mouth dropped open. “I swear I never even saw her in a bikini. Not once. And that last line where I said, ‘I would totally have sex with her anytime’ was from one of the interview sessions.”
Brian chuckled. “Geez, I knew these shows were fake but this is crazy.”
The show continued with Victoria meeting with various clients. Then things took a dark turn as the episode plowed along with Victoria’s run in with Rebecca. It contained every last second of footage including the camera crew following her into the house. Victoria came off looking horribly and an interview with Rebecca was included that made the widow look even more guilty.
Next up was the big finale. The shot cut to Jim in the shower, with the naked Michelle entering the bathroom. Jim appeared to smile toward his visitor then the shot cut to her moving in behind him as he washed his hair. This was followed by a close up of the couple as Michelle wrapped her hand around him, reaching for his penis.
“Holy shit,” Brian began. “How’d they fake this?”
“Um, well, they didn’t,” Jim replied, sheepishly.
“What do you mean?” Jillian asked with her jaw hanging open.
“I didn’t know it was her,” Jim explained.
“But you just looked right at her,” Brian said.
“I didn’t. That’s fake too,” Jim replied.
“But she’s actually jerking you off?” Brian asked.
Jim nodded then held his head in his hands.
On the screen appeared an even tighter shot of Jim’s contorted face as he climaxed. Followed by his loud moans then a shot of Michelle pressing her breasts up against his back as she continued her arm movements. With the shot holding
steady on his orgasm face, Jim’s voice could clearly be heard calling out, “Oh, Michelle.”
Jim screamed, “I never said her name.”
“This can’t be legal.” Jillian rose to her feet. “I’m calling my lawyer right now.”
“Don’t.” Victoria shook her head.
“Where did you get this?” Jillian asked.
“From the production assistant. She wants us to call her.”
Next Jim appeared wearing only a towel, poking his head out of the bedroom door with a deadly guilty expression. An image of Victoria followed entering the back door then a close up of Jim’s wide eyed surprise and him quickly pulling the door closed.
Jim’s jaw dropped open. “This is insane. Most of that stuff didn’t happen. I look like I’m sneaking around and cheating on my wife right under her nose. I never saw you outside the door. I certainly never called Michelle’s name in the middle of all that.”
“I know, baby.” Victoria sighed. “Let’s just call Marci and see… I don’t know. I guess we should send this to the lawyers and maybe they could file an injunction or something to stop it.”
“Who was that woman?” Brian asked.
“She’s our nanny,” Jim began. “Well, she was our nanny.”
“That’s the hottest nanny I’ve ever seen.” Brian shook his head. “I mean, didn’t the whole Jude Law thing teach you guys anything.”
“She had an incredible resume.” Victoria said. “CPR, first aid—”
“That girl.” Brian sneered. “The only first aid she’s giving is if you’ve got a boner.” He paused a moment thinking before continuing, “Wait, I think I… hand me that remote.”
Brian grabbed the remote, rewinding to a full body shot of Michelle. He paused the frame to capture the sea horse tattoo on the young woman’s back. I know that tattoo.”
Grabbing his laptop from the coffee table, he flipped it up and quickly scrolled through some files, nodding his head and wearing a curious smile.
“What are you doing?” Jillian asked.
“Hold on. I think… yes.” Brian pressed his tongue into his cheek. “Ah-hah. I knew it.”
He turned the screen around, displaying a paused video image. It was of that exact same tattoo. Jillian, Victoria and Jim all wore stunned looks. When he hit the play button the video showed a guy with what must have been a foot-long penis being sucked off by the expert nanny.