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He kept drinking and as he stared out at those fields of sheep, an idea for a movie came to him. He didn’t usually come up with movie ideas, but he was pretty sure this was a good one. And he knew exactly the two A-listers he wanted.
He pulled out his cell and hit speed dial.
For some reason he had trouble getting the name out. He’d never knownArcherwas such a difficult word to say. “I’ve got this great idea for a movie ’bout sheep.”
Archer seemed a bit confused. “Jay? Is that you?”
“’Course it is. I’m telling you—I’ve got a great idea for a movie. There are all these sheep. In a field. It’s a meadow—I mean, metaphor. Not an action movie. It’s a metaphor.”
“You want to make a movie about sheep?”
“That’s what I said.” He kept having to repeat himself and Arch seemed to be having trouble understanding. Finally, Jay said, “Never mind. I’ll do you up a treatment, send it over in the morning, but pencil some time in. I want you—you an’ Smith in the starring roles.”
Archer said, “Why don’t I come and get you? You can tell me about the movie while I drive you home.”
“No. I’m good. Get a taxi.”
He got off the phone and then immediately called Smith Sullivan, managing to down another double whiskey between calls. Again, he went through the explanation about the sheep and the metaphor.
Smith said, “You mean you want to make an arthouse movie?”
Jay shook his head from side to side but stopped when he it made him dizzy. “It’s a metaphor,” he insisted. “All the sheep, in a pen. That’s the human condition. But then the ram could have all the sheep and he only wants one. But she won’t have him.”
Jay felt sad, so sad, at the thought of that poor ram who only wanted one sheep, and she rejected him.
Smith asked, “Am I going to be a sheep? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No. I was thinking… a shepherd. You and Archer. Both shepherds.”
Smith said something to Valentina in the background and it kind of sounded like they were laughing. Did they think his movie was a comedy? Finally, irritated with them both, he said, “I’ll get back to you tomorrow. Send you a treatment.”
“You do that.”
When Smith offered to send a car, it reminded Jay that he really needed to get home. Once more he said he’d take a cab. What was with Smith and Archer wanting to ferry him around? He was a grown man. He got up from the barstool and nearly fell on the floor.
The bartender offered to get him a cab, which he thought was very decent, but he said, “No, I’ll walk.” He’d find someone to drive him back for his car in the morning.
He wasn’t sure why he felt this compulsion to walk, but he needed fresh air, and he wanted to smell the ocean. As he headed out, he looked up at the silvery moon and inhaled the salty ocean as he listened to the gentle crash of the waves. It was so beautiful. But its beauty only served to remind him that without Erin, all that lay out there was a whole big world of loneliness. He wished Erin was beside him.
Why did he feel like he’d just made the worst mistake of his life?
Chapter Nineteen
When Jay got home, he was greeted by a dog bounding up and down, unbelievably happy to see him. At least he had Nelson, who didn’t know what a screw-up he was. Even through his whiskey haze, he knew his dog would need an evening walk, so he managed to pull himself together enough to get the two of them out and onto the sand. The crisp salt air soon had a sobering effect, and by the time Nelson had tired himself out, Jay had concluded that the only thing left to do with this sorry day was to end it by going to bed. He dragged himself back into the house and up to the bedroom, where he instructed the smart speaker to play some Willie Nelson. The dog crooned as though he, too, had a broken heart, and Jay fell into bed without bothering to take off his clothes.
The next morning, he was awakened by the jarring noise of a phone ringing. He rubbed his temples, wondering where he was and why he felt so awful. As he lifted his head, he realized he was still fully dressed, and had passed out on top of the covers. When he tried to sit up, he also realized he had the mother of all hangovers. Nelson slowly opened one bleary eye and then shut it again. The phone continued to ring and Jay cursed under his breath. Unless it was one of his top clients, he had no intention of answering it. He searched around him and then squinted at the display.
When he groaned, Nelson lifted his head. “It’s Smith Sullivan,” he explained. “We always answer the phone when it’s Smith.”
Nelson gave him a bemused look, then went back to snoozing.
Jay hit the answer button and then Smith’s voice boomed down the phone, all loud and cheerful. “I just want you to know I’m fully in with the role you offered me yesterday.”
Jay rubbed his face. Yesterday’s stubble met his fingers. He had no idea what Smith was talking about so he tried to bluff. “Right. The action film?” Had they been talking about a new action film? He was so hungover he couldn’t remember.
Smith sounded like he was seriously trying to hold back laughter. “Yeah, it’s going to be so good, out there in the grass with the sheep. All those sheep and that lonely old ram. You were inspired when you pitched it to me last night. I had trouble getting to sleep, I was so excited about it.”
Jay was silent as he held up his throbbing head with the phone on one side and a hand on the other. “There were sheep?”