Page 109 of Out on a Limb

“What do we think?”

“She has this new writer she really wants you to meet with. Fresh out of Yale. I read his stuff, and it’s good. Out there, but it has a voice.”

“Can you send me—”

“Coverage and the script were emailed to you two days ago, but I can resend if you don’t want to sift through your inbox.”

“That’s fine. Remind me to read this script, and I’ll see if I call her back.”

Cameron made a note on his calendar.

“Next we have Brian Mendelbaum.” Cameron was already dialing his number before Arthur said yes.

“Hi, I have Arthur Brandt calling for Brian Mendelbaum.”

“One moment,” Porter said. They both had on their professional, for-the-boss voices. Cameron grinned at his computer screen, and he figured Porter was doing the same. “Brian, I have Arthur Brandt calling.”

“Dude!” Brian shouted into the phone.

“Dude!” Arthur shouted even louder. They talked about how drunk they got last weekend and Arthur’s ex-girlfriend and Chipotle burritos.

Cameron put himself on mute and half-listened for when they jumped back to business. He scanned that script from the Yale graduate that was sitting on his screen.I could write better than this, he thought. Although he hadn’t written since he arrived in LA. Adjusting to life as an assistant sapped him of energy by the end of the day. And technically, per his agreement with Mobius, he wasn’t supposed to be writing at all.

I’ve hit my dudebro threshold of tolerance, Porter texted him.

Just pretend they’re Muppets. It makes it much more entertaining.

Are you going to that networking speed dating thing tonight?

Might as well.These events all blended together, and many of the people going were not useful contacts. But Cameron reminded himself that any networking was good. Also, you never knew where these people would be in five years, or even five days. He met a guy at one mixer who was unemployed and sleeping on a friend’s couch. He chewed his ear off, and Cameron couldn’t escape him. But then the next week, he was hired as a development assistant at HBO.

That’s what excited Cameron the most about the industry. Your luck could change at any minute.

It won’t be terrible, he texted Porter.We can get through it.

I don’t even like regular speed dating! I have to tell you about this awful date I went on last night, btw…

Save it for tonight. There’s an open bar.

Perfect! How about you? Any dates worth talking about?

Nope.

You need to get out there, Cameron.

Too busy.This time, it wasn’t an excuse. Between work, reading, networking events, drinks, the gym, Cameron didn’t have time for romance. He welcomed the distractions.

“So dude, let’s talkMakeshift,” Brian said. Cameron’s brain snapped to attention. He positioned his fingers on the keyboard, ready to take notes. “Arlo liked the script changes, but feels like they could do more with his character. He wants more sexual tension with the Helena character. Like what if they fall in love?”

Sexual tension and love with an assassin?Cameron texted Porter.That’s not the point of the movie AT ALL.

“I like that, dude,” Arthur said. Arthur seemed to like all of Arlo Falconer’s ideas. Or he liked that the man’s last six films topped $100 million at the box office. “An assassin chef who falls for the president. So it’s likeThe American Presidentmeets Rachael Ray. But like a fuckable Rachael Ray.”

“Exactly!” Brian shouted.

A fuckable Rachael Ray?Cameron texted Porter.

It could work, Porter texted back.