Page 35 of Total Creative Control
Something Aaron would do well to remember this weekend.
“I would, though,” Lewis insisted after a moment’s pause, his perfect brows stitching together. “I just want this one thing over with as soon as possible, and I figure the fewer of us there are, the easier that might be.” He smiled stiffly before adding, “I’ll come and see you after the meeting to let you know how it went and what’s happening this evening.”
And then he was gone, leaving Aaron to his own devices.
Oh well, Aaron thought.At least I can spend some time onWe Are All Creatures of the Night.
Sighing, he turned away and reached for his laptop bag.
Chapter Nine
Lewis
“Okay,” Toni said, in her usual calm, friendly way. “We’ve heard you, Charlie. We know what you want. We’ll regroup on Sunday and see at that point where we’ve all landed on this individually.” She smiled easily. “Like you say, it’s a process.”
Lewis ground his molars together. They were in Charlie’s office—sorry,collaboration space—and Lewis was determined to let Toni run the show. He wasn’t even sitting at the table with her and Charlie. Instead, he stood by the window, his arms crossed, staring out at the smooth surface of the helipad outside and trying to look relaxed.
Trying not to give in to his urge to tell Charlie he was a fucking moron without the slightest understanding of the characters in the show or the dynamics between them.
“Whatever happens, we can make this work,”Toni had said before they’d gone in.“Youcan make this work, Lewis. You can make these characters do anything.”
He knew, without vanity, that she was right. He was no prima donna, liable to throw a fit over requested changes. Years of scraping by in shit internships and badly paid runner jobs while writing his first scripts had cured him of any such ideas. He prided himself on his discipline and practicality. His ability to ruthlessly cut and change and mould the shape of the story to meet commercial demands.
When he got started on making the changes, he’d probably even relish the challenge. But… there was something about this particular request that bothered him in ways he couldn’t quite understand.
“You happy with that, Lewis?” Charlie asked.
Lewis turned his head to find Charlie watching him. The guy might be channelling relaxed hipster dude, but underneath the trappings he wore so diligently, there was a corporate snake of the first order.
Lewis shrugged. “I need to let it sink in. Kick the tyres mentally.”
Charlie nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, makes sense,” he agreed. “Okay then, let’s call this a day. For now.”
Toni smiled and got to her feet. “Great, so what time’s dinner tonight?”
“Didn’t Paula send you the itinerary?” Charlie asked, frowning.
“She might have,” Toni replied, waving her hand vaguely. “Jason’s off today—usually he’d keep me right on stuff like that.”
“You know about the workshop, though?” Charlie said, his gaze narrowing.
“Uh, yeah—well, you mentioned it earlier.”
“Youdon’t, do you?” he said, his tone sharp with irritated disbelief. “Toni, it’s an intrinsic part of why we’re here this weekend!”
“Oh, sorry,” she said, her expression mortified. “I didn’t realise it was to do with the show. I thought it was just—”
“It’s a touch and movement creativity workshop,” he snapped. “And you should have been fasting for it since you woke up this morning. Have you?” He shifted his gaze to Lewis. “Either of you?”
Toni took a deep breath. “Okay, I wasn’t aware of that,” she said, “but don’t worry. All I’ve had this morning is some tea, and Lewis was running too late for breakfast, so he’s fine too. Right, Lewis?”
Lewis blinked, astonished by the smoothness of Toni’s lie. “What? Eh, oh, yeah.” He bit back a grin, remembering the all-day breakfast panini and chocolate croissant he’d polished off earlier.
Charlie eyed them both suspiciously. After a long, uncomfortable pause, he said, “All right then. Well, since we’re fasting, there won’t be any dinner served tonight, but there’s plenty of drinks in your rooms—water and kombucha in the mini-fridge and a tea tray with pretty much every herbal tea on earth.” He chuckled as though what he’d just said was incredibly charming rather than utterly depressing. “Paula will email you your packs for the workshop along with individual links for your meditations.”
“Meditations?” Lewis said slowly.
“Yes. Hippolyta—she’s running the workshop; she’sincredible—has recorded a guided meditation for each of us to do this evening. They’re completely individual.” He pointed finger-guns at Lewis and winked. “I asked her to do your one on opening yourself up to others’ ideas. I think you’ll find it very beneficial.”