by Donna Hill
Jewel plopped down on a chair and looked at him. “I hadn’t even thought about that,” she said with wonder in her voice.
“Yeah, well, think about it, ’cause I believe that you have taken your art to a whole new level. This is just the beginning.”
She leaped up and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. “I love you, love you.” She kissed him solidly on the mouth.
“Love you right back, baby. Why don’t you let me show you how much?”
“I’m liking the sound of that.”
* * *
“I was supposed to leave tomorrow, but I can stay on a couple more days,” Craig said against Jewel’s neck.
She draped a leg across his body. “It’s okay. We’ll be okay. I was thinking that maybe I could come out to LA in a few weeks for a long weekend.”
“You’d do that?”
“Yes. Of course.”
He hugged her tighter. “You just let me know when you’re ready and I’ll take care of everything.”
“No arguments from me,” she joked.
“And I’ll come to you before I head back to London, and when I get there I’ll send for you. You can come and see me work on my next project, maybe get some inspiration,” he added and slid his hand down between her legs.
“I’m inspired already,” she said against his mouth.
“We’re going to make this work, baby,” he said, rolling on top of her. “Whatever it takes.”
“Show me just how invested you are in our success.”
“With pleasure.”
* * *
“You sure you don’t want me to ride with you to the airport?” Jewel asked the following morning.
“No, that’s only going to make it harder.”
“We’ll see each other in two weeks.”
Jewel heaved a sigh.
Craig hesitated a moment, but he knew what was on his mind had to be said. “There is one thing that was bugging me about your work.”
“What?”
“If we’re going to do this together, then you can’t have a show of the work this far in advance of the release of the film.”
Her body tensed. “Why? It’s my work.”
“I understand that, but it’s based on my film.”
“So what are you saying? I thought you loved the concept. You were all for it a minute ago, now it’s your film.”
Craig pushed out a breath. He’d been stung in the past, in his early days of screenwriting, when a woman he was dating took full credit for a project that they’d worked on together based on his idea. He looked at the hurt that masked Jewel’s face. That was then—this was now.
“What I mean is if you show it too far in advance, it will dilute their value in relation to the movie and they won’t do the movie any good at all. This whole thing has to be timed.”
The only thing she’d been focused on was that she’d finished a set of work that she was proud of, work that was gallery ready. Gallery ready meant income—an income that she sorely needed.
Craig walked up to her and held her upper arms. She looked in his eyes.
“If we’re going to do this, we need to plan it right, that’s all I’m saying. I want this to work. Talk with your friend Mai and see what she says. But as far as I see it, too early is too soon.” He pecked her on the lips then hung on for a real kiss. “I’ll call you when I land,” he said. “Love you.” He pecked her lips again, turned and hurried out.
Jewel paced the room. This was her work. She’d come to him with the idea. Sure, the inspiration came from the film, but the work was hers. She’d stayed in the shadows and sat on the sidelines long enough. It was her time again.
* * *
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Mai said thoughtfully as she sat opposite Jewel at the kitchen table. “When is the film being released?”
“At least six months from now. I’m pretty sure he’ll take it to film festivals before it’s released in theaters.”
“That may work.” She put down her coffee cup. “Look, this is a stumbling block, not the end of the journey. I know you had it in your head to jump feetfirst. But this may be a blessing in disguise.” Her eyes lit. She leaned forward. “You will still need at least five to seven more pieces to complete the series.”
“Right.”
“The film has to do what it has to do in the next few months, but in the meantime, I start building your brand. Leaking information of your comeback. Hinting at a major collaboration that’s a game changer for the industry. We get you ready. You get your work ready, and launch the film and your art at the earliest film festival.”
Jewel got excited again. “That might work.”
“Not might, will!”
They lifted their coffee cups in salute.
* * *
As promised, the moment Craig landed in LA he called Jewel while he waited for his bags. Although they did the hug and kiss thing and said the I love yous, he’d still left not feeling good about things between them. He was thrilled that Jewel had gotten her inspiration back, and having gotten it from the film made the connection between them even tighter. It was like two creative minds thinking as one. That itself was a turn-on. The very idea that she was able to see beyond what he presented and translate that into art blew him away.
If only it was that simple. Two creative minds were bound to clash. They each had their vision, their purpose. That was the crossroads where he and Jewel now stood.
When they’d faced each other in the cottage, he knew the instant the words were out of his mouth that she didn’t agree. It wasn’t what she wanted. And he understood why, but he also had to consider what he wanted and what would best serve him and the film.
He’d run the concept past Anthony on the plane ride and he was totally on board but agreed that too soon would blow a hole in the entire project.
Somehow they had to come to a compromise.
“Hey, baby,” he said when she picked up. “I know it’s late.”
“I was waiting for your call,” she said sleepily. “How was the flight?”
“No problems.” He paused, cleared his throat. “Hey, listen, about his whole art meets film. I don’t want to get in your way. I know how important your work is to you, just like mine is to me. I can’t let what I want stop you. I’ve lived through that with my father. I know what it did to me, what it did to him, and I would never put that on you. You deserve your moment. So if you want to put a show together, whatever you want to do, I’m behind you.”
He didn’t know at what point he’d changed his mind. Maybe it was when her heard her voice, or remembered the look in her eyes, or maybe he was finally seeing that to love someone was more than just a feeling—it was doing. Whatever the reason, he was glad that he did.
“That’s why I love you,” she said softly. “But neither of us has to put our work on hold. Mai and I talked about it today, and we think this will work.” She went on to tell them what they’d discussed and how they would gradually release the work.
“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant. That’ll work. The first showing is the Independent Film Festival, then Sundance in January and Cannes in May. Distribution is key, but I don’t see a problem. We can plan on a release after Labor Day but definitely before Christmas to even be considered for a Golden Globe or SAG. I’ll have to press my people, but I know we can get the film ready in time.”
Jewel breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m so happy.”
“I miss you already,” he said in response. “Let me know when you want to come out. I’ll make all of the arrangements.”
“I will.” She yawned.
“Get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Okay.” She yawned again.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
“Good night, baby.”
“Night.”
Craig slid the phone in his pocket and strode out of the airport baggage area and into the waiting car. Electric energy pumped through his veins. He could see an amazing future spread out in front of him, and Jewel was right at his side.
Chapter 16
The next few months were a whirlwind of activity. Jewel worked every day perfecting her pieces, and bit by bit the collection grew to an astonishing body of work that replicated the film in a way that was surreal. She worked from many of the photographs that Norm had taken and from the sketches she’d done while watching the film unfold on the grounds and in the house.
She was in constant touch with Mai, who dropped in at least once per week to check on Jewel’s progress and to update her on her publicity plans, which had begun to roll out. News stations and several key art magazines had been in touch wanting interviews. “We’ve got them in the bag,” Mai had said, “but time is key.”
In between Jewel spent as much time as she could with her father, who seemed to grow more and more frail with each passing day. There were times when she would come into his room and see him sitting by the window and he’d remind her of a broken sparrow, trapped on the ground and unable to fly. The vibrant, robust man of her youth was gone. In his place was the shell of her father.
It was her fear and concern for her father that held her back from taking the trip to London to spend some time with Craig and cut short her visit to New York, where he’d gone to do some of the talk shows. She worried constantly that something would happen and she wouldn’t be there for her father. There were nights when she would jerk out of her sleep thinking he’d gotten out of the house again. The idea that she would have to leave him for any length of time grew to be less and less of a possibility each day. But the first showings of the work and the film were happening within a week at the Indie Film Festival, then Cannes and Sundance. She didn’t know if she would be at any of them.
“Hey, Daddy,” she said softly and crossed the room to where he sat by the window. She took a seat. “How are you today? It’s beautiful outside. You want to go for a walk?”
He looked across at her with a faraway expression on his face. He smiled. “You’re a pretty little gal.”
Jewel’s heart knocked. “Come on, let’s go outside.”
Once outside, Jewel held on tightly to her father’s thin arm, and they strolled slowly across the glistening green grass of the backyard.
“I had so much fun running around out here when I was little. Do you remember the time when I climbed that tree, the one right over there?” She pointed to the giant maple that was the centerpiece of the property. “Got halfway up and got scared. Couldn’t move. Wouldn’t go up and couldn’t come down.” She chuckled at the memory. “You were the one that coaxed me down.” She squeezed his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. “You climbed up and sat with me, talked with me, told me how proud you were because I was so fearless, that I could do anything, and no matter what you would always be there cheering me on.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “You held my hand, and we came down the tree together.” She sniffed. “You were always there, like I am now.”
“I had my time,” he said.
The strength and clarity in his voice brought Jewel up short. She held her breath.
“It’s your time, baby girl. Time for you to climb down on your own, spread your wings with that nice fella. I’ll cheer you on from the sidelines.”
She looked into his face and knew that in that moment, he saw her. Really saw her, and his words weren’t some out-of-context ramblings. He was here in the moment with her. Her throat knotted. She wrapped her arms around her father and held on, needing to secure this moment between them just a little while longer. When she finally released him and stepped back to look into his eyes, he was already gone.
* * *
The first article on the return of Jewel Fontaine hit the newsstand a month before the Indie Film Festival. And in the following months, she was on the covers of Art Noir, Contemporary Art, People, and Cosmo. She appeared with Craig on the Today show and E! to talk about their collaboration without giving too much away. The film and the art worlds were buzzing, and Jewel’s phone wouldn’t stop ringing.
Craig returned to New Orleans for two weeks and they spent the entire time in bed together to make up for lost time.
“This is all so crazy,” Jewel said the morning Craig was preparing to leave for LA. “I never thought I’d be in this place again.” She looked at him, and for the first time all the excitement turned to doubt. “All the traveling and reporters and people wanting to know everything about me...you.” She sighed and shook her head. “I left all that madness behind and settled for a different kind of life.” She looked at him. “I’d gotten used to it. To the normalcy of it. Sure, it was hard financially, and then you came into my life and changed all that, but...”
Craig sat next to her. He lifted a stray curl from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “So what are you saying?”
“I don’t know what I’m saying.” Her eyes pleaded with him to understand. She lowered her head.
“You’ve been down this road. You know what it’s like under the spotlight.”
She shook her head back and forth. “Not like this.”
Craig blew out a breath. “All this craziness is the prelim. Once the film hits, the noise will die down and we can go back to being Jewel and Craig.” He captured her hand in his. His eyes ran over her face. “I got you,” he said. “We’re going to do this together. I promise you.”
All at once that day in the tree so long ago, when her dad climbed up to get her and assured her that it was going to be all right, flooded her thoughts and warmed her heart. And all those years later under that very same tree he gave her wings and told her to fly. It was exactly what Craig was doing.
She pressed her head against Craig’s chest and shut her eyes. “Thank you, Daddy,” she whispered.
Chapter 17
After much prayer and having her arm twisted by Minerva, Jewel set out with Craig to set fire to the industry. Just as Mai predicted, the unveiling of Jewel’s first piece at the Indie Film Festival was a phenomenal success, which only upped the ante for the festivals to follow. Jewel and Craig were bombarded by journalists and photographers, all wanting to know every detail of their lives and their collaboration and to capture every moment.
Just as he’d promised, Craig was with Jewel every step of the way. It had been a while since she’d been under the glare of the spotlight, but with Craig by her side she glided instead of stumbled, and before long it was second nature again.
The biggest coup was the early premieres at targeted theaters. At the end the audiences actually stood for a good five minutes, shouting, applauding and stomping their approval. Upon their exit from the theater, the lobby was lined with Jewel’s art, which served as the nightcap of the evening and reinforced the audience’s theater experience.
The reviews were stellar, one after the other touting the brilliance of the film and the creative genius of the art. The pairing of the two had set the marketing world on its ear. Things only got better when Craig was nominated for a Golden Globe for best picture and best director. And he was informed that Milan Chase received a nomination for best actress.
Jewel leaped up into his arms and squealed with delight the minute he put the phone down.
“Oh, my God. This is so wonderful! Congratulations, baby.” She kissed him long and hard. “You deserve this.” She caressed his face. “So proud of you.”
“We did this. Me and you. Don’t ever think otherwise,” he said, looking deep into her eyes. “It was your home that set the tone. That meant everything. And your renderings bring it all together. We did this.”
She grinned. “If you say so, Mr. Golden Globe nominee.”
“I want you there.”
“Where?”
“At the Globes.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” He cupped her face in his hand. “Every step of the way...together, me and you.”
He hadn’t spoken to Milan since they’d completed the final edits months earlier, he thought as he held Jewel close. She’d called and left messages on his cell phone, but he’d never called back. Now with her getting the nomination, they would be thrown back in each other’s paths. Not a journey he was looking forward to taking.
* * *
“You can’t turn down these interviews, man,” Anthony admonished. “It’s going to hurt your chances and the chances for the film. We open nationwide in a week. You have a major nomination along with your lead actress. People want to see you together.”
Craig rocked his jaw and slowly paced the floor of his hotel suite.
“At least do one. Entertainment Tonight. They’re fair and fun. It’ll be easy. Besides, you’ve been able to keep your distance from Milan so far. You’ve been in the same cities on the same tours.”
“Yeah, but the focus has never just been on me and her. It’s not a good look, Tony. There’s no telling what Milan may say or do.”
“Look, everything is taped. If she does something crazy, we get it cut out before it airs.”
He turned to his longtime friend. “All right, tell them I’ll do it. But I swear, if this thing goes to hell, I’m blaming you.”
“Duly noted.”
* * *
When Craig and Anthony arrived at the studio, they were swept into the green room, prepped and offered food and drink to bide their time.
“You have about a half hour before they get started. I’m going to check on a few things and I’ll be back.”
“Cool.” He settled on the couch and plucked a grape from the bunch.
There was a knock at the door.
