“Is this story going somewhere Ramone? I’ve got things to do.”
“You’re going to make me beg aren’t you?”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“Maybe this will do the trick.”
The first words of the song that he sang sent her thoughts reeling back. It was one of her favorite songs, “I Apologize” by Anita Baker. The rich huskiness of his voice and the unexpected riffs of certain words made her shoulder droop, causing her purse to slide to her wrist. She held it and the laptop as she leaned against her car in a daze, listening to Ramone sing his heart out.
When he finished, she sniffed and lifted her shoulder to wipe the stream of tears from her cheek with her shirt. She then shook her head slowly and exhaled.
“Why are you doing this Ramone?”
“Baby, I want you back.”
“It’s too late,” she responded.
“No it’s not. Baby, we can do this.”
“I can’t deal with this right now.”
It was way too late to talk to him and his silky smooth voice, too late to muster enough strength to guard her heart, and way too late to be thinking of him and his kissable lips.
There was a time when she had wanted him to come crawling back. So many times when she had rehearsed what she’d say if he did. Now…once again…she was speechless.
Sunny was caught between moments. One held her past and the other, her future. Just when she leaned toward a possible future with Ramone, the crushing reminder of his infidelity slammed onto her chest.
It was almost as if he could feel good energy surrounding her, and picked just the right moment, to steal it from her. If Ramone and Jaden represented her only romantic options, she may as well join a convent.
While she listened to Ramone, she cupped her laptop under an arm, secured the phone between her ear and shoulder, and then unlocked the trunk. She put her laptop inside the largest bag, and placed it on the ground. She then wheeled it to the front door.
She stood there until he finished. Refusing to walk across the threshold of her home without a peace of mind, she whispered, “Ramone, it’s over.”
She ended the call and stuffed her phone in her jean pocket while wheeling her luggage into her master bedroom. She plopped it onto the bed and then raided the kitchen. After eating a salad, she showered, and then finished unpacking.
By midnight, she had snuggled deep under the covers of her plush king-sized bed. Normally, the minute her head hit the pillow she would fall fast asleep. However, tonight images of Ramone occupied her mind.
Her body temperature hiked a few degrees as she thought about their steamy weekend in Cabo San Lucas. Drat him for bringing that up earlier. The memory of his bare chest and washboard abs springing out of the cool, blue ocean floated in her mind. She squeezed her lids tighter, hoping to blur the images.
A flutter deepened in her stomach, imagining his deep mahogany skin glistening under the hot sun. Then a sharp sting pierced her heart as another, not so kind, memory of leggy, blond-haired woman streaking past her and clutching her sparkling gown to her chest. Another image of Ramone tumbling off the bed to hitch up his pants over his muscular legs, wrenched a breath from her mouth.
Sunny had wanted to pick up the shoe the woman had left behind and send it flying straight at Ramone’s head. Instead, she had felt the stinging sensation in the palm of her hand and the very noticeable imprint of her engagement ring on his left cheek.
Ramone had yelled at her, his shirt still unbuttoned, trousers drooped past his hips. She had shouted back, drawing the attention of guests at the mixer, one of them her boss.
Sunny—now half-awake—cringed at the memory of camera flashes revealing shadowy shapes of the paparazzi creeping along her windows after the front-page news about her heated lover’s quarrel with the famed NFL running back.
She chocked back a sob, wiping the rivulets from her cheeks. Then she opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. What had happened to her? She used to recognize “game” when she saw it. After all, she was a high roller in the dating game. Yet, she broke the cardinal rule of being a “player” and fell in love. So blinded by his charm, Sunny hadn’t paid attention to all the signs, and Ramone played her like a deck of cards.
In her twenties, she and her best friend, Lauren Santiago, had ruled the streets of South Oak Cliff until cupid caught them unawares. To their surprise they really enjoyed being in serious relationships. Besides, they were crossing the threshold of thirty and needed to grow up. That was what she was doing right? Didn’t blossoming into an adult include being more reliable, accountable, and considerate?
Sunny had done some crazy things for the sake of being in love and now looking back; she had become the ultimate brand of a fool and ended up on the other side of the dump stick.
After her crash landing into heartbreak hotel, she celebrated the big 3-0, single and nowhere near ready to mingle. However, she did begin digging herself deep into work. Luckily, she had done one responsible thing in her twenties, saving a nice chuck of mad money that became a thirst-quenching oasis as she limped through a desert of unemployment for several months. Now it was time for her to let the past go, reclaim her life and make her dreams a reality.
-FOUR-
“WELL LOOK WHO decided to drag himself to our humble meeting,” Drake Wright said with lazy sarcasm to his younger brother as Jaden sauntered into conference room. Drake tapped the table, visibly agitated by Jaden’s tardiness.
“I’m here aren’t I?” Jaden flashed a toothy smile and nodded to the department heads of his company, Nu Hype Productions.
He then sat at the opposite end of the table from his older brother. A razor sharp knife couldn’t slice through the tension that pressed against him from every person in the room. Jaden shrugged through glares, and rigid demeanors. Once he sat, he planted his elbow on the armrest.
“Thirty minutes late,” Drake chastised as he steepled his fingers at his chin.
Jaden met his brother’s cool stare and then turned to converse with his assistant. Drake opened the navy blue folder in front of him, scanned its contents, and made a point of shuffling some papers.
“So what did I miss?” Jaden asked.
Janet Steinem, his new assistant went over the highlights quietly until Drake cleared his throat.
“You can catch up on your own time. Right now, we have an agenda we need to stick to as we have a lot of work ahead of us. Page six,” Drake directed sliding the portfolio down the length of the table.
Jaden caught it and quickly flipped to the page. He skimmed the summary and groaned. Why was he here? Wasn’t sorting through the finance mumbo jumbo and being excluded from torturous business meetings, the reason why he hired his brother to run the operations of his company?
Jaden preferred to create and travel instead of attending board meetings. He was done with the shackles of Corporate America. At least he had thought he was until he formed Nu Hype.
He wasn’t foolish enough to believe that running a business was easy. Still, it required more work than he had imagined or cared to put into it outside of the creative process. He had originally founded it for legal reasons, never imagining his feeble home studio and skeleton crew would eventually require a staff of twelve, and rental office space. He had never planned to hire a personal assistant or a reader to sort through submissions from hopeful writers, when he could barely finance his own film. The more that he wanted to dive into freedom, the more responsibility was heaped onto his plate.
“Cineplay just reneged on distribution,” Drake informed.
“When did this happen?” Jaden replied.
“While you were squandering petty cash in Houston this weekend,” Eddie Newberg, Drake’s closest friend from college, snapped.
“It was a business trip,” Jaden returned.
“As you know,” Drake intervened. “They were the key component to our investors backing the movie.”
“What about BlackBox?” Jaden ask
ed stroking his chin.
“You cast Orlando and Makeda,” Drake replied.
“And?”
“Remember the last time those two worked on a set together?”
“Politics,” Jaden huffed.
“All apart of doing business,” Drake countered.
Although Jaden had a film degree and a previous marketing career — work he had done to fund his first play—his family deemed him reckless and irresponsible. He was always involved in some sort of late night partying or relationship scandal with a Dallas socialite or voicing his opinions in heated debates regarding his views on politics in the media.
Producing a film was a whole other ball game. It required lobbying to movers and shakers in the industry, most of whom had nothing to do with the film industry. Although, Jaden wasn’t a celebrity, he knew influential people that helped connect him to other influential people to get his plays funded. He had thought that he could rely on that same network, however, once the door to Hollywood wedged open, the playbook switched, and now he had to start over with new connections.
Zachary Wright, the patriarch of the Wright clan had made sure that his sons were involved in his real estate business from an early age. From being couriers to office assistants to becoming co-managers of his marketing department, they had learned everything about the business before they attended college.
Zachary had hoped that once his sons graduated college, that they would embrace the family business and succeed him at the helm. His hopes were dashed when Jaden moved to New York to pursue a film career, as his mother had done. When their father suffered a heart attack, the weight of the family business had rested on Drake’s shoulders, who had followed his father’s footsteps and became President and C.E.O of Wright Enterprise. He’d been sour towards Jaden ever since.
Jaden knew that his brother wanted to help with the expansion of Wright Enterprises by establishing his own landscaping business. His landscaping services garnered him the business of the Dallas elite. Just when he had the chance to add a prestigious golf course to his resume, he was forced to fill his father's position at the company.
Jaden was sure that his father and brother wanted him to return home, especially when it looked to them like he was chasing a pipe dream. Instead, his career had taken an upturn. By that time, his father’s health was remarkably better and he was able to resume his position at the company, relieving Drake of his post. For Jaden, it was the perfect time to recruit his brother. After all, running Wright Enterprises for six years was a great pre-requisite for the C.E.O of Nu Hype.
That was two years ago. Even though they had an unspoken truce, there was a still a hurdle to jump in order to heal their relationship.
Jaden eyes met his brother’s, “So now what?”
“IndieCamp is a new online Crowd Source project that has already received positive reception after its beta testing launch to indie filmmakers.” Drake slid another folder to his brother. “I think we need to think about raising money for distribution locally.”
“You mean straight to DVD?” Jaden’s jaw dropped. When he recovered, he said, “This has been publicized as a theatrical release.”
“Luckily we have time to put a positive spin on that since you don’t have a final draft of the script ready,” Drake said.
Jaden felt the sting of Drake’s words. However, his brother was right. The script needed major polishing, and he was glad that Jared, his new agent, called him to say that he had the perfect writer for the film—Sunny Carlisle. Jaden grinned at the thought of meeting his feisty road warrior that had given him a jump when he was stranded on the road. Small world indeed.
“Besides,” Drake continued, breaking through the thoughts circling in Jaden’s mind. “If we go straight to DVD, we’ll have more creative control and retain most of the royalties.”
“This can’t be happening,” Jaden shoved the portfolio folder away and stood. “I’ve worked my ass off to get to this point,” he barked.
“We all have,” Eddie said from his corner of the table.
As Chief Financial Officer, Eddie was shrewd about money, especially when it affected his pockets. Jaden couldn’t blame him, and he’d have it no other way. There were times when Eddie overstepped boundaries, often assuming the role of older brother by association. Overall, Eddie new a good thing on paper when he read it and becoming C.F.O of Nu Hype had been a great opportunity.
“I’m not reducing the efforts and contributions that everyone has made. But it is my company,” Jaden said, glaring at Newberg. “This is my film and it was my dream that brought us all together.”
“We understand this Jaden,” Drake intervened again.
“Do you really?” Jaden shot back. “I’ve been sweating my brow for over ten years. Sleeping on the floor of a rent-controlled one-bedroom apartment with three roommates, pounding pavement, getting rejections and putting every dime I’ve ever earned into this dream. I could have quit so many times and come home to work in the family business. Instead, I chose to continue believing in this. I didn’t go through all that nor come this far to fail. ”
“Great, words Jaden,” Newberg said, clapping his hands. “But we have families and bills. We can’t afford any further delays.”
The tiny hairs on the back of Jaden’s neck bristled and his hands balled into tight fists at his sides. For the first time in years, Eddie got under his skin.
“I’m catching a serious chill coming from your direction Newberg,” Jaden said. “I get the feeling that you have something else to say?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” he returned.
Jaden watched as Drake dropped his chin and shook his head. His eyes traveled back to the C.F.O, as he continued running him through with his words.
“We’re barely getting paid what you promised,” Newberg said. “You squander petty cash on women, partying and traveling. Yes, you bring business to us and have a product that people want. But Cineplay is one of the biggest distributors in the region, and we’ve lost them. It’s just a matter of time before we begin losing other investors. ”
“Cineplay was an open and shut case. I don’t know what happened,” Jaden huffed.
“You slept with the owner’s daughter,” Drake shouted.
As Jaden’s anger built, the pencil that he held in his grasp, snapped. His assistant immediately replaced it with a new one. “I didn’t know who she was at the time.”
Drake gathered the paperwork in front of him, “The point Jaden, is this is not some local play that we’re doing. You have stepped into a bigger pool, with bigger fish. Bad word of mouth can destroy everything you’ve worked so hard to build.”
Defeat trickled through Jaden’s body and drained the bravado from his response, “Okay,” he grumbled. “I’m listening.”
“Good,” Drake returned.
He strode around the conference table and stood beside his brother. It was a start. A non-verbal, show of support, a connection that they’d never shared. “We have to do damage control. I have a friend, her name is Brandy Floretti, and she’s a budding publicist with a bright future. I believe she can spin this. Not to mention, being associated with her family can only do good for the film. Who knows, maybe she can coerce her father to invest.”
Jaden cleared his throat and then asked, “Why does her name sound familiar.”
“Her father owns Patriot Hotels, the largest chain of hotels in the southwest,” Newberg responded.
“I’ve given this a lot of thought,” Drake said. “Most of our marketing will be online, with a little strategic print advertising. We need to get back to old school guerrilla marketing.”
Drake paced his corner of the room, stroking his chin thoughtfully. When he stopped, he looked at his younger brother. “Until we get more funding, Jaden will provide a bonus payment within thirty days to each of you. It’s not much, but it’s an act of good faith if you will agree to see this project through ‘til the end.”
A round of applause echoed in th
e room, and smiles began to spread across the faces of his team. Jaden opened his mouth to correct Drake but stopped short when his older brother pinned him in place with another hard stare.
“Our dear commander,” Drake continued, “promises to raise as much funding for the project as he can in case we do have to go straight to DVD and…solemnly swears to keep his hands off Ms. Floretti. At least until the film has been released.”
“He’ll do that when hell freezes over,” Newberg chuckled.
Drake glared at Newberg. Newberg shrugged and then slouched into his chair, his way of raising an imaginary white flag.
“We still have the cast and crew attached, mostly due to Jaden’s relationship with them. I’m sure they’ll stay aboard this once sinking ship.”
Jaden’s mood lightened, “This is doable.”
“All agreed?” Drake asked. When his question received several head nods he said, “Meeting adjourned.” He then grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and shrugged into it.
When Jaden and Drake were alone, Jaden’s long strides put him in front of his brother. “Drake, what’s all that nonsense about me giving bonuses?”
“You have to build morale and faith in your business team Jaden. You have to cut down on the traveling and partying. Conduct some of your meetings via Skype, or the phone. Hell, send smoke signals, I don’t care, because at the end of the day, Newberg’s right about your spending. ”
“I’m a people guy. That’s how I do business.”
“Then you have a choice. Keep being “people guy” or get your film made.”
“Okay,” Jaden growled. “How much?”
“I’m thinking," he responded thoughtfully. "Why don't you give points on the deferred contract plus about three or four thousand cash each.”
“That’s nearly twenty-thousand. How am I supposed to get that?”
“I don’t care how you get it, just get it,” Drake snapped, then added, “legally.”
“Ha ha,”
“This was a hard sell to the team, little bro. No one has seen this amazing script you keep talking about, no production dates are set, and we only have one location confirmed. Newberg isn’t the only one who’s antsy.”
Rescuing Mr. Wright (Texas Treasures) Page 3
