The Silver Screen Wars

13 - Methods

"What?"

Kodi had the distinct impression that Bishop was now about to insult her, maybe call her deaf again - but she visibly saw him swallow it back and replace it with something a little more tolerable.

"I said to name your price, Kodiak Clyde."

Despite her continued skepticism because she knew, just knew that he couldn't really mean what he was saying ("Well, I didn't mean that much"), she felt her heart stop anyway for a second. It was so tempting to just...But she couldn't. This was just a trap, that was all. Or maybe he actually had genuine intentions, but what was going to happen to her when she inevitably crashed and burned under his unreasonable demands? He would blame it all on her.

"Stop thinking."

Her eyebrows came down hard in a heavy frown. "Excuse me?"

"I said stop thinking. You're really making me repeat myself a lot, Kodiak Clyde. Just name your price and we'll go from there."

He was looking at her so expectantly as if this was normal to him. Maybe it was. Maybe he usually negotiated with actors instead of slapping down a concrete price without discussion - but she was an amateur actor making her first major debut. He had no reason to negotiate with her - unless he really wanted her.

Her heart skipped another beat. Was it possible she had the advantage here? He was so desperate when he could easily go and find some other starlet from a major agency who would be ten times more experienced and a hundred times more willing to bend to his every demand.

Or maybe he was just stubborn and taking it personally that she wasn't wriggling in his lap for a treat. She didn't know what to think.

"Okay. How about we make this easy. How much did it say on the contract?"

Now that she could answer. "Thirteen thousand."

"Fine. Tack on another zero. How you feeling?"

She almost swallowed her tongue. A hundred thirty thousand? For ninety days...But again, if this didn't work out, it would end her for good. She had to worry about her long-term future, not short-term temptations. And yet...A hundred thirty thousand dollars. That was a time and a half more than what her parents made in a year combined, and with four younger siblings back at home, they were depending on her to supplement what they needed.

But how could she trust Bishop to follow through? How could she trust him to mean well and then to deliver? If the boat sank, she was out of income for however much time they wasted. That was time she couldn't afford to lose, not if she didn't want her parents to lose the apartment.

"...Half now, half after."

Bishop raised an eyebrow. "You in trouble, Kodiak Clyde? Owe someone money?"

Fuck. He'd read her like a book. She had been so stunned by the offer that she had let her face slip for just an instant. He must have seen something in her expression.

"Whatever. If you don't want to do it, then -"

This time, he grabbed her by both shoulders and pushed her firmly back against his car before she could turn away.  Strangely enough, instead of the vitriolic fury she should have felt at him for daring to put his hands on her again, her heart leaped in her chest like a scared fish. She stared up at him, frozen in his grasp and wondering why his hands felt so hot on her skin.

"Come on," he said. "I'll do it."

Was this real? No. A catch. She had to remind herself that no matter how good the bait looked, she was going to regret pigeonholing herself into an impossible contract. And then she would be screwed for good. Unless he meant it, another voice in her head insisted. He looked so sincere right now, if a little intimidatingly serious. Could it be that this was the chance she had been waiting for? With the bills piling up and being so behind on payments -

"What are you going to do with the 24 hour availability clause?" she demanded. "How am I supposed to live like that for three months. I'm not a robot, Bishop."

He shook his head and - what the f**k? Was he rubbing circles into her arm like he was soothing a scared animal? ...And why was it working? She could feel the tension leaving her despite her best efforts, little by little.

"I'm going to work you to the bone, Kodiak Clyde," he admitted. "But I'm not stupid. I don't set fire to my own house, and I'm not going to f**k you up, either. Not that way, at least. I'm going to make you give me your best effort day in and day out, but -"

"How am I supposed to take your word for that? I don't even know you. I know someone who had to go to therapy after she got cast in one of your -"

"The reason I want full day availability is because I don't know when the light bulb moments go off, Kodi. Sometimes it comes at three in the morning, and it can't wait. Sometimes we're on our way home and I realize the sun is in the right spot, the wind is blowing just right, and that's the one chance I have to make it work. Some chances you can't let go of. That's why. Not because I'm going to work you until you pass the f**k out on set."

She fell silent, unsure what to say now. He seemed almost desperate. And he had called her Kodi. Not Kodiak Clyde. Could it be that he was serious? Did he really mean it? She could feel her resolve slipping, her common sense screaming in her ear to let it go - and she could feel herself steadily wanting to ignore it more and more. s**t.

So how could she know? Half of 130,000, that was 65,000. That might be enough to pay off the credit card bills as well as the medical bills. What about the kids? They needed new clothes, new everything. No, they needed to find a new place to stay. A two bedroom apartment for six people - not including Kodi, since she crashed at someone else's house half the time - was too small. If she was going to risk everything with Bishop, then she needed a little more from him.

"...Double it," she said. "Double it, and I'm yours."

He didn't even hesitate. "Boyd can wire it to you now. Come in and give him your account number."

Holy s**t. Maybe it was because he was unimaginably rich, she thought in hindsight. She supposed it made sense that a quarter million wouldn't even make him flinch when he was a billionaire; he could make that much back in interest alone in a few years or something, couldn't he?

And yet he was staring down at her the way she would at a fallen quarter about to drop down through a drainage grate on the street: like a single breath might knock her over and away. Holy s**t, she thought again. Maybe she'd been wrong. Really.

Either way, she had little to lose. She would wait until she saw the money in her account. 

But - ha. He was probably going to change his mind at the last second, wasn't he. She would be an i***t to trust him. She ought to just turn around and...

Oh, who was she kidding, she thought morosely. He f*****g had her. And he knew it.

Bishop flashed her a victorious grin.

"Get your ass back in there, Kodiak Clyde. You're mine now."

--------

"You sure this is the right way to go about this?"

Bishop gestured at Boyd, dismissing him with a flick of his wrist before turning back to Jason. "Of course it is."

"I don't know. Money doesn't fix everything."

"It fixed her."

"For now," said Jason. "But that's not going to last. She hates you, and you're giving her every reason to keep hating you."

Bishop craned his neck to look out the bay window through which he could see Kodi outside, descending the last stone step and trudging toward the Bugatti.

"She can hate me all she wants," he said. "It's not our job to like each other."

"And yet the job might hinge on you guys not hating each other. Pretty important."

"You telling me how to do my job?" Bishop asked. "You think I don't know what I'm doing?"

Jason sighed. "I want this to work as much as you do. But throwing money at her isn't going to fix the long term problems. She hates your guts. The worst case scenario isn't that she walks out, Bishop, because at least that would give you time to re-cast. Worst case scenario is that she sticks it out to the end but doesn't give it her best, brings down the foundations - and it'll show. People pick up on that kind of energy, and then that reflects on you."

"You're good at this, Jason. Maybe you should give me regular lessons."

"I'm serious," Jason persisted. "I've seen her when she really wants it. Bring it out of her. If you think she's good now, from what - a thirty second audition? Try an hour. Two. That's the Kodi you've got to have."

Bishop steered him out of the way with a hand on his shoulder before moving past him toward the front doors.

"She still thinks I'm going to be in the actual cast, Bishop."

"And?"

"That's probably one of the reasons she's tolerating this in the first place."

The director paused and glanced over his shoulder at the other man. "Someone's got a high opinion of himself."

"Bishop."

"f**k, stop worrying," he snapped. "She's coming out of this with a quarter million dollars for what's going to be a thirty minute feature. Just show up the way you're supposed to and I'll take care of the rest. She's not going to walk away just because she doesn't get to suck your face."

"Bishop -"

"She's moving into the place tomorrow afternoon and meeting the others. Be there on time and there won't be any issues. She still gets to hang around you, she's happy, the end. Don't make this more complicated than it needs to be."

"Well, not everything is as simple as you want it to be."

Bishop waved him away and swung open one of the French doors before pausing on the threshold, eyes fixed on the woman waiting quietly by his car. She looked dazed. Truth be told, it had been a little satisfying to see her so uncharacteristically quiet for the last half hour while going over the papers again, but now it was just unsettling.

"Be honest with her," urged Jason. "Be honest with all of them, actually."

He snorted. "And give them a reason to fail? No. Shouldn't matter to any of them what I'm doing this for. They're going to give me exactly what I want, how I want it, regardless of the reasons. Even her."

"It'll give her a better sense of purpose, Bishop."

"Better than doing their f*****g job right for its own sake?"

The actor shrugged. "Humans are funny. Some of us need a little push to be more excellent than we are."

"They'll get all the push they need from me. Don't doubt me."

"I'm just saying that I think you need to try things differently with Kodi. She's not going to be kissing your feet."

"She should be."

"And yet she won't," said Jason.

Bishop chuckled, but it was neither humorous nor good-natured. "You're the only one who gets to talk to me that way. I'm reconsidering right now, though."

"I just want -"

"Save it. Be at the house by three and be ready to break them in. I'm not wasting any more time. First takes are tomorrow."

With that, he trotted down the steps toward the waiting Kodi.