Hollywood After Dark Ch. 01

"2:00, here at Antamount," Hapsboro said.

Fuck, I thought to myself. Right in the middle of my delivery schedule. Maybe if I leave now and start delivering right away...

"That will be fine. Should I ask for Mr. Willis when I arrive?" I said.

Hapsboro laughed loudly into the phone, a snooty and mocking shrill noise that seemed to come more from a chicken than from a man. "No, Mr. Willis can't be bothered with amateur screen writers. You will be speaking with me. Now, I really must be going so I will see you later this afternoon," he said.

I was set to reply, but he hung up and a dial tone filled my ear as I stood there holding the phone, wondering if all that really had happened. I set the phone back on the receiver and just stood there for a moment, still in shock. Absently, I pinched my arm to see if I was awake or dreaming - it hurt, so I must be awake. I walked back in a daze towards the bedroom and robotically started going to the closet to get out my work uniform, my mind going a mile a minute.

My conversation had evidently woken Petty up, because she was sitting up in bed rubbing her eyes, her breasts barely covered by the bed sheet as she scratched the top of her head and straightened out her hair.

"Who was that on the phone?" she yawned.

I turned away from the closet, the clothes over my arm. "A Mr. Hapsboro from Antamount Pictures, Inc. He was setting up a meeting with me today," I said, my voice dull and emotionless, not unlike that of Hapsboro himself.

Petty just blinked at me. "What?"

I proceeded to tell her the story of yesterday's events, and how I had managed to put the script down just before I got busted by the secretary. With each emerging detail, Petty's smile broadened on her cute face until she was like a giggling school girl, riveted by every word I said.

"Holy shit! So you mean you're screen play may actually get made? Alex, do you know what this MEANS?" she said excitedly.

"It means I need to get going to work so I can get my deliveries done before the meeting," I said to her, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead before walking to the bathroom for a quick shower. Shutting the door, I could hear her giggling and laughing to herself, something she did when I knew she was incredibly excited about something.

I showered quickly, and was amazed to find when I got out that Petty had gotten out of bed and actually made me breakfast - nothing fancy mind you, just some waffles and juice - but the gesture was certainly appreciated. Normally I was up before her so early that we rarely saw each other at night, and that was mostly just to watch television or go to a concert. Thus, this breakfast was something special I felt, and with the added bliss from the meeting looming, the day was off to a great start. I ate the food in just a few bites and kissed Petty good by, heading off into the morning traffic to get to work and get started on the deliveries. Traffic was lighter than when I usually left, the fading digital clock in my car giving a read out of only 8:07. Zooming along the freeway, I knew that the day would drag until 2:00, but I tried to think of other things to take my mind off of it.

Arriving at work, the part-time immigrants who normally loaded up the truck watched me hesitantly as I whipped into the parking lot, hustling towards the front door. To my surprise, it was locked - Jose must not get there much earlier then me, I thought to myself. I walked over to the workers who were loading up the trucks, three Mexican guys who were already sweating and panting as they talked amongst themselves in Spanish. I stood there watching them as they finished loading up the truck and wasted no time climbing into it to get off to work. The traffic had started to pick up already, in spite of the fact that I was actually almost an hour early in getting my deliveries going.

Zooming around the city all morning long, I actually managed not to feel nervous or excited about the meeting with Antamount - between the morons in the rest of the cars out on the road and rude (or, conversely, very cute) secretaries, it was really just like any other morning. However, sitting at a stop light I happened to glance over and see the time on a bank clock: 12:34.

Fuck! I only had an hour and a half till the meeting, I thought to myself. A wave of nervous anxiousness washed over me, making my mind go into overdrive as I tried to ration out my time between getting to Antamount, getting changed to look nice and finishing the morning deliveries. I floored it as the light changed, shuttling quickly between deliveries. As the 2:00 time grew closer and I still had half a dozen packages in my truck, I was torn between trying to get them done later and getting to the meeting. I chose the former and headed to Antamount Studios.

I was rather dirty and smelly from the job, but I changed clothes in the back of my truck and cleaned myself up as best as I could as I walked into the lobby of their building. Going up to the third floor, I found my hands shaking with anticipation of the meeting. The same secretary was behind her desk as the day before, but she obviously didn't recognize me as I approached her desk and stood there waiting for her to hang up the phone.

"Yes, can I help you?" she said.

"I have a meeting with Mr. Hapsboro, 2:00. My name is Alex Hilt," I replied.

"One moment please, I will page him," she said. I watched her dial his extension and her nonplussed reaction as she told him that I had arrived. I stood awkwardly for a moment, not saying anything to the secretary or to anyone who passed by in the hallway. A man approached me from the back of the office, a smile on his face.

"Hello, I'm Gordon Hapsboro. You must be Alexander Hilt," he said. He was a middle aged man, with silvery gray hair pulled back behind his head in a ponytail. The skin on his face was tight and dark from too much sun exposure, and I noticed that he carried himself with a limp, the expensive looking suit he wore swaying on his medium build. He extended his hand and I shook it, amazed a bit to find his hand not only cold, but his shake and grip rather limp in my large hand.

"Please, follow me. Rosalyn, I'll be in a meeting for a while, so please send all my calls to voice mail," he said to the secretary as we walked past.

"Yes Mr. Hapsboro," she said, not even glancing up.

I don't really know what I was expecting the meeting setting to be - perhaps a room filled with a long conference table and oversized chairs, executives and higher up studio heads busily chatting as we would walk into the room. I expected to be overwhelmed with praise and questions, comments about the screen play and a general enthusiasm over the script.

It was an understandable let down then when Hapsboro led me into a small, cramped room with a small round table and two chairs inside, the walls only a few inches from the table. Hapsboro gestured for me to take a seat and I took the far one across the table, barely managing to squeeze my large frame between the wall and the table itself, the chair creaking a bit as I sat down.

Hapsboro took a seat across from me and folded his hands out in front of him.

"Now, you told me over the phone that you have no representation?" he asked, smiling at me politely. I shifted a little uncomfortably in my chair, embarrassed slightly by the question and the lack of an agent on my part.

"Yes, that's right. But if it's a problem, I'm sure I can find one," I said to him.

"That won't be necessary, unless you feel overwhelmed by contracts and all that. However, if you haven't done it already, I would personally suggest joining the Screenwriters Guild. I am a bit of a screen writer myself and they are great should you get in a corner. But if anyone here asks, I told you to do no such thing," he said with a laugh. His voice was that same shrill tone that I remembered over the phone and I gritted my teeth hard at the sound, turning the grimace into a smile.

"Anyways...the cleaning staff found the script in Mr. Willis' office and put it on his desk late last night, thinking it was one of his projects. He leafed through it and was impressed by what he read, and that's when I got involved," Hapsboro said.

A chill ran down my back at the thought of such a powerful man even giving a slight look to my years of blood, sweat and tears work, but Hapsboro quickly deflated it.

"I read it this morning over a cup of coffee and while I personally found it to be tired and clichéd and drastically needing work, I must simply comply with Mr. Willis' wishes," Hapsboro said.

"Did Mr. Willis want to see it get made?" I asked, holding my breath slightly at the question.

"Yes, he said that we could probably squeeze it in for a Spring release, barring any difficulties. I've sent the script to the editing department and they are working on changing some things around, character names and all that. They should have a finalized copy in a few weeks, and at that point we will start casting for it, looking for a director, etc," Hapsboro said.

I felt dizzy - this wasn't a dream, the script was actually going to be made into a movie!

"So...what does that mean now?" I asked.

"For the time being, nothing. If the editing department can't salvage something workable out of it then I'm afraid we have to pass on the script. Until they come back with something workable, it's all up in the air. However, Mr. Willis took a slight liking to it and I know that if he really wants the thing to get made, he will bust heads to make it happen," Hapsboro replied, leaning back in the chair as he picked at something in his tooth.

"This might sound callous of me for asking, but what about financial reimbursement?" I said.

"Not callous at all Mr. Hilt," Hapsboro laughed. Boy was that starting to get on my nerves. "I like a man who puts his pocketbook first. When shooting begins and we officially green light it, we will have another meeting with accounting and determine what fee is deserved of you and what screen credit to get, that sort of thing,"

"That sounds good. Is there anything else I need to know? Will I be working with you directly?" I asked.

"Yes, for the time being I will be your contact here at Antamount. We will contact you when we know more about the status of the project," Hapsboro replied, standing up from the desk. "Here, let me give you my card,"

He reached into his lapel pocket and pulled out a small leather case. Flipping it open, he pulled out an ivory colored business card and handed it to me. It had the Antamount logo on it, an old style projection reel with a bright triangle of light extending from the lens. Beneath that was his name, title, phone number and email address. However, in the bottom right of the card, I noticed a small symbol. It was strange, because it was something I had never seen before: a circle with prongs sticking out from the north, south, east and west points of the circle itself. In the middle was what looked like a cross between a slanted Z and a lightning bolt. The symbol wasn't printed on the card exactly, more like embossed, and if the light hadn't caught it I probably wouldn't have even noticed it.

I opened my mouth to say something about it but he spoke first, and the thought slipped my mind.

"You seem like a good man Alex, that's why I'd like to extend an invitation to you to come to a small party Mr. Willis is throwing tonight at his mansion. It's very exclusive and very private, but if I were in your position then I would be very honored to be invited. Mr Willis likes to meet all the people involved with projects here at the studio so this would be a perfect opportunity to introduce the two of you. His home is up in the hills, see Rosalyn on your way out for directions," Hapsboro said, opening the door to the office.

"Is it alright if I bring my girlfriend along? She would love something like this," I asked, shaking Hapsboro's hand again by my own iniative.

Hapsboro seemed to think for a moment. "Hmm...perhaps it's best that you not. Mr. Willis is terrible with names and I'm sure that one more face would just confuse him!" Hapsboro said, turning my question into a playful laugh.

"Not a problem, just thought I would ask. As you can tell, this sort of thing is pretty out of the ordinary for me," I said.

"I can understand. But in your current line of work, I'm sure you meet all sorts of interesting people," he said as we walked out towards the exit of the floor. This comment struck me as odd because I had never told him what I did. Perhaps the secretary had told him when she saw me the day before...

"Listen, I must be going. I'll see you tonight at the party Alex. And dress sharp...Mr. Willis is a stickler for appearance," Hapsboro called, vanishing off down a hallway. I waved goodbye and went to the secretary's desk. After waiting for a few minutes and convincing her that I really WAS invited to the party, she reluctantly scribbled down some directions to Willis' house up above the city. I thanked her and walked to the elevator calmly, waiting on the doors to shut.

As the metallic sliding clicked and the elevator began to descend, I could no longer contain my enthusiasm and yelled out "YES!!!" loudly in the elevator, pumping my arm at my side in excitement. Glancing up, I saw a video camera in the top corner of the elevator and immediately restrained myself, straightening out my clothes and putting on a calm persona.

I exited the building quickly and climbed into my truck, speeding off to finish the afternoon deliveries. I didn't say a word when I returned to Jose's, which was probably for the better because he was yelling at someone very loudly in Spanish when I walked in to drop off the keys. I headed home, my mind whirling from the thoughts of fame and fortune that had just yesterday seemed like a pipe dream but today were actually happening. Glancing down at the directions the secretary gave me, I saw that the party was supposed to start at 9:00, which meant I should get there around 9:30, in order to be fashionably late and not seem overeager in arriving. This would give me enough time to pick out what to wear (I had an old tuxedo from a friend's wedding that would probably look good for this occasion) and to tell Petty the details of the meeting.

Opening the apartment door as I arrived home, I found Petty standing there waiting for me, nibbling on her thumbnail excitedly as I walked in, giving me a huge smile that seemed to light up the room.

"Tell me all about it," she said.

We sat down on the couch and I explained the entire thing to her, from Hapsboro's appearance all the way down to the details about the film being made. She was beside herself with excitement, gasping and laughing as I recounted the details. As I finished the story, she leaned back on the couch and shook her head in amazement.

"I knew that there was something special about you Alex, from the first time we met," she said.

"You're not so bad yourself," I replied, kissing her lightly on the lips. She returned the kiss with vigor and started to reach her hands down to pull off my shirt. I leaned away from her and stood up.

"Hey hey, not right now. I can't. There's one more thing I forgot to tell you, and I don't know why because it's the best part. Hapsboro invited me to a party at Mr. Willis' house tonight, up in the hills," I said to her.

"You should have told me that when you came in! I need to go get ready right away!" Petty said, jumping up from the couch to head into the bedroom.

"Wait, Petty. The thing is," I said, hesitating. She stopped in her tracks and pivoted on her foot to look at me. "Well, you aren't exactly invited,"

A look of immense disappointment washed over her face and for a moment, I thought she was going to cry. She managed to compose herself though as she looked at me. "I'm not?"

I rushed over to her to console her. "Hey, baby, listen! The thing is, Hapsboro said that Willis is horrible with names and that the more people that show up at his parties, the harder it is for him to get to know anyone. I asked if you could come, you have to believe me on that. But Hapsboro said no," I said to her, trying to cushion the blow as best as I could.

"What kind of dick invites a man but not his girlfriend? What if I was your wife, would that make any difference?" she asked. Her voice was starting to rise and I knew if I didn't diffuse her quickly this could turn into a nasty argument.

"Look honey, I don't make the rules ok? I don't want to go against Hapsboro's wishes on an opportunity like this. Believe me, if the movie gets made there will be plenty of opportunities for you to come along as my date. I'm sure that you would be the most beautiful woman there too, even in a room full of movie stars," I said to her, rubbing her arm gently.

Petty bit her lower lip for a moment, her brow furrowed as she thought about this.

"Well, I don't like it. It just seems so...weird. But because I love you, I'll go along with this. Just promise me you will try to get me to be able to come later on. Promise me that," she said.

"I promise," I replied, kissing her on the forehead. "I need to go get ready now though. Can you help me see if that tuxedo I have still fits?"

"Of course. You want to look your best for your new boss," she said with a smirk. I took her hand and we walked into the bedroom, her heading to the closet and myself heading for the shower to get cleaned up.

I arrived at Willis' mansion at 9:42, a little bit later than I had originally anticipated but still early enough to not miss anything important. I pulled into the driveway and a valet came out to greet me. It was obvious by the look on his face that he did not approve of my car at all. I rolled down the squeaky driver side window and stuck my head out to talk to him.

"Sir, I'm afraid this is a private residence. I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the man said curtly. I was a bit offended by this remark, as he could quite clearly see my tuxedo from outside the car.

"I was invited," I said, gritting my teeth at him. "Call Mr. Hapsboro,"

The man rolled his eyes at me and walked over to a small phone by the front door. Picking it up, he waited for a moment and then began talking. He nodded his head a few times and then replaced the phone. As he came back to me, he was all smiles.

"I apologize sir, please go right on in," he said, bowing slightly. I stepped out of the car and handed him the keys. Walking towards the heavy wooden doors of the mansion, I heard him start it up behind me, the engine backfiring as it made a loud gunshot like noise. I smiled at this and opened the door in front of me slowly.

I was completely floored by the mansion's interior. In high ceilings above me, there hung two huge glass chandeliers, whose segments glittered in the light of the room. Scanning the rest of the room, I saw a large sweeping staircase off to the right of the room and large paintings of abstract art hanging on the wall above the steps. The main room was very crowded, people talking and moving around with one another like busy little ants. There was a small orchestra playing next to the staircase and the music fluttered up lightly from it, wafting in over the sound of the many conversations taking place.

I closed the door behind me and as my eyes adjusted to the light, I scanned the room for any familiar faces - specifically Hapsboro's. I didn't see him, but that didn't stop me from looking at all the people there. I couldn't even begin to count all of the celebrities there - actors, politicians, athletes, musicians - this was definitely an "A" list crowd and outside of a major awards ceremony I doubted that so many powerful, talented people had ever been in one room at a time.

After spotting the male faces, I started to notice the women. It was the most bizarre thing: while the men were all high caliber men of power and esteem, all of the women seemed like nobodies or barely recognizable actresses. The term B-Movie actress seemed to fit pretty well. This was more the rule than the exception though, as I did happen to spot Halle Berry and Julia Roberts and a few other award winners. The ratio was also quite peculiar of men to women. At most parties I had been at, there was often times 5 guys for every 1 girl. Here though, it seemed as if every man had a woman on his arm and there wasn't a single woman standing alone in the entire place.