The Big Time Pt. 05

"Who?" asked Katie.

"A fucking bitch. That's who she is."

"Why is she a bitch?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Mind if I use the bathroom?"

"No go ahead," said Katie. As Michael did his business in the bathroom, Katie wondered who Michael was talking to. It sounded like a former girlfriend to her. She decided that it was inconsequential to her; he obviously did not like who he was talking to, she did not have to worry about that sort of competition. "I'm going to take a shower, okay?" she said to Michael.

"Okay!" answered Michael from inside the bathroom.

8:27 am. Monday, June 1. Shooting Stars Talent Agency.

Michael was sitting in a well furnished waiting room, reading a copy of Entertainment Weekly. He had spent the previous day hanging out with Katie. There was not a single moment during the time he spent with her that he wished he was somewhere else. Katie was as warm and caring as could be, and aside from Elisha's mean spirited phone call he did not think about Kirsten at all. The day had ended perfectly with an energetic fuck session in her bed.

"Mr. Torbin?" asked the receptionist. Michael looked up. "Simon will see you now."

Michael walked into Simon's office. "Hi."

"Good morning Michael," said Simon. "Right on time."

"Is that unusual?"

"You could say that. Let's go. We're on a tight schedule," said Simon as he stood from his desk.

"We're not doing the negotiations here?"

"Nope. We'll be in hostile territory, Paramount Studio offices." They walked out of the office and rode the elevator to the lobby. "I'd much prefer we do it here, but since you're an unknown we don't have much leverage."

"That shouldn't be a problem for you. I've been told that you're one of the best," said Michael.

"Not one of, I AM the best. By the way, nice touch on the suit. If you look more important they'll be willing to part with more money."

"I guess I should tell you that you guys paid for it." Katie and Michael had bought the suit the day before; Michael was not comfortable wearing the suit Kirsten had given him. Unfortunately the store did not have his shoe size so he was still wearing the shoes Kirsten had given to him.

"Really? You used the credit card?" asked Simon as they exited the building.

"Is that a problem? 'Cause I can re-"

"No, not a problem at all. Besides, that suit wasn't even tailored for you, couldn't have been that expensive."

"You can tell?"

"Yeah, but they won't be able to." The two of them got into a limousine and were soon on their way. Simon turned to Michael. "Okay, so here's how it's going to work. We enter the offices. Shake hands with everyone, introduce yourself to everyone. Once the talks are underway, under NO circumstances do you show any reaction to any offer they put on the table. Sit there, be quiet, and look serious. This is going to be an early test of how good at acting you really are. I will take care of the rest."

Michael shrugged. "Sounds easy enough."

"Don't take this for granted. I'm not sure how much money you've got, but we're talking at the very least six figures for doing this picture. I don't want your jaw to drop or to show any weakness at all. Do NOT agree to anything until I say so."

"No problem Simon. This is your show."

9:00 am. Paramount Studios Executive Offices. Hollywood, California.

The secretary opened the door to a board room. Michael and Simon entered and met the gazes of two women and one man sitting at one end of a long, shiny oak table. Michael followed Simon's lead as he shook hands with the Paramount people.

"Hi, I'm Glen Ross, producer."

"Carey Tisk, executive producer."

"Jen Pish, director."

"Michael Torbin," said Michael. He refrained from making any small talk.

"Please, sit down," said Carey. She motioned to the leather seats flanking the table.

Simon sat down closest to the trio and put his briefcase on the floor. Michael sat down next to him. "Let's begin," said Simon.

"Hold on Simon," said Glen. "Mind if we ask your client a few questions first?"

Simon did not flinch. "Not at all."

"How much do you want?" asked Carey.

Michael thought a moment. "More than you're willing to pay."

"What makes you think you're going to get that?" asked Jen.

"That's what we're here to discuss, isn't it?" said Michael.

Glen wrote a number on a pad of paper and slid it across the table. "What do you think of that?"

Michael glanced down. He then looked at Simon, but Simon was still staring at Glen. Michael pushed the pad back towards Glen. "I don't."

Glen smiled. "Hmph. Fine. I see you're recruiting more intelligent clientele Simon?"

Simon gave Michael a pleased look before looking back at Glen. "And intelligent people have more refined taste, and more refined taste demands more refined money."

11:45 am.

"The contract will be on your desk tomorrow morning," said Carey.

"It's been a pleasure," said Simon as he began shaking hands with everyone.

"I look forward to working with you," said Jen as Michael shook her hand.

"Feeling's mutual," replied Michael.

"Have a good day," said Simon.

They left the room and headed towards the exit.

"Jesus Simon, I can't believe you squeezed that much money out of them," said Michael as soon as they were out of earshot.

"I could have gotten more," said Simon.

"More than five hundred thousand? For a bad actor with no experience at all?" exclaimed Michael.

"Just wait until this movie is a hit and we negotiate your next contract," said Simon with a grin.

"Simon! Hi!"

Michael turned around to see a bouncy woman walking towards them. Simon turned around slowly. "Hi Love," he said.

Jennifer Love Hewitt gave Simon a hug and cheek kiss. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Love. How are you?"

"Great!" She looked at Michael. "Who's this?"

"The next big thing," said Simon. Michael smiled shyly and looked at the floor. "You can say hello Mike."

Michael cleared his throat. "Um. I'm Mike. Torbin. Uh, Michael Torbin." He took his hand out of his pocket and extended it. "Hello."

"Hi Mike! Nice to meet you," said Jennifer as she shook his hand. "You can call me Love."

"Love?"

"Yeah, that's what everyone calls me."

Simon stepped back and looked at Michael and Love standing next to each other. "Perfect."

"What?" asked Michael and Love simultaneously.

"Love, do you have a date for the 2 Fast 2 Furious premiere yet?" asked Simon.

"Uh, no."

"You do now."

"She does?" asked Michael.

"Yep. You two look great together. Don't you agree Love?" Simon watched Love carefully.

"Sure. Mike's a cutie," said Love as she eyed Michael.

"Thanks," said Michael. There was an uncomfortable pause. "Um, you're not so bad yourself."

Love giggled. "It was nice seeing you Simon. Nice MEETING you Mike. Bye!" She walked away, her ass swaying like a pendulum.

Simon walked up next to Michael and cocked his head to see what Michael was seeing. "Move your lips and say 'Thank you Simon.'"

"Thank you Simon," said Michael. "Why exactly did you hook the two of us up? I don't think that's part of your job description."

"Never too early to start making appearances."

"Yeah but…" said Michael. "Next to her? I know she's still a star-"

"Once you start building some relationships in this town, then you can start talking about people behind their backs," scolded Simon. They walked out of the studios.

"What's going to be involved with this? Just that red carpet thing I see on TV sometimes and that's it, right?" asked Michael.

"Pretty much, it's not like an actual date."

"Good."

"Involved with someone?" queried Simon.

"Uh. Yeah, I guess. I'm pretty sure she won't have problem with it."

"You guess?" said Simon. "Anyway, just try and keep your relationships private for now. Don't do anything too wild."

"Okay." Michael and Simon hopped into the limousine.

"The Hilton," stated Simon to the driver. As they got underway he turned to Michael. "Keep your schedule clear for the rest of the week. There are a lot of things we need to take care of before the premiere on Friday. I have a lunch to get to, so we'll drop you at the hotel. Relax for a bit, I'll call you up later to let you know what's going on."

Michael nodded. Soon they dropped him off at the hotel and he headed up to his room again. Apparently show business entailed a lot of sitting around with nothing to do. He checked to see if there were any messages on his phone. There was only one message from a number he did not recognize. Michael played it.

"11:34 am. Monday, June 2nd."

"Hey Mike, this is Eliza. We need to talk. Call me back."

*beep*

"Oh great," muttered Michael. Eliza probably wants to kick his ass for telling Kirsten about the two of them. Michael was familiar with Eliza's lean body; if she had serious martial arts training for Buffy the Vampire Slayer she could be a handful if Michael really pissed her off. He dialed the number.

"Yeah?" answered Eliza.

"Hey, Eliza. This is Mike."

"Oh. You got time for lunch?"

"Yeah."

"Meet me on-"

"What I don't have is a car," interrupted Michael.

"So call a cab. Meet me on Fifth and Locke. Half hour," said Eliza, annoyed. She hung up.

Michael looked at his phone. "Goodbye," he said.

12:33 pm. Corner of Fifth and Locke. Los Angeles.

Michael spotted Eliza leaning against a building smoking a cigarette. She was wearing dark sunglasses. He paid the driver and then got out of the cab. After crossing the street he walked up to her. Eliza let out a stream of smoke from her mouth and then stomped out her cigarette. Swarms of people flowed on the sidewalk in either direction.

"What's with the suit?" she asked.

"I had a meeting this morning," said Michael as someone bumped him. He turned and leaned against the wall like Eliza.

"Do you know why I asked you here?"

"I have an idea."

"Come on, let's go in there." She referred to a busy café a little ways down the street. Eliza walked down the sidewalk as Michael followed. People seemed to move out of her way as she strode towards the café. The place was crowded and loud, but the hostess seemed to know Eliza and they were seated without much trouble.

"Here's the deal Mike. Kiki has a few things to say to you."

"Then why isn't she here?"

Eliza looked at him, a sad expression on her face. "You broke Kiki's heart."

"What?! How could I-"

"Shut up Mike and listen," snapped Eliza. Michael grudgingly became silent. "What you did with those women, with me…" She had a touch of regret in her voice. "…was unforgivable. Her head understands what you did. Her heart doesn't."

"Eliza, if I could just talk to her-"

"Mike. I'm not finished," said Eliza. "She's thought a lot about the upcoming movie, and she doesn't want to ruin your career before it starts. She's not going to get you removed from the film. You and her are going to make the movie. But, from now until filming begins she doesn't want to see you. Once it's wrapped up, it's over. She never wants to see you again."

Eliza's words, Kirsten's words, hit Michael like a gale force. He did not want to believe it. "Why can't she tell me this herself?" he asked weakly.

"I told you. You broke her heart Mike."

Michael buried his face in his hands. He began breathing faster and faster as rage began to build inside him. "ME? I broke her heart?! What about you!? You were her friend, you KNEW about us, and you STILL fucked me!"

"Don't even try to put the blame on me. I'm not responsible for this!" spat Eliza.

"The FUCK you're not! YOU KNEW! I TOLD you that she and I were together before ANYTHING happened! What, she doesn't mind you fucking her boyfriends?!"

"I am not the one who slept with every fucking slut I could find!"

Michael pointed at her angrily. "You knew! You hurt her just as deliberately as I did!"

"No I didn't!" Michael glared at her. "Fuck you Mike! You think she's fucking happy with me!?" yelled Eliza, tears beginning to streak down her cheek. "She won't even look me in the eye anymore!"

"At least she still talks to you! What the fuck do I have? A crybaby messenger who tells me Kirsten wants nothing to do with me from now until the end of time!? Well fuck that. If she never wants to see me again she can tell it to my goddamn face." Michael stood quickly from his chair, knocking it the floor just as the waitress came to take their order. He stormed out of the café.

Eliza wiped her eyes with a napkin before following him out. "Hey!" Michael ignored her and hailed a cab. "HEY!" she yelled again.

Michael quickly got into the cab and shut the door. He stared straight ahead as Eliza ran up to the cab and pounded on the window. When Michael did not open it, she opened the door herself and pushed her way inside.

"What do you want Eliza?" said Michael, less fury in his voice but just as angry as before.

"Where are you going?" asked Eliza.

"I'm going to Kirsten's house. If she doesn't care about me anymore than she can say it to my face."

"You can't go there Mike."

Michael continued to stare straight ahead. "Are you going to stop me?" He heard the sound of a handcuff closing around his wrist. Michael looked down as Eliza handcuffed the two of them together. "Are you insane!?"

"You've done enough damage Michael. Seeing you now is just going to make things worse for her," said Eliza. "Stop the car, we're getting out."

"No, don't stop the car. Keep driving," ordered Michael.

The taxi slowed to a stop. "Sorry buddy, I don't drive around nut jobs with handcuffs. Get out."

Eliza opened the door and forcibly pulled Michael out of the car. She yanked him over to the sidewalk and started walking back down the street, practically dragging Michael with her.

"Eliza. Unlock the cuffs," ordered Michael. Eliza ignored him and continued walking. Michael grabbed her hand and jerked her to a stop. "Unlock the cuffs."

"What makes you think I'm going to let you get anywhere near Kiki?"

"If you won't unlock them, fine. She'll see both of us then. I'm sure that'll really make her day," Michael turned and walked the other way down the street. Eliza pulled back, forcing Michael to pull even harder. Soon they were in a tug of war that was attracting a lot of attention and making their wrists very sore. Eliza did not much stand a chance since Michael was heavier than her. He would drag her on the ground if need be.

Eliza was getting angry now. She gave Michael's arm one hard tug, spinning him around where he was met with hard punch square in the nose. He winced in pain as he stopped walking. "You wanna keep going?" She gave him a hard kick to the abdomen and he doubled over.

But Michael recovered quickly and grabbed her wrist. He twisted her arm as he pinned her against the wall. "What the hell is your problem?"

He was furious now. Furious enough to do something stupid if she kept provoking him. Eliza peeked over his shoulder. "Officer! Get this psycho off of me!"

Michael turned his head as a policeman grabbed his collar and threw him to the ground. Eliza landed on top of him. "LET GO OF HER!" yelled the cop. Michael felt a nightstick jammed against the back of his neck.

"I can't! She cuffed herself to me!" shouted Michael. He opened his hands, trying to make it as clear as possible.

"I don't know what he's talking about! He's the one who cuffed himself to me! I think he was trying to kidnap me!" cried Eliza, playing the damsel in distress to its fullest.

"She's lying!"

The cop pulled a set of keys from his belt and released Eliza from the handcuffs. She stood up and rubbed her wrist. "Yeah yeah yeah whatever punk," said the cop. He took the cuffs off of Michael and replaced them with LAPD cuffs. His partner came by in a squad car and the cop shoved Michael into the back seat. "Read him his rights!" he said to his partner.

"HEY! LET ME OUT OF HERE!" yelled Michael.

The cop ignored him. "Ma'am, we should get you checked out by a doctor."

"No, I'm fine. You guys saved me before he could do anything, thank god," said Eliza.

"Still, someone has to take a look. We'll get an EMT down here right away," said the cop. He turned and looked at the squad car. "Ricky! Get that punk outta here!"

Michael continued yelling as the police car took him down the street. The police officer took out a pad of paper and a pen. "Ma'am?" Eliza ignored him. "Miss Dushku?"

Eliza watched the squad car until it was out of sight. "Oh. Yeah?"

"I have to ask you a few questions."

"Can we do this somewhere else? Where there aren't so many people?" asked Eliza.

"Sure. We can do this at the station if you'd like."

"Fine, just do it fast."

The cop radioed another squad car in the area and it picked the two of them up.

12:59 pm. 42^nd Precinct.

Eliza was sitting in the squad room being checked out by an EMT. Afterwards the officer who handcuffed Michael came back to question her.

"What exactly happened?" asked the cop.

"I was just walking down the street, on my way to lunch when he just, I don't know, appeared out of nowhere and slapped the cuffs on me," replied Eliza.

"Then he cuffed himself?"

"Yeah. He started dragging me down the street. I screamed at him but he just ignored me so I just started attacking him. Then when he pinned me against the wall and you saved me."

"That explains the bloody nose and the footprint on his stomach."

"I'm not going to get in trouble for that, am I?" asked Eliza innocently.

"No, probably not," said the cop. "Did you know this man?"

"No. Never seen him before in my life," answered Eliza. "Maybe he's a psychotic fan."

"Never?" asked the cop.

Eliza's eyes narrowed a bit. "No, never."

"Just making sure ma'am. Anything else you'd like to add?"

"I don't think so."

"Are you going to press charges ma'am?" asked the cop.

"What happens if I do?" asked Eliza.

"Depends on what you charge him with. Assault and attempted kidnapping carry a hefty penalty."

Eliza had no desire to actually convict Michael of a crime. He just needed time to cool off. "What happens if I don't?"

"Well, we'd have to let him go," said the cop. "If you'd like though, we can keep him overnight. We won't get in any trouble. You won't either."

Eliza smiled at him. "That's perfect. Thanks a lot officer."

The officer blushed and tipped his cap. "No problem ma'am. I can get a squad car to take you home if you'd like."

"Actually, I'm starving. I was on my way to lunch, remember?" She stood up and turned around. "Care to join me officer?"

The cop dropped his pen. He looked around quickly and then picked it up. "Yeah, I'd love to." He walked alongside Eliza out of the station. His partner was waiting outside next to his squad car. The cop stepped over to his partner. "Ricky, cover for me, alright?"

"Why?" Ricky then looked past the other cop at Eliza. "Frank, you lucky son of a bitch. Fine. But you owe me for this one."

"Whatever you want, Ricky. Haha!" Frank could barely contain himself.

***

Michael sat in the holding cell, brooding. He could not believe Eliza's audacity. She handcuffed him. She slugged him. She kicked him. Then she actually got him thrown in jail. All to stop him from seeing Kirsten. Either she got off from playing these stupid games or she honestly believed he would hurt Kirsten simply by talking to her. Maybe both.

He looked around. The gaggle of miscreants was a mix of young punks, drunks and crackheads. Michael stood out like a sore thumb, the only well dressed man in the cell. It was not long before someone decided to mess with him.

"HEY! I like those shoes," growled a large man in a leather jacket.

Michael looked up. "So?" he said defiantly.

"Give them to me," ordered the fat man.

"No," stated Michael. The man slapped him with the back of his hand, knocking Michael to the floor.