“We’re reworking the trailers and commercials to show more of you,” one of the suits shared.
“You should show the towel scene. I would come to see the movie if I thought there was a chance of seeing more of that,” Tami said.
David was certain that Tami felt the daggers his mom was drilling into the back of her head.
“It could be done tastefully,” Tami added.
There was an awkward pause in the conversation.
“Are you all going to the party?” David finally asked.
The suits took that as their sign to beat a hasty retreat. Once they were gone, Chubby chuckled.
“Don’t be surprised when David is running around in just a towel on television come tomorrow. It’s a good thing I cut the one where Mia pulled his towel off, or that would be the one they’d air.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time he’s run around naked. It all started when he was in diapers,” Mom shared.
“What did they think?” David asked Chubby, ignoring his mom’s comment.
“Of course, we will have to wait on the numbers after this weekend, but they’re holding out hope that we have a huge hit on our hands.”
“We’re ready for you,” one of the studio assistants came in and told them.
“Let’s go do our obligatory talk to the press, and then there’s a party to get to,” Chubby said.
“I’m going back to the hotel. I promised your dad I’d give him a full report,” Mom told David.
“I’m supposed to meet my sponsor family for breakfast. I should probably get a good night’s sleep,” Tami said as both she and his mom bailed on him.
◊◊◊
“Harriet, so good to see you again,” David said when he walked into his interview room.
The reporter who had interviewed him for the BBC One special was waiting for him. Frank, his PR man, gave David a helpless look. He looked as shocked as David felt to find her there. All he could think was that BBC One was eager to have them go another round.
They turned on the lights, and the interview began.
“I’m with the star of Devil May Care, David A. Dawson, and we’ve just left the movie’s premiere. Tell me about the opening scene. I was on the edge of my seat. I think it was far better than the one for Quantum Solace. Did you really do that in only one shot?”
David was beginning to recognize that everyone had their favorite action scene in James Bond movies. It wasn’t like there weren’t many to pick from. The franchise had an average of over three car-chase scenes per movie. David gave Chubby props for outdoing all the ones that came before.
“Yes …” David began as the interview continued.
The interview went much longer than the one had for the BBC One special. Harriet played it straight until the end.
“Your mother caused quite the stir on the red carpet. Many think she’s a rock star for standing up to our paparazzi. What was it like growing up with such a gutsy woman?”
David slouched in his chair and looked toward the sky as if to say, ‘God help me!’
“She and I are a little too much alike, which means we sometimes clash.”
“I have a similar relationship with my dad. My mum was happy when I left for college,” Harriet shared.
“My dad sometimes tries to play mediator, but as I got older, he started taking my mom’s side in everything.”
“The only time my dad was ever speechless was when he caught me with a guy. He didn’t say a word as he packed me up to send me to boarding school. Luckily, my mom came home and calmed him down. She said no ten-year-old should be up to what he thought we were up to.”
“Ten?! I have a daughter, and I thought I had a lot more time than that,” David said and then paused. “Ten!”
“It was no big deal. I won’t divulge the little perv’s name … Tommy Baker. He had older brothers and decided he was missing out, so we played ‘you show me yours, and I’ll show you mine.’ I hear he’s still … you know,” she shared as she wiggled her pinky at David.
This was the type of stuff that had made her famous in the UK. David didn’t know if he should laugh or sit in horror as he thought about his little girl. He was firmly in Harriet’s dad’s corner, wanting to send his daughter, Carol, to an all-girls boarding school too.
“Actually, my parents were quite open with my brother and me. I didn’t realize that they’d tricked me into sharing everything with them until I was nearly out of high school. That was when I discovered that the sharing was a one-way street, and they were keeping secrets from us,” David overshared.
“What’s your best mom story?” Harriet asked.
He sat back and thought for a moment. He should have considered where Harriet was coming from rather than the question she asked. If he had, he’d have realized this was how she was able to get people to open up and say things that made for good gossip.
“This happened to my older brother. He was the trailblazer, and I will always be thankful for that. When I was in middle school, he brought his first girl home for dinner. It was entertaining as hell as my mother ‘put her to the question,’ as we call it. She grilled my brother and his girl as my dad and I sat back and enjoyed that show. It can be pretty entertaining as long as you’re not on the receiving end.
“At some point, my mom decided she didn’t like the girl. That was when she began to make observations about the poor girl’s makeup. I can still hear her commenting on her eye shadow and how my brother didn’t like girls who wore so much of it.
“Then she went in for the kill,” David said.
“I hate to ask.”
“As they were leaving, my mother said, and I’ll quote: ‘If I never see you again, it was nice meeting you.’”
Harriet genuinely laughed.
“She didn’t. Did the girl ever come back?”
“Hell, no. But by then, my brother was off to woo another girl.”
At that point, Frank couldn’t take any more and stepped in front of the camera. David closed his eyes for a moment when his brain made the connection that all this was being filmed. She’d won round two.
Harriet was smart enough to figure out the interview was done. She told her cameraman to pack up.
“We have this party to go to. Would you like to come with me?” David asked.
Frank looked like he might get sick. Harriet blinked in confusion.
“I have a boyfriend,” she reminded David.
“I’m not asking you to go behind his back. I just like you and would hope we might become friends.”
He could see the wheels turning in her head. He was ready to chalk it up as a failed attempt when she looked him in the eyes.
“Just friends,” he promised.
“Then I accept. I’ve always wanted to go to one of these.”
◊◊◊
Chapter 4
David
Frank decided to return to the hotel since he had an early flight to New York in the morning. David’s new PA, Kristen, was sitting in the front seat next to his driver. She looked straight ahead when David got in, which made him assume that she wanted to go to the party and was afraid he wouldn’t let her.
“Hey, Kristen. You promise not to be a pest tonight?” David asked.
Harriet glanced over at him, but he shook his head to let her know to stay out of it.
“Yes,” Kristen answered like a petulant teen.
“Young lady …”
“Yes, I promise to not bother anyone,” she said.
He was so getting a new PA when he got home. Although she was a good five years older than he was, he felt like he was the adult in their relationship.
“Then you can come to the party.”
Harriet snickered when she heard the little squeal of joy from the front seat. He had no doubt that she would be digging for dirt on what was going on before the night was over.
The party was being held in Wimbledon at one of the studio executives’ homes. It was a lovely night, so they had the party in their large fenced-in backyard. There was a separate cottage at the back of the property. A bar and stage with a drum set and amps were set up next to it.