‘Yeah, we think so too,’ Grant went on blithely. ‘Anyway, here we are.’
He brought the cart to a stop outside the art deco commissary building. A line of people, some studio workers and others extras in an assortment of costumes, were waiting at the entrance, but he breezed straight past them, signalling for his guests to follow. ‘We’ve got a table in the dining room,’ he told the maître d’ at the doors to one side.
The man nodded obsequiously. ‘Of course, Mr Thorn. This way, please.’
Eddie glanced at the large, busy cafeteria into which the queue was heading, then said, ‘How the other half lives,’ as he, Nina and Macy followed Grant into a more tranquil and expensively decorated space. Large framed posters of the studio’s past successes adorned the walls between the potted palms.
Seated beneath one of the pictures was a heavily tanned little man in his fifties, grey hair cut in a sharp, bristling style that made his head resemble a mahogany-handled shaving brush. He looked up at the new arrivals from behind a pair of oversized sunglasses, then stood to greet them. ‘Hey, Marv!’ said Grant. ‘This is Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase. And you know Macy already. Nina, Eddie, this is my business partner, Marvin Bronze.’
‘Good to meetcha,’ said Marvin with a broad Chicago accent. He extended a walnut-brown hand to Eddie and Nina in turn. ‘Come on, siddown. Let’s eat. And talk.’
The five took their places. A waiter was summoned and orders taken, then conversation began in earnest. ‘So, Mr Bronze—’ Nina started.
‘Marvin, Marvin! We’re all friends here. Hopefully very good ones by the time we’re done.’
‘So, Marvin… what do you want to talk to us about?’
Marvin and Grant swapped glances, Grant grinning with barely contained anticipation. ‘I want to talk to you about you!’ said the older man.
‘Us?’ said Eddie. ‘What about us?’
‘You’re big properties!’ Marvin proclaimed. ‘You, Nina, I know a publisher in New York offered you six figures to write a book about all those incredible things you’ve discovered. Like Atlantis and the vault of whatsisname, the Indian guy.’
Nina was startled. ‘How did you know about that? They haven’t announced it publicly, because I don’t know how long it’ll take to write — and they definitely haven’t gone public about the money side of it.’
He chuckled. ‘If there’s a deal being made that could lead to a movie, Hollywood knows about it. There’s only one thing they’re short of out here, and that’s ideas. They need a constant flow of new ideas for movies. And the best are the ones that come from real life.’ He leaned towards the couple. ‘Let me lay it out for you. Your lives would make fantastic movies. A whole series of movies, even. You two have got the potential to become a billion-dollar franchise!’
‘Yeah, but who’d play me?’ Eddie asked while his wife was temporarily dumbstruck. Grant’s smile widened. ‘What? No! You can’t bloody play me!’
‘Nothing’s set yet, dude — but I’ve been practising the accent. Check this out.’ The actor cleared his throat. ‘Looook art, thurrs a lurd o’ turrorists cooomin’ o’er that ’ill. Boogration an’ foockry!’
Nina let out an involuntary yelp of laughter. Her husband was less amused. ‘That’s nothing like me! And it’s not even close to a Yorkshire accent. It’s more like… I dunno what the fuck it’s like. A Welsh South African Pakistani Martian, maybe.’
‘To be fair, honey,’ said Nina, ‘you can’t do accents either.’ By the time Grant had realised the implied criticism of his efforts, she had already turned back to Marvin. ‘So — you want to buy the movie rights to our lives?’
‘No, no,’ he replied, shaking his head. ‘I want to buy the movie rights to the book of your lives. Someone wanted to make a biopic about you, they wouldn’t have to pay you a penny. You’re both public figures.’
‘I’m not a public figure,’ Eddie objected.
‘Your wife is,’ Marvin told him, ‘so you are too. That’s how it works, like it or not. But my way makes it official. Gives the movie the seal of authenticity.’
‘But like I said, I don’t know when the book will be finished,’ said Nina. ‘Or even if.’ Again Macy picked up on the resignation in her tone; the younger woman’s expression became questioning, but she didn’t interrupt. ‘And to be honest, I’m not entirely comfortable with Hollywood turning what I do into mass entertainment. I mean, it’s my work — it’s my life! And real people have died on my archaeological expeditions, friends of ours. I don’t like the idea of moments like that being re-created for people to watch while they’re eating popcorn.’
‘I understand, believe me,’ said Marvin. ‘But here’s the thing: like it or not, you are famous, and this is the time to capitalise on it… before someone else does. You know how many scripts with the word “Atlantis” in the title are going around the studios? A dozen at least — and they’re all riding on your back. Ancient myths and legends are big right now, and it’s entirely because of the stuff you’ve dug up over the past few years.’
‘I think they were already big without me. I mean, they’ve been in the collective consciousness for thousands of years.’
‘That’s just it, though. They’ve been there in the background, with nobody really paying any attention until you came along.’ He leaned forward again, hands spread wide. ‘You know what movies are? They’re our modern-day myths and legends. The difference is that they don’t evolve over time, they’re manufactured, fully formed, like Athena born from the forehead of Zeus.’ Noticing Nina’s surprise, he added with a sly smile: ‘What, just ’cause I’m a Hollywood producer I can’t know my classics? You should see my art collection. I can bore for my country about Dutch Renaissance paintings.’
‘Oh, he can, man,’ said Grant, pressing fingers to his temple to suppress a headache-inducing memory.
‘People believe in movies,’ Marvin went on. ‘And even if what’s up on screen is total bullshit, it still gets taken in.’ His gaze became more intense behind his tinted glasses. ‘Nina, this is your chance to make sure that the story being told on that screen — your story — is true. What do you say?’
Feeling uncomfortably as though she was being bamboozled by an expert, Nina looked to Eddie for advice, but he could only manage an uncertain shrug. ‘I’ll… think about it,’ she eventually said.
This seemed to satisfy Marvin for the moment; she was sure he would follow up with more persistence before long. ‘Good, great,’ he said as the waiter approached with their first courses. ‘Okay, now let’s eat.’
2
‘That’s the Hollywood sign?’ said Eddie, disappointed. ‘It’s a bit small, innit?’
He and Nina stood with Macy on Hollywood Boulevard, looking up the flight of stairs beside the Kodak Theater at the distant landmark, its white letters shimmering in the summer heat. Grant and Marvin had stayed at the studio to attend another meeting. ‘Well, it is quite a long way away,’ Nina pointed out.
‘I was still expecting something more impressive. I thought it’d be three hundred feet tall with spotlights and animatronic dinosaurs or whatever.’
‘When I first came here, I thought it’d be bigger too,’ admitted Macy. ‘It was kind of a let-down.’
‘That’s Hollywood for you, I suppose,’ Nina said. ‘It all looks a lot more spectacular and glamorous on the big screen. Anyway, at least now you can say you’ve seen it.’
Eddie took a photo with his phone, and they headed back towards their waiting limo. ‘Speaking of the big screen, what did you reckon to all that stuff Marvin was saying?’