Everything Leads to You(40)

Back inside, Charlotte is typing on her laptop as Theo talks to her.

“This girl knows what she’s doing,” he says when I join them. “I might have to borrow her from you once in a while.”

An hour ago, I might have cried at this prospect, but Morgan has made me confident so I say, “It would be selfish of me not to share her.”

“I have to follow up with Rebecca about something,” Charlotte says. “Then I’m ready when you are.”

I take out my phone to check the time, and on the screen is a text message from Ava: Halfway through the screenplay!

I write back, Do you love it?

She says, Yes.

Then I join Rebecca and Charlotte and listen as they go over the budget. Basically, we’re going to talk our way into procuring most of the things we’ll need, but we’re saving a little money by using Toby’s place for Juniper’s apartment.

“Theo,” I call, and he comes back over to us. “Do you have any leads for George’s house and the grocery store, or should I start those searches?”

“I have a few places in mind for George’s,” he says. “I’ll make us some appointments. But in the meantime if you find some possibilities go ahead and schedule some of your own. We’ll go look at them all together.”

Charlotte and I arrive home to a package leaning against Toby’s front door, and even before we’ve stepped inside I’m already ripping it open. Each sheet has its own line drawing of a plant, hand tinted in subtle greens and whites and browns, with its Latin name printed in small letters at the bottom.

Juniper’s botanicals, even more perfect in person.

~

Later that night I get a call from Morgan.

“Guess where I am,” she says.

“Um?”

“Screening Room Five. You know Harvey? The projectionist? He’s getting today’s footage ready for the execs tomorrow.”

“Sounds like Harvey’s a good friend to have.”

The executives and department heads get invitations each day to view the footage from the day before. Gathering in small screening rooms to watch multiple takes of the same scenes from various angles and points of view might sound tedious to some people, but I’ve been dying for an invitation to the dailies since I started interning. Space is limited and I’ve never gotten to go.

“There’s more,” Morgan says. “Today they shot scenes eight and twenty-two.”

I’m so immersed in Yes & Yes that it takes a moment to remember what these scenes were. But only a moment.

“Holy shit,” I say. “How does it look?”

“It’s your room,” Morgan says. “I wouldn’t start without you.”

So twenty-five minutes later I’m walking into a projection room that is empty besides Morgan and her new buddy Harvey, a guy probably in his sixties with thick glasses and a comb-over. When I thank him for letting us sit in, he tells me he’s just doing his job, but it’s clear that he’s loving having us as an audience. I doubt he usually takes his time the way he is now.

“I’ve set up the dailies almost every night for forty years,” he says. And then he proceeds to tell me forty years’ worth of stories. All the famous films of which he’s seen every take, all the stars who needed a dozen takes to get something right.

“Did you ever show dailies from a Clyde Jones movie?” I ask.

“Sure did. Silver Stirrups. Not his finest film, but certainly his last one. He should have quit while he was ahead. Before that one was Midnight River. Now that would have been going out with a bang. But even in Silver Stirrups he only needed a couple takes for each scene. He was a real professional.”

At that, Harvey ascends the stairs to the projection room, leaving Morgan and me alone.

“Clyde Jones?” she asks. “Are you suddenly into Westerns?”

I just shrug. I’m not even tempted to say something evasive like, I’m asking for a girl, or He reminds me of someone. Even though saying those things would be true, there is something about how I’m feeling right now that makes me want to keep quiet about it. Something about Ava I want to protect. Every time I’m reminded of her it feels like I’m keeping a secret. Not only about her famous grandfather but about her crooked smile and her raspy voice. About her hesitations and her confessions and her focused, private thoughts.

Morgan is heading toward seats in the center and I follow her, sink into the plush red velvet. Some of the most influential people in the business have sat in this screening room, probably in this exact seat. I check out the console between us and see that with a press of a button I could call up to Harvey and ask him to play something over or speed through something else.