Page 157 of My Five Daddies

I love it. I love working with different directors, actors, and writers. I do a bunch of different things on set, and I’m like a jack of all trades on top of my usual scriptduties.

And I’m looking forward to this upcoming job. My roommate, Laney Lane, not her real name, is one of the best action writers in Hollywood. But because she’s a woman, it’s harder for her to sell her scripts. Fortunately though, I was able to get her script forBrutally Dishonestinto the right hands at my studio, and the rest is history. Now I get to work as script girl for my closest friend’s film, and I can’t wait to getstarted.

I wake up early and roll out of bed. Our apartment isn’t the nicest thing in the world, but I like it enough. It’s basically a little bungalow at the edge of town. I head into the bathroom, do my usual morning routine, and find Laney already up, drinking coffee, and typingaway.

“Your work ethic is inspiring,” I say to her,grinning.

“Gotta keep the grind going,” she says, a little bleary-eyed.

“Wait, did you sleep last night?” I cock my head ather.

She grins at me sheepishly and looks up from her screen. “How can youtell?”

“Well, the dead-eyed stare, the messy hair, and the general disheveled appearance kind of gives itaway.”

She sighs and leans back, yawning. “I got sucked into this story and now I can’tstop.”

“What’s it about?” Iask.

“I think it might be the sequel toBrutally Dishonest. It’s about Brock Brockhard and his huge, ah, gun, youknow.”

I grin at her. “Sure, I getit.”

“Anyway, he’s sent to deal with some Nazis down in South America, but when he gets there, he finds out that the conspiracy goes so muchdeeper.”

“Deeper how?” I ask. I’m already a fan. Nothing wrong with killing someNazis.

“Aliens,” she says, her eyes a littlewide.

“Laney,” I groan. “You can’t beserious.”

“Aliens,” she repeats. “Brock finds out that the Nazis are working with the aliens to overthrow the American government, but really, the aliens are just using the Nazis. They’ve already infiltrated the government to the highest level, and it’s up to Rick to root themout.”

I look at her for a second and decide just to be honest. “You need to sleep,” Isay.

She frowns at me. “Thatbad?”

“Maybe,” I say. “I haven’t readit.”

“Damn.” She stretches and yawns again before shutting the laptop lid. “I probably should sleep. The aliens only appeared in the third act, which I started writing around three in themorning.”

I can’t help but laugh. Laney is always doing stuff like this, staying up too late and writing crazy scripts. Most of the time, I can convince her to make them a little more conventional, but every once in a while she writes a masterpiece and shops it around. Those don’t usually sell, but she has sold a few othermovies.

Brutally Dishonestis her biggest though, and it’s looking like the budget is going to behuge.

I head into the kitchen and pour myself some coffee. At least she was nice enough to make some for me, too. I sip my mug and pause when I catch sight of the magazine on the kitchentable.

“Laney,” I call out, walking over to it and slowly picking it up. “What’s this doinghere?”

“You’ll have to be more specific,” she answers from the otherroom.

I stare at his face, his handsome, familiar face, and I want to vomit. I hate seeing him around town. I hate how popular he is, how everyone knows his name. Women want to throw themselves at him, men want to be him. He’s a real action star and people lovehim.

But they don’t know Jackson like I do. He’s a liar, a filthy asshole, and a bastard. I don’t want to ever see him again, and yet now I can’t seem to freaking get away from hisface.

I walk out into the living room, holding up the magazine. Laney looks up and grins at me. “Oh,” she says. “That.”

“Yes, this. Since when do you read this stuff?” It’s a gossip rag that basically writes about upcoming and in-productionprojects.

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