Page 47 of And They Had a Great Fall

“Jake,” Savannah said, “Cindy and Roger are waiting. You need to call them. You want to FaceTime or just use your phone?”

He gestured to the iPad and scrolled through the contacts for Cindy’s number. He hesitated before dialing, his hands shaking. Talking to both of them made it real, and in his gut, he knew it was bad.

“I’ll leave you,” Savannah said, putting her hand on the door. “Jake, what I can do? What do you need?”

Jake tossed his phone to her. “Can you call Kat? Let her know what’s going on? I don’t think she’s seen it.” While he made a game plan with his team, he wanted to make sure she knew. He wanted … no, needed her near, as she was the one person who calmed him.

Savannah nodded and let herself out of the trailer to give him privacy.

Cindy answered on the first ring. “I’m here with Roger,” she said in a curt tone.

“Cindy, how bad is it?” he asked, his heart starting to race. He was hopeful this could be squashed or at least minimized.

“Well, it’s bad,” she said. “Unfortunately, it’s a slow news day, so this is spreading like wildfire. Everyone is picking it up.”

Roger jumped in. “Jake, I’m going to be honest with you, I already received a call from your upcoming production, and they’re concerned. They aren’t dropping you—yet—but they needed reassurance that you’ll deliver. Also, we’re still in contract negotiations with Ink Studios, which might get derailed.”

Jake spoke directly to Roger, “Wow, that’s my next project. This could fuck up my entire year. Are you kidding me?” He finished his second glass of bourbon and winced.

“It could,” he said. “And you will probably have to move from ‘offer only’ back to auditions. Studios don’t like to lose money, and this will make all of them think twice about hiring you.”

Jake could hear the disappointment in Roger’s voice, which cut him far worse than if Roger were angry. He felt ashamed, as if he were disappointing his own father. Jake ran his fingers through his hair. “Why the fuck is this happening to me?” It was a rhetorical question, but Cindy jumped in to answer it.

“People love idols, people they can put on pedestals, and then knock them down. It’s almost a sport, especially in this business. You’ve been the ‘it’ boy for quite a while, so I’m not surprised this is getting so much traction.”

Roger jumped in. “We have to make sure you don’t get painted as an unstable actor. If you lose fans or have a reputation that impacts how potential moviegoers see you, you’ll become less bankable, no matter how good you are. Remember Billy Castle? His cocaine overdose changed his bankability by 50 percent for at least three years.”

“You’re comparing me to a drug addict,” he said, raising his voice. This was unfair. He’d only had a few bad weeks. It was burnout, not a meltdown, and he’d pulled it together. He couldn’t believe a few weeks could derail the last nine years he had been building his career.

“There is one bright spot,” Roger said looking down at his phone. “I’ve been texting with Garren, and he’s going to personally call Art Savou, one of the producers of your next project, so that will help. At least a little bit.”

“Okay. That should help a lot, right? Not just a bit. It’s all speculation and rumor, so couldn’t it just die down?” Jake asked. He was grasping at straws, but this was worse than he’d imagined.

Both Cindy and Roger were completely silent.

Roger spoke first. “There’s more. And this is worse. Are you alone?” When Jake nodded, he continued. “There’s a leaked email from Garren to the studio, about you.”

“Fuck!” Jake said. “What did it say?” His ears started to ring as the panic set in again.

“The good news is that it hasn’t been published yet. The bad news is that it details the number of scenes that Garren would need to reshoot, the number of days they were behind schedule, and an estimated cost to the studio.” He went on, “Jake, it’s bad. It details a plan to replace you if needed.”

Jake felt bile rise up into his throat. This would absolutely destroy his future projects with any major, or even minor, studio. He wasn’t at the level of fame to survive this hit to his reputation, nor was he financially in a place where he could fund his own projects. But even more than that, he was ashamed that it was true. He’d put them behind schedule; he’d not delivered for the first time in his career. It was easier when he could focus on unsubstantiated rumors and a blip in the production schedule. But the reality of the situation was that he had set them back millions and was nearly replaced. It was a tough pill to swallow. He had to face his own shortfall.

“What do we do?” he asked, resigned.

Cindy put on her glasses. “Let’s start with what’s out there. To combat the rumors, we’ll get a quote from Garren about how great your performance is and hype up the film. We mightconvince the studio to release some behind-the-scenes footage.”

“And he’ll do that?” Jake asked, unsure of whether Garren would ultimately stand behind him. They were working well together now, but there was a time when Garren was planning to replace him.

“Yes. It’s not good for the box office to be surrounded by this kind of drama,” she said. “The data shows that negativity never translates to good numbers.”

Roger jumped in. “Jake, he already texted me that he’s preparing a statement with the studio on the power of your performance and your brilliance on set. He’s in your corner.”

Of course he is, Jake thought.We still have a lot of movie left to shoot, and he needs me. The realization reminded him of the transactional nature of relationships in the entertainment business: if I need something from you and you need something from me, we have a relationship. As soon as that dynamic changes, people disappear. He expected Garren to retreat from this situation immediately.

“Okay, that all sounds workable, but what about the email?” he asked. He ran his hands through his hair.

Cindy answered, “We know TMZ has the email, and my sources tell me they’re the only ones. There are a lot of people focused on figuring out how to keep this quiet. The studio does not want their documents, especially itemized budgets, in the press. There’s an entire machine built around this film, and it’s going to work on this.”

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