Page 2 of Torrid Love
“Get him to do a fourth one. We need a stellar video by next Friday. I don’t want to let Unmerciful Fury down.”
“Trust me, I know. I’m as unhappy as you are we’re stuck with a crybaby wailing about working extra hours and demanding more work-life balance. This is the music biz. There is no such thing.”
“Maybe if Auburn knew what he was doing, he would’ve nailed it the first time around.”
“Thank you!” Loki exclaims.
“Where is he now?” I ask.
“Gone for the day.”
“What?” I shout.
“Yup!”
“But it’s only twelve.”
“He mumbled something about not being able to stay past four o’clock because of an ultimate tournament scheduled weeks ago.”
I’m incredulous. “Our reputation is on the line and he needs to leave early to play Frisbee in the park with some friends?”
“The guy is twenty-seven, but apparently a stupid game of ultimate is more important than his career. Go figure,” Loki shakes his head. “Talk about having your priorities screwed on backwards.”
“Jesus Christ. He needs to get his butt back here.”
“I fired his ass,” Loki says. “I told him to pack his belongings and get the hell out of my sight. I even had security escort him out. I don’t need that shit. I already called Unmerciful Fury’s record label and told them we might not have anything to show them until later next week.”
“What did they say?”
“They’re okay with it. As long as we deliver a finished product by next Friday.”
“Good call,” I nod my approval.
Loki and I own Pending Inference Productions. We pride ourselves on our creative and edgy music videos. In the past three years, we’ve worked with some of the biggest singers and bands in the industry. Yeah, we’ve been lucky. Believe it or not, this is my second career.
“This is all your fault, Rod,” Loki shakes a warning finger at me. “The next time Dom is away, we’ll stick to hiring pros or we’ll schedule work around her absence.”
Auburn is the third video guy we’ve hired in the last six weeks. That’s what happens when you get used to working with the best.
“You won’t hear any arguments coming from me.” I lift a hand up in truce. “In my defense, I never thought giving a chance to up-and-comers would come back to bite me in the ass.”
“Speaking of which, when the hell is Dom coming back from Europe? I can’t handle hiring another amateurish and untalented editor. We’d have to go with a top editor, but that’ll eat into our profits since we’ve already wasted money on three incompetent idiots.”
Dominika Jacek is my best friend. She’s also a kick ass video-director-slash-producer.
“She got back in the middle of the night. She’ll be here on Monday.”
“Weneedher back, Rod.”
“And I said, she’ll be back on Monday.”
“Are you sure she’s back in LA? She hasn’t seen her family in a while. What if she decides to extend her holiday? Have you heard from her?”
“Calm down, Loki. I texted her last night before falling asleep, but I haven’t heard back from her yet. The jetlag is going to be a bitch and I’m sure she’ll feel it.”
“Call her!” Loki points to my iPhone sitting on my desk. “Make sure she’s okay. How many people catch nasty airborne viruses on a plane? It’s like a fucking germ factory. Maybe she’s sick and bedridden.”
“Good point, Doctor Berkshire.”
