Page 7 of Places in Time
“What do Ithink?” I swallowed hard, trying to wet my dry throat. “Ithinkmy agent spent that entire day begging and fighting withFull Moon High’s director and every assistant producer to let me take a different role. Ithinkhe tried everything he could to get the executive producer, who you already know was one Mr. Richard Harrison, on the phone without any luck. Ithinkhe wanted to threaten legal action, but his lawyer said they had me totally locked in with that contract.”
Something about Ginger’s expectant expression bothered me so I turned away and stared blankly out the windshield as I finished. “And Ithinkthat the next morning my agent got a call releasing me from my contract. And the day after that,Full Moon Highannounced that the hottest garage band in town, headlined by Jude Harrison, was going to do a summer tour.”
“I see,” Ginger said in response to my outburst. “And how do you feel about that?”
“I don’t feel anything,” I snapped, my mind preoccupied with thoughts of Jude.
“Emotions are like the wind, dear. You need to leave your front and back doors open so they blow through without destroying you.”
I grunted.
“I see that’s the most growth we’re getting out of that place in time, which means we’re not done quite yet. We need to take another trip.”
I couldn’t bring myself to care enough to argue with her. All I could focus on was Jude. I’d been so damn nervous during my first audition that I hadn’t noticed him or his father in the corner, and he’d never told me he had been there or that he had been the catalyst for getting me that part, but neither of those particularly bothered me. Especially in light of the fact that, even now, Jude was the person I trusted most to tell me which parts to take. No, what gnawed at me was what he’d given up for me to have the role onFull Moon High,and then what he’d sacrificed to get me out of that contract a little early.
Over the more than two decades I’d known him, Jude Harrison had rejected countless offers to join popular bands, and even more offers to start his own band or record a solo album. Money hadn’t ever mattered to him, not that it would, given his family money. He wasn’t one to travel, preferring time on the beach and quiet dinners at home. And fame held no appeal to him.
So what reason did Jude have for taking an acting job he hated for two years? And what reason did he have for leaving LA to lead a band on stage in a different city every night when he could have been surfing? I was now pretty clear on the reason—he had done both those things for me. But why?
