Up & Out - Ariella Papa [12]
“No, Lauryn, relax. I thought you were cool about all of this.”
“I was, but I don’t need Jordan rubbing shit in my face. And by the way, Beth called and I don’t appreciate you guys discussing my life.”
“Lauryn, calm down. How many times have you discussed my life or Beth’s or anyone’s?”
“Whatever.” I look up to see Don Beckford standing in my doorway.
“Listen,” I change my voice to make it seem as though I’m a nice person and not an exasperated friend. “I’ll call you back.”
“Whatever.” She hangs up. (If she were on antidepressants, like Beth is convinced, you’d think she’d be a lot nicer.)
“Okay, bye. Thanks.” I say to the dial tone. I don’t want Don Beckford to think people hang up on me. “Hello, Don.”
“Hey, Rebecca.” Don was so damn jolly all the time. “Is this a bad time? I can come back.”
“No, what’s up?”
“I wanted to get your feedback on something.” Really? Don wants my feedback on something, one seasoned producer to another? Nice.
“Sure.”
“Jordan Barsotti.” I open my mouth and shut it.
“What about him?”
“Of course you know he’s one of our finals for the live actor who will interact with Gus.” So that’s what Lauryn meant, “Gus the Gopher.”
“Of course.” Shit! What? Does he want my feedback on him? Does he want to hear what a dick he is? How he has a gambling problem, uses drugs more than recreationally and treated his wife like shit? Maybe I should tell Don that one time Jordan grabbed my ass at a party (I never told Lauryn or Tommy) and how it still makes me sick whenever I think about him.
“I figured you’d be happy to hear about it. He said you guys were good friends.”
“Well, the thing is, I feel like I never get to see my friends anymore with this show.” Not a lie exactly. What a position to be in.
“Tell me about it. What friends?” He laughs like Paul Perry had earlier. “But, can you see him as Gus?”
Before the divorce I had seen Jordan play everything from Hamlet to Stanley Kowalski to the guy inside a sandwich board. Now he would be acting with a blue screen that would later be a gopher.
“Absolutely,” I say. Playing second fiddle to an imaginary gopher might be enough revenge for Lauryn. “He is Gus.”
“Terrific. See you later, Becky.” Now that I’ve helped him he thinks it’s okay to call me Becky. I hate that. “Hey, great coverage on the premiere episodes.”
“Thanks.” He probably knows all about the fact that we are up for sale. I need another coffee.
At four o’clock Tommy calls me with “great” news. Jordan is Gus. He acts like I hadn’t hung up on him yesterday or like Jordan isn’t an asshole as far as I am concerned. I hear Tommy talking to a woman in the background. He comes back on the phone.
“Who was that?” I ask, trying not to sound as interested as I am.
“I’m at the store.”
“What store?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I got a job.”
“A job. You already have a job.” When Tommy was laid off from his dot.com gig, it was still early enough for him to get a sweet severance deal. He used his money to start a Web site that appeals to guys like him who buy and sell comic books, video games and the paraphernalia that went with it. It is small and independent, but has a cult following.
“That’s not really bringing the money in. I’m almost through my savings. Rent’s a little more expensive these days.” I’m not sure if I should be pissed about the dig or feel sorry for him that his dream isn’t exactly going as planned.
“So where are you working?”
“The video store on Ninth, you know, where we used to go.” Oh, that one. “It’s not bad at all. I get to watch movies all day. I get a deal on game rentals and when it’s slow I do a little writing.”
“I see.”
“Anyway, I should go. So you okay about Lauryn going to the Vineyard?” Finally some concern.
“What can I do? If she’s happy, I’m happy.”
“Right, well if you—” He stopped. I waited. “Tell her I said…congrats. Maybe she and Jordan can finally move on with things now.”
“Maybe,” I say, and wait again. I’m not giving in to this today. If he has something to say, I’m not