CHAPTER FIVE
Ben
I didn’t realize so much had been left undone in my absence. But I did take off without an explanation or a plan in place, so I had to take responsibility for the state of my affairs.
I tossed a stack of bills in my mail bin. There were scripts, contracts, and unsolicited agent resumes cluttering my desk. Word was out that I had fired Rick, and there were plenty of go-getters brave enough to blindly forward their work history.
I hoped to God today’s interview would be the first and last. I didn’t have time for this. Things were piling up. They had piled up. I needed someone on the front lines running the show.
Sometime today, I needed to talk to Valerie about the Baldwin Foundation and find out what kind of shape it was in. She was the one person I had complete faith in. My big sister had never let me down.
Nan stood in the doorway. “Sir, there’s a call from the gate that your three o’clock appointment is here.”
“Tell them to send him up. You can bring him back here when he arrives, Nan. Thanks.”
“Certainly.”
I would know in ten minutes whether I could work with Scott Matthews. I didn’t consider myself judgmental, but a first impression would be enough for me to know if we worked well together. This wasn’t just any position on my staff. This was the position.
When I first started in the business, I had a manager and an agent. But it didn’t take me long to figure out that the two had to be completely in sync with each other at all times for anything to get done. The slightest disagreement would end in botched schedules, missed deadlines, and PR issues. I uncomplicated my life when I morphed the two roles into one and hired Rick. I needed another mega agent who could handle all the managerial parts of my life. And this time I needed someone who deserved my trust.
“Sir?” Nan poked her head in the door. “He’s here.”
I placed a set of scripts on my desk and shuffled the files together.
“Send him in.”
He walked into the office and offered me a firm handshake. “Scott Matthews, Mr. Baldwin. Nice to meet you. I appreciate the meeting.”
“Likewise.” I pointed him to a leather sofa and took the opposite seat. I noticed he had come empty-handed. “So tell me a little about your background. What got you into this business?”
Scott cleared his throat. “Well, to be honest, I wanted to be a sports agent.”
I laughed. “Is that right?” I crossed my legs and settled into the chair.
“Sure is, but the more I was involved, the more I realized I was promoting the celebrity side of the athletes, so why not go ahead and work with celebrities?”
“Good point.” I had a few friends in professional sports, and other than their actual time on the field, there wasn’t a lot of difference between what they did and what I did. “I’m sure you’re current on my situation. I’m looking for someone who can handle the press, advise me on what’s happening out there, and mainly keep this shit out of my life.” I held up this morning’s newspaper.
Scott nodded. “I’ve been keeping an eye on your media circus. Looks like you have a few problems right now.”
“Sure do. If I hired you, what would you do about them?”
He leaned forward on his knees. “Honestly?”
“Of course. I don’t need anyone else bullshitting me.” I was anxious to hear what he had to say. “I’ve had enough of that already.”
“It mainly depends on you. Are you in or out of the movie business?”
“I’m taking a pause.” That was the best explanation I could give.
“Well, that’s not going to work.”
“What do you mean?” I sat up straight.
“Ambivalence doesn’t help you; it’s only going to hurt. If you want out of the business, you need to retire. We can put together a press conference, whatever you want, but you need to make an official statement saying that you are no longer seeking films and you are riding off into the sunset.” He paused. “Or, you get on this popularity horse and ride it into making your career bigger than you ever dreamed possible. You are the number one talked about male actor right now. That horse is out there waiting for you. The sky’s the limit on how far it can take you.”
“Are you talking about Love & Bondage?”
“Yes and every other top-grossing box office script sitting in front of a casting director. You could have your pick of any of them if you commit to Love & Bondage.”
“But I haven’t talked to a damn soul on that set.”
Scott shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. The author endorsed you, and she wrote the screenplay. She wants you. Social media wants you. And from what I’ve heard, Rebecca Campbell wants you too.”
I slapped my knee. “Dammit. I need to get away from Rebecca, not get back in that trap with her. I knew she wasn’t going to drop this.”
“Look, I don’t know what your personal story is with her, only what I’ve read. But she’s America’s sweetheart and she spun your love story into something epic. Do you have any idea how many magazine copies her Vogue interview sold?”
“I don’t care about magazine copies. I care about staying out of them. I value privacy.”
Scott smiled. “You realize you’re a movie star, right?”
I glared at him harder than I intended. I didn’t need one more person telling me how impossible it was to have both worlds.
“I don’t care about being in the press.” My words were firm.
“I know you don’t, but like it or not, Rebecca put you in the spotlight and made you more popular than you already were. Her campaign for you two to star in this movie has worked.” He sat back against the leather. “But I understand if this isn’t what you want. I’m not here to tell you which direction to take. I’m here to make whichever direction you choose happen. And rest assured I will make it happen. Just tell me which path you want.”
I considered his stance. It wasn’t like anything I had heard before. Rick was always trying to convince me to take the next role, make the next photo shoot, commit to the next charity event. For once, there was someone telling me he would support my retirement.
“I need to think about it some more.”
“Which part?” Scott looked nervous for the first time since he had sat down.
“Love & Bondage or retirement.” I smiled. “You, you’re hired.” I reached across the coffee table and shook his hand.
“Wow. Thanks. Thank you. I can start immediately.”
“Good.” I stood and walked back to the desk. “And you’re certain Love & Bondage would be the best option if I decide to do another film? Have you even read the book?”
Scott joined me over the stacks of papers. Any hint of nervousness he had shown during the interview vanished. I could tell he was already in agent mode. “I read most of it. You have to admit, most guys would kill to be in that movie with Rebecca Campbell.”
I shook my head. “Yeah, the problem is I already lived all that with Rebecca.” I ran my hand along my jaw, remembering our nights together. “Any chance it will be a different actress? Could I request someone else if I agreed to do it?”
“They want her. She has the perfect innocent vixen look going for her and kicking her off will only make things worse. The last thing you want is bad press.”
“But if I do this, we’re going to be back in the headlines together. I’ll be working with her every day.” I grimaced, barely able to stomach the idea.
“Look at it this way.” Scott paused. “Let the press think Rebecca is your personal life. Feed them what they want to see. Then, back here, you can have whatever life you want. I could think of worse cover stories.”
I smiled. Now that was an idea. Maybe there was a way to keep the press brigade away from Chelsea after all.
I slapped Scott on the back. “All right. Give me tonight to think about it. I have someone I need to talk to first. I’ll call you in the morning and let you know which direction I want that horse pointed.”
“Call me tonight if you need to. Call me anytime. I’m here for you—” He hesitated.
“Ben, you can call me Ben.”
“Talk to you later, Ben.” He smiled and walked out of the office.
I collapsed into my desk chair. Half of my problem had been solved, but there was a much bigger one on my plate. I pulled out my phone and dialed a number I had hoped to never use again.
“Ben, oh my God. I can’t believe it’s you. How are you?” Rebecca’s sweet voice chimed with happiness.
“Hey, Becs. Do you have a second?”
“Of course, of course. Hold on. Let me step out of this meeting.”
“Why don’t you call me back later?” I realized there was no way to tell who she was with and whether she could be discreet about anything we discussed.
“No, I wouldn’t think of it. Ok. I can talk. I was meeting with my stylist, but she can wait. What’s going on?”
“I wanted to talk to you about Love & Bondage.”
“Oh my God, does this mean you’re doing it?”
“No, no. Just calm down a second. I wanted to talk to you about it. That’s all. Nothing more than that.”
“Ok, I get it. What did you want to talk about?” She had reined in her excitement surprisingly quickly.
“I wanted to talk about us.”
“Us? But I thought you told me last week you were seeing someone. Change your mind?” Her voice was playful.
“I am seeing someone. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m still with Chelsea. That hasn’t changed and it’s not going to change. But, I need to know from you if that’s a problem if we were to work together. Because if it is, I get it. I just need to know, Rebecca.”
“Why w-w-would it be a problem? I’m a professional. You think I’m over here pining away for you? You should see my stalker scrapbook and the posters of you on my bedroom wall.” She giggled.
“I didn’t say that.” I shook my head. She wasn’t making this easy.
“Isn’t that what you’re insinuating? I can’t handle being around the sexy, hot Ben Baldwin if I’m still carrying a torch for him?”
“Becs, come on. I didn’t say any of those things. I’m trying to see where you stand on us working together again since we broke up. It’s not a normal situation. I don’t want to make things difficult for you or me.” I was starting to regret the call. Rebecca was more playful than usual.
“Ben, if you will sign on to do this movie, I can handle it.”
“You sure?”
“Positive. Besides, I think it would be fun to work together again. Like old times.”
That’s exactly what I was afraid of. Becs and her flirtatious, seductive moves. Not to mention that half of our scenes would be in bed. I tried not to think about that part.
“All right, thanks. That’s all I needed to hear.”
“Does this mean you’ll do it?”
“I don’t know. Thinking about it. But I swear if you leak a single word of this conversation—”
“Hey, I wouldn’t do that. Oh, gotta go, babe. I have another fitting. Bye.”
I looked at the dark phone. I had to hope and pray that I hadn’t just made the biggest mistake of my life. Chelsea should be home from her meeting with Brandon any minute. Once we talked about it, I would know what to do.