The meeting reminds me of the one we had a long time ago, when we got dragged into the extra season where I had to go up against Giselle, Mariah, and Christy, the season two finalists.
Except that this time, there is a seat for me.
Blitz’s agent Hannah is there. And the producers I know. Drake Addler, the nice one. Lance, the red-faced, not-so-nice one. Taya, who is pushy. And the other woman, whose name I’ve forgotten.
Bennett isn’t there now, though. He sold his share to Blitz.
Devon stands in the corner, looking tired in his black turtleneck. Amara, the choreographer, sits primly nearby.
Another man clears his throat. “Blitz, Livia, good to see you. Do sit down.”
After a moment, I remember who he is. Liam, the lawyer for the show. He’s the one who had me sign my contract.
“Larry, you might as well cuddle up to Liam,” Blitz says. Larry is his personal lawyer. “And thanks for coming.”
“No prob,” Larry says.
I haven’t seen Larry in a long time. I give him a little wave and he smiles.
Jessie hurries through the door and sets her bag in a corner.
“Who is this?” Taya asks. She pushes back a section of her carefully blown out blond hair. She looks ready to eat somebody.
“Our assistant,” Blake says. “Shelly is overseas.”
“I’m here,” Hannah says. “I can handle whatever goes on here.”
“Jessie stays,” Blitz says.
Poor Jessie isn’t used to this level of scrutiny or the laser-hard glare of Hannah. “I can go,” she says.
“I can make use of her,” Taya says, pushing a stack of papers toward the middle of the table. Pass these out.”
Jessie glances at us to see if we agree.
I stand up. “I’ll help.” I’m not going to have them make Jessie feel like a second-class citizen on my watch.
Everyone is quiet while Jessie and I pass around the packets. It looks like the treatment for the wedding episode. The cover reads, “Non-Season Special Drama.”
They got the drama part right.
I sit back down next to Blitz. He takes my hand.
Taya talks first. “Our counsel Liam has the pertinent part of Blitz’s contract available as we go into our first discussion of the treatment. We already have a crew on hand, and filming begins tomorrow. We didn’t want the engagement to get stale before we started promoting.”
I glance at Blitz. He’s grimaced at the word stale.
“How did a prime slot open so quickly?” Lance asks. He flips through the pages.
“The hundred-year birthday celebration of that comic got canceled,” Taya says. “He apparently isn’t well enough.”
Lance nods. “It’s good timing. Sweeps week. All of it.”
“Agreed,” Taya says. “That’s why we’re jumping.”
“What’s the legal details?” Blitz asks. “I’m not clear on whether we’re getting the marriage license and actually having official documents signed? I’m not for that. Livia and I have our own actual wedding planned.”
Taya flips through the document. “If you go to page six, you’ll see we have a segment planned where you apply for your marriage license. We’re still working on permits for that, so it might get nixed.”
“And if we do get permits,” Blitz says.
Larry speaks up, casual in his tan suit with an open throat. “I checked on this. Even if you file for the permit, it can be allowed to expire. It doesn’t mean anything unless you have an official sign the marriage document.”
Liam is next, a more strait-laced lawyer in a black suit and red tie. “We can fake that even if it’s part of the wedding filming. Use a false document and let the other one expire.” He looks around at Taya and the producers. “Were you even going to do a shot of them signing? It’s not wise to show the real document regardless.”
Devon waves his hand to shoo away the idea. “That’s boring. Nobody cares about documents.”
“But city hall,” Taya says. “That’s an expensive segment.”
“No, we’ll do that one if we can,” Devon says. “No close-up on documents. But I doubt we get the go ahead on our timeframe. They’re notoriously difficult in LA about government offices.”
“That’s a big budget item we can strike,” Lance says. “Might as well.”
“It’s good for the promo slots if we can do it, though,” Devon says. “Blitz and Livia will be more relatable if we show that they are like everyone else. Make them stand in line looking nervous.”
“But the cake tasting and tux fitting are much sexier promo ops,” Taya says. “Nobody skips past a commercial of people doing those things.”
“It’s as much the social media market as the television spots,” Drake says. “The media team can make a funny meme about the line at the license office.”
“True,” Lance says with a laugh. “Famous celebrity. Still impossible line.”
Devon nods. “Exactly. We’ll get a shot of some sour-faced official and it will go viral.”
“Let’s talk about the bridesmaids,” I say, forcing my voice not to quiver. “I don’t get to choose any of them?”
“We need the bridesmaids to be television worthy,” Taya says. “You can save your real friends for the ceremony you and Blitz plan yourselves.”
“And you left family out,” Blitz says.
Now there is a discomforting silence.
“My parents won’t be involved regardless,” I say quickly.
“Blitz, did you talk to your brother?” Taya asks. “He’s a handsome devil.”
“No,” Blitz says. “And my father is out.”
“You want your mother?” Drake asks. “It has to be good to have his mother, right?”
“We agreed that family wasn’t necessary. We want a spectacle, not a home movie,” Taya says.
“We would like a social cause attached to the event,” Blitz says smoothly. “I think it plays better if all this glittery celebrity has a heart.”
Taya frowns. “It’s a bit late to be adding a component of that nature.”
Liam leans forward. “We have to get a green light from the charity before we can mention them. What did you have in mind?”
Blitz looks over at me. “We think the wheelchair ballerinas will take the fans back to the early days when Livia and I were together. It was a moment that reconnected me with them too. We want them here for the wedding. All the girls and their families. And we want to fund some classes for wheelchair dancers here in LA.”
A mild uproar erupts. Everyone talks at once, as if we’ve just suggested bombing a third-world country.
Taya lifts her hands to shush everyone. “We appreciate your ideas,” she says. “And it sounds like a worthy cause. But that’s an undertaking we could never get through legal and finance in time.”
“You got this show through legal and finance,” Blitz counters.
Liam speaks up. “This episode was built in from the beginning,” he says. “With legal and finance. What you’re proposing is basically starting a new organization. The federal non-profit paperwork alone would take months.”
“Aren’t there any wheelchair dance programs here already?” I ask.
“Possibly,” Liam says. “But many of them wouldn’t have the infrastructure or personnel to handle an influx of money of this size. Plus manage the publicity we’d suddenly give them.”
“And I don’t think there’s a budget item for flying in a bunch of random people,” Taya says, her tone dismissive. “Plus, contracts. And liability for travel for these girls.”
The room goes quiet.
I’m the one who speaks up next. “Is there anything about this wedding that belongs to me and Blitz?” I ask quietly.
“It’s still you,” Drake says. “And Blitz.” He passes his hand over his forehead, like this is all too much. “This one is for the fans. They just want to see the couple they feel they brought together in pretty clothes they will never own, eating fancy food they will never taste. And having the fantasy wedding they could only dream up. They put you here, in their minds. So, this is their wedding too.”
I glance over at Blitz. I can see he’s softening on the matter. The wheelchair ballerinas were a long shot. And I can see it might be hard to get them to travel. Daisy for sure, who often has bad days. Flying is hard.
Maybe a local wedding is better than a cruise. Make it easy for the girls to come.
My mind is a whirl as the meeting goes on, budgets and schedules and filming days. We will be doing so little at the studio itself that they decide not even to open it to save the crew costs.
I only register that the meeting is over when chairs start scraping the floor and everyone begins to stand.
I get up, a little dazed.
“So we’re all set for wardrobe tomorrow and filming at the cake shop?” Taya asks.
“All set,” Devon says. “I’ll get the footage over and the first promo is set for a week from now.”
“You can get it ready in time?” Lance asks.
“Not a problem,” Devon assures him.
Hands shake all around.
Blitz and I walk out with Larry and Jessie.
“I’m surprised you didn’t fight them on the bridesmaids,” Larry says. “Livia’s contract doesn’t specify that she loses the right to choose them.”
I shrug. “I don’t think Mindy’s parents would let her come, and everyone at the dance studio is so busy. We couldn’t have Danika shut it down while we film.”
Larry nods. “All right then. Good luck with that part.” He shakes Blitz’s hand. “Let me know if anything goes south.”
“I’m sure it will,” Blitz says.
“And if you want that charity set up in the future, just let us know. We can handle the paperwork.”
“Thanks,” Blitz says.
We walk ahead of the rest of the group, not really wanting to engage in random chit-chat. The sun is bright overhead. Perpetual summer in sunny southern California.
But I can’t help but feel like there’s a permanent cloud over my head.