“How have you managed to give me the runaround in this pokey little town?”
“Pokey? We prefer the word quaint. Did the studio send you out to babysit?”
“You might say that. They want this scandal to disappear pronto. With the premiere coming up and the PR ready to roll out, they don’t want to see your name in a single headline unless it’s because you saved a little old man with CPR or landed an airplane during a mid-flight emergency.”
“Got it.” Not that he had too much control over it. The tabloids had papers to sell, and his name sold papers. The more salacious the headline, the faster the papers flew off the stands.
Renee stopped by for Jerry’s drink order before rushing off to seat some newcomers.
Tynan speared Jerry with his locked and loaded gaze. “Everyone who knows Sijan knows that woman is lying through her bleached and capped teeth.”
Sijan sat back and enjoyed his coffee, happy to let Ty go to bat for him. Hell, no matter what happened, he knew he’d be able to count on his family. He and his brothers were close. You took on one, you took on all five. They had each other’s backs.
“He may sleep around, but he would never abandon his child.”
Sijan coughed on his swallow of coffee and grimaced. “Gee thanks, Ty. For the record, I only slept around my first few months in Hollywood when I was young and stupid. And even then I was always careful. And I never took advantage of sweet young things. Ever.”
“We know that, Sijan, but the studio wants to make sure the ticket-buying public knows that too. Just stay below the radar and we’ll all be happy.”
“Not a problem, since I’ve decided to hang out here in Climax for a while.”
“What? You can’t. I’ve scheduled meetings out in L.A. next week. We’ve got to make some decisions about your next couple of projects.”
Tynan leaned forward into Jerry’s space. “Actually, he can, Jerry.”
“Whoa. I forgot how much you and your brothers look alike.” Jerry stared back and forth between Sijan and Tynan. “Tynan, have you ever thought about act—”
“Hell no. That’s Sijan’s gig, although, looking at him, I’m not sure why he does it. Why do you, Si?”
Jerry all but sputtered. “What are you talking about? Look at him. Your brother is the hottest actor in Hollywood right now. He commands millions per film. Gets his pick of directors and actors to work with. He’s living the American dream, man.”
Renee slid Jerry’s soda on the table. “My American dream is full of big tippers from L.A. Just saying.” She turned a shining smile on Jerry before refilling the coffee cups and moving on.
“Then why doesn’t he look happy?” Tynan asked.
Sijan sat waiting for the response. Jerry knew the pressure he was under. He’d been talking to Jerry about making some changes, only his agent kept tuning out what he didn’t want to hear. He didn’t want to hear his biggest client was considering a career change.
Jerry glanced at him, doing a quick double take, finally noticing he didn’t look particularly happy. “Huh. What’s going on with you, Sijan?”
“Well, I don’t think he’s PMSing,” Tynan said.
Sijan shook his head. “I warned you a year ago that things need to change.”
“What?” Jerry choked on his zero-calorie cola, looking like he was about to have a heart attack. “You were serious about that?”
“Did you read the screenplay I passed along to you six months ago?”
“Did some hot actress give it to you to read? Or your best friend from high school? I said I’d read it. Anything for you, Sijan.” Jerry started scanning the plastic menu as he read Dave’s specials. “Huh, don’t they have anything organic?”
“Let’s just say this screenplay is important to me.” His voice was sharp with a jagged edge. “Have you listened to a thing I’ve said over the past year?”
“You want me to make him disappear, Si? I can make it so even his own mother won’t remember