TEN
Daniel saw a silver Toyota Camry sitting in front of Impact! Productions as he pulled into another parking space. Shay was sitting in the car, talking on the phone. She waved in acknowledgment as he stepped out of his car. He debated waiting on her but decided to go inside. He was going to have to clean up and change before the taping because he'd worked up a sweat exercising with Mairead. It wouldn't do to look like a sweaty mess before the workout even started. That was the reason they took a break after filming each segment. He and his workout partners needed time to cool down and change clothes.
He'd just reached the entrance when he heard a car door shut. He paused, waited for her to join him, and then opened the door for her.
"Thanks. When this is over, I need to talk to you."
He felt a chill of anticipation. "About the case?"
"Yes, but not here."
"Everyone's here," Jill said from behind her desk as they entered.
"Thanks," he replied with a nod and led Shay into the production area.
The small set he'd been using yesterday was gone, replaced with a huge white screen. When they started filming, a wall of glass with trees and a lake, gently stirred by a breeze, would be rear-projected onto the screen. The concrete floor in front of the screen had been covered in hardwood with thin rubber mats of red, white, and blue placed on top. On the video, you'd swear they were standing in some beautiful workout room in the middle of a forest. While they mixed up their uniforms for each routine, the floor and backdrop never changed.
Three cameras were set up on rolling tripods, and off to the side was a table with a sound board set up to control the music and his headset mic. Standing to the side was his backup, three men and three women, all dressed in colorful, tight fitting workout clothes, with gleaming white shoes and socks. They were part of the staff who worked the gyms, pulling double duty for a little extra pay. He'd hand-picked them based on three criteria... how they looked in tight fitting workout clothing, could they do the routines without slowing down, and finally, he didn't want all one color or body shape.
"Let me change, then we'll be ready," he called as he crossed to the changing screen. They didn't bother with makeup on the workout routines because they'd just sweat it off anyway and the camera never pulled in close enough for it to matter anyway.
He quickly stripped out of the clothes he'd been wearing and into the same, tight-fitting uniform the others were wearing. The only difference in their uniforms were the colors, and the seven athletes looked like Skittles in the dazzling yellow, blue, green, and red. When he stepped from behind the screen, Bobby handed Dan the headset. He slipped it over his head and positioned the thin mic at his lips as Bobby tucked the tiny transmitter out of sight in the small of Dan's back.
"Give me a mic check," Bobby said after he sat down behind his console.
"Fuzzy-wuzzy was a bear."
Shay smiled, something about Dan checking the mic with part of a nursery rhyme striking her as humorous.
"You're good," Bobby said, giving Dan a thumbs up.
"Everyone ready?" Dan asked as the team assembled on the mats.
Everyone took their positions. Dan was front and center, with the men and women arrayed behind him and staggered so nobody was standing behind anyone else. They'd done over a hundred of these videos, so they knew the drill. Dan spun his finger in the air and music began playing.
Chuck, the director, walked behind each of the cameras to check the setup before he pointed at Dan. "In your own time."
"Ready?" Dan asked again, looking at his entourage.
Everyone broke into beaming smiles and took a pose, their legs wide apart and their hands on their hips. As Shay watched, Dan began with some patter, telling the cameras what they were going to do before he launched into his routine. They started out slow, apparently to warm up, but the routine got progressively faster and more strenuous.
They always did the hardest work out first, while they were fresh, with each routine after becoming progressively easier so they could shoot all the routines in one day. The website was structured so that the first Friday of each month was the easiest workout, the last the most strenuous. The idea was subscribers would pick the workout routine that best fit their level and use that routine until the next one dropped, moving to the next harder workout as they improved.
They were well rehearsed and moved together like dancers, perfectly in sync with each other as they bounced, while Dan counted and encouraged the audience to keep up. The routines weren't complicated, but the more strenuous routines were enough for them to work up a good sweat. Even though they were working hard, their smiles never wavered, they never eased up, and they looked like they were having a grand time.
As Dan and his crew worked the routine, Chuck was softly talking to the camera operators over his own microphone and headset, slowly moving cameras around to keep the shots fresh. One camera was always wide, taking in the entire group, one was close on Dan, and the third was tight on another member. Once the routine was over, Impact! Productions would slice and dice the three cameras into one fast paced, dynamic, workout routine. Because the music was being fed directly into the sound board, as was Dan's mic, the crew could talk to each other without it being heard on the video so long as it wasn't loud enough for Daniels mic to pick it up. The music the group was listening to was so they could stay in step with what was being laid down in the video.
Finally, after about twenty minutes of hard work, Dan began to slow down, using the last two minutes as a cool down. He finished up with another couple minutes of encouraging prattle before smiling at the camera.
"And... we're out!" the director called.
Laura and Kim handed out towels as the group left the floor. Dan blew out a long breath, and the rest of the participants were just as sweaty and breathing just as hard. They might have pretended like they weren't working at the routine, but they were. Dan wiped his face and neck as Shay approached.
"I'm tired from just watching," she said with a teasing grin.
"Want to join us for the next routine?"
"No... I think I'd rather watch." She leaned in a little closer. "I have to tell you, though, I might join your site just to watch your videos. You guys are
hot
!"
He felt a little tingle of pleasure at the compliment. "That's all part of it. Get some eye candy up there for the men and women so they'll watch. As they're doing the routines, they can imagine
they're
the ones they see. You sure you don't want to join us? It'll be fun to have a new face in the video."
She grinned. "Maybe some other time. I didn't bring anything to wear."
"We have extra." When she smirked at him, he grinned. "Okay, you're right. Maybe next time." The women working with him were at least three or four inches taller than her.
They took a half-hour break, nibbling at the fruit that had been set out and drinking water. After cooling and rehydrating, they each took a turn behind the changing screen to wash up with baby wipes, use a dry shampoo, and to change into a fresh uniform of a different color. As the next person took their turn behind the screen, Janice fussed with their hair, and once the last of them were freshened up, they started all over.
As they worked, Dan saw Shay speaking to the two production assistants well away from the set, the three women glancing toward the performers as they smiled and talked. He wasn't nervous because he knew he hadn't knowingly done anything that would offend anyone, but he still had to force himself to concentrate. During the workout videos, he had more leeway for mistakes, but if he totally screwed it up, they'd have to stop, reset, and start again because it threw everyone out of sync, and that was jarring to see in the video.
After another break, a quick freshening up and a change of clothes, a bit of fruit for energy, they were at it again, but this time rain was pattering against the windows of the backdrop to give that little bit of extra to the illusion the videos were being shot in some location and on different days.
There was one more cycle, the easiest routine of them all, which consisted mostly of stretching and easy stepping, the video geared toward the injured, elderly, and the massively out of shape. As they worked, Jill came in and spoke to each person in turn, before Shay quickly followed her out. Dan wondered what was up, but he'd have to wait until he was finished to satisfy his curiosity.
"And remember, a little fitness every day... will always pay!" Dan said, forcing his tone and cadence to be upbeat and enthusiastic as he wrapped up the last routine.
"And... we're out!" Chuck called just as Shay returned to the production area clearly upset. "That's a wrap everyone."
"Thanks guys," Dan said while shaking hands with his backup. "Whew!" he continued as he took his towel.
After almost four hours, even a light workout like the one he'd just completed was enough to get him breathing hard and sweating.
Still mopping his face with the towel, he approached Shay. "What's happened?" Dan asked as he coasted to a stop in front of her, knowing she'd know what he was talking about.
"Some asshole backed a semi over my car," she growled.
"You're kidding!"
"I wish I were. Want to see?"
He followed her out. Her car was heavily bent on the rear passenger side, with the rear wheel canted at an odd angle. It was obvious the car wasn't going anywhere under its own power with the wheel looking like that.
"What happened?"
She huffed out a breath. "They were making a delivery over there," she said, nodding at another building that shared the parking lot. "He was backing up and turning around, when..." she waved her hand at the car. "The guy came in and told Jill what happened, and admitted it was his fault. His insurance is going to pay for it, but that doesn't do me any good right now. The tow truck is on its way. Dammit."
"How the hell...?" he began, trying to figure out how the guy had gotten so wacked up that he hit her car.
"I don't know. He'd already pulled off the car before he came inside. He must not have known he hit it. The damn bumper thing on the trailer wasn't even bent that I could tell, but he fu... messed my car up good."
He sighed in sympathy. "I'm sorry about this."
"Not your fault. I'll get a rental until my car's fixed."
"After they pick up your car, I'll give you a ride home."
"Thanks, I appreciate that."
They returned to the studio where Dan cleaned up and changed back into his street clothes, and by the time he was presentable, the rollback was there. The truck driver had to drag the car onto the truck because the damaged wheel wouldn't turn, and Dan grimaced at the screeching groan the car was making as the powerful winch on the truck muscled the Toyota onto the bed.
"York Toyota, on Cary," Shay said, speaking loudly to be heard over the clatter of the idling truck. The driver nodded as he continued chaining the car down. "They're expecting you. They said drop it in any empty spot in the parking lot as near the body shop as you can find."
