It was well after midnight, and my condo was beautifully quiet. Even Smokie the cat was asleep. Lying in my king-size bed, a lovely lady curled up beside me. The curve of the bed sheets showed she was naked underneath, as was I.
The lady was Blake Lively, she looked so beautiful in slumber. The evening had been special, but then any evening with her was always special.
The days leading up to this night were a story in themselves. I was still trying to keep all the players and their actions straight...
"You'll never believe who called." Chris said as I arrived at East Coast Image one morning
"Gee, let me guess...Paris? Lindsay? Your mother?" I replied
"Ha-ha, Chuck Tyler."
"You're kidding?"
"I took the call myself. He's back in town."
Early in our business, we'd made an important contact in Chuck Tyler. He was the one who brought Tigress to our firm via a debut show in Las Vegas that was quite nice for me in particular, as it reunited me with Ms. Paris. As Tigress' popularity grew though, he was quickly overwhelmed with the demands of the group and his management company. So he boldly sold his interest in the group as well as his company, which begat us recording software tycoon Marty O'Brien whom I'd met in Hawaii. And while Marty was a good, if sometimes obnoxious, presence in our lives, we had to admit that Chuck's style was more to our liking. Chuck landed on his feet in record time as he was immediately grabbed by a New York PR firm we'd had contact with during the Triple Threat Tour.
And Chuck never forgot his friends.
"So, what's he doing out here?"
"He...has a new job for us." Chris replied, I could see the dollar signs already spinning in his eyes.
Chuck arranged a dinner at Morton's Steakhouse (now I knew he was really moving up in the world, when we first met him, his pockets seems to be loaded with coupons from Subway restaurants). I'd never been there before, so a place with cushy booths, classic red leather seats and endless racks of ribs was amazing. Chuck told us of a new photo campaign he wanted us to do.
"We landed Rachel Ray's production company as a client and she wants some new photos, you guys interested?"
"Sure! I just read she signed some big production deal." Chris quickly replied.
"Great! That ends the first part of this meeting." Chuck said as he took a big sip of his wine
"The first part?" I asked
Chuck then laid out for us some very ambitious plans he had.
"You two have quite the operation, you did Paris' campaign, then album photos for Rihanna...Marty signs you on with Tigress, you went around the world and then some. Oh, you did that movie with Blake Lively, too. Plus there's that Jennifer Aniston movie, I'm hearing a lot of buzz about that film." He now paused to take a sip of his wine "I'd call that big stuff for two guys who were unknowns in this town a year ago."
The way he was recapping our history was intriguing, I knew something big was coming.
"Maybe it's time you moved up in the world a little further. I want to make you guys the staff photo company for us."
"What does that mean?" Chris asked with a mouthful of sirloin.
"Just what I said, you'd be working for us exclusively. You'd be on all our photo shoots, do all press photos, the works. Setup your own operations, graphics, you name it."
My mouth was coated with a glaze of barbecue sauce, so giving any kind of answer looked pretty silly right now. But it sure was a mind-boggling prospect.
Chris looked more thoughtful than I'd ever seen him before. It was his company after all. Even though I had only a small stake in the company that provided a generous salary, I still considered myself part of the business.
"When do you need an answer?" he finally said.
"Give it all the time you need. For now though...let's toast to good times tonight, and future good times tomorrow." He said as we all raised our wine glasses.
The idea of working exclusively for one company was enticing, but we'd been independent for so long. Is this what we really wanted?
"What do you think?" I asked Chris the next day.
He looked at me and exhaled slowly.
"It sure is an attractive offer, we'd always have a guaranteed gig, but I gotta tell you, it's been fun jetting off to some exotic locale as a hired gun...even if it is with Marty."
"Sometimes we have to take the bad with the good." I replied with a smile.
Chris' eyes narrowed somewhat.
"Let's see if we can sweeten this deal a little."
"How would that happen?"
"You let me take care of that." He said with a confident smile.
Until we decided one way or the other, we had the photo assignment on Rachel's TV show. Rachel's people wanted to do a preliminary meeting before we did our actual photo shoot. The day we arrived, the studio was a hubbub of activity, with assistants going back and forth with food, utensils, pots and pans and it was like being in a mega-kitchen. But oddly, we didn't see Rachel anywhere. Once her producer arrived, we found out she wouldn't be there because she was taping one of her other shows back in New York before coming out for several weeks of shows on the west coast as part of a "Rachel Goes West" series. As usual, Chris did all the negotiating while I stood around and watched the crew at work. But I got the feeling that things weren't going very smoothly. Chris and the Producer were in a very tense conversation and neither wanted to give an inch. Before I knew it, we were out of there.
"What happened?" I nervously asked as Chris walked hurriedly to his truck. I could tell he was mad.
"Oh, the usual! Try to be creative, try to be unique! What do I get? A real hard-ass bitch, that's what I get!" he growled. "They want it done one way, their way!"
"Uh-oh...." I said
"Exactly! They don't wanna hear anything I have in mind, some production deal we get! I think she's just pissed they can't use their own people. If we did these photos, they'd be so cheap-looking, no style! I ain't working this way, Hollywood! No fuckin' way!"
Chris got in the truck and his door slam said it all.
"You know what Chuck can do with this great deal of his!" he said as he started it up and roared off.
I took a deep breath, went to my car, and headed home.
"Well, so much for being part of Chuck's family." I said to myself.
After seeing Chris go ballistic and watching a big money deal dissolve, I needed some distractions.
And once again, it was Marty who provided the distractions.
"Hey Hollywood, come on down to the Eagle tonight, big show here with your name on it."
When I arrived at the Eagle, it was loaded with paparazzi guys outside and a stern looking bouncer at the door. I hesitantly gave my name and with a toothy smile, he let me inside.
To my surprise I saw Chris at a back table talking to Marty. When they saw me, I was beckoned over.
"Sounds like you and Chuck had a little disagreement?" Marty said.
"Well, Chris could tell you better than I could, I was just a bystander."
Marty put up a hand.
"Say no more, it'll all work out. But for now, let the dust clear and I'll make some calls, get you guys busy. My girls will be doing some TV work soon so that'll be good."
"I gotta hit the road, see you tomorrow." Chris said as he got up and left.
"You're leaving? Now?" I said, stunned.
"Behave yourself, Hollywood." He said with a smile.
Marty quickly pulled up a chair and sat me down.
"Don't worry about a thing, my friend. I can handle Chuck." He said.
"I'm not sure how I feel about his offer." I said nervously "It's a great deal and all, but...um..."
"Jim...it'll be OK, you have my word. Go get yourself a drink, kid." He said with a reassuring tone.
I headed for the bar like he said. As I waited for a beer, I felt a very soft touch on my shoulder. I turned and had a nice surprise standing in front of me.
"Hi, baby." It was Vanessa Hudgens, looking as lovely as ever in a tight striped polo shirt and equally tight black jeans. Her long black hair looked as gorgeous as ever.
"Well, this is a great surprise." I said as she gave me a soft kiss on the cheek.
I wasn't sure if I should be happy or disappointed but with her was tall boyish kid with causally tousled brown hair and wearing a black blazer with matching pants.
"Zac, this is Jim. He did all my photos for the magazine cover." She said as she gripped his arm.
Now I knew, she was with her boyfriend Zac Efron.
