LITMIR.BIZ

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ready to tell his brother the truth: a hell of a lot was going on. He had a new gig at CBC. He was entering the world of daytime drama. He was totally smitten with a soap star named Jewel Blaine and thought he was falling in love. But now was not the time to elaborate on his chaotic show-business lifestyle, which was much more exotic and unstable than his brother’s predictable world.

      Cliff was a steady, reliable lawyer with a wife, two daughters and a home in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. His life was safe, orderly and totally removed from the shifting, gutsy environment in which Taye moved, where everything could change in a heartbeat. A deal could be canceled with a phone call. A contract broken via e-mail. A director could be fired and replaced within the span of a day, without ever being told why he was no longer needed. In Taye’s line of work, nothing was certain until it was over—until the film was on the screen, the principals had been paid and the royalties started rolling in. Until that happened, it was all speculation and he’d learned to live with the insecurities of his chosen career.

      “I saw the latest Terror Train. Good stuff, man,” Cliff said. “I took Sandra to one of those advance screenings in the mall. She really got into the movie and she’s not one for action flicks, you know? The love story was what she liked best. But that gas station explosion? That was the bomb, man. Too wild!”

      “Glad you guys enjoyed it,” Taye replied, then there was silence for a moment. Cliff, his wife, Sandra, and their two daughters had visited Taye in Los Angeles last year, ending a family estrangement that began when Taye defied his father and left Pittsburgh to launch his acting career. All year, Cliff had been trying to bring their tiny family back together and Taye was beginning to feel guilty for not doing more to make that happen.

      “So, what’re you workin’ on now? Another movie?” Cliff asked.

      “No. Not now. I’m doing TV. A great opportunity that’s gonna be a lot of fun,” Taye hedged, hesitant to go into details. After all, the directing job was only for a soap opera, not a made-for-TV movie with A-list stars. A temporary fill-in until the end of the sweeps. But why did he feel so uneasy talking about it? Did he worry that his work was somehow less important than his brother’s, his father’s? Why did he feel like he had to prove himself repeatedly? He was making a damn good living and had no reason to feel ashamed. He was as successful as his brothers, wasn’t he?

      “Yeah? Television? Any show I might watch?” Cliff wanted to know.

      “No, probably not,” Taye responded. “I start Monday…. I’ll fill you in later, once I get a feel for how it’s gonna play out.” Eager to move on, Taye changed the subject, inquiring after his father and other two brothers, whom he had not seen in years.

      As Cliff filled Taye in on the family happenings, Taye’s mind slipped back to the day he decided to drop out of medical school, leave Pittsburgh and head to Los Angeles to try his luck in the movies. His decision had infuriated and disappointed his father, Dr. Roland Elliott, the respected reconstructive surgeon who had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in each of his sons’ educations with the expectation that they join the family business—The Elliott Cosmetic Surgery Center.

      Taye’s three brothers went along with their father’s plan and earned degrees in medicine. Don specialized in nose jobs, eyes and face-lifts. William preferred liposuction and breast augmentation. And Cliff, who went back to law school to become a medical attorney, skillfully handled the legal challenges from clients who’d expected miracle results.

      When Taye tossed away his chance at a career in medicine, brothers Don and William had blasted him for being foolish and naive, calling him ungrateful and selfish for allowing their father to fund his education when he had never intended to complete medical school. Only Cliff had sided with Taye, supporting his decision to go his own way.

      Over the years, Taye had tried to repay his father’s investment, but his checks always came back, uncashed. This refusal deeply hurt Taye, who saw it as a blatant rejection of all he had accomplished, further hardening his heart toward his father. He spoke to his dad on Father’s Day and Christmas Day, in conversations that were one-sided and brief. Taye missed the close relationship he’d once enjoyed with his family, but wasn’t sorry about the career choice he’d made.

      “We need to get together. All of us,” Cliff was pressing. “Dad’s getting older, the kids are growing up and time is passin’, bro. Think about coming home for a visit this summer, okay?”

      “Yeah, sure. I’ll think about it,” Taye agreed, knowing that would never happen. He had too much to take care of in L.A.

      After hanging up, Taye put Cliff’s call out of his mind and resumed the DVD he’d been watching. In less than half an hour, he had to be at Jewel’s house, but he wanted to see how the episode concluded.

      Watching closely, Taye studied Caprice Desmond as she snaked her arms around Darin Saintclare’s neck and smothered him with a kiss. It was long and deep, ending when she slid her hands down to rest them on Darin’s thighs, very near his crotch. The scene brought a surge of heat into Taye’s belly, initiating an unexpected hard-on.

      But I’m a hell of a lucky guy, Taye decided. He was actually going to direct that gorgeous woman! Watch her every move through the camera lens. Listen to her sexy voice, inhale her perfume and spend hours in conversations that he hoped would spill off the set and into more intimate settings. Taye shook his head, knowing he shouldn’t have such cozy thoughts about an actress under his direction, but couldn’t help himself. Engaging in a fantasy romantic encounter with Jewel Blaine was the only indulgence he could afford.

      I wonder what she’s doing right now? He let his thoughts wander. Getting ready for our meeting? Stepping out of the shower? He could just imagine what she looked like wrapped in nothing but a towel, a damp swell of soft tan breasts peeking over the fold of white terry cloth.

      Blinking away that vision, he refocused on the television where the romantic scene in the limo was giving way to a lover’s quarrel about Caprice and Darin’s upcoming separation. Taye kept one eye on the flat-screen TV as their argument unfolded and continued to dress, stepping into a pair of navy slacks and pulling on a crisp white shirt.

      When the credits began to roll, Taye paused to think over what he’d just seen, realizing he’d expected much more emotion from Caprice at the end. More desperation. Remorse. Even fear. In Taye’s opinion, the scene had not inflicted enough emotional damage to the couple’s rocky relationship. It had been a predictable, satisfying exchange, but Taye would have done it differently.

      Taye wanted Caprice Desmond to show more spunk, deliver more spark. As it stood, Caprice was coming off as a tiger that had been tamed. A domesticated wildcat seething with desire, which needed to break free.

      Taye tapped his key chain against his thigh and mulled the episode, knowing Caprice’s undercurrent of simmering emotion had teased him, lured him into anticipating a climactic explosion that simply hadn’t materialized. He felt cheated and let down.

      It’s time for Caprice Desmond to create some havoc, he decided. Become a mega diva wildcat that the fans will absolutely love…or hate. Either way, they’ll watch every episode to see what she’s gonna do.

      Taye knew how to get what he wanted on film. He’d moved audiences, literally, to the edges of their seats, infusing them with awe, shock and fear laced with hope. He could do the same for the fans of P & P by making them hunger for Caprice Desmond’s next move like chocolate junkies craving a fix. He planned to engage and outrage her fans, encouraging them to cry for more. What Jewel Blaine needed was a director who could expose and exploit the raw undercurrent of heat that Taye knew she possessed. And I’m the one to do it, he vowed, knowing it could happen now that he was in control.

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