“You mean they want to make money off me and this will run traffic to their site?” Skye was bitter. She’d come to Hollywood because she loved acting. She loved the craft, the writing, the stories, and the magic of it all. Now she hated it. At some point, her life had stopped being hers. Her agent told her what movie roles to take. Her manager told her how to live. Even Karri told her what to eat to maintain a camera-ready figure. Her PR team told her what to say. Her stylist told her what to wear. It went on and on, but the common factor was Skye didn’t have a say in anything. She felt that she’d become nothing more than a dress-up doll with everyone else pulling her strings.
“What am I doing, Karri?” Skye sighed before taking a long sip of her wine. She looked over the cityscape that used to bring her so much happiness and wondered why it didn’t anymore.
Karri frowned and reached over to wrap her arm around Skye’s shoulder. “You’re putting your career first.”
“Is it really my career, though? I’ve made enough money to retire and I’m not even thirty yet. I used to love this. I loved the hours spent getting ready for big events. I loved the camaraderie on set, and I loved talking to people about the movies I was passionate about. Now? Now all I want is to have my own life away from the spotlight.”
“Don’t tell Lenny and Jim that.” Karri rolled her eyes and Skye smiled into her wine glass. “Speak of the devil,” Karri groaned as they both heard Lenny calling out to them from somewhere inside.
“Out here!” Skye yelled as she didn’t even bother to look at the man who was something like a stern father figure to her. Her own parents were still on the farm, but she missed them more and more every day. She’d offered to give them enough to retire, but they’d insisted it wasn’t work when you love what you do. She’d understood that at the time. Now she wasn’t so sure. Instead, she’d paid off their mortgage and every Christmas and birthday she surprised them with something for the farm. A tractor, a CropBot, or any new agricultural toy they’d secretly wanted but never would buy for themselves. Maybe it was time to go home for a visit.
“Ah, there you are.” Lenny bent down and placed a kiss on the top of her head. “I brought someone with me. We have great news.”
Skye forced a smile for Lenny. He might be a stern father figure, but he was still a good one even if she felt like rebelling against him right now. She looked over her shoulder and saw Jim in his ever-present casual suit that practically screamed that it cost a fortune. Basically, it was a full suit minus the tie. He thought that showed he was relaxed and casual.
“Hi, Jim. I guess it’s something big if you’re at my house tonight. Did I get nominated for an Oscar or something?” Skye asked with a bit of sarcasm to her voice, which she instantly felt guilty about. This man got her to where she was with the best movie parts she could ask for. They just weren’t the kind to win awards. He was the reason she had this house and the ability to make sure neither she nor her parents ever had to worry about money.
“It’s big, Skye. Huge! The role that will get you the Oscar for sure,” Jim Hexter of Hexter and Stein Agency said with a grin. He and Lenny were both in their early fifties and similarly built, but Jim looked completely different. He exuded power from his shaved head down to his bright blue eyes, the bespoke suit, and the fifty thousand dollar watch on his wrist. Lenny, meanwhile, went for a surgically-enhanced death grip on youth and clothes that tried to show how hip he was. In Lenny’s mind, he was still twenty-five years old.
“Did I get the lead in the Marie Lockend drama?” Skye pulled her legs from the warm pool water and jumped up to face Jim.
“Better. I got you the lead in the Tony Ketron film everyone is talking about.”
Skye heard Karri gasp as her own mouth fell open. However, it wasn’t from good news. “I told you I would never do a Tony Ketron film. Not. Ever. What part of that did you not understand?”
Jim’s smile fell into a scowl. “I lobbied hard to get you this role. You should be grateful. Every A-list name is being floated around and you got it.”
Skye’s anger fueled her as she fisted her hands and placed them on her hips. “Tony Ketron is a sexist pig. Every one of his movies has left the actresses feeling sexually violated after being naked on set for twenty hours a day. You know I’m friends with Gina Toussaint. You know Tony tried to force her to have unsimulated sex during his last movie. There was no reason for it, but he claims all the nudity and horrific things the actresses go through is for art. Bullshit! It’s so he can get off on having actresses humiliated. His movies have no plot other than how to degrade women.”
Jim’s jaw tightened. “This is the talked-about movie, Skye.”
“I know that. You sent me the screenplay and I rejected it. A woman whose powerful husband finds her ugly after she’s given birth so she sends the baby to live with her mother as she finds a way to win her husband back through sexual acts of escalating humiliation where consent is a big issue. No way, or have you forgotten my contract has a no-nudity clause in it?”
“When you posed nude on top of a dining room table for a magazine, your nudity clause went out the window.” Jim stepped forward as he shoved his hands into his pockets and stared down at her.
“I was covered, Jim, and you know that. You were there. There isn’t even a hint of the curve of my ass in that picture since I had on flesh-colored underwear. That’s beside the point. I won’t do it. Period. Tell Tony to shove it. I’d rather never win an Oscar than prostitute myself to him for his so-called movie. End of discussion.”
“Listen here, missy. I made you and I can unmake you. You don’t get to make decisions. That’s for the big boys to do. You do what I tell you, smile, and say thank you for the money I make you.”
Skye felt Karri come to stand slightly behind her in support.
“Are you threatening me? I can have any agent in Hollywood take me on if you think you can tell me what to do.”
Jim smiled, but it wasn’t kindly and Skye felt herself shiver. “Don’t you remember our contract? The one you signed when I discovered you in New York City?”
“I do, and I remember the no-nudity clause in it,” Skye shot back.
“Then you also must remember the lifetime agency rights you granted me. Lifetime. I own you, Skye. Forever. So pull up your big girl panties, or should I say pull them down?”
Anger and fear coursed through her, but she wouldn’t back down. “No. I refuse and I’ll challenge you in court to break the contract. You taught me that, Jim. That every contract can be renegotiated.”
“Not this one, so you better get used to it. I’m done with your princess attitude. You’re twenty-nine years old. You’re aging out of these roles and into motherly ones. I’m going to milk you for every penny until you’re all used up and there isn’t anything you can do about it. I own you, Skye Jessamine. Down to the trademark I have on your name for merchandising. You’re taking that role and I don’t want to hear a single word about it or I will blacklist you faster than you can blink.”
“Don’t you threaten me,” Skye shot back at him.
Lenny held up his hands and stepped toward them. “Okay, okay. Let’s take a deep breath, everyone. No more threats. We’ll table this conversation until later, but the reason I’m here is just that. Threats.”