Chapter 22
Hi everyone, sorry for the wait. My life has been so busy that writing anything has become challenging, with work and personal stuff. I am sure you all can understand that.
So first off, let's answer the few questions from the last chapter.
Dao_8teh, the MC is a dropout—no formal education. I have no plans to have him get his GED at this point in time. Most of his relationships will be committed, with some being open. I don't see him marrying, and if he does, it will only be for short amounts of time. As for being a hedonist, he will come off that, but he has great control over himself. It's safe to say he won't be Diddy or Harvey Weinstein. He knows what happens if you can't control your desires
Xscraid, you have a solid point lol. I will most likely do that, but he has a lot of kids down the road with several women: Max 5 or six, baby mamas. Have yet to decide on a final number or who.
As for the note I put up, I will be deleting it. I see three out of four people said yes to a Hollywood story based on the Golden Age of Hollywood. Now I will most likely start writing one as a side project to my other two stories. With that said, I have yet to pick a time between the 30s, 40s, or 50s. Of course, for historical reasons, the MC will be white. I am thinking either Italian or Irish and Italian mix. Open to either male or female, leaning towards male for historical reasons. Let me know your thoughts on the first movie. Lastly, this story won't be a rags-to-riches story, nor will the rich get richer.
Now on with the story.
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"Looking back, that was our first power play. The acquisition of Marvel characters was our shout-out to Hollywood that new players were in town. Formed from an unlikely group of celebrities that would later be called the Hollywood Cartel by the Hollywood Press. Nobody saw it coming. I wasn't even sure what would happen at the time. My only goal was to ensure that Hollywood couldn't put me on a shelf later on when they felt like it by buying the rights to what would become the biggest franchise ever to exist. It wasn't to go toe to toe with the Big Six. I mean how the fuck where we even going to pay to make one movie. X-Men alone would cost 75 million, and none of us had that type of cash at the time." - Caesar Espinar.
-1998-
I miss the 1950s. No, really, I do. I mean, sure, I wasn't born back then, and I am pretty sure I wouldn't have actually liked to live back then. But you know, they had a few things right. Not many but the fact that men didn't have to fucking change diapers looking back sounded like a good idea. Don't get me wrong, I love my children, but really, there should be boundaries.
"Fuck Salma seriously what the fuck are you feeding this kid," I yell out at my baby momma as I change the diaper of my daughter Julia. The apple of my eye whose shit look like rotten apples and smelled even worse.
Poking her head into the room, Salma said, "Hey, watch your language in front of the child. They can remember what they hear."
"Oh really," I say, then look back down at my daughter, "You owe me, kid. When I start going, I am making you and your brother change my fucking diaper."
"Ceaser!" Salma yelled out from the other room.
"Right, right, sorry," I yell back, but then add under my breath, "Perra ruidosa."
"What was that?" She asks as she sticks her head back inside the room."
Looking up at her, I answer, "Nothing."
In response, she just gave me that look and said, "That is what I thought."
Looking back at my daughter, I say, "You better watch yourself around her kid. Your old man doesn't scare easily, but that woman frightens me."
This earns me a giggle from my little girl, and I smile. As I finish changing her and picking her up, I head to the living room, where Salma is watching TV with my little boy.
For those of you who are wondering what I am doing here today, it's simple. While it was true that I gave up my parental rights to Julia, Salma wasn't trying to keep me away from her despite wanting to keep the facts surrounding her birth a secret. This allowed me to spend as much time with my daughter as possible, something I took full advantage of, knowing I would miss a lot of her and her brother's childhood. As for why Augustus was here, it's the same reason.
Salma was a proud Latina woman with strong Catholic roots. She was all about family and put any misgivings about my son to the back of her mind. After all, it wasn't like we were married, and it wasn't his fault that she and Tiff got knocked up simultaneously by the same man. Tiff more or less thought the same way, and as far as they were concerned, they were not about to let them grow up not knowing each other. However, it couldn't be denied that there was tension between Tiff and Salma. So they didn't hang around each other that much.
As I enter the room, I groan as I hear the theme song from Dawson's Creek playing in the background.
"Really, have I wronged you in a past life, Salma?" I ask in an annoyed voice.
Giving me a mocking smile, Salma says, "What? I have to catch up for the next season, Mr. teen drama writer."
"Oh God just fucking shoot me already," I say as I sit down.
For those of you wondering, yes, I was now the new writer for the WB's new hit show, Dawson's Creek, but not by choice. After Kevin Williamson, the show creator, was fired, Arnold came to me to let me know that in return for Kevin's firing, WB wanted me to write for the show's second season. Well, to say they wanted me to write for the show would be putting it nicely. If you were smart, you could read it more like they told me I would write for the show.
Oh sure they were pissed at Kevin for not tolling the line but they would still have to pay the man what he was owned for the show. They could have just cancelled it and saved themselves the money. However, a cost analysis and viewership showed they had more to gain by firing Kevin and keeping the show going than by just canceling it altogether. That said, they couldn't risk the writing quality going down, seeing as how, along with Kevin, his writing team had also left. So they hired me to write for the show in exchange for 50 thousand dollars an episode, with a minimum of 10 episodes a season for however many seasons.
When you looked at it closely, it was a good deal. Ten episodes, six seasons, minus the first season, is 2.5 million dollars. It was not a bad pay day, if I was being honest with myself, but after Shakespeare in Love, which was entering post-production, I had planned to leave behind the romance stuff and return to my roots. Sure, I could copy any number of Ron-con and romance movies that were supposed to come out, but I honestly didn't feel comfortable doing them. I only did Shakespeare in Love to prove to Gwyneth and the world that I could write for any genre. Now that I had done that, I planned to move on to The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and stuff like that.
I still planned to do that, but to do that, I would have to keep on the good side of WB. After all, a lot was riding on their willingness to front me the money for my Marvel project. I was, of course, looking at other major studios, primarily Fox, seeing as they were the original ones to release X-Men, but I was also looking at Paramount and Sony. I didn't have a good relationship with either right now, but Arnold knew several people over at Sony who would be happy to work with me. As did David with Paramount.
I was staying away from Disney, however, for the shit they tried to pull. I know it was just business, and it was clear at this point that my countersuit would win over Kevin's lawsuit. But even so, I wasn't about to go to them for support on any project. Business or not, they still tried to fuck me over, and while I was willing to let it go and get back to business. I first had to get even, and what better way to do that than sell them something I was sure would be a flop and charge them a lot of money for it.
"Oh, come on, it's not that bad, and it's a hit show," Salma says with a teasing smile. Knowing how much he hated doing romantic stuff. Something that was very clear when she worked with him to write Shakespeare in Love.
"Ya, I guess you're right, and it pays," I say while looking at my children, who were now sleeping beside each other.
For them, I would write as many trashy romantic shows and movies as needed—anything to give them the life I never had.
"See, you can look on the bright side," Salma says with a smile. Knowing what he was thinking.
At first, like Tiff, she was worried about how Caesar would be as a father. Having never had one, she had thought he would quickly lose interest in his own children. And while it was still too early to tell, she had a feeling he would never lose interest in them and would be a good, if not great, father. All you had to do was see the way his eyes softened when he looked at them to see that much. It was a look he didn't give anyone else, not even his closest friends or her and Tiff. Sure, he cared for them, but it wasn't the same way.
Fuck, Salme thought to herself as she kept watching him. If only he weren't dating Tiff right now. She was sure they would be in her bedroom right now fucking. God help her.
"Speaking of getting paid. Are you sure you don't want me to talk to the people at TriStar again about you playing the female lead in the Mask of Zorro? Last time I spoke to them, they were willing to go as high as 2 million and 2 points off the box office." Salma hears Caesar say to her.
Letting out a soft sigh, Salma thinks it over for a moment. Caesar had made it no secret that he wanted her for the lead role of Elena Montero, and that he had the power to make it happen if she so wished. It didn't matter whether he thought she was right for the role. His voice and that of Steven Spielberg would see it done. And she couldn't say she wasn't tempted. After all, two million dollars and 2 points of the box office was a lot of money, and if it was a hit like so many of Caesar's scripts were. Well, the amount she stood to earn was significant—far more than even Caesar, who was only getting 150 thousand and 1 point.
That showed you how much they wanted her, but still, she looked at Caesar and said, "Thanks, Caesar, but I still have to say no. Like I said, I am going to take time off till at least Julia can walk."
Shrugging my shoulders, I say, "If that is what you want. Not like you will have to worry about work once you want to come back anyway."
I say, and my meaning is clear. So long as she wanted to work, I would help her find a job, and even if she didn't, our investments would see that she would never have to. Besides, by the time Julia could walk, I planned to be a much bigger deal than I already am. So, giving the mother of one of my children a starring role would be easy.
"That is very sweet of you, Caesar, but no, we are not having sex," Salma says in a teasing voice.
"Wasn't asking," I reply.
"Maybe not, but tell me you were not thinking it," Salma says and looks at me.
I don't look back at her and say, "I am with Tiff."
"That didn't stop you the night we made her," She says, pointing to our kid.
"Was drunk," I answer flatly.
She just gives me a knowing look and says, "Hmmm, not that drunk, I suspect."
My lips twitch at this, and this time I say nothing. After all, she was right. I wasn't that drunk.
Pushing me lightly on the shoulder, she says, "Pig,"
That makes me smile even more and we go back to watching the shitting teen drama.
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"So, are you two ready for this?" I asked Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz, the stars of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Both of whom looked more than a bit nervous right now.
Not that I could blame them, as they both knew what was on the line today. Making it in Hollywood was not easy, and often, more than not, it came down to what connections you had to get, not only auditions but also opportunities that you otherwise would get. The best example is me and the opportunities I got because of David Fincher. The show's unexpected success made them realize this fact as well. So what if season one was good, a lot of shows had a good first season, it was the 2nd that would make or break them. That was why most of the actors were on edge. Not only did this season need to be better than the first, but with this being my first time directing, they needed to up their game to cover any shortcomings I may have—all in the name of the connections they had established with me.
That is, at least now, David Boreanaz saw it. Caesar was a hell of a guy for Sarah, him, and the rest of the cast. On the surface, he may have looked like the type of guy who would be hard to get to know or talk to, but that wasn't the case. Caesar was far more easygoing, understanding, and chill to hang around. A bit of a hard ass in the gym as David could testify after Caesar knocked him on his ass when they were having a boxing spar but over all cool. So they both wanted to do right by the man and do their best, but frankly, they were all worried.
As far as they knew, Caesar had no training before coming to Hollywood. He didn't go to school or anything for this. Yet here he was, about to direct for the first time, and they both knew a lot was riding on how well he did. Primarily because Caesar didn't hide the fact that his ass was on the line right now and if things went poorly, he would suffer for it, and if he suffered, so would they. It was, after all, no secret that Caesar did favors for those he thought were his friends. Hell, Allison was set to be in two upcoming movies. The first being Strangers, along with Nicholas, and the other a teen comedy called American Pie. Which Caesar didn't even write, but who said a few words to the right people, who saw Universal Pictures cast her.
Those two were not the only ones who benefited from the connections to Caesar. As Caesar was talking to Sarah about starring in a script he had been writing even before Scream came out. David had no idea what that movie was about, and Sarah wasn't talking, but whatever it was had her interested big time. And of course, David couldn't forget about himself. Almost from day one, Caesar and Joss Whedon had made it clear that Angel was never meant to be Buffy's vampire boy toy. No, they had bigger plans for the character of Angel, and if Buffy keeps doing well in the ratings, he could expect his own spinoff show in a couple of years.
This was big for someone like David—well, it was big for anyone. So, it was in his best interest to ensure the following episodes were the best they could be. Otherwise, his career could end with him being just another short-lived teen heartthrob, which wasn't so bad, but not what he wanted.