“Well?”
“I’m in, I guess. They made it hard to say no, especially since you’re producing it…a minor detail you forgot to include, yeah?”
“Ha!” I heard Ryan slam his hand down. “They told you? I wanted you to say yes regardless of me.”
“I guess now we’ll never know. I am apparently the next big star of the big screen, playing your broken yet redeemable washed-up golfer in a remake of an eighties blockbuster.”
“It’s not biographical…”
“Damn straight. Now I have to explain to Wren you have been secretly wooing me, pulling puppet strings. Some friend you are.”
Ryan laughed. He knew I was kidding. We had been friends for a long time. We’d caused our fair share of Hollywood trouble, and had enough steak dinners followed by cigars together to know one another’s buttons.
“How is Little Miss Birdie?”
“Wren to you, tough guy.”
“Oh, so things are progressing? I promise you we are not going to be filming for long, plus there is an East Coast portion. We are thinking of filming on-site.”
“Yeah, call Peter at The Country Club. He owes me a favor or ten.” I couldn’t help but throw the prick under the bus, and he for sure would be obligated to make it work after he’d thought he had a chance with my girl.
“I will make a note, but it’s time for me to go have fun.”
“I bet.”
“When Gaga asks…”
“Yeah, yeah. See you back here soon.”
I disconnected the call and decided to act like a twentysomething, snapping a pic of myself outside and sending it to Wren.
I captioned it,Looking for a Birdie.
I proceeded to wait like a man twenty years younger, and then felt like an Adonis when she replied.
My favorite place. Company isn’t that bad either.
I inhaled and thought about what my next move was. Call, text, volunteer the information…
How was the meeting? Am I texting with an actor now? Do I need to sign an NDA?
Quite possibly, was my response.
I wasn’t sure how I went from not having Wren in my life to feeling as if I was about to let her down, yet the easy banter between us always put me at ease.
I couldn’t dwell on it because my phone rang, and there she was, hooting and hollering.
“I’m at the office, doing some charts, but I want to hear everything.” Her high pitch did little to conceal her excitement.
I gave a quick report of how enticing the offer was—the money, the potential endorsements, and of course, Ryan being behind the entire thing.
“So, his first time producing. He must’ve had you in mind when picking the project.”
I hadn’t thought about it that way. “You know, you’re so smart. I’m also guessing by now you’ve caught on that I’m no longer basking in peddling golf lessons.”
Wren cleared her throat, and when she spoke, it was soft enough for just me. “Danny,” she said my nickname, “you are making a movie. It’s exciting, and something maybe you’vealways wanted to do and didn’t know it. I know better than anyone that we shouldn’t waste any dreams.”
“I will visit. Maybe you’ll come back and see the set?”
