"There's something here," I said. "Not only theShark Tankangle. The team—there's a dynamic I wasn't expecting. It's more than local color."
"Adrian." Her voice sharpened. "We talked about this. The human interest part. It's five minutes, max. The boyfriend's the hook, and the hockey's the backdrop."
"I know what we talked about."
"Then why do you sound like you're pitching me a feature?"
Because I was. Somewhere between the parking lot and the booth, and thinking about Pickle, the scope of my time in Thunder Bay had shifted without my permission.
I chose my words carefully. "There's emotional access here I don't usually get."
The phrase hung in the air. I wanted to take it back as soon as I said it.
"Emotional access," Naomi repeated. Flat.
"The footage is different. These people aren't trying to be interesting—they justare. That's rare. You know it's rare."
Another silence. I pictured her face—the slight narrowing of her eyes.
"This isn't about the team," she said.
"It is."
"Adrian."
I insisted, "It's about the documentary."
"Which part of the documentary? The part with the packaging innovation, or the part with the hockey player you can't stop filming?"
My jaw tightened. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You sent me forty-three minutes of footage yesterday. Nineteen of them were the same guy." She paused. "The one with the weird fixations. Pickle."
I didn't have a response to that. The number was accurate. I'd counted.
"Two days," I said. "That's all I'm asking."
"Budget's tight."
"I'll cover the hotel difference myself."
That would rivet her attention. I never offered to cover costs. It was a point of pride—I didn't blur the line between personal investment and professional work.
I'd just wiped a big smudge across that line.
"Something's happening here," Naomi said slowly. "And I'm not sure it's about footage."
"It's always about footage."
"Is it?"
"Two days," I said again.
She exhaled. "Fine. Two days. But Adrian, you know how this goes when you let it get personal."
"I know."
"Two days," she said. "Then I need you back in Chicago with something I can use."
