Junior Year Box Set

“And then tell them a lot of steamy details,” Frank said.

“Exactly. Build the sizzle, but hide the sausage, so to speak.”

Everyone groaned at that one.

“So, what do we do?” I asked.

“I’ve been thinking about this,” Frank began. “Why don’t we take a couple of shots and make them appear like they were taken from a cell phone. I can talk to my contact at Hollywood Central and let them ‘break’ the story. Hollywood Central follows up with something like a poll to determine who their viewers would rather see in a sex scene, David or Zak.”

“Could Hollywood Central add Craig and Ben from Star Academy? It’s about to come out.” Caryn said.

“You’d need to do that robo-vote thingy; I’d want to win,” I said.

Frank gave me a look, but I could tell he was okay with what I’d proposed.

“Could they do something similar with Leah?” her manager asked.

“We could do the whole ‘sexiest women I’ve been linked with’ bit,” I said.

I thought that was a brilliant idea.

“Just who would you put on this list?” Leah asked.

She wasn’t buying the idea that anyone would be interested.

“There’s you and Halle from this movie. From Star Academy, we could pull in Bree Steno and Elizabeth Jenks. I got my start in modeling with a sexy kiss with Adrienne. I’ve done a bunch of shoots with models. Then there’s the sex scene that I’m doing with Hannah Minacci,” I said.

“I thought that scene was set with the baseball player,” Rita said.

“I talked to the writers, and they agreed that it should really be with me,” I explained.

Rita looked over at Jessup.

“Yes, he did,” Jessup said, confirming my ingenuity.

“While that sounds good, I think I should have a more prominent role in the media plans. This isn’t just about David,” Leah said.

“We could do a whole campaign on how being in a movie with me makes you more sexy,” I suggested.

“I detect a theme here,” Frank said. “She’s right, not everything’s about you.”

I gave him my best hurt-puppy-dog eyes. Rita had two kids and didn’t buy it.

“Quit goofing around. I’ll talk to the studio and get them to release a couple of frames. I want to see them before they’re given to Hollywood Central,” Rita said.

“If you’d like, I’ll coordinate with your people and come up with ways to help you,” Frank told Leah.

Jessup took Frank and his gal to go pick out some shots, and Leah’s agent and publicist accompanied them.

There was a knock on the door, and I opened it to find Halle, Zak, Tanya, and Jessica. Halle pushed past me, and the rest of the main cast followed her. None of them were shy about getting themselves drinks and plates of appetizers.

“We heard that you had some dailies from yesterday,” Halle said to explain the invasion.

I turned to Leah.

“It’s going to be in the movie, so I’m fine if they see,” she said.

“Even without the edits?” Rita asked.

While the video was going to be used, it needed to be edited with different camera angles so that you wouldn’t actually see penetration.

“I already told the girls what happened,” Leah admitted.

Everyone looked at Zak.

“David never said a word. I just heard there was free food,” he said as he stuffed a crab puff into his mouth.

I smiled when Halle saved me a seat next to her on one of the couches. She was staking her claim, and I doubt anyone missed her meaning, so I played along. Rita reran the video. Leah told them what we planned to do with Hollywood Central and how we wanted to handle it. They all agreed that if asked, they had heard rumors, but the set had been closed. They all planned to have their publicists talk to Frank and send him pictures that could be sent to Hollywood Central.

Frank came back and put the shots they were using on the screen. The pictures appeared to have come from a cell phone. He explained that was why he’d brought his tech person with him. She’d Photoshopped it so it was laid out like a typical phone photo and made a little blurry. The first shot showed Leah kissing my stomach, and the next was when I’d grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her close to roll us over. Both shots were PG-13 but showed enough to make people wonder if we were really doing it or not. Rita approved them, and Frank quickly left to get working.

Rita announced that we had to go home. Zak absconded with the rest of my appetizers and a bottle of tequila and invited the rest of the cast back to his trailer. I would have to get the details tomorrow.

When we got home, three paparazzi were waiting by the gate. One tried to step in front of the car to get a picture, but Fritz gunned it and just missed the idiot. The cameramen attempted to follow the SUV through the gate, but Paul and Flo were waiting for them. When they saw Paul and Flo were armed, they turned around and left so the gate could be closed.

I wondered if this was a sign of things to come.

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