Seeking Escape

4. Negotiating the Terms

*** Quinn's POV ***

It had been four days since I went against Mir's advice and messaged Joyce back. There had been no response and it was honestly driving me nuts not knowing her reaction. Did I push too much?

I also accidentally let it slip to Mir. He had wanted me to share her letter on air, anonymously of course, but he saw it as nothing more than good publicity, a testament to my brand. When I refused to betray Joyce's trust, he was disappointed but told me to just file it then. He feared that responding would somehow instigate a media scandal. When he found out that I responded, he lost it.

"We've lost the upper hand! What if she goes to news outlets with your response? As your agent, I'm demanding that you show me these correspondences." He tried to pull rank as we were getting set up on set for a shoot. I dropped my sunglasses down the bridge of my nose and gave him a steely glare. He huffed. "Fine, but what makes you trust that this woman isn't out to ruin you?"

"What makes you think that every woman is out for revenge? Sounds like projection to me." I noted.

"Whatever. Just keep in mind that I can't fix this if things go south." He replied in a fluster. He looked over at the director and then back to me giving me a once over. "Alright, you ready to go make some magic with that dangle between your legs?"

I rolled my eyes and looked around. "Where's this mystery co-star that you personally vetted and are so sure that I am going to have amazing chemistry with?"

"I'm right here. Sorry I'm late." A raspy voice answered. I turned and saw Almay Dierxxs. She was a big name, but as fake as they come from her ballooned tits and her plastic labia. She ran a hand over my shoulders and kissed my cheek. "Hi Quinn. Good to meet the current big man of the industry."

I smiled and shot Mir a threatening look. He buried his nose in some papers he was holding. Almay dropped her coat, already adorned in hot pink lace lingerie. She went over and greeted the director, talking with her.

"Mir. You're my agent. You know my brand. What the hell are you thinking?" I growled quietly.

"Almay packs a big punch and she requested you. You don't pass up stars when you are still climbing the ladder." He replied.

"Climbing the ladder? But my work with Cynthia..."

"Almay draws a different crowd than Cynthia. Give her a chance. She was very sweet on the phone. Ask her about her charity events." Mir suggested.

I groaned, squeezing my eyes to get my thoughts gathered. I felt my phone buzz. Just as I got the screen open and saw a message from Joyce, Mir ripped my phone out of my hands and slid it into his bag. I gapped at him.

"You're needed." He informed me, gesturing to the director. I had half a mind to tell him to fuck off and let me deal with my business, but time was money and I was not in the habit of making people wait on set.

We ran through a breakdown of what the director, Donna, had in mind. I liked her. She preferred the script to be a general guideline to work from, but she let the actors take a lot of liberties and improvise.

"Why don't you and Almay get acquainted and I'll do some test shots to see how the chemistry is translating." Donna suggested, knowing that was important to me.