The Road Home

Chapter 10

"Good Morning Sunshine!"

"Stan?" Harper sat up and rubbed her eyes wondering if she was dreaming and then saw him standing in her doorway. "What are you doing here?"

"I didn't think my favorite client would mind sharing a jet back to LA with her dear ole' agent. There are several things we need to go over." Stan Hallis was the most flamboyant person Harper had ever met but he was the best agent in the trade. A large part of her success, besides her talent, was due to Stan and his expertise in the business. He had been with Creative Artists International for nearly thirty years and knew the industry inside and out. Over time, Stan had become like family.

"When'd you get here?"

"About five minutes ago. Get up! We have tons of work to do before we leave."

"I have a language session this morning at seven. What time is it?" she asked, looking for her phone so that she could check the time.

Stan checked his diamond studded watch. "Nearly seven."

"I've got to get in the shower. Will you ask Mel to make coffee, please?"

"Sure thing, Sweetheart," Stan shut her door and walked back into the living room. Harper heard him holler. "Mel! Coffee!"

~

Ben noticed that the front door of the trailer was wide open when he parked behind the two limousines. Their presence led him to believe little would be accomplished this morning. As he entered the front door, he was surprised at the activity in the small living room.

"You can't come in here!" yelled a man in a white suit and neon green shirt and tie. He wiped the sweat from his brow with the flowery scarf tied around his neck and gripped a cell phone in his left hand.

"It's okay, Stan. He's the language professor." Mel sat at the kitchen table. She barely glanced at Ben as she looked at her phone.

Ben scanned the room for Harper.

The room wasn't large enough for the people it held. There were four sitting on the couch talking about the latest Hollywood gossip and which celebrity was wearing which designer. They seemed oblivious to the fact that he was there. Two others sat on chairs they had pulled in from the kitchen. A blond man nodded his way then went back to furiously typing away on his laptop. Ben noticed someone he thought was Cole in the kitchen going through the refrigerator. Beside him was a black haired man with numerous tattoos. He drummed the counter with a set of sticks while he watched food being tossed on the counter. A man sitting beside Mel strummed an electric guitar. Thankfully, the amp beside his feet wasn't working. It was a circus.

"She's in her room. I'll get her," A woman with blond hair and pink bangs said while she painted her fingernails. He studied her and her leather outfit and thought he had entered a different world. One he definitely wasn't used to.

Cole hollered from the kitchen. "Hey, Professor!"

Ben smiled at Cole, glad to see a familiar face.

"I don't care!" Mel shrieked arrogantly into her cell phone. "Everybody wants to interview Harper Wills, but if it's going to happen, it will happen on our terms or not at all! What part of that do you not understand?"

The man on the laptop interjected. "Weather conditions are going to be favorable for tomorrow's shoot." He waited for Stan to nod in response before he went back to his computer.

"Tell him, it's Stan Hallis, Harper Wills' agent." Stan spoke bluntly, "and I'll be in town in a couple of hours. I heard he wants her on his show. Tell him I can make that happen if he picks up the phone within the next twenty seconds and tell him to hurry. I don't wait on anyone!" he walked past Ben and sneered. "This is preposterous."