Forever and a Day (4 page)

“Anything else?”

“Just so you know? This film is predominantly being shot in the South Pacific. Sorry.”

Xander sighed, “I hope you know a good divorce lawyer…”

Eric held out his hand, rubbed his forefinger and thumb together, “My check already?”

“Here take your booze money and have a shot of tequila for me. I’ll need it.”

“You got it. Now, get out. I need a fucking drink after all this shit then some sleep.”

“Bastard.” Xander laughed then got out, went to the trunk and retrieved his bags. He started back towards the passenger side as Eric put the car in reverse and quickly backed up coming close to a young couple walking by. Eric rolled down the passenger window and leered.

“Hey bitch!” He yelled, “That was the worst fucking blow job I ever had!”

Xander choked in shock and managed to recover and yelled back with a loud lisp “Didn’t have much to work with honey!” Then flipped Eric the finger.

He could hear Eric cackle as he drove off. Xander turned to head to the elevator and realized a twenty something guy in a brown cowboy hat was sneering at him. He saw the word ‘fag’ whispered to his girl as the cowboy quickly ushered her towards the elevator.

He had no alternative but to follow them. An uneasy silence ensued as the three of them waited silently for the elevator to arrive. A ding sounded and he let the two enter first. Inside the elevator, he saw the same sneer from the cowboy and it began grating on him. As they descended to the terminal, he continued to get sidelong glances from the cowboy.

As the doors were about to open Xander quickly turned to the girl and lisped heavily, “Excuse me, I seemed to have left my compact in the car…” He twirled his fingers around his mouth with a feminine flair, “is there anything on my face?”

The girl squinted at his lips as her cowboy abruptly pushed her out of the elevator. She stumbled out and he caught her by her arm, “Hey! I was just trying to help.” She yelped.

Xander shot the Cowboy a smile and got a dirty look back as the couple, thankfully, headed in the opposite direction of his airline.

Check-in was quick and he made it through security just as fast. He walked to the boarding area and grimaced as he neared the departure waiting area. His fellow LA bound passengers took up nearly all the chairs in the waiting area. Eventually he found an open chair and made himself comfortable. He checked his watch and saw he had thirty minutes until boarding. He pulled out the manila envelope and pulled out the thick ream of paper. He flipped to the cover page over and was met by a hastily typed and copied synopsis of the film. After thumbing through it, he began to read:

Working title: The Throw Away Girl.

Synopsis:

The CEO of Ascertain INC's (A pharmaceutical giant) daughter (Heroine) is kidnapped while vacationing in Australia. The leader (Good guy forced by circumstances to go bad) of the kidnappers was a former employee of Ascertain and saw evidence that the company discovered cures to several cancers and has covered up its discovery to the public.

However, he finds out that the cure is distributed to select politicians and billionaires for political favours and money. The kidnapper’s leader's wife is dying of one of the curable cancers and was rebuked and threatened by Ascertain for his wife's desperately needed cure. The leader manages to employ several mercenary types and monetary backers to aid him in the kidnapping of the CEO's daughter. The abduction is to happen while she is on vacation in Australia, this to force the father to hand over the cure and at least one methodology to cure another cancer as payment for the Mercs and financial backers.

Timing is imperative as the wife's cancer is progressing to stage 3 and the efficacy of the cure drops to 10% effective rate. All goes bad as the CEO under political, corporate and influential pressure turns his back on his daughter. Effectively signing her death sentence.

Learning of the failure, all but one of the Mercs bails under fear of being caught and eliminated by the US government. The Mercs attack and leave the Leader for dead to cover their tracks. A lone Merc (Bad guy) charged with watching the daughter (Heroine) on a remote island learns of the failure and decides to take his revenge and exact payment from the CEO's beautiful daughter.

Will she escape or will she die? Does she end up a slave in the SE Asian sex trade market and have to fight free of her oppressors. What of the dying leader’s wife? What is her role and her play in this game of betrayal, death and intrigue? Stay tuned and find out!

He thought it must be an early synopsis as it was not complete. It is a big role for him he thought excitedly as he stared off into script. He stopped reading and began formulating how he would portray his version of the evil mercenary: Ok… bad guy, pissed for not paid his due, is greedy, has no care for human life? Nah, not sure that is my type, he decided.

Xander looked up and stared out of the airport’s large windows, trying to formulate his role. It was raining outside and fall was certainly here to stay he thought. He watched as a jet taxied and began its rollout. He brought his thoughts back to his character: Aloof, yeah that’s more like me… maybe a bit intellectual, needs money, tormented by Halo’s beauty… damn! How and why would he attack her without a lack of remorse? Temper? He shook his head, sighed and let his mind wander into fantasy.

If it were his choice, he would have his character fall for Halo and help her escape the island. He would help her steal the methodologies from Ascertain. They would sell some of the information and try to disappear together. They would upload the rest on the internet for humanitarian reasons as a payback for an uncaring father. In the end, he would die protecting her from Ascertain’s hired assassins.

He chuckled at his little fantasy. Better get busy reading my lines he scolded himself with an audible chuckle. He needed all time he could squeeze in to figure out his character, as well as come up at least one secondary persona in case they do not like his first portrayal at the audition.

He was able to read his part of the script a few times over before his flight called to begin boarding. Double-checking his things, he made his way to the gate. A young, sleepy eyed brunette at check in gave him a big smile and warmly welcomed him as she checked his ticket. He watched her blush as he smiled back at her and accepted his ticket back.

“Have a good trip Mr. Kostinos.” She said shyly.

“You too!” Xander caught himself and chuckled to the young woman, “I mean have a good day, I think my day started a bit too early!”

She casually touched his hand and giggled, “Me too! Thank you.”

Xander smiled and left the attractive girl still watching him as he walked down the gateway to the waiting plane. At the jet’s entrance, he was greeted by a stern looking Flight Attendant, “Good morning sir. Do you need help finding your seat?”

He offered her a polite smile, “Good morning, I think I got this, thank you.”

He groaned as he noticed how narrow the seats were as he made his way back to his aisle seat. If someone else with broad shoulders sits next to him, they were going to be intimate by the time they land he joked to himself. Sitting down he pulled his phone from his pocket. Checking his email, he saw there was nothing new so he put it in ‘Airplane mode’ then shut it down. He retrieved his script and put them in the seat pocket in front of him for later. He looked out of the small window and saw more of wet and gray. With a deep inhale he made himself relax… he did not care much for flying.

A young girl’s voice woke him from his thoughts, “Excuse me, sir?”

Startled, he looked up, “Oh! I’m sorry Miss, was zoned out there.” He got up, let the teen scoot by him and settle into her window seat. “Need help with your bag?” Xander asked pointing to the overhead storage.

“I’ll keep it under the seat, thanks.” She replied quietly as she put it on the floor and pushed it forward.

He smiled, sat down and buckled up his seatbelt. Looking out the window, he decided he was getting tired of Oregon’s liquid sunshine and all the damn gray. With a quiet sigh, he prayed for some real sunshine when they landed. As he settled in, he noticed the young lady was having issues with her seatbelt.

“Uh, Miss? Can I get someone to help you with your seatbelt?” He asked in a quiet voice.

“No. I think I got it.” She mumbled.

Nope, he thought. It is all twisted and loose.

“Miss, these commuter plane’s belts are a pain to tighten. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable by talking to you uninvited, but you should really untwist it and tighten it.”

Distressed at her predicament she replied, “Ok… uh I can’t unlatch it? There is no button like on the plane I usually fly.”

“There on the left side, get your fingers inside and pull. Yeah, there you go.” Xander said smiling. He watched her nervously untwist it and she re-latched it and tried to pull it tight. He saw she was failing at it.

“Miss, it’s really not tight enough. I’d help you but it would be kind of awkward me being a stranger and a guy. Can I get the flight attendant to help?” Xander saw her pretty face turn red.

“I think its ok, sir.” She mumbled quietly.

“If you think so Miss… I don’t mean to act like a picky parent, but if the pilot hits the brakes hard you are going to be wearing that belt around your neck. I’m sorry.” He gave her a wince and shrugged his shoulders, “Your call.”

She sighed and turned redder, “Ok. Sorry to be such a bother.”

Xander reached up and hit the attendant button, “Hey! No bother, I have a daughter about your age at home. I hope someone would help her if she needed it.” He watched her nod and turn to look out of the window red faced.

A few moments went by and the flight attendant made her way back to them, “Is there a problem here?” She asked tersely.

Xander flashed her a smile, “Yes ma’am.” Xander replied quietly, “The young Miss here is having difficulty with her seatbelt; she is used to a different type.”

The flight attendant cocked her head sideways at him and gave him a look.

“Ma’am it would be best if I didn’t reach into her lap to tighten it.” He emphasized the word ‘lap’.

“Oh!” The flight attendant exclaimed, “If you vacate your seat I’ll help the young lady.”

Xander unbuckled and moved out of the way. The flight attendant stepped over to the embarrassed girl and checked her belt, “Yes, way too loose.” She muttered and pulled the strap, tightening it, “Not too tight? We want it very snug, but not so it cuts off circulation.”

“It’s good, thank you ma’am.” The girl mumbled.

Xander saw the flight attendant’s nametag, “Thank you for your help, Vicki.”

“Thank you for your consideration, sir.”

Xander nodded and took his seat as Vicki made her way to the front of the plane. Xander leaned a bit towards the teen, “Sorry if I embarrassed you, better safe than sorry.”

He watched her nod and gave him a quiet, “S’ok.”

Two loud bangs echoed through the plane as the cargo doors slammed shut, Xander saw the girl jump and she looked around discreetly, her face now paling. A few moments later, the compressor whine of the jet engines began to spool up. A whoosh vibrated the plane and the engines became louder as the whine from the jet engines balanced out.

Xander looked down and saw the teen had a white knuckled death grip on both armrests. Uh oh, Xander thought to himself as a voice came over the speakers.

“Ladies, gentlemen and children of all ages. Welcome to Alaska Airlines flight Five Three One from Portland, Oregon's liquid sunshine to Los Angeles, California's sunny skies.” A few rounds of clapping and cheers from the passengers interrupted the Flight Attendant. She smiled and continued on…”

A man’s deep voice followed Vicki’s announcement, “Cabin crew prepare for departure. Thank you.”

Xander watched the teen’s knuckles get whiter as she griped the armrests all the harder. He felt bad for her as she was really having a tough time of it. He debated with himself if he should just let her be, or talk to her to get her mind off it. The worst thing that could happen is if she turned into a chatty Cathy all the way down. Thinking of Athena in this situation, he knew he had to help.

He turned to her, “Hey, by the way my name is Xander.” He gave her a polite smile.