Laying Low in Hollywood (4 page)

Chapter 4

    Just when you think you can’t go on in life, the sun keeps rising every morning and, of course, the rest of the world goes on around you.  I knew I could succumb to the overwhelming sadness that seemed to be surrounding my heart, or I could buck up, and get on with my life.

   It still seemed surreal that the spot next to me in the bed, which Greg had occupied nearly every night for more than twenty years was now cold and empty.  I was miserably alone, for the first time in my life! 

   When I got up in the mornings, I only had to make enough coffee for me.  I didn’t even have a dog to take care of.  Our faithful golden retriever had died last year at the age of fifteen.  Neither Greg, nor I had the heart to replace him.  I wished I had a dog now, though it really wouldn’t be fair to the dog, I was rarely home anymore, it was really just a selfish thought!  I wanted unconditional love, a tail that would wag every time I walked in the door.

   Kyle had broke the news to Lucie, she had cried and cried and finally decided that she was going to live with her older sister in Connecticut.  I had told her that maybe we could find her another partner, even though I knew the chances were slim.  Fortunately, she wasn’t interested right now.  She was going through all the same emotions I was going through.  She was too hurt to look for a partner.  Her professional partner had left her and was skating with another.  It was as emotional as the end of a marriage!

   Weeks passed, one like the next.  I was going through the motions, but I had fallen into a worthless existence.  I felt like everyone I loved had abandoned me.  My kids were both really supportive, they told me what a jerk their dad was for walking out on me, but there was really nothing they could do.  It was over, there was nothing anyone could do.  I just had to deal with it.

   I was slowly starting to hate my life, in April I traveled to Paris for an invitational competition with one of my, up and coming pairs.  When I came home, my house was echoing and dark, just like my life had become.  I was falling into a deep depression and it was not like me at all.  I had always been an eternal optimist, but my heart had been painfully broken.  I feared at this point in my life, I might never recover. 

   My best friend Justin was trying to talk me into coming back to Chicago to stay with him for a little while.  He hated it when I was sad, and he wanted to cheer me up.

   Justin Melbourne had been my skating partner years ago and we’d been best friends since I was twelve.  Greg had always been jealous of my close relationship with Justin, so I didn’t think it would be a good idea for me to go stay with him just now.  It might bring more bang to my divorce proceedings than I was willing to deal with.  I wouldn’t put it past Greg to accuse the two of us of having an affair.

   I tried to throw myself into my work but my two most promising skaters were gone.  I had another promising pair, but the female half was turning into quite a princess and I was pretty much done with her.  I was sure she would never make it to the top with her attitude.  At this point, I didn’t have a lot of hope for the future, at least, not with the skaters I was coaching now.

   It was a chilly April evening, I was at home, vegging on the couch.  I had a fire in the fireplace and I was on the couch wrapped in a fleece throw and I still couldn’t get warm.  I had the TV remote and was flipping through the channels, restlessly trying to find something to watch. 

   I rolled my eyes as I scrolled though the titles.  I had to admit, I was a bit surprised, I had access to more than 500 channels, and still, there was nothing to watch.  Watching TV was not really my cup of tea anyway, it was kind of Greg’s thing, he loved the sports channels and the movie channels.  I would rather read or surf the net.

    I was completely lost, now that I had the house to myself I really didn’t know what to do with myself.  I didn’t even need to clean the house, it didn’t really get that messy with just me there, it was kind of amazing. I was startled when the phone started ringing.  I figured it was probably one of the kids.

   “Hello?”

   “Hey Lane, it’s me,” it was Justin.

   “Hey bud, what’s up?” I asked, smiling at the sound of his voice.  Justin was my one true friend in the whole world.

   “Hey I just got the word on a job that would be perfect for you, if you’re up for it,” said Justin.

   “What kind of job?” I asked.  I was leery.  Justin had his own company.  He did ice shows all over the world, he always had some sort of kooky job lined up for me.  In the past, I had never really been free to move, when the kids were at home and I was married, now that it was just me, maybe I could finally take him up on one of his kooky job offers.

   “Well I think you are going to be intrigued, it’s maybe a little bit out of your comfort zone,” said Justin.

   “What kind of job?” I repeated.  At this point in my life, I was game for whatever.  Really, what did I have to loose?

   “Don’t laugh, but it’s a reality TV series.  Here’s the deal...”

   “I don’t think so Justin, I detest reality TV...it’s just so...”

   “I know, I know, but this is going to be super cool.  I think you’re going to like this idea.  The network is going to take professional athletes and pair them with professional skaters and try to make pairs skaters out of them,” said Justin.

   “Sure, kind of like that show they do in Canada, right?” I asked.  I was already rolling my eyes miserably.  This was definitely not something I was interested in.

   “Yeah, sort of like that, though I believe that show uses strictly hockey players.  This show is going to use an assortment of athletes, both male and female.  I think it will be quite interesting.  Anyway, they asked me for my input on a few things and I suggested you as a coach and choreographer.

   The producers didn’t think you would go for it, I mean you’ve been so busy.  They didn’t realize that Kyle and Lucie had split up,” said Justin.

   I sighed miserably.  I hated to be reminded constantly how much my life sucked.
             

   “Anyway, they were excited that you might be free now and they would be thrilled to bring you on,” said Justin.

  “I don’t know Justin.  It doesn’t really sound like something I would be interested in.” I whined.

   “I know it doesn’t sound like the old you, but this is a huge opportunity to do something different with your life, meet new people, get out of town...you know,” pleaded Justin.

   “What you’re saying is, I need to do something other than wither away here in Colorado Springs,” I told him.

   “Exactly!  I think you should at least talk to the producers,” said Justin.

   “Okay, what do I need to do?” I asked, I had already resigned myself to at least hear about the opportunity.  What could it hurt?

   “The executive producer, Jorge Broussard is going to call you in one hour, seven o’clock their time.  They are an hour behind you,” said Justin.

   “Crap, I’m going to have to go to L.A. for this, aren’t I?” I moaned.             

   “Hollywood baby...step out of your comfort zone and leave the mountains far behind,” said Justin. 

   I frowned, I wasn’t a fan of southern California, but I was at least, willing to hear the sales pitch.

Chapter 5

   I talked to the executive producer Jorge Broussard, that evening and I have to say that I was intrigued enough, that I took him up on his offer to fly me to Los Angeles so that I could go over the specifics with him.  Really, I had nothing to loose, I had decided I might as well do it.  What else would I possibly do with my life?  My marriage was over, Kyle had already left for L.A., the skating season was essentially over for me.

   I flew to L.A. and met with Jorge Broussard and some other network executives, and once I had seen the entire presentation, I was actually very impressed with the whole plan.  Believe it or not, I could actually see myself working on this project.

   Though the concept was intriguing, I was most anxious to see what athletes they had on the roster and find out who the professional skaters would be.  That would tell me if the viewers would be interested or not.  I had imagined that the producers were probably recruiting some interesting characters who would be capable of keeping the viewers entertained.  Having athletes that were already popular with the viewers, and interesting personalities that kept things stirred up, would ensure that the show topped the ratings each week.

   Jorge proudly handed me the tentative list of potential cast members, I looked through the list of skaters, expecting to see some well loved, world class skaters, but my heart sank as I scanned the list.  I saw a few names that were vaguely familiar to me, but none of the names stood out to me as well known, world class skaters.

   “These are your professional skaters?  Where did you get them?  I can’t say that the average person would have ever heard of any of them,” I told him, handing the list back to him.  I was a bit put off, and I was suddenly having second thoughts about this project.  I was worried that maybe doing this show wasn’t such a good idea.  I really didn’t want to be associated with a show that ended up being a pathetic amateur hour.  I couldn’t help but have visions of “The Gong Show”.

   “That’s our problem, at the moment, US figure skating has not sanctioned our show, so many of the professionals we approached were afraid they might loose their credentials with the club.  Of course, you and our celebrity judges will be immune from the scrutiny, as none of you will actually be skating in this non sanctioned event.  But most of the skaters we approached were quite leery.  We had to find obscure skaters to whom it didn’t seem to matter.  Most of them never made it to the top, or they are foreign, of course,” said Jorge.

   I shook my head distractedly.  It did sound maybe, like a disastrous prospect, but I had already made my mind up.  Deep down, I knew I should just do it.  My life, as I knew it, was over.  It was time to start anew, my mental health was dependent on it.  “So what will my role be in all of this?” I asked.

   “Well, as you see, we have ten skaters, we will also have ten athletes and ten people like yourself, who will serve as the team’s coach and choreographer.  You will be assigned a team, that has been chosen completely at random.  You will be responsible for teaching them all the moves and the best choreography you can come up with.

   Since you will be both their coach and choreographer, it will be your job to mold whatever raw talent they have, into a pairs team.  Each week you will teach your team a new routine, each week one pair will be eliminated from the competition,” said Jorge, giving me a sly smile.

   “One routine each week!  For ten weeks!” I cried, it seemed impossible.

   “Well, the show will run a total of twelve weeks actually, we had to stretch it out a bit to please the network.  Don’t get your panties in a wad yet.  Our first week will merely be an exhibition, and then we will throw in a non elimination week right before the finals, and then basically a recap episode featuring the final two teams, before the final episode,” said Jorge.

   I was staring at him in shock.  I doubted that most trained professionals could perfect one routine a week, let alone a team who had no experience skating together at all.

   “How long will will we have to train these athletes, before we jump into this whole thing with the show?” I asked.  If it was anything less than six months, I didn’t think it would be possible.

   “We will bring everyone in to begin their training one month before the first show airs, and that show will just be an intro, so you’ll have at least five weeks before you have to come up with a two minute routine with your team,” said Jorge.

   “Five weeks!  Two minutes!” I cried, barely able to absorb the insanity of the very thought.  It would be impossible!

   “What do you think?” he asked, smiling broadly at me.

   I wanted to tell him that he was completely insane, that there was no possible way this could be done, but my panicked brain was still working furiously to process all of this.

   “Oh how remiss of me, I forgot to tell you your salary for those couple months you will be employed by the network,” said Jorge, then he casually rattled off a number in the six figures.  I’m sure my jaw dropped open in shock, since I had no clue that reality TV was going to be so lucrative.  I was completely speechless and staring at him in shock, I thought that my heart might stop!

   I couldn’t speak at all, I was so stunned.  Jorge apparently thought that my hesitation meant that I was having second thoughts about taking on this ambitious task, so he promptly added another fifty thousand dollars to my already excessive salary.  To say that I was stunned, would have been a serious understatement.

   “Ummm, okay,” I finally managed to mumble quickly, before the offer expired into thin air.

   “Excellent!” cried Jorge, standing and shaking my hand.  “Oh, I forgot to tell you, if your team wins, you get a bonus!” he said, smiling at me.

   I gave him a weak smile in return.  I couldn’t get too excited about a bonus yet.  Especially, when I had no idea what my “team” would be like.  I truly had no idea who any of these people were.

   Jorge and I went to work signing contracts and working out details.  I would fly home to Colorado Springs to tie up loose ends there, then I would return to Los Angeles in five weeks to begin my new project.  As exciting as all this seemed, I was scared.  Justin had been right.  Thi
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wa
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something out of my comfort zone.