An Object in Motion

Chapter 7: Motion

"Okay." Dean responded warily. "And what did you have in mind?"

Here goes nothing.

"Well, throughout the script, I was sensing undertones that Virginia's first escape was more than just a bad run in. It seemed heavily implied that John Cleary was someone who offered her protection and took advantage of her naivety until she finally saw the situation for what it was and escaped. What if John Cleary thinks Virginia doesn't have it in her to kill him because she never did before? What if she's a victim of his and he knows the power he holds over her? And what if that's why his guard is down and she's able to kill him?"

"Harlow." Dean said sternly. "This sounds an awful lot like what Amanda wrote that we had to cut. Virginia isn't the main character, Joseph is."

"It's a variation of what Amanda wrote. Roy and I worked on it." Harlow gestured back to Roy, who had come to stand just a step behind her. "Honestly, dad, I think it's better. We don't have to give Virginia some huge arc that disrupts the overall story, just enough that it explains why it was so 'easy' for her to kill John Cleary. It's overly cliched otherwise, it's too simple."

"It's better, Dean." Roy chimed in. "Far better than what we were working with originally. You should read it before you make a decision. As a professional courtesy."

Dean looked between Roy and Harlow, who was now holding out the script to him. He sighed and accepted the script.

"Give me ten minutes. Abigail, that lamp better be changed out for something more muted when I get back." He pointed to the woman carrying two lampshades and a whole new lamp to the set. "Chris!" Dean stalked off to find his script supervisor and writers and Harlow bit her lip in anticipation, watching her father and the writers reading through what she and Roy had written.

"They hate it." Harlow muttered, watching as the group across the room gesticulating aggressively as they ran their hands through their hair and shook their heads.

"We knew this was likely to happen." Roy reminded her. "They have a large screenwriting team, our odds of getting such a major change approved were always slim. You can't beat yourself up if you don't pull it off."

"If we don't pull it off." Harlow retorted, sparing Roy a glance.

"No, this is your baby. And that writer's baby, Amanda. If we pull this off, it's only thanks to you two."

"You just don't want the blame when this all crashes and burns." Harlow quipped, which made Roy chuckle. They both stood a little straighter when Dean nodded quickly and began walking back toward Roy and Harlow.

"That wasn't ten minutes." Harlow muttered. "Not a good sign."

"No, not really." Roy agreed quietly.

Dean was quiet and tight lipped as he approached. "We can't make this work." He explained gently, much to Harlow's disappointment. All that work for nothing? All of that turmoil and rooting around the emotional strife such a manipulating relationship causes just to be told after three minutes that it was a bad idea?

"Why?" She pressed.

"It's not in line with the rest of the story, sweetie, we'd have to do reshoots and flashbacks and those alone are expensive enough but this isn't the story we wrote. That the original author of Running Hot wrote."

"If reshoots are needed, I'll come back after the new year. For free." Roy interjected, offering something incredibly uncommon for an actor of his caliber. Even ten minutes of his time was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"It won't need more background," Harlow argued, "because it's already what he wrote but didn't know he wrote, it's sprinkled through the rest of the story." She knew reshoots were possible but she hoped she had done enough in her own filming to make it believable without costing the production more money. "Men that write these wounded yet sexy women aren't doing it because that's where the story ends. These women are the product of abuse - of a system that failed them. Of the men who swore to protect them and let them down." Her voice cracked, just barely, but enough that Harlow took a breath to calm her thoughts. I will not give anyone permission to make me feel less than.