"Wake up!" A voice yells.
I can't exactly determine who it is but I know I've heard it before.
"Come on! Now!" They yell, and I can tell that it's a girl.
I get out of bed and rush to door.
On the other side, I see Iris.
She's practically fuming as she stomps into my apartment and pushes me aside.
"Well, good morning." I say sarcastically as I close the door.
"Good?" She asks, shuffling through her purse.
I can hear the jingling of her keys and other various items as she scrummages through her things. Then, she pulls out a CD.
"You know what's good? This. This video is good." I can tell in her voice she's joking and angry.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Oh, so you've never seen this either? Well you're in for a big surprise, because all of the film corporations have seen it!" She yells.
I walk towards her and begin to reach for the disk until she pulls it away. Then she walks to my TV and inserts it, flipping it on and waiting.
On the screen appears a picture of River; he wears dark sunglasses and a black shirt, and he lays comfortably on a couch.
I can tell she has already seen the video because she starts to rewind it.
As we sit on the couch and wait, she quietly mumbles to herself in anger.
Once it reaches the beginning, she starts it.
(Watch interview above)
For the next 4 or so minutes, I watch as a high River stumbles through an interview.
I'm not sure when exactly it was taken, but by the looks of his scruffy hair, I assumed it was recent.
Thinking back, I couldn't recall a time when he'd mentioned an interview to me.
When It had finally finished, Iris turns to me with heat in her face.
She's shocked by what she has just seen, but I can't say that I am.
"Do you understand why this is such a big deal?" She asks, and I do. "We can't have River out here looking this distraught. We need to talk to him, and you need to do it with me."
"I don't know," I say. "I'm all for talking to him about it, but, I don't want to mix relationships and business. We agreed not to."
She shakes her head and retrieves the tape from the TV.
"Then don't think of it like that. Think of it as two people who care about his well being, and need him to stop."
I sort of just roll my eyes at her, but I know it doesn't help matters. She seems frustrated more by my actions now than she did by the tape itself.
"You'd think as a girlfriend," she begins, but I cut her off.
"Don't even say that." I tell her. "I've talked to River numerous times about this, and if this was any time recently, it obviously hasn't worked. So, don't drag me along to lecture him because I have already done it all. You need to just relax, and, and let him figure it out for himself."
She looks shocked.
"Look, Carmen, this is strictly about image. He can't have his wholesome, granola image if he's out here promoting a movie like My Own Private Idaho and being high off cocaine while doing it!"
I can tell that she's slowly giving up on him.
While she stands here, lecturing me rather than River, I can't help but notice the immense stress that is painted on across every inch of her face.
For a second, we look at each other.
"Just come with me." She insists; her voice is soft now.
I give in.
"Alright, okay."
-
The drive to the set in San Francisco is so quiet, and when Iris does talk, she commands that we decide what to say to him.
"I think we should tell him something that will really hit his heart." She says.
"Oh, come on. We can't take advantage of his fragility, can we? Isn't that sort of fucked up?" I wonder.
She shakes her head and looks at me.
"What do we tell him, then? What will make him stop being so public about it? Do I just get my knees and beg him to stop because it's ruining the way I look as an agent?"
I can't help but begin to get mad at her; it all seems so 'me, me, me'.
"How about you make it about him." I start, trying to hold back the anger I feel. "Make it about his safety and his life. Stop being so determined on making him feel like he's failing everybody. Because, how do you think he's going to react to feeling that way? He won't be able to handle it; it'll get worse."
She looks at me and I can tell she knows that I'm right. In return, she doesn't speak the rest of the way.
-
Iris must have built up some steam in the remaining silent minutes of the drive, because the moment we arrive on set, she's insisting to see him right away.
We wait for him in his dressing room and sit, yet again, in silence.
"Yeah, I'll give you a call!" I hear River laugh from the other side of the door.
Then, the door opens and he walks in.
The moment his eyes connect with mine he smiles; Iris, on the other hand, not so much.
"What are you two doing together?" He asks, and his voice is slightly off from being in character.
"We need to talk." Iris starts as she stands up. "This is an intervention."
River widens his eyes and glances at me; I kind of send him a look that says 'this was not my idea, I just got forced into it.'
I can tell he understands me as he turns his attention to Iris.
"Okay," he states, sitting down. "Change my life. That's what these intervention things are supposed to do, right? Change my life?"
She seems surprised by his reaction and looks at me for backup; I just shrug.
"I told you." I answer.
She shakes her head and takes out the CD, waving it in front of River's face in anger.
"This," she begins, and he folds his hands because he knows he's in for it. "This is pure
public humiliation."
He narrows his eyes at the tape.
"I don't think you should be embarrassed of it. That's a perfectly good condition CD."
He's acting like more of a smart ass than the River i'm used to; I figure it's him being wrapped up in another role.
"You thought it would be a good idea to promote your next movie while you were high?" She asks him.
That gets his attention, but not enough for him to take it seriously.
"You thought it would be a good idea to come down here in the middle of filming to scold me? And bring my girl friend along, too? Is this supposed to embarrass me?" He wonders, tapping a finger against his cheek.
She lets out a loud groan and rolls her eyes, throwing the CD on the table in front of him.
He flinches as it collides with the table; I can see the quick flash of River become present for a second.
"What am I supposed to do with you, huh?" She wonders. "You get high all the time and drive drunk and do all these things that make it so hard to keep supporting you, River. I love you. But what am I supposed to do now? I've had to make so many calls just to protect your image already. I can't keep doing that."
"Then, don't." He says simply. "Don't protect my image. Don't keep pretending that I'm someone I have never been. Don't keep lying. The world can handle the truth at this point, don't you think?"
She sighs and sits down next to me; I can almost hear her heart racing.
"I knew it would be pointless," she says. "Let's just leave."
On one hand, I feel bad for Iris.
On the other, I knew he was still in character, and there is no way to reach River through the thick layers of Birdlace that surrounded him.
"I'm sorry you didn't get the reaction you wanted." River says. "But I have a lot of work I must be doing."
Before he leaves, he approaches me and reaches down, placing one hand on the back of my head so that he can easily kiss my forehead.
Once he's done, he nods to both of us and heads for the door.
"I'll see you later, yeah?" He asks, and then he's gone.