screenplay, he invariably got that feeling in the pit of his stomach that he’d figure out how to tie up every loose end in the story finally. Call it writer’s intuition or good old-fashioned luck, he always knew instinctively that he’d be able to finish things satisfactorily, and just an hour ago, he’d gotten that hunch again.
The feeling had come a little later than he’d liked, but luckily, he still had a couple of weeks to pull perfection from the last few scenes he’d written down in an effort to appease his agent and producers. It was mid-September and he hadn’t promised them anything final until mid-October.
Taking another sip of his scotch, he picked up one of the action scenes and read his handwritten sticky notes plastered across the paper. “Come on, Trey,” he said, closing his eyes. “What’s missing here?”
He kept his eyes closed as he imagined the scene playing out in his mind as it would in the movie. He was only partially into his vision when he heard keys jingling in his front door. Trey opened his eyes and glanced down at his rose gold watch.
“Carmen,” he said aloud as he shook his head and headed toward his front door. There was only one person who could be coming into his home at eleven o’clock at night.
“What do you want?” he said, crossing his arms over his chest the moment the door peeked open.
“Dang, big bro. Is that any way to greet your favorite sister?”
“You’re my only sister.”
“Precisely the reason you should be more grateful to see me.”
“You’re right,” he said with a laugh as he reached for the car seat that held his nephew, Matthew. “Hey, M-dog,” he said as he picked up the six-month-old. “How’s my boy doing?”
“Ugh.” Carmen frowned. “Why do you insist on calling him M-dog?”
“Because it’s way better than you and Mom insisting on calling him Matty. There’s nothing manly about the nickname Matty. Are you trying to raise your son to permanently be in the friends zone with every girl he meets?”
“Shut up,” Carmen said, lightly slapping Trey’s shoulder. “M-dog isn’t a good nickname, either. You’re lucky I love you because had anyone else called him that, I would have nipped it in the bud right away.”
Trey smiled, knowing she meant it. Although Trey and Carmen didn’t have the same father, they were extremely close. Trey’s stepdad—who was also Carmen’s father—had been around for most of his life, and since Trey’s relationship with his own father was strained, he appreciated his stepfather.
Through his biological dad, Reginald Moore, Trey also had two half brothers, Derek and Max. Since they all had different mothers, they hadn’t been too close growing up. Like him, Derek also had an uneasy relationship with their father. Actually, Derek’s relationship with Reginald was much worse than Trey’s. Max was the only son who was close to Reginald, because he’d had the benefit of growing up with Reginald in his life and always had him around.
“Have any scotch?” Carmen stepped away from the foyer and walked into the kitchen area that was connected to the dining room and living room.
“You already know I do.” Trey handed baby Matthew back to his sister as he pulled out a glass to pour scotch. “I thought you weren’t drinking any liquor, though? When did that change?”
“Oh, it didn’t,” Carmen said with a sneaky smile. “The scotch is for you.”
Trey stopped midpour. “For me? I already have a glass I was sipping on before you arrived.”
“Great. Then maybe you should get that glass.”
Trey leaned against the counter. “Enough stalling, Carmen. I’m happy to see you and my nephew, but why are you here?”
Carmen nuzzled her nose with Matthew’s tiny button before speaking. “Well, as you know, Max has been trying to get me a few gigs, but even with his connections as my talent agent, I haven’t gotten a lot of bites.”
Trey nodded, well aware of Carmen’s frustration with her acting career. His sister was talented, and seeing that their mom was a famous actress in her day, Hollywood expected that at least one of her children would follow her path. Surprisingly, Trey had found his niche in LA as a prominent screenplay writer. However, Carmen was still trying to emulate their mother. Trey knew that all she needed was a big break to showcase her talent, and he was hoping that Max, his half brother and Carmen’s agent, could help her in any way possible.
“So, it looks like my hard work is finally paying off. I landed a minor role on a weekly television series.”
“That’s great, sis.” Trey gave her a quick hug, careful not to crush Matthew. “I knew you’d get a break soon enough.”
“I’m really excited,” Carmen said, beaming from ear to ear. “I couldn’t wait to tell you. I even wanted to tell Scott and gloat a little, but I don’t want to jinx anything.”
Scott was Carmen’s ex and Matthew’s father. Trey had always gotten along well with Scott, but Scott didn’t support Carmen’s dream of becoming a full-time actress, so the two had split right before Carmen found out she was pregnant. Trey was proud of his sister for not letting her dream of spending the rest of her life with Scott and raising a family together deter her from following her other goal of becoming an actress.
“I understand that.” Trey playfully nudged her on the head like he’d done since she was little. “When do you start filming?”
“Funny you should ask.” Carmen perked up. “I’ve been informed that it will take two weeks to film the pilot episode and I’m needed on set starting tomorrow. Which brings me to the reason I’m here.”
Trey squinted his eyes when Carmen glanced from him to Matthew, then back to him. “Oh, no, sis. You’ve got to be kidding me. You already know I’ve got this thing to finish. Hell, I haven’t even been out the house in days.”
“I know, Trey. And I wouldn’t ask if I had other options. I need someone to watch Matthew for two weeks while I film.”
“The full two weeks!” Trey didn’t mean for his voice to carry, but just the thought of him babysitting a six-month-old while trying to make this tight deadline was enough to send him into a slight panic, and Trey was not the panicky type. “Are you sure I’m the best option?”
“Best? Probably not. Only? Absolutely. You already know that Mom and Dad are on their African safari. And Scott is traveling between New York and Miami throughout the rest of this month on business, so he’s not even in LA. I would ask Scott’s parents if they weren’t in Germany for the next few weeks. And I can’t get a two-week nanny on such short notice. I know the timing isn’t ideal for you, but I could really use your help right now.”
Carmen shot him her big-puppy-dog-eyes that usually did the trick when she was trying to convince him to do something he didn’t want to do. Trey lifted Matthew’s tiny hand in his.
“Carm, I’ve never watched a child on my own for that long, let alone an infant.”
“You used to watch me when I was little and you’re only eight years older than me.”
Trey
