so much about designing a new building, but creating a new home for women and children who have no place else to go.”
At some point my nerves slipped away and I ran with my new role as host. The longer I spoke, the more the people around the tables lost the look of bored dismissal and started nodding with appreciation. “I know your passion for building quality homes is only rivaled by your passion for helping. By being a part of this project, you’ll be touching the lives of countless individuals, now and for years to come.” Yes! I was rocking it!
“The one thing I want everyone to keep in mind is that Trinity House is more than an old rundown dump we’re trying to bring some life back to.” I made sure to meet the gaze of each person there. “This will be the one place these women and children will be able to count on. We need to make it special. They deserve to have that after everything else they’ve gone through. It’s our chance to show them that there are people out there who care about what happens to them.”
In a blink the crew started applauding and I knew I wore a grin a mile wide. It was the most perfect moment, one that wouldn’t have gone better if I’d written it and cued the crowd to cheer myself.
It took me a minute to realize that there was a young guy holding a video camera standing in the back of the room. He gave me a thumbs-up when I stared a few moments too long before calling out, “I got it, boss.” Then as suddenly as everything started, the entire room went silent.
What the hell...
“Well done.” Carl leaned back against his seat. “Maybe we don’t need to worry about a script after all. That was better than I assumed you’d be able to manage.”
“What?” I sunk back into her chair, my stomach churning. “I didn’t plan that. It just...came out.”
“That’s what makes it great, kid.” Carl clapped once more. “Okay, now that we’ve done our intro, it’s time to get to work. Everyone knows what’s expected of them. The next few days better go without a hitch if we want to get on track for the first milestone.”
The group eventually broke up, but I didn’t have the strength to get up. Tamara started to come over, but she was intercepted by a small group of people. She looked helplessly at me and mouthed accountants, before they guided her out of the room.
Fynn cleared his throat, and it was only then that I realized he was still there. God, I must look like some posturing idiot to him. Before I could say anything in my own defense, he turned to face me.
“I’m going to give you a little friendly advice.” His voice was low and gravelly, as though he hadn’t spoken in years instead of minutes. “I’m telling you this because you haven’t been around much and I get the impression you actually care about your job and what you’re doing here.”
I tried to speak, but Fynn held up his hand, silencing me.
“Carl’s a shark. He will push you as far as he thinks you can go. Then he’ll nudge you some more. Don’t let him do that. Also, this crew won’t respect you until you’ve earned it. They’ll do what you ask, but they won’t stop you from shooting yourself in the foot.”
I nodded. Maybe Tamara was right after all and this was way more than I could handle right out of the gate. The entire team thought I’d planned that moment, rather than speaking from my heart.
Great. “How do I earn their respect?”
“Know your shit. Don’t jerk people around. Be up front. Treat people like the professionals they are.”
“Simple as that?”
“Yes.” He got to his feet and started to follow where the others had gone.
“Fynn?”
“Yeah?”
“How do I win you over?”
With a final look over his shoulder, he gave his head a small shake and smiled sadly.
I sat there for a long time after he left, trying to hold back the tears, wondering if it was too late to back out.
Chapter Two
Day three of shooting completed. We won’t have enough footage for editing until end of week two for first episode. Fynn and Sophia are still stiff when in frame together. Will need to talk to Fynn about not avoiding being filmed—again. On a personal note, was surprised when I met Sophia. Not at all what I’d expected. It’s gotten me thinking about the past.
—Impact Load Production Notes, Brian Merrick, Director
“The most important thing to remember if you discover asbestos in your home—don’t try to handle it yourself. Stop your renovation and call in the experts to dispose of it properly. We’ll be halted on the demolition on the second floor until the abatement team finishes up and our crews can get back in safely.”
I don’t want to say that I was making magic in front of the cameras, but I had grown more comfortable after four days on the job. Half the time I forgot that Matt was trailing around behind me filming until I’d hear a little snort after I’d said something crazy. Not that I had time to worry about him and his snark. So far we’d hit every snag in the road during the demolition phase of the project. Problems might make great television, but they were lousy for the renovation business.
I caught sight of Tamara coming around the corner. For the three days we’d been filming, I’d barely had the chance to chat with her, let alone any serious one-on-one time. Carl had, for reasons unknown, focused on Tamara, monopolizing her time whenever he was on site. I thought he had a bit of a crush on her, even if he wasn’t exactly her type. Thankfully, he was back at the office today, which meant we could have some girl time.
Letting the level I’d been carrying around for a long-forgotten reason rest against my shoulder, I kicked my hip to the side and grinned into the camera lens. “I think it might be time for us to hunt down Fynn and find out how the demo of the first-floor addition is going.”
“And cut.” Matt poked his head up from behind the camera after calling the scene. “Awesome, Sophia. Brian is going to love that for the next segment.”
“Thanks. Are you going to find Fynn, or are you still following me?”
He looked around, but there were only a few people still milling around on site. “What do you have up next?”
“A quick chat with my business partner. Nothing exciting.”
“Yeah maybe, unless the boss man wants me doing set shots.” Matt threw the camera over his shoulder and strode off. “I guess I’ll track down Brian and see what he wants me to do next.”
The sound of the table saws could have been a choir of angels. I was free! At least long enough for me to get a coffee. I jogged over to Tamara, whose grin grew the closer I got.
“Goddamn, girl.” She gave me a hug, sighing by my ear. “I told you this was going to be insane.”
“But you didn’t tell me I’d lose sleep.”
“I totally did.”
“Bitch, why didn’t you make
