The waiter arrived, and at Ben’s prompting, Catherine ordered a couple of bottles of good wine.
“As our guests, dinner’s on me,” Ben said as he smiled at the actor and his friend.
“Oh!” Phil traded a look across the table, but Eric just smiled happily. “Thank you!” He leaned a little closer to Ben. “I feel like we should be treating you as you’re getting the lion’s share of attention in the media these days.”
Ben sighed wearily. “Yeah, no matter how hard I try to stay out of the damn spotlight.”
Phil snorted. “You’re in the wrong town for maintaining anonymity.” He looked around at the surrounding tables and saw more than one guest looking their way. “You’re in the wrong restaurant for that matter.”
Ben nodded agreement with a shrug. “Yeah, but I promised them a shopping trip, and they chose to eat here,” he said.
Eric nodded then looked to Ben. “There’s been a lot of speculation. Are you planning to tell your story at some point?” he asked, clearly intrigued by the notion.
“To the public? No. It’s for family only. Besides, I’m just a mechanical engineer! My life isn’t interesting enough to be… entertainment,” Ben scoffed.
Trish snorted then delicately dabbed her napkin against her nose with the smallest smile on her lips. Phil and Eric understood her meaning and caught the skepticism on the other lady’s faces. Then the actor noticed the secret little smile on the Sergeant’s face.
He caught Evelyn’s eye. “You don’t agree?”
She shook her head then answered in a matter of fact tone. “Mr. Shepherd isn’t just a mechanical engineer. He’s a brilliant mechanical engineer.”
The actor turned his smile to Ben who shrugged as he shook his head slightly.
“Still. Not a public story,” Ben insisted. He decided to push the conversation back to his guests. “Can you tell us what your project is?”
Eric nodded to Phil, and it was his turn to shrug.
“Eric brought this idea to me, and we’ve been working on it for a little more than a year. We want to shine a light on some brave young people in a documentary style movie. A series of stories based on kids that slipped through the cracks of society but found a way to make it on their own.”
Ben’s chest felt a little tight as that story was a little too close to his own life, but he took a deep breath and moved on as he looked to Eric. “Documentary style but fiction?”
He shook his head. “No, these are true stories about real people and the content will be raw and profoundly evocative. We met the kids. Most indicated they don’t want to be in front of the camera, but they agreed to let us tell their story. For those unwilling to portray themselves, we’d use unknown actors. This will add an edge of reality in their performances.
Ben thought about that for a bit. “The studio wasn’t interested?” he asked quietly.
Phil shrugged. “We’ve shopped this around. No one is interested in doing it-”
“Our way,” Eric clarified. “They won’t do it our way. It’s not a guaranteed money-maker without the well-known talent in it. The studios are risk-averse at the best of times. I suppose it was a long shot.”
When the wine arrived, Ben indicated he’d pass and asked for some bottles of spring water for the table. A second waiter arrived with the water immediately behind the first. Ben filled his glass and looked up as the others had raised their wine glasses for a toast. Everyone looked at Ben.
“Ah, me. OK. Uh, here’s to a successful visit; shopping for us and success in finding backing for your project,” Ben finished, looking to the group.
“Cheers!”
Once the glassware was back on the table, Phil turned to Ben. “What exactly does a Mechanical Engineer do? You must be doing well to spring for a shopping trip in this town!”
Ben shrugged. “I invent solutions for engineering issues. Sometimes these inventions can be used across multiple industries or have multiple purposes. I own the patents and license their use, or I sell the patent. I invest carefully, and I live frugally… well, most of the time.”
“Would I know anything you invented?” Phil asked.
Ben shook his head. “Not likely. My last invention was a radioactive particle filter for uranium mining trucks at a company in Melbourne. This design adapts easily for buildings, hazmat suits, whatever, so I kept the patent to license it. I have a contract with a company in Texas to manufacture them and a contract with the Uranium mining company to market them. The US military is purchasing them for its use, and that generates revenue.” Ben saw Eric’s expression darken. “Hang on! I’m not overbilling the government. I keep the unit cost low and focus on volume. That way the filter’s base price can remain low enough to expand its marketability. They’re getting them for a decent price.” Eric seemed to accept that. “I have many patents for all kinds of different things, none of which you’d recognize or be impressed by seeing first hand. They work and eliminate an issue someone reported on an engineering chat board. For me, they’re puzzles, and it’s deeply satisfying to solve them. But, nothing is exciting there for the general public to be thrilled about.”
The waiters returned and took their orders.
Before Phil could ask Ben his next question, he caught the motion of someone approaching their table. He looked up, and up, into the smiling face of Dwayne Johnson. Next to Dwayne was a heavyset man with a broad smile.
“Phil! What a strange coincidence, bumping into you today!” the muscular actor said.
Phil glanced at Ben awkwardly then shook the offered hand. “Hi… Dwayne. Coincidence?”
“I don’t mean to interrupt your dinner, but I was just here with Steven Koch- have you met Steven?” He brought the man forward to shake Phil’s hand, but Steven kept glancing at Ben. Then Dwayne continued. “Steven contacted me today to offer me the lead role in a new movie, playing… Benjamin Shepherd.” Dwayne turned his smile to Ben but didn’t see the smile he expected. His eyebrows went up.
Phil jumped in to fill the tense silence. “Speaking of strange coincidences, Ben here just finished telling me he doesn’t believe his story is worthy of a movie and that it’s for family only.”
Dwayne nodded thoughtfully. He looked at Ben. “Understood. I respect your desire for privacy, and I wasn’t aware that you were so opposed to the idea of a movie. That said, one of the studios is going to make this movie. Someone is going to portray you. I believe I would have enjoyed playing that role very much.”
Ben sighed as he knew the man was right about the studios. He’d done his research, and while he was a private citizen, he’d been involved in publicly reported events for which he could expect no privacy. Events the public was intensely curious about. He looked up at the big man.
“I’m sorry I can’t be more supportive. I truly want nothing to do with turning my very private life into some public spectacle. I know there’ve been moments where I was very much in the public eye, but some of them were exceptionally painful for me. I don’t need to relive those moments. They’re always with me.” He saw the disappointment on the actor’s face. “For what it’s worth, there’s a waitress in Melbourne, Australia who mistook me for you, so I get there’s some physical similarity between us. I mean, aside from your tattoos and my scars. I don’t know you, but you seem to present yourself very positively as an outgoing, confident, and dynamic personality. I’m an Engineering nerd. Shy, quiet, and a homebody. The only reason I’m here is that I promised these ladies a visit… and I truly enjoy being in their company.”
Dwayne looked down the table and fixed his eyes on the Sergeant. She blinked at the intensity of his look. “I’m just his personal security detail,” she blurted awkwardly.
The actor’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he looked back to Ben for confirmation.
Ben sighed. “She’s also my admin assistant and liaison for the work I do with the US Military and other government offices.”
“Damn, your life doesn’t sound as dull as you make it out to be,” Phil said with a grin.
“I know, right?” Trish chimed in with a grin of her own.
“Trish!” Ben said, giving her a stern look but he couldn’t diminish her delight.
Dwayne sighed. “More and more I’m intrigued by the role.”
“Listen, I’m not saying you shouldn’t do it. I’m just saying I’m not going to get involved or sanction a movie about me in any way. Nor will I watch it,” Ben said reluctantly. “My lawyer will, and if the result is libelous, I’ll sue the studio.” He turned his eyes to Steven, and the man’s smile dimmed.
“Well, I’m glad I got to meet you,” Dwayne held out a hand and Ben shook it. Catherine used her cell to take a picture of them shaking hands as Steven took one from the other side.
When their visitors left, Phil looked at Ben with a raised eyebrow. “Someone is making a movie about you? I wonder if it’s just going to be about the stuff we’ve seen on the news.”
Ben shrugged. “I want to believe that’s all they have.” He looked to Trish.
She shook her head. “None of us would ever spill your naughty secrets.” Ben gave her an exasperated look.
“They’ll probably give the movie a huge budget,” Eric said. “They could make an action film based on the rescue of those kids from the slavers.”
“Do you ever wonder how they’re doing now?” Phil asked with a small smile.
Ben grinned. “The two I adopted, Karen and Penny, are doing well in school. I think Karen’s looking into continuing her education into the Culinary Arts when she graduates, but Penny hasn’t decided yet. The Russian twins are happy and growing up quickly too. Mika and Rosa are taking gymnastics and are the top students in their classes. I don’t know what happened to the French girl.”