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TINSLEY
I went from feeling the worst, I’d probably ever felt to the best in the course of just a few hours. I couldn’t believe the way everyone had shown up for me today. I started that meeting with no job and no prospects.
I had known Katie had ideas for how to help but I really doubted any of the guys were going to go for it. I had seen it more as a chance to say goodbye to everyone. Now I not only felt like I’d be hired back but I was going out on my own. This was incredible.
Katie and Stephen and I had sat down and written out a business plan when the rest of the crew had left. We’d pulled paperwork and overnighted the documents we needed to get me official. I was now the president of my own PR firm. Between Katie’s industry experience and Stephen’s business background we were easily able to iron out details in just a few hours.
I had everything in place for my big day tomorrow. When we finally finished up for the night, I called Lucas.
“Hey buddy,” I said as soon as he picked up. “Hey mom!”
“I’m so sorry we weren’t able to see each other today as planned. What are you and Nan up to?”
“Mom, you know what we’re up to. We’re going to Disney tomorrow! I’m so excited, I can hardly stand it. Nan says we can head straight to the Indiana Jones ride when we get to the park tomorrow.”
“That’s awesome buddy, you love that ride.”
“Thank you so much for letting us go mom. I miss you like crazy but I’m so glad to be going.”
“Oh, I miss you like crazy too Lucas.” I said, holding back a tear.
“Mom, is it okay if I let you go now? I want to be sure to get a good night’s sleep,” he said. I beamed. That’s my responsible little man.
“Sure thing buddy, I love you,” I said, hanging up.
I walked around my empty house. It was so rare that I had a night at my own house by myself. It felt weird and foreign to me. I had all this pent up energy and adrenaline from the day and no idea how to use it.
Just then I got an idea. I picked up my phone and dialed Ryan. “Hey there,” he said when he answered.
“Hey yourself,” I said. “What are you up to right now?”
“Nothing, just watching some Netflix,” he replied. “Why what’s wrong, is everything ok? Is Lucas ok?”
I loved that his first thought was concern for our family.
“Don’t worry babe, everything is fine. I just got off the phone with him and he’s pumped for his Disney adventure tomorrow.”
“Oh good,” he said, and I heard relief flood his voice. “What can I do for you?”
“Funny you put it that way cause I do need something from you.” I replied.
“Oh yeah?” he questioned sexily. “What exactly did you have in mind?” “Well, remember when we played Never Have I Ever?” I asked,
casually.
“Uh huh,” Ryan said.
“Remember that one thing that you and I “had never”?” I asked. “Phone sex?” Ryan questioned.
“Exactly.”
“You wanna?”
“I need to Ryan. I have all this built of anxiety. I wish you could just come over but then I won’t get any sleep tonight.” I said, as he laughed knowing it was true.
“Okay, go run a bubble bath, hop in and call me right back,” he commanded.
“Yes sir,” I returned. I couldn’t wait.
Ten minutes later I was as ready as I thought I could be. I had always felt silly asking for things sexually before the guys but being with them made me feel empowered. Why shouldn’t I ask for what I want?
I called Ryan and he picked right up after the first ring. “Are you in the bath,” he asked.
“Yes, I’m completely naked and the bath is so nice and warm, and the bubbles are tickling my hard nipples,” I replied.
“Are you sure you haven’t done this before?” he asked. “Cause we’re like five seconds in and you’ve already given me a massive erection.”
I couldn’t help but laugh but then I got serious again.
“Where are you right now?” I asked. “I want to be able to picture you perfectly in my head.”
“I’m laying in bed wearing those gray sweatpants you like,” he replied. “Oh I love those pants. I can see the outline of your dick when you wear
them. Just thinking of you wearing those makes me wet. Well, that and the fact that I’m massaging my breasts imaging it’s you touching me.”
“Oh damn,” he replied. “Can you touch yourself a little lower for me? I want to hear you moan as you massage your clit.”
I complied, moving my hand down my body and rubbing circles over my button, feeling it grow more tender with each touch. I panted as the sensations of pleasure began to work their way through me.
“That’s it baby. Right now, I’m stroking my cock imagining it’s your mouth. It feels so good when you swallow me down and I can feel your moans against my dick.”
“Oh God, I love the way your dick feels in my mouth,” I cried into the phone. “I love running my tongue up and down your hard penis and how good it feels when you’re inside me.”
I was getting close now, the thought of his hard cock had me ready to explode.
“Tell me what you like me to do to you.”
“I love it when you kiss down my body, licking and nipping at me as you go. Kissing and sucking at my core when you reach it and driving me to the edge of pleasure, and you take your fingers inside of me and make me quake.”
“What else baby?” he asked.
“And then you position yourself in front of me. Teasing my hole with your penis to the point that I don’t think I can take it anymore and then you plunge inside me and I.” And right then as I rubbed harder over my clit, I came in a tremble that shook my entire body.
“Oh God Tinsley, that’s so hot. I’m imagining myself coming all over your tits right now and watching my seed glisten on your incredible body,”
he said. And I could hear his pleasure peak and then subside, and he breathed heavily into the phone.
“Damn, that was intense.” I said when we had both calmed down. “That was amazing,” he agreed. “Do you feel better?”
“Damn right I do. I can’t wait for the real thing,” I said sexily.
“You got that right. We are going to have to reenact this the next time I have you alone,” he said.
“I’m gonna hold you to that,” I said.
“I would expect nothing less,” he replied.
“Goodnight babe,” I said. “Thanks for helping me out.” “Anytime babe.”
–
I woke up the next morning fully refreshed and ready to kick some butt. I felt like I could take on the world with my guys by my side. Seeing how everyone had come together for me yesterday really made me feel invincible and loved.
I knew in my gut that we were going to pull this off. Not only did the guys make me feel good physically, mentally they had driven my confidence to a whole new level. I had always been a fairly self-assured woman but it’s like they say when you have the right people in your corner you feel unstoppable.
Now that I had the guys, I felt like I could finally do all the things I had never been able to accomplish before. I knew with them by my side I could start my own firm, be the best mom to Lucas, and be a good partner to them.
Ryan swung by my house that morning to pick me up. We couldn’t take the chance that my credentials had already been pulled. If I couldn’t make it through the studio gate it wouldn’t be much of a meeting.
The plan was for the guys and I to head straight into the conference room. They were supposed to be in hair and makeup by 9 A. M. but we knew if we all headed straight to the conference room that the receptionist would sense something was up and get everyone down there pronto. She would wonder why they were all not on set and get in touch with the studio head.
“Are you ready to do this thing?” Ryan asked when he picked me up.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied.
I gazed at Ryan as he drove. He looked so hot in his black button down and gray slacks. The dark coloring made his hair stand out and his gorgeous blue eyes shimmer. Down girl! You’ve got too big a day to get horny.
“I want you to know that no matter how this thing goes down, I want you and Lucas to stay in Los Angeles. I don’t care how we work it, I can pay your rent. You guys can move in with me. Whatever it takes to keep you here. I can’t lose you two now that I have you,” Ryan said, squeezing my hand gently.
“Ryan, I really appreciate that. But this is something I need to do on my own. I don’t take handouts,” I replied.
“Tinsley. This is hardly a handout. It doesn’t have to be a forever thing. Consider it back child support that you are rightfully owed if you have to. Just don’t leave me. I can’t take that,” he said, choking up just a bit.
“I’ll think about it,” I promised, squeezing his hand back.
“Not that you are going to need me,” he said, suddenly lightening the mood. “Cause you are about to kick some ass!”
We met up with the guys in the parking lot and at 8:55, we all made our way into the building. I could tell the guys wanted to hug me or comfort me, but we had agreed to keep things professional. We got onto the elevator and rode up to the third floor.
As we passed the reception desk, she took in the site of all the guys, and then me. Her eyes nearly doubled in size and she picked up the phone. I’m not sure who she called but I could hear her saying, “I don’t know what’s happening, but the main cast is all here with Tinsley.”
That should do that trick, I thought with a laugh. As we all took seats, mine at the head of the table, I took a moment, “Guys we don’t have much time, so I just want to say that I’m so grateful for each and every one of you. You didn’t have to put yourselves on the line, but you did, you are. And it means the world to me. You all mean the world to me.”
They started to speak but just then I heard a commotion outside. It was go time.
Grant Chaswell, the head of the studio was the first through the door. He took in the sight of us and furrowed his brow. He was followed closely behind with his team, and finally Lee brought up the rear.
As soon as he saw me, he shot me a death look. “What the fuck are you doing here taking time away from my already overbooked schedule?” Lee
growled.
“That’s enough Lee,” Grant said, shooting him a look. “Despite the rather poor delivery, Lee’s questions stand. What are you all doing here instead of being where you should be at the set filming reshoots? And Tinsley, your presence here is no longer welcome. Must I remind you that you’ve been let go? Do I need to call security?”
I could feel Kai tense in the seat beside me. He almost started to speak but we had decided that Ryan would start things off.
“What you did to Tinsley was completely inappropriate. She has held a professional attitude throughout the time she has been employed here despite receiving some less than favorable working conditions from Lee. She worked tirelessly to fix any mess that Lee has gotten himself into, and believe you me, there have been several.”
“And she has gone above and beyond to incur good publicity for the cast and crew with activities like the children’s hospital visit, the ComicCon invite and all the great press we got in Utah before Lee’s little fiasco. Her firing was unjust and in our opinion a breach of contract on your end, not hers.”
“If you do not hire her back, Thiago, Kai, Michael and I will all walk. You will lose your entire lead male cast and we will not back down when asked why we would choose to walk away from Hollywood’s biggest franchise,” Ryan finished.
The room felt like it was standing still for a full thirty seconds.
“That bitch has done nothing of the sort,” Lee started in. “She didn’t keep those nosey paps away when I got drunk, I mean sick, at Chateau Marmont, and she certainly didn’t do me any favors in Utah. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t orchestrate the whole scene with that gay, cocktease actress.”
Grant’s assistant let out an audible gasp. And Michael turned to me and mouthed, “Holy shit!”
Grant turned, staring defiantly at Lee. “Excuse me, what exactly do you mean? You told me a completely different story when that TMZ story hit. In fact, your entire demeanor has changed. I can’t believe you have the nerve to speak to anyone like that, let alone in my presence.”
“You made the whole Utah thing seem like a misunderstanding, and you told me Chateau Marmont was food poisoning. Now you’re admitting to
being drunk? Lee, your contract stipulates that you have to stay clean throughout filming.”
I gasped. If Lee wasn’t allowed to be drinking per his contract with the studio, they had really been the ones to screw up. Here I thought I had been dealing with a new problem that I was trying to keep under wraps for the sake of his job, but Grant had known all along that Lee was like this and hadn’t bothered to tell me or my former company. This was big.
“I am clean, I’ve been clean,” Lee claimed.
“You just admitted otherwise,” Grant countered. “Go to your office and wait for me there.”
Lee got up and sulked out of the room. Adam, the assistant director, started to follow.
“Nope, I need you here. From what I’ve heard from the cast and crew you’ve done most of the heavy lifting already. You’ll be sharing the director credit with Lee for this film, and I’ll need you to stay on solo for the next project. I also need you here while we sort this out.” Grant said.
“Of course, thank you sir,” Adam smiled.
Ryan cleared his throat. “Now that you’ve had just a tiny glimpse at what the rest of us have been dealing with for the entire franchise, perhaps we can get back to the matter at hand.”
“Right, Tinsley. I have to admit, I had hoped things weren’t that out of hand. It sounds like you did your best to handle them, but you still are in breach of contract for Lee’s actions. There are no two ways around that.”
“Sir, sounds to me like you hired a known addict to serve as director over the studio’s biggest project. You hired Tinsley’s PR company to put a bandaid on a bullet hole and now you’re canceling her for letting things get out of control? That doesn’t fly,” Ryan remarked.
Now it was my turn. “Grant, I hold my job in high esteem. Lee’s actions have been and continued to be harassing toward not only me but the entire cast and crew.”
“And then to learn in this meeting that you knew of his drinking problems. If they were so bad that you had a stipulation in his contract about them my firm and I should have been aware.
“How can I be in breach of contract when you aren’t disclosing the whole story? PR works both ways. If I don’t get the full story from the clients I’m trying to protect, I can’t control the story that gets out. You’ve
been in the industry long enough to know that. The one who messed this up was you,” I finished.
Kai stood now, his large frame intimidating and amplified by his bad mood, he was close to terrifying. “She goes. We all go,” he said, and he started to walk out of the room.
Michael was next, “If she’s gone, I’m gone.”
Then Thiago, “There are right ways and wrong ways to handle things.
Your way is the wrong way. If she goes, we all go.”
Finally, Ryan got up. “We’ll give you twenty minutes to discuss your options. I don’t expect it should take that long.”
I joined Ryan and the guys and we walked out. We all talked excitedly about the meeting as soon as we got off the elevator. We weren’t halfway to Ryan’s trailer when Adam came running out after us.
“They want you back. All of you. You didn’t hear this from me, but they are going to try and lowball. Don’t take the first offer. They’re shaking in their damn boots up there right now,” he said, leading us back toward the office.
We made our way back into the conference room and sat back around the table.
“Tinsley, we were wrong to fire you. I can offer you a direct role with the studio, but it will be at a reduced pay rate. After all, it’s not us that technically fired you. It was your PR firm. I can hire you back but since I am just getting you and not the backing of your company, I just can’t pay you as much,” Grant said.
I had expected this to be his response. I smoothed down the power suit I’d put on that morning and pulled a contract out of my bag.
“If you want the guys back, you’ll hire my firm at my rates. I’ve started my own company and I expect to be paid as laid out in this contract,” I said in a cordial but somewhat demanding tone.
I pushed the sheet across to Grant. Thank goodness for Katie and Stephen. They knew it would come to this and had encouraged me to write up a contract last night before they left. It made me look powerful and professional, but I didn’t just look that way, I felt that way. The world was mine for the taking.
Grant looked it over along with his second in command. “It looks okay to me, but you know I’ll have to run it past HR first.”
“Grant, we all sat here and saw you make a hiring decision with Adam, not five minutes ago. Sign the damn contract,” I said firmly. Then I pushed my pen his way.
He looked at me reluctantly and then he picked the pen up and signed. “You drive a hard bargain, but I know you’re a hard worker. I look forward to working with you.”
–
I called Lucas as soon as we got out of the office. All I wanted to do was hug my beautiful boy and tell him what his mom had just done, but he and my mom were spending the night near Disney before heading back.
“Guess what baby?” I asked as soon as he picked up. “What’s up mom?” He asked.
“Mommy is going into business for herself. I just got finished with a really big meeting and I got a contract with the studio I’ve been working with to handle their PR not just for this movie but for the rest of the movies in the franchise.” I shared.
“Mommy, that’s awesome! I always wondered why you worked for someone else when you were smart enough to do it all on your own.”
I beamed with pride. Lucas went on telling me all about his trip to Disney, he is favortie rides and how he had nearly made my mother sick by forcing into back to back trips on Space Mountain.
Then my mom got on the phone to catch up. “Did I just understand the news correctly from Lucas’ side of the conversation? Did you work it all out?” she asked.
“Mom, I got everything I wanted and more. They’ve contracted with me for the rest of the franchise. I won’t even need to look for clients, they’ll be flocking to me when word of this gets out.”
“That’s incredible honey! I’m so proud of all you’ve accomplished. You are setting such an amazing example for Lucas,” she said, and I could hear the pride in her voice.
“Thanks mom! I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. I love you guys!” I said.
Next, I called Katie to catch her up. She whooped with joy. I promised to give her all the gory details, but I actually already had my first big task.
Grant’s assistant called me before Ryan dropped me off at the house to let me know what had happened with Lee. Apparently, his contract really was contingent on him not drinking. Grant had him tested as soon as he got out of our meeting, and he was nearly twice the legal limit.
Apparently, Lee had at one point been a functional alcoholic but he no longer had a hold on things. Good thing too, he had fessed up to Grant when faced with the knowledge that he was caught. If he had kept carrying on the way he told Grant he had been the last several months, he probably would have been dead in two years.
The studio was sending him to rehab. If they were happy with his progress after ninety days he would be allowed back for smaller projects. The ball was in his court now.
But now, in addition to my role working for the Falconi project they wanted me to help with Lee’s reputation. Surprisingly, he had been the one to suggest I help. He’d told Grant I “was the only one with enough balls to confront him directly.”
As shocked as I was, I was also thrilled to be helping someone who really needed it. Lee had been a great director once, I knew I had what it took to get him back to his former glory.
I was able to immediately get in touch with several media outlets to “leak” the story. Explaining how he wasn’t being fired and that he was taking a step back to deal with his issues. The studio footing the bill on a cushy rehab made them look like saints.
One reporter I spoke to said she’d be presenting her piece as “hero studio saves its director”. The press would be eating this up by tomorrow morning and Lee had already agreed to do some big time interviews to share his story once he had gotten the help he needed. Everyone would come out looking great.
When I was finally finished for the day, I grabbed a bag and headed to Ryan and Kai’s house. We had agreed to meet for dinner and a sleepover to celebrate all we’d accomplished for the day.