DreamInColour
© 2004
*two years
later*
“Dylan you have made some tremendous progress over the last year.” Sam
Masters came around the desk and leaned on it with his arms crossed. She was
sitting in a leather chair in front of him looking up at him, “So I think
you’re ready for a bigger assignment.”
After working enough of Savanelli’s parties Dylan finally met Sam
Masters an older agent and talent scout. She’d managed to convince him that she
was an honest hard working person. Something hard to come by in LA, she’d spent
the last year basically being his gofer, learning the ropes of the industry.
She’d worked a couple of private parties helming the assistant role.
“What kind of assignment Sam?” She asked.
“A friend of a friend mine is doing a number of premieres in the next
two months. Starting here in the US and working his way around main areas of
the world. He’s going to need a competent assistant with him.”
“Wouldn’t someone like that already employ one?”
“In most cases yes but this case is unique, you see other than this
movie he’s not really well known. He will only need one for this press run.”
Sam explained.
“Oh so this is like a test.”
“Something like that. Dylan this is still serious, these press junkets
are going to be huge. If you can navigate your way through this I guarantee you
will have a raise and move up in the company.”
“You mean I might actually get a permanent assignment?” She asked
hopefully. That was something she’d been working for. If she could get a gig
working for one person she’d be able to finally feel secure in a job. She knew
she was good; she just needed others to know it.
“Maybe.” Sam was elusive. He reached for a manila folder, “His name is
Dominic Monaghan. He’s from Britain, plays Merry in the Lord of the Rings
movies.” He handed her the folder, “They’ll be starting press for Return of the
King soon and I want you to work with him during that run.”
Dom was short for Dominic. She distinctly remembered the blonde guy from
two years ago saying something about ‘Fellowship castmates’ and Elijah had said
it was for ‘Dom’s birthday’. Holy shit, she thought to herself, this couldn’t
be happening.
“Anything wrong Dylan?” Sam was confused by her silence.
She maintained her professionalism and stood to shake her boss’s hand,
“I’ll take the assignment Sam, thanks for giving me this opportunity.”
“It’s simple I trust you, you’re a rarity here. I’ll set up a meeting
with you and Dom a week before their first press junket.”
She nodded, “Thank you again Sam.”
“Anytime Dylan.” He waved as she made her way out the door of his
office.
Dylan’s heart was going a mile a minute. She threw the folder onto the
seat of her car before slamming her head onto the steering wheel. “Why me?” She
groaned, “I have a single one night stand and it comes back to haunt me.” She
looked up as if to the sky and called, “I said I was sorry!” Turning the key
she started her vehicle and backed up, “Fuck, now I’m talking to myself. Great,
just great.”
“I get an assistant!” Dom announced.
“Yippee fuckin’ skippy.” Billy rolled his eyes, “You get one every year
at this time.”
“Yeah well this time it’s a dame.” Dom laughed.
“How do you know she’s not fifty with about a zillion wrinkles?” Elijah
asked as he tossed a pillow in the air and caught it.
“Cause her name can NOT belong to an old broad. Dylan…” He let it roll
of his tongue, “Plus her profile says she’s 25.” He slapped the papers his
agent had faxed him that morning onto the palm of his hand.
The pillow came back down and bounced off Elijah’s head. He stood up to
reach for the papers, “Dylan? Are you serious?” He read over the woman’s
credentials. There it was ‘Savanelli Catering’. “Fuck.” He ran a hand over his
face.
“What’s wrong?” Billy asked, “Have you worked with her before?”
“Not exactly.” Elijah tried to massage the base of his neck with his
fingers, “We had a brief, umm, ‘acquaintance’ before ‘Fellowship’ came out.” He
mumbled.
“Wait!” Dom jumped over the couch and grabbed his friend’s shoulders,
“This is NOT the same bird. You can’t be serious!”
Elijah sniffed and tried to avoid eye contact with his friend, “Don’t
know for sure, she could be.”
Billy was confused, “What bird?”
Dom was completely elated, “Remember the dark haired dame he told us
about? Right before the ‘Fellowship’ press junkets he went to that exec party
and one of the servers was this hot brunette.”
Snapping his fingers Billy nodded, “She pulled a runner on you the next
morning.” He pointed at Elijah.
Elijah slumped onto the couch again, “Don’t remind me.”
“No way! No FUCKING way!” Emma was on the verge of hysterical laughter.
In fact if her friend didn’t look so upset she would have laughed.
“Believe me Emma I checked twice. It’s the same Dom, the same movie the
same trilogy HE stars in.” Dylan groaned.
“Come on D you can’t tell me you didn’t think there’d be a distinct
possibility you’d run into him. You WORK around actors all the time.”
“Yeah, small time TV actors. I haven’t been around big budget movie guys
since I dropped Savanelli’s.”
“So.” Emma sat on the coffee table in front of her friend and took her
hands, “D it’s been two years, maybe he forgot about it. What do you think he’s
going to do? Point at you and say ‘Her! That’s the one I slept with two years
ago.’”
Dylan had to laugh at the absurdity of the scenario, “Probably not, but
its still embarrassing as all hell. I’m not like that Emma; you know I’m not
like that. I’d never done that before and certainly not since. I just don’t
want him to, you know spread the wrong idea about me.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb and say he won’t. I’ve read articles with
this guy; he doesn’t broadcast his love life or conquests. I doubt he’d say
anything.” Dylan gave her a sceptical look so Emma tried a different approach, “It
comes down to this D, either you take this job and possibly advance your
career. Or you stick to doing the parties and pass it up because you’re scared
of a 5 foot 6 inch blue eyed phenom with an apparently nice ass.”
Dylan blushed, “I really shouldn’t have told you about that.”
“I have to live vicariously through you D, the best story I have is Greg
and we all know that ain’t much of a comparison.” Emma rolled her eyes,
“Besides maybe I can meet that elf guy through all this. What I wouldn’t give
for a piece of that action.”
“Who’s the elf guy?” Dylan had made a point not to watch the movies
because three hours of staring at him always made her relive it and frankly she
wanted to forget the whole thing.
“Who’s the elf guy? Are you fucking joking? Orlando Bloom? Will Turner
in Pirates of the Caribbean?” Emma pretended to faint, “That man is just plain
sex that’s all there is to it.”
“Orlando Bloom was in Lord of the Rings? Seriously?” Dylan thought for a
moment, “Hmm I guess he was. Either way you know I won’t use my job so you can
star gaze.”
“Yeah I know, respect their privacy and all that.” Emma sighed, “I can
still dream can’t I. You are my roommate and I can’t even have a piece of the
action. You really are depriving me.”
Dylan laughed and smacked her friend’s arm, “My job means a lot to me
Em.”
“I know I promise I won’t try to stalk that sexy piece of elf flesh.”
“Mr. Masters is waiting for you Dylan.” The receptionist smiled.
“Thanks Callie.” She returned the smile then attempted to fix the skirt
she had on. She hadn’t been sure what to wear, so she went with business casual
and figured she’d go from there.
“Ah there you are Dylan.” Sam was leaning against his desk. The other
guy in the room was lounging on the couch both of his legs kicked up over the
side. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in a number of days, his hair looked
newly shorn with some highlights; he was wearing faded jeans that hung loosely
on his hips and a long sleeved white shirt.
He was holding a pair of large sunglasses which he placed on his head
before walking towards her a warm smile on his face, “Hi Dylan I’m Dom.” He
shook her hand vigorously.
“Dylan Saylor this is Dominic Monaghan.” Sam made the proper
introductions.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Monaghan.” She said professionally.
He raised an eyebrow at her then stepped forward and whispered close to
her face, “I’ll let that pass but if you call me that again I’m afraid you’re
fired.”
Her eyes were wide and she was almost afraid when she saw the sparkle in
his eyes. He was trying not to smile, “Dom it is then.” She relaxed slightly.
“Good.” He kept hold of her hand and looked over his shoulder, “Mind if
I steal her for lunch Sam?”
“Of course not Dominic.” Sam waved them away, “By all means.”
Dom got the door for her, “After you Miss. Saylor.” He said with a grin
as he placed the sunglasses back over his eyes.
“Dylan.” She corrected him before realizing he was teasing her again.
She shook her head at his smirking face.
Callie batted her eyelashes and leaned forward on the desk with a smile,
“Have a good day Dom.” She practically purred.
He flashed her a big grin and reached across the desk for her hand, kissing
it lightly he looked up at her over his glasses, “That I shall Callie.” He
winked as she blushed then bounded up again to stand next to Dylan, “So where
to for lunch?”
“How about Delfeens, we have an account there so…” She suggested while
still watching Callie hang on every word that came out of his mouth.
He put a hand on the small of her back and smiled, “Say no more,
Delfeens it is.” He guided her toward the door. This man seemed to exude
confidence which would normally annoying her on many levels, but for some
reason she felt it was some sort of front. If anything he would be entertaining
that was for sure.
“Soooo Dylan.” Dom said once they were sitting at their table and had
ordered their drinks.
She regarded him for a moment, “Soooo what?”
He winked, “Tell me, how long have you been working as an assistant?
Ever do any catering?”
Leaning forward on her elbows she regarded him with a stern expression, “You
have the subtly of a sledge hammer Dom.”
He just smirked, “Whatever do you mean?”
“Listen let’s get this over with okay? Yes I…” She lowered her voice,
“…slept with Elijah. It was two years ago so it’s not worth discussing.”
He pretended to be shocked, “No!” He put a hand to his heart, “I had
absolutely no idea! I’m appalled.”
She rolled her eyes and tried to stay annoyed but he was so overly
animated and rather adorable she finally laughed, “At any point in this
conversation are we going to discuss what I’ve been hired to do?”
“Of course!” He slapped his hands on the table, “Let the business lunch
begin. We’ll start with wardrobe, while I thoroughly enjoy the view…” He stuck
his head under the table then peered up over it again, “You might be more comfortable
in jeans.” He straightened again, “Only wake me up forty-five minutes before
I’m supposed to be anywhere. I really don’t need any more time…ummm…and uh…make
sure I’m not late for any interviews. I think that’s it…now let’s talk about
Elijah.” He leaned forward on the table.
“I can comply with demands one through three but there’s no way I’ll
discuss number four.” She crossed her arms in front of her.
“Aww come on just a little idea.” He pleaded, “Was he good? Best you
ever had? Does he cry like a little girl? COME ON!”
Although she had to laugh at his antics she refused to elaborate, “Those
are my terms take them or leave them.”
He huffed and pouted, “Fine…for now.” After that Dom basically filled
her in on how the other press junkets had gone, giving her an idea what she was
in store for.
Dom had just barely said good-bye to Dylan when his mobile rang. He
laughed when he saw the number, “She’s bloody wonderful.”
“So what did she say?”
“Well it started with hello and went up hill from there. Rather lovely
bird that, I’m going to enjoy working with her.”
“Did she say anything?”
“She said a lot of things mate.” Dom laughed.
“About me fucker, did she say anything about me.”
“About your fucker? I can’t say that she did.”
“You’re a fuckin’ ass you know that.”
Dom was practically in tears he was laughing so hard, “I tried Lij,
you’re a mute topic. Completely tight lipped about you she was and that’s the
god’s honest truth.”
Elijah sighed, “You aren’t takin’ the piss are you?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Dom smirked and walked with a bounce in his
step to his car. This was going to be a highly entertaining press junket that
was for sure.