who tried to maintain her cool with a breathy, “May I help you?” as her eyes undressed him.
“Rhett Corrigan to see Irving Stromberg. I’m running a bit late,” he apologized and saw her eyes widen at the comment. Big stars never said they were sorry. About anything.
“One moment, Mr. Corrigan.” She dialed an extension. “Mr. Corrigan’s here, Mr. Stromberg.”
The receptionist paused and Rhett could imagine Irv’s profanity-laced reply. His agent hated when anyone was late. The woman frowned slightly.
“Yes, sir. Of course.” She smiled brightly at Rhett. “Mr. Stromberg will see you now. It’s the third door on the left. Go right in.”
She moistened her lips and gave him her best don’t you want my cell number look. Rhett was immune to it after eight years in Tinseltown.
“Thanks.” He strolled down the hall, ignoring the tittering file clerks sizing him up. He waved at Julie, Irv’s assistant who had followed her boss to the new agency, and walked in without knocking.
Irv jawed away, his ever-present Bluetooth in place. Rhett suspected the agent would be buried wearing it.
“No, tell him we won’t go for less than eight points. Ten would be better. Also, production in Italy’s no good. He wants Greece. Yes, it is. Because I said so. Tell him. Call me back before the end of the day.”
Irv yanked off the headset and tossed it on the desk, stretching his arms wide in a greeting.
“Rhett, my boy. How are you?”
Rhett allowed the old man to wrap him in a tight bear hug. Irv had seven daughters and Rhett was the closest he came to having a son.
“Pretty good, Irv. Except for this,” and he pointed to the swelling above his eye.
“Bar fight?” his agent teased.
“Yeah, right. The Internet would be screaming with stories by now if that were the case.”
“Without an assistant and your good-for-nothing publicist, I hear nothing. When are you going to hire someone, Rhett? It’s getting ridiculous.”
He shrugged. Carreen handled his schedule, making appointments for him, but she was in treatment for Stage 3 breast cancer. He didn’t want to replace her but things were starting to get tough since she hadn’t worked in over two months.
“I might get someone temporarily. At least while Carreen’s still down.” He smiled at Irv. “It’s not as if I don’t get any publicity. I’m in the media all the time, whether I like it or not. Even though I pay Becky Bloss to keep me out of the news.”
Irv clucked like an old Jewish grandmother. “You need someone all the same. I know it’s hard to make that kind of decision with Carreen indisposed but we need somebody on board, Rhett. With your movie coming out soon and no new ones on the horizon, we need to keep your name in the trades, in People, even on TMZ. Remember, there’s no such thing as bad publicity and you need lots of it. We need this baby to stay hot until mid-February at least. March would be better.”
Rhett took a seat in the chair in front of the desk. “What’s next, Irv? I finished Fireball this summer and haven’t done anything all fall. I’m getting restless.”
Irv shook his head. “Nothing’s come through, Rhett. At least nothing you’d want to read. It’s all trash these days. Besides, we’ve got your image to protect.”
He laughed. “Come on, Irv. What image? I do action movies. I blow things up, chase bad guys, and shoot drug dealers. You can’t tell me not one decent action adventure’s on the horizon.”
Irv pursed his lips. “Not the quality we want. You’re the one who’s always telling me it’s gotta have a story. Relax, Rhett. Look forward to Fireball’s numbers. Your last movie opened at number one and stayed there for three weeks. With this being a holiday release, I’m sure it’ll do even better. Relax. Spend some time with your family at Christmas. And for God’s sake—hire an assistant. You were late to that GQ shoot last week because you forgot about it. An assistant would keep on top of things like that.”
“And a housekeeper. I need one of those, too. A cook would be nice.”
Irv frowned. “Did Consuelo go back to Mexico again?”
Rhett nodded. “I’m not taking her back this time. End of story.”
“Shall I contact my housekeeper’s agency? I can get you set up, big guy.”
He decided to remind his agent one more time about scripts. “No, I’ll get a housekeeper. Just send me something to read, Irv. Anything, okay? I don’t mind switching genres. In