Coming Attractions by Rosie Vanyon

bike is my own personal flying dragon. We’ve been all over
together. Sometimes, I think a bike is the best friend a girl can have.”
    “I’d say that’s a sad reflection on
humanity, but I get what you mean.”
    She smiled, sensing from his tone
that he really did understand.
    They began speaking again in
unison.
    “What made you stop ri—”
    “I thought I saw it.”
    “My bike?”
    “Yeah, in town. Just a flash of
red. Then it disappeared.” Hope lit her face and he hated that he might be
setting her up for disappointment. “Maybe it was just wishful thinking.”
    “I hope that thief shows his face
on my watch,” Cara snarled. “He’ll be sorry.”
    Levi wanted to chuckle. She was
what? Five-foot-ten and a hundred and fifty pounds? But the thread of iron in
her tone told him she was serious and that an unwary bandit would do well to
stay out of her way.
    He considered lecturing her about
keeping out of trouble, but figured that line of conversation would simply
cause her to dig her heels in and be more stubborn about her vigilante notions.
He’d just have to hope the felon stayed out of Cara’s way, or that he got to
the crook before she did.
    In the meantime, Levi decided to try
once more to maneuver the subject to safer ground.
    “The director and the leading lady
are flying in for a powwow, tomorrow. The set crew arrives, too. I’m pretty
sure I’ve covered all of the dietary requirements.” He indicated the numerous
grocery bags on the back seat.
    “Don’t bigwig movie producers have
Girl Fridays to deal with grocery shopping and those kinds of things?”
    “Ah... Normally they do, but I’ve
diverted my Friday to a personal project—nothing nefarious, just a geeky
enterprise that may or may not go anywhere. Besides, I’m a dab hand in the
errands department. We have a couple of vegetarians, a vegan, and a plethora of
beer and pizza buffs arriving. I have organic tangelos, whole pitted dates, soy
cheese, and Flintstones chewable vitamins for Selena, the leading lady. And
single malt Scotch, cheese puffs, jelly donuts, and roasted cashew chocolate
for Otto, the director.”
    The director he’d hired was a
rising star in the industry. Otto Zampa was ripe to make the transition from
low budget, high art successes to something with a more substantial profile and
bankroll. And Selena Simms, the lead actress who would play Cara’s mother, was
a veteran performer who had focused her career on romantic comedies with a
touch of drama, but whom it was plain to see was perfectly suited to a gutsier
dramatic role. Apollo planned to give her a role she could get her teeth into.
The rest of the cast had been selected to set the world on fire. They’d scored
a couple of A-listers for cameos and some edgy new talent for supporting roles.
    The same story could be told for
everything from costume budgets to stunt doubles, special effects and
promotion. In short, Apollo had not held back. Levi had so much faith in the
project he was putting all his eggs in Cara’s basket. If it all went belly
up... Levi squashed the thought like an empty milk carton.
    For on the flipside of his
conviction was desperation. He was running out of time to hit the big time. The
clock that was ticking was a very personal timepiece and the stakes were so
high that whenever he thought of failing, his mouth dried out and his pulse
spiked so fast he felt lightheaded. So, he stopped thinking of failing. Ever.
He wrote the possibility off completely. Eradicated the “f” word from his
vocabulary. Dismissed it from his mind. He refused to plot contingencies. There
was no exit strategy, no emergency chute, no plan B. He just focused on
winning. That was the only result he would permit himself to consider. Any
other outcome simply didn’t exist for him. He would not allow it.
    “Scotch, cheese puffs, donuts, and
chocolate, huh? Sounds like a stomach ache to me.” Cara laughed.
    “Or a coronary. It’s a good thing I
got something