kind of a pain, and that the older English guy didn’t sound half as much like Hugh Grant as he seemed to think. Or look enough like him, either. The heroine in Dark Shift was more self-contained, less showy, and less prone to whining. She was also, though Sarah didn’t realize this, loosely based on Michael Becker’s daughter.
“There she is,” Sarah had said, pointing up the way.
Her father frowned. “I don’t see her.”
“Yeah, look—up under that streetlight, outside Hennessy and Ingels.”
At that moment some asshole blared his horn behind them, and her father swung his head to glare ominously out of the back windshield. He almost never got angry within the family, but he could sometimes lay it on the outside world. Sarah knew, having recently covered it in school, that this was a pecking order thing, hierarchy being established in the asphalt jungle—but she was privately nervous that one of these days her dad would choose to assert his will with the wrong naked ape. He didn’t seem to realize that fathers could antagonize the fates, too, or that age made little difference to the vehemence of their retribution.
She opened the door and hopped out. “I’ll run over,” she said. “It’s fine.” Michael Becker watched tight-mouthed as the impatient guy in the LeBaron pulled out around them.
Then he turned, and his face changed. For a moment he didn’t look like he had story arcs and demographics running behind his eyes, as if he saw the world through a grid of beat lists and foreign residuals. He just looked tired, in need of some hot caffeine, and like her dad.
“See you later,” Sarah said, with a wink. “Have a heart attack on the way home.”
He looked at his watch. “Haven’t got the time. Maybe a little prostate trouble instead. Nine o’clock?”
“On the dot. I’m always early. It’s you who’s late.”
“As if. Nokkon, little lady.”
“Nokkon, Dad.” She shut the door and watched him pull back into traffic. He waved at her, a little salute, and then he was gone: swallowed back into an interior world, at the mercy of people who bought words by the yard and never knew what they wanted until it was already in syndication. As she watched him disappear, Sarah knew one thing for sure—The Business wasn’t getting her for a sweetheart.
Sian hadn’t been under the lamppost, of course. Sarah had only pretended, to help her father on his way, so he could get home and back to work. She continued to not be there for another ten minutes, and then Sarah’s phone rang.
It was Sian. She was currently standing by her mom’s car on Sunset, and just about annoyed enough to spit. Sarah could hear Sian’s mother in the background, imperiously letting off steam at some hapless mechanic, who’d probably seen mother and daughter in distress and developed visions of his own real-life porno film. Sarah hoped he now realized that not only was this not going to happen, but if he didn’t get the car fixed pronto he’d be a dead man.
Either way, Sian wasn’t going to make it. Which left Sarah in a quandary. Her father wouldn’t be home yet, and when he pulled into the drive he’d be a vortex of bullet points and plot fixes, maybe already on the phone to his partner, Charles Wang, conjuring ways to pull the project back into the comfort zone. There was some big deal breakfast meeting with the studio the next morning, a make-or-break powwow over decaf and cholesterol-free omelets. She knew her father dreaded that kind of meeting most of all, because he never ate breakfast and hated having to pretend he did, toying with toast to avoid fiddling with the silverware. She didn’t want him to get any more stressed than he already was, and her younger sister, Melanie, would be providing plenty of background noise by herself.
So then she realized—she didn’t actually have to call at all. She had a little under two hours, and then he’d be back. The Promenade was wall-to-wall browsing
“There she is,” Sarah had said, pointing up the way.
Her father frowned. “I don’t see her.”
“Yeah, look—up under that streetlight, outside Hennessy and Ingels.”
At that moment some asshole blared his horn behind them, and her father swung his head to glare ominously out of the back windshield. He almost never got angry within the family, but he could sometimes lay it on the outside world. Sarah knew, having recently covered it in school, that this was a pecking order thing, hierarchy being established in the asphalt jungle—but she was privately nervous that one of these days her dad would choose to assert his will with the wrong naked ape. He didn’t seem to realize that fathers could antagonize the fates, too, or that age made little difference to the vehemence of their retribution.
She opened the door and hopped out. “I’ll run over,” she said. “It’s fine.” Michael Becker watched tight-mouthed as the impatient guy in the LeBaron pulled out around them.
Then he turned, and his face changed. For a moment he didn’t look like he had story arcs and demographics running behind his eyes, as if he saw the world through a grid of beat lists and foreign residuals. He just looked tired, in need of some hot caffeine, and like her dad.
“See you later,” Sarah said, with a wink. “Have a heart attack on the way home.”
He looked at his watch. “Haven’t got the time. Maybe a little prostate trouble instead. Nine o’clock?”
“On the dot. I’m always early. It’s you who’s late.”
“As if. Nokkon, little lady.”
“Nokkon, Dad.” She shut the door and watched him pull back into traffic. He waved at her, a little salute, and then he was gone: swallowed back into an interior world, at the mercy of people who bought words by the yard and never knew what they wanted until it was already in syndication. As she watched him disappear, Sarah knew one thing for sure—The Business wasn’t getting her for a sweetheart.
Sian hadn’t been under the lamppost, of course. Sarah had only pretended, to help her father on his way, so he could get home and back to work. She continued to not be there for another ten minutes, and then Sarah’s phone rang.
It was Sian. She was currently standing by her mom’s car on Sunset, and just about annoyed enough to spit. Sarah could hear Sian’s mother in the background, imperiously letting off steam at some hapless mechanic, who’d probably seen mother and daughter in distress and developed visions of his own real-life porno film. Sarah hoped he now realized that not only was this not going to happen, but if he didn’t get the car fixed pronto he’d be a dead man.
Either way, Sian wasn’t going to make it. Which left Sarah in a quandary. Her father wouldn’t be home yet, and when he pulled into the drive he’d be a vortex of bullet points and plot fixes, maybe already on the phone to his partner, Charles Wang, conjuring ways to pull the project back into the comfort zone. There was some big deal breakfast meeting with the studio the next morning, a make-or-break powwow over decaf and cholesterol-free omelets. She knew her father dreaded that kind of meeting most of all, because he never ate breakfast and hated having to pretend he did, toying with toast to avoid fiddling with the silverware. She didn’t want him to get any more stressed than he already was, and her younger sister, Melanie, would be providing plenty of background noise by herself.
So then she realized—she didn’t actually have to call at all. She had a little under two hours, and then he’d be back. The Promenade was wall-to-wall browsing
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