Labor Day

*These events happened in Sept. 2013*

“Go ahead, tell them baby,” Tony said, taking a swig of his beer. We were at his friend’s barbecue in Westchester. His friend made it pretty big with a start-up dating website, and then sold it and made a shit ton of money from it. Now he owns this huge mansion in Westchester and was hosting this huge Labor Day party.

“Tony, it may not even be anything,” I said, shyly. Jimmy had responded back that he LOVED my screenplay. He had a few suggestions and was willing to work with me to make the changes and then shop it around. He obviously didn’t make any promises, but it was all still new and exciting for me. Moving me into uncharted waters was scary too. I didn’t want to make a big deal about it, but Tony was pumped and proud.

“Of course it’s something. Jimmy Fucking Fallon is helping you shop around a screenplay! My baby is going to make us rich!”

Tony was also very drunk.

Everyone turned their heads, though, when he said this. Oh boy.

“Wait, really?” Jessica said. Things were going really well for her and Jason, and I was happy for her.  She was no longer the always single girl. And she was really happy and relaxed, something she never found with other guys.

“Yes, really.”

“That’s great! Why didn’t you tell us?” she said, kind of disappointed.

“Oh you know, what if it doesn’t work out? Jimmy’s so busy, that it’s hard to really think he’s just going to help some wanna-be writer.”

“You’re NOT a wanna-be writer,” Tony said, putting his arm around me. “You are the next Carrie Bradshaw. No wait, she’s not real. You’re the next Lena Duham. Yea. Just don’t go around showing your tits on TV all the time.”

After that I relaxed some more. In fact, talking about my screenplay and Jimmy helped me fit in with the more well-to-do friends of Tony’s. It’s not that Tony is not well off, it was just very intimidating being in that huge mansion. It was something Jessica and I weren’t used to.

“Well, get used to it,” Tony said on the drive home.

“You really drank way too much tonight. Because you’re crazy.”

“Will you leave me when you’re famous? Maybe for someone like Channing Tatum? Or that guy from True Blood you ladies drool over?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I can marry you and take on a lover? How does that sound?”

“Can I have a lover too? Someone like that chick who played Topenga? No, no. Olivia Wilde. Yea. Oliva Wilde will be my lover. And Wonder Woman.”

“Oh my God. Now I know you’ve lost it.”

“Hey, you and Hillary were pretty friendly tonight. I’m glad you guys are friends. It will make things easier for me.”

“Huh?”

“Well, I mean, when we get married, I didn’t want things to be weird at the wedding.”

“Stop talking non-sense and marriage talk when you’re drunk.”

“Whatever. I’m taking a nap.”

And then he was snoring away in the passenger seat. The quiet ride home gave me time to think. We haven’t even been dating a year, and he was babbling this non-sense. I was sure it was the booze talking. I also thought a lot about this screenplay. I knew it would open doors for me, but I wasn’t even in it for the money or the fame. I just want to get my writing out there. I want to share my passion with people. It was definitely scary though. I think the scariest part was how easy this was becoming. I mean, who gets everything handed to them like this. I went from being depressed, to dating a married man, to working for my idol, becoming best friends with him and now he’s helping me shop around a screenplay. Not to mention my perfect boyfriend. OK, well he’s not perfect, but I truly believe that the best relationships aren’t perfect. It’s the flaws that make you work harder to be happy.

I was on cloud nine from everything and basking in my stupid happiness that I was too distracted to realize that my monthly friend didn’t start Monday morning like she always does. When Tuesday rolled around and I was crampy, I started to panic. This wasn’t good.

All in

*These events happened in August 2013*

It’s been a couple of weeks and the cat was out of the bag. Jimmy’s big news – his daughter was born! Most on the staff knew, but as I said, we were sworn to secrecy about it. Which was fine by me. I was pre-occupied anyway with putting the last finishing touches on my screenplay. I had emailed it over to Matt, who surprised me by finishing it in a day and emailed me back some suggestions before I actually shopped it around, if that’s what I wanted to do.

To: Penny R.
From: Matt
Re: you can tell me if you hate it

First off, I don’t hate it you loser. It’s actually pretty decent. I think you need to round out your characters a little more. Give them more of a backstory. This will give you more to explore in the future, if you turn it into a series, as opposed to just a film. A series is actually the route I think you should take with this. If you are serious about shopping this around, as we discussed a few months back, try an On Demand service. You will have better luck. I’m not saying it’s not good enough for television or the big screen, I just think getting your feet wet with a On Demand service will toughen you up for this industry and get you ready for the bigger places.

I have the names of a few people who’d be interested in reading something like this. I really think you should try Jimmy first, though I know he’s busy with his baby. So let me know your next move.

P.S. Did you say I love you yet?

-Matt

Well that was encouraging. I read the email before I headed down to lunch with Jimmy. It’s been a while since he could get down there and he was pretty pumped.

“So tell me something that doesn’t involve diapers and babies,” he said, as he sat down.

“Tony and I are planning a trip to California with my Wheel winnings.”

“Oh fun! Let me know when you’re going and I can get you reservations at some restaurants and stuff. Tickets to shows, whatever you want.”

“You are way too kind, you know what right?”

“I try. So what else? Miriam says you’ve been writing a lot. Anything for the show?”

“Um. Some ideas here and there. Actually I wrote a screenplay…”

“Really? Let me read it.”

“Jimmy, you are way too busy, I couldn’t impose.”

“Non-sense! I expect it in my inbox by the end of the day, or you’re fired!” he said, laughing.

“Oh God. OK. But you can tell me if you hate it.”

“If you wrote it, I won’t hate it.”

Later that afternoon, I sent the screenplay right before I shut down my computer, so I couldn’t go back and delete it.

***************************************************************************

“Do you think we should fly into San Diego and then drive up the coast to L.A. or vice versa?” Tony said, later that week.

He was researching flights and hotels for our trip.

“Ooo. I like the idea of driving up from San Diego. That should be fun! I can’t wait!”

“Hey, has Jimmy said anything about your screenplay?”

“No, and I’m trying not to think about it. Distract me,” I said, sitting on his lap on the couch.

“Yes, mam,” he said, putting down the laptop and grabbing my ass.

Later that night, I checked my email one last time. And there it was:

To: Penny R.
From: Jimmy F.
Re: all in….