Another Day of Sun
Chapter One
It was an unusually warm day in the city that never sleeps. The palm trees were dancing in the light breeze. There was a late 70s Cadillac Eldorado cutting through traffic, blue in hue. The slick haired man behind the wheel was miles away. He was tapping his steering wheel methodically, humming to himself; his horn-rimmed shades hanging from his nose. He pressed them up to the bridge and then slapped the turn signal, changing lanes once again. He scatted along to the jazz radio. The digital radio read-out spelled 103.9.
"This is barely jazz." Sebastian mumbled to himself. He turned the dial to The Mix 106.7.
He was meeting a work associate Jonny Tay at the bar in Fairfax for an afternoon meal. He had almost made it when a bad accident on Rosewood had him gridlocked. He honked generously with traffic, thinking quietly that he was joining in on everyone's angst. Finally, someone turned around the accident and made some space for the Cadillac to clear by. He took the opportunity to lay the hammer down and fly clear of Rosewood, and take Clinton instead. Just as he made the turn, a rich bimbo in a Mercedes AMG came out from the other lane, and nearly hit the left front fender.
"I'm drivin' here!" Seb shouted out the convertible. The young woman gave him a finger wag and he returned it, displaying a gold ring to the world.
Once he was clear of the accident, it was a smooth trip leading all the way into his afternoon meal.
There were a few new acts planning to perform at Seb's in the coming week, and Jonny Tay was anxious to get more lined up.
"Business is better than it's ever been, man. We have to capitalize while we can." The young dark haired and tattooed man said.
"You assuming we're going under at some point?" Sebastian said while drinking a tall radler. "You gonna run me under, Jonny?"
"Seb, you know I'd never do that. I'm working for you. I'm just doing some club promotion. How do you expect to buy a nice place if were always in the basement?"
"The basement's a nice place." He said, gulping down more beer. "It's simple and easy. People know where we are."
"But they don't know who we are." Jonny chomped off a large piece of chicken from a wing. "And they will."
"And they will." Sebastian smirked, looking forward towards the television above the bar where commercials were running through.
"You wanna go see that new movie Eleanor this weekend?" Jonny began.
"No, I don't" Seb's neck stiffened. "Ya getting on my nerves with all these movies."
"Cripes man, I only asked you twice."
Sebastian paused a moment while drinking.
"Sorry." He put the glass down. "No movies right now."
"Well alright. You got any plans this weekend?"
"None that can't be changed for something good."
"There's a promotion party for that new movie with Jude Law and Kathrine McElroy, A Future Not My Own. Saturday night in the Hills." Jonny took a swig of Canadian and ate another wing.
"I guess I could make my way up there." He smirked. "There a piano there?"
"Think they have an Essex or something. I talked to the event organizer if they needed a band."
"And?" Sebastian said, with his face beginning to glow.
"No, they have one."
He put his drink down quickly and smugly laughed. "Some day, I'll play a party. Again. And not in a red leather jacket."
"When the world loves jazz again." Jonny mused.
"Won't be long buddy." Seb placed his hand on Jonny Tay's shoulder. "Won't be long."
"I'm gonna be late again. Again!" She shouted, alone in her Mercedes. Two cups of coffee, neatly placed in her cupholders, were both almost empty. She picked one up and gulped it down. "Great. And I need another coffee."
The woman ran her hand through her red tussles of hairdo. Her eyes widened. "I forgot to go to Tania for hair." She pressed the voice button on the steering wheel.
"Mercedes, Call Tania Ramos."
"Calling Tania Ramos." The cars monotone female responded. After telling Tania to meet her for an emergency appointment in 20 minutes at the Warner Brothers studio, Mia was caught gridlocked on Rosewood, heading west towards La Cienega.
"Come on." She huffed. "Why does this only ever happen when I need to be somewhere? God conspires against me!" Suddenly a car pulled out of the way and the way cleared for her to rush through.
"Finally!" She shouted. Depressing the accelerator, the car bolted off the line. From behind the wreck on Rosewood, a big blue Cadillac rushed into oncoming just long enough for Mia to spot it. She immediately slammed on the breaks and smashed her hand into the horn which blared loudly. The empty and half full cups of coffee flew out of the cupholders, flying into the dashboard, and splattered lukewarm coffee all over her car, including her Vera Wang dress. The man in the car screamed something intelligible out the air of his convertible.
Mia lifted her middle finger to him and scoffed. "You ruined my damn dress!" She didn't bother to turn her head.
"What an idiot." She continued.
The rest of her drive to the studio was fairly uneventful, as she tried to clean coffee from the dash and salvage her dress. "Blot, not wipe" She repeated to herself. Upon pulling into the parking lot, a grip was waiting in a club cart.
"Mornin' Mrs. Dolan." He said as she approached on foot. "What happened to your…"
"Don't ask." She said curtly. "Just take me to the shoot." She threw herself down onto the seat and put her sunglasses on. "I hate LA drivers. This is why I moved to New York. Everyone should move to New York." The grip smiled as they drove towards the coming days' long shoot on Soundstage 5.
The day also consisted of a partial shoot along Wilshire before Grand Ave. That was supposed to last 4 hours but ended up last 6 and causing major delays to traffic (Which Mia regretted as memories of her hating film shoots reappeared in mind). As the shoot closed and she made her way back towards the parking lot, Mitchell Hardisty, one of the producers ran up behind her.
"Mia," he huffed, catching his breath. "I was hoping you'd come to a get together this weekend, in the Hills."
"What for?" She continued walking towards her car.
"Promotional, for that new movie. Uhh… The Future Not My Own or something like that."
"Oh, the one with Jude Law." She remembered.
"Yes, anyway, there are a few collaborators who'd like some representation. Free drinks, right?"
"Alright," She smiled. "You've convinced me. I'll be there."