Chapter 38 - All Around The World
The bullpen was sizzling. Something had broken and even better than that, something huge had broken. Everyone was up from their desks and running around. It looked like a disturbed ant bed in there when Lisa entered from the elevator doors. Soon she realized, when she overheard one of the associate producers say that Murphy had gotten a quote from Hillary Clinton where she inferred her run for President in 2016. Because that's what you go on these days, just to be the first to break the news. The mucky-mucks at the network begged Murphy to just go with it. And that's what she was doing, making something out of absolutely nothing. Her soul died a little every time they made her do this.
No one, literally no one, recognized or cared that Lisa stood at the closed elevators doors with a heavy suitcase by her side. Her eyes moved side to side in search of one person. They eventually stopped when one of the PAs ran directly into her suitcase, tripping over it and face planting onto the floor. She leaned down to help him up. He looked up and recognized her, calling her name very loudly, more loudly than she had expected. At that moment, the newsroom came to a complete halt. It was E.F. Hutton all over again. Lisa's eyes shifted again. Everyone was looking at her. She looked up and gave a slight hand gesture to the crowd. "Go on, this looks very exciting."
But the fervor was gone now. The tempo had been interrupted. Corky called it a lost cause and walked over to Lisa and gave her a hug. "Welcome back, kiddo! We sure have missed you around here."
"Really? Why?" Lisa asked, curious of the answer.
Corky grabbed Lisa's hand and rolled her suitcase over to the table where Frank, Jim and Kay were presently seated and exchanging wagered currency. Frank stood and gave Lisa his chair. Lisa took off her gloves and hat and sat.
"She forgot you, huh?" Kay asked.
"Where is she?" Lisa asked. "I called and called and called and no one picked up here. I even tried her house and no one was there either." Lisa stated.
"Well, the problem as I'm sure you can see is over there." Jim pointed to the disaster area that was Murphy's secretary's desk, her desk.
"Oh, goodness." Lisa expressed the obvious, when she saw papers strewn everywhere and the general disorganization at her desk.
"That's putting it lightly." Corky said.
"Agreed." Lisa followed. "So where is she?"
"You know, we're not exactly sure." Frank answered. "Last we heard she was on her way down to research."
"Where is she?" Murphy was fuming as she exited the elevator door, echoing exactly what Lisa had just asked. "Where the hell is she?" She repeated out of pure frustration.
"Where is who, Murph?" Frank asked, meeting her in the middle of the bullpen.
"That fat, little purple, people eater with the fever. Where the hell is she?" Murphy said, referring to her substitute secretary du jour.
"Settle down, Murph." Frank consoled.
"I will not! I'm going to strangle her! Do you know where that girl sent me? Just guess. But you'll never guess."
"I don't know." Frank conceded. "Where?"
"She sent me to the Washington Monument. That's where she sent me! And do you want to know why she sent me to the Washington Monument, Frank?" Murphy asked.
"I'm sure you'll tell us." Frank was just hoping to smooth this over and do his best to diffuse the bomb. "Why?"
"Because some schmuck on Twitter, Tweeted that Justin Bieber would be there. That's why." Murphy still wanted to strangle the air. "I swear Frank, I should have gotten rid of her this morning when I came in and she was looking at that picture of me from '98 with President Clinton that's on my desk and had the audacity to ask me if that was Justin Bieber with Clinton. She said we had the same haircut. But I was in an exceptionally good mood this morning, getting a few more nights of good sleep, so I let it slip. I should have known better! My instincts were asleep at the wheel! I really hate that!"
"It's okay, Murph." Before Frank could get any other words out of his mouth, Murphy interrupted him.
"And just look at this desk! It's a mess and absolutely everything single thing on it is purple! And she spends her time cutting out bubble letters from purple and white construction paper. What the hell is a Belieber anyway?" Murphy began to rip the cut out letters off the front of the secretaries' desk, one at a time. "Sounds like a damn gastrointestinal disorder!"
"Hey! What are you doing?" Leanne asked, carrying more loads of purple supplies from the supply closet.
"Get out!" Murphy emphasized the point by pulling the remaining 'r' from the front of the secretaries' desk. "You're fired!" Murphy shook her forefinger in Leanne's face. "And don't you ever tell me that I look like Justin Bieber again! Get out and never come back here!"
Leanne snickered, "Never say never. Hashtag Bieber Rules!" Leanne walked through the bullpen with her hands extended above her head, crossing the first two fingers of both hands over each other to make a number sign.
Murphy followed Leanne to the elevator, just to make sure she left. She pounded on the down button. "Oh, I think I'm going to go ahead and say never." She had never walked one of them out before.
When the door opened, Leanne walked in, turned and said, "Fine, but at least I'd never forget someone at the airport. Never in a million years!"
As the doors closed, Murphy realized today was the day that she was supposed to pick up Lisa from the airport. She turned again grudgingly, checking her watch, and began banging on the down button again. "Come on, come on!"
From across the room Lisa raised her hand, "There's no need. I'm here."
Murphy now felt like the biggest ass in the world, but she did not apologize. Murphy never did that. "When? I mean, how? Huh?"
"It's called a cab. I took a cab all the way from Dulles." Lisa stood and walked over to the coat rack where she took off her coat and placed it on the rack. "By the way, you owe me forty-two bucks. No personal checks. I don't do that."
Murphy wasn't the only one, everyone was now looking at Lisa who during the month she was away in Africa had officially popped. "I know. I'm huge." She moved her hand under her now well defined baby bump. "I don't know. One day it just happened." Lisa returned to her seat.
It was just what everyone needed. Their minds were off of all of that craziness now. "Well, I'd better get to work. You need me." Lisa stated as she pointed to Murphy while crossing over to her desk.
"Lisa," Frank followed Lisa to her desk. "Maybe you should go home and rest."
"Oh, come on now." Lisa turned to face him, with a few of the shreds of purple disorganization in her hands. "Just because I've got this thing now doesn't mean I have to rest all the time. I'm fine."
Frank couldn't help but notice a weariness in her eyes. This weariness was brought on by something they had all experienced, trans-continental flight. But he had learned from experiencing Murphy in this state on many, many occasions to not, under any circumstances, poke this bear. He simply took Lisa by the shoulders and lead her back to the table, sat her down and asked her about her trip. "So how's Avery?"
Kay recognized his technique. "Tell us everything."
Lisa's left eyebrow lifted. "Are you sure you want to hear everything?"
"Start from the beginning." Corky added. "When you landed, was he there waiting for you like in one of those old movies from Murphy's time?"
Lisa chuckled, then stopped when her eyes reached Murphy's. She cleared her throat a couple of times. "No, he wasn't waiting for me. I had to walk around that damn Nairobi airport for forty-five minutes, with this big ass bag mind you..."
"Well, you didn't have to pack all of that stuff for a stay in the jungle. I told you: Two pairs of shorts, three shirts and no make-up." Murphy turned to Kay. "This one brings that huge suitcase of stuff and enough make-up for show night at The Golden Girls."
"...Anyway." Lisa continued. "I finally had to find someone who spoke Spanish or English. So I tapped this blonde man on the shoulder. He turned and he did speak English. So I asked him if he could help me call Avery. And he just looked at me. So I looked back, a little purturbed now..."
"Really?" Murphy interrupted again. "Do we really need to hear all of this? It's called editing. You know when we said everything I thought you were under the impression..."
"...Anyway, again." Kay and Corky looked at each other, then smiled. "To continue. So this man, just kept looking at me. He had this long Grizzly Adams thing going on." At this point, everyone kind of had a "get on with it" expression on their faces. Lisa sighed. "It was Avery!" She reached in her purse and grabbed a photo. "This is what he looked like." As everyone looked at the picture, she continued. "I know. I bought him a razor and a two month refill supply in the airport duty free that day. It needed to happen." The picture finally made its way back to her. "It's gone now. Not to worry."
Lisa continued on with her tale. "I didn't think I could start our two-day Jeep ride to back to the jungle so we stayed in the airport friendly Hilton. And that was the last sense of modern-world comforts I have had until I got back here today. I'm not going to go into great detail about what went on in that Hilton nor do I think you would want me to. Am I right?" The group agreed with a head shake in unison. "I'll just leave it with it was a good stay, a very good stay."
"What was it like in the jungle, with the tribe?" Corky asked.
"Well, because of the deal he struck with the Ajinkas, Avery had me stay outside in the jungle for a night while he explained to the tribe that he was bringing in another person. I'm glad I brought that book to read and picked up about twenty magazines in the airport." Murphy rolled her eyes. "Who knew that bow and arrow article in last month's 'Vogue' magazine would come in handy? Certainly not me."
"And let me tell you," she continued. "Those are the nicest people in the world. They are dirt poor and live in what I can only describe as the closest things to adobe huts I have ever seen. Even though neither Avery or I spoke the language, we had no problem at all with communication. And boy, did their interest peak when I explained that I was pregnant. You see, they hold the pregnant woman for the months she is carrying the baby in the highest regard...almost that of a deity." Lisa opened her purse and retrieved her iPhone. "Here, let me show you." She flung her index finger across the screen, eventually navigating her way to the camera app.
"This is a picture of me and Moma, or Mama is what I called her. As you can see, I was still thin in this picture. Moma is the eldest woman in the tribe. She delivered her babies near the river." Lisa flung her thumb across the screen. "And this is Avery with Moma. She is very old and still very beautiful." Everyone agreed that she was indeed striking.
When her phone came back to her she continued to look through all the pictures she and Avery had taken. And before she knew it, in her mind, she was already back there.
"Babe," Avery lightly tapped Lisa's exposed shoulder. "Babe, it's time to go."
Lisa rolled over from her never really comfortable sleeping bag that Avery had placed on the softest ground he could find. She opened her eyes and saw trees. Now she could even hear birds. This was not a dream.
"You're awake now? Let's get your things and head into camp. They all want to meet you." He kissed her on her cheek as she woke up a little more.
"What time is it?" She asked while yawning.
"I don't know. Doesn't matter. But it's time to go."
"I have to pee. And I don't even want to know what my hair looks like this morning."
"You're right about that." He smiled a goofy grin.
"You have to promise not to film me Avery. Promise me you won't. Okay?" Lisa stated while gathering her things and digging through her bag for her brush. When she didn't get an answer, she stood before him with her hands resting on her hips. "Say it! Say you understand."
"I need to be paid." Avery retorted.
"What?"
"The director needs a smoocheroo right here." He pointed to his right cheek. "Come on, pay me." She obliged him. "Now here's your brush. You can do something about that hair, right?"
"Sure can." Lisa then took the brush, turned away from Avery and proceeded to put her hair in the best pony tail she could muster, minus a mirror. She then turned to him again. "It's like magic, right?"
"You've got that right." He zipped up her suitcase. "Want to hear something sexy?"
"No, I really want to pee." Lisa ran as fast as she could to the nearest tree to do her business. On her return trip, she stopped by Avery. "What's sexy?"
"You know we have holes dug just for that very purpose in camp?" Avery advised.
"That's not sexy, Avery."
"And you running behind a tree is?" He asked as she cocked her head to one side, her pony tail bobbed right along with her. "Here's what's sexy. You and I have got the deluxe suite all to ourselves. Just you and me, babe. How do you like that?"
"And who is the luckiest girl in the whole wide world? Um, that would be this girl right here." Avery took Lisa's hand in his and grabbed her rolling suitcase with the other and off they went to camp.
Lisa almost skipped, instead of walked, to camp. She did this anytime she was near Avery. She missed him so much for the four months they had been apart. Lisa had kept herself busy working for Murphy and during any free time she had she was either at doctor's appointments or on Skype with Avery, when he could get an internet hook up. So now that she was actually here she skipped her way to camp, beaming from ear to ear. She couldn't stop herself from looking at him. Here, they were just two kids in love. And this still wasn't a dream.
"Okay, babe." Avery stopped on the dirt path they had been walking on. And as soon as they stopped, the kids in the tribe took off, running toward their direction. They stopped when they reached Lisa. She instinctively dropped to their level. "Don't do that. Get up." He demanded and she did, but looked at him crossly. "They want to smell your hair."
"So, they can smell my hair. I don't care."
"First rule, Lisa. Don't give them anything you can't supply constantly." Avery informed.
She immediately popped up and when she did she got her first look at the place as a whole. There was a giant man made water well in the middle of town and surrounding that were about fifteen man made huts. And surrounding those were film cameras that had been strategically placed by Avery to catch every angle. He captured everyday life and sometimes everyday death. The last funeral was a week prior. He got it all on film and the techniques he learned from his mother got him in the door.
Lisa looked at the members of the tribe and their children or grandchildren. They were the most exquisite looking people she had ever seen, and she now knew why they wanted to smell her hair because right now she wanted to smell theirs. It all felt like a movie starring Humphrey Bogart.
"And this is our stop." Avery stopped next to one of the huts. He lifted up the flap. It was dark inside. He helped Lisa walk in and closed the flap behind him. "Home sweet home, my dear." He took care to introduce her to their somewhat cramped living quarters. Their place was small. In fact the whole thing could fit into Avery's bedroom five times over. Then she saw it. On the faux wall next to the cot hung their only wedding photo. The one they paid twenty dollars for right after they got married at the court house. Avery was wearing his dark, nice suit and Lisa wore the only white dress she owned. It was simple. It was lovely. It was them at their best. She couldn't help but smile.
"Knock, knock." Lisa turned to look at Avery. There was someone speaking English outside of their hut. "Knock, knock."
"Come in, Abioye." Avery declared.
Abioye had served as Avery's tour guide and translator for the past four months. He was the only member of the tribe to be formally educated and to speak English fluently. When he entered the hut, Lisa felt like she had to keep looking upward forever. This guy was tall. Much taller than she and Avery. "I know the two of you want to be alone, but I wanted to meet your wife."
"Abioye, this is Lisa. Lisa, this is Abioye. This man has literally saved my ass on multiple occasions. I'm teaching him how to film in trade."
"It's nice to finally meet you, Lisa." Abioye held out his huge hand to shake. "He talks about you constantly and that picture on the wall doesn't do you justice at all."
"It's nice to meet you too." Lisa smiled as she shook his hand.
"If you need anything at all, just ask me. I know how to get almost anything."
"I will be sure to do that." Lisa smiled at him.
"Well, I'll be taking off now."
"Hey Abioye, do you remember how to change the film in the cameras?" He shook his head in the affirmative. "Could you do that for me? You know where I keep the stock. I trust you."
"Consider it done."
"Thanks." And with that, they were alone again.
"Why if it isn't C.B. DeMille bossing everyone around." Lisa nuzzled up against him, then kissed him on the cheek.
"That's right! When the director directs you, you make sure to listen." He picked up Lisa in his arms and swung her around then laid her on the cot.
Over the next month, this had become their daily routine. Getting up before dawn was easy now. Lisa helped Avery film every day. She was the clapper girl, the Assistant Camerawoman, B-roll shooter and sound recorder. They worked through concepts, talked strategy and story all the time. And Lisa turned out to be an excellent Producer indeed, taking notes on everything they had covered. She brought home film canisters and even found an old Moviola in the basement, which the edit techs at FYI set up for her. She got Avery's film put through the soup (processed) and bumped to tape. And the stuff he shot on XD cards were dumped to tape as well and prepped for edit. She screened work prints for him and reported back on her findings. For all of these things, he was more than appreciative, as she made his life just that much easier, and she got loads of producing practice in the process.