"Well..." Jade's grandmother, Judy Brewer, sighs as she looks through the paperwork that will allow the film crew to use the diner as a filming location "They're being quite generous, aren't they?"
The studio offered to compensate them for three full days of lost revenue, even if they aren't filming all three days. Additionally, they'll receive an additional $3,000 for each day that filming takes place within the diner or on the property. Any staff that wish to do so may act as background actors as well and will be paid accordingly.
"They are." Jade agrees "We just need your signature and they'll be all set."
"I don't see why you need my signature if the lawyer approved it all." Judy chuckles as she begins to sign and initial in all of the correct places "You're basically the face of all operations now."
"Don't be ridiculous." Jade assures her "You put in just as much work as I do. And you had to do much more than I did to get it off the ground in the first place."
Despite being 76 years old, Judy still isn't ready to be completely retired. Splitting the business with Jade means that she's in the diner three to four days a week, sometimes more, doing inventory or purchasing or budgeting, or whatever else needs to be done.
She doesn't feel old enough to be retired yet, but then again she also doesn't feel old enough to have a granddaughter old enough to be her business partner...or to have a great-granddaughter. The women in her family seem to start having children young though...she had her daughter, Kaitlyn, at twenty-three...that was normal for the time though. She had been married for a few years at that point too. Kaitlyn then had Jade, unmarried, at twenty. Then Jade had Avery, also unmarried, at eighteen. Judy is silently hoping...along with Jade and Kaitlyn both, that Avery will be the one to break the cycle and wait to have children until she is much older and established. Not that there's anything wrong with having children young, or even out of wedlock, but none of them want her to have to face the same hardships that her mother and grandmother did.
"One day soon you'll be running it solo." Judy reminds Jade "Eventually, I will retire for good."
"Sure you will." Jade rolls her eyes as she places the paperwork in a manila folder and seals it "Face it Gram, you don't idle well."
"Maybe I'll start." Judy shrugs "Find a hobby or something. Take up traveling."
"I'll believe it when I see it." Jade laughs, standing up from the desk "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes, are you?"
"Yeah, let's go."
Judy turns out the lights in the office and Jade locks the office door behind her, then they both begin walking to the front of the diner. It's not quite closing time yet, in fact it won't be for a few hours still, but there's no reason for them to stay. They have managers and other staff who will lock up for them, one of the benefits of being owners is getting to choose their own working hours.
Jade and Avery live only a few blocks from the restaurant, just off the beach, and Jade will actually walk to work most days to keep the limited parking in the area free for customers. Her grandmother had parked at her house and walked with her today as well. The two women begin the journey back to Jade's, grateful that the weather is cooperating and finally starting to feel like summer.
"AVERY?" Jade calls out as soon as they walk through the door
"YEAH?" Avery yells back
"GRAMS IS HERE! COME SAY HI!"
"Hi Grams!" Avery grins as she appears from the hallway that leads to the bedrooms, Willie trailing closely behind her
"Hi sweetheart." Judy hugs her and kisses her quickly on the cheek "And hello to you too, Mr. Willie."
"I've been looking into this movie that they're apparently filming." Avery tells her mother and great-grandmother as they move towards the kitchen "You were right, Mom. It sounds like exactly the kind of thing Grandma and Nana would be into."
With so many adults in her life to love her, Jade had to get creative with the nicknames she gave to Avery's grandparents so the girl actually had a chance of keeping them straight when she was younger. Jade's grandparents, Avery's great-grandparents, are Grams and Gramps. Her mother and step-father are Grandma and Papa, and her father and step-mother are Grandpa and Nana. Her younger brother is Uncle Tyler. Not to mention Avery's Aunt Cat, Uncle Robbie, Aunt Tori, and Uncle Andre, but they are all much easier to keep straight.
"And exactly the kind of thing your mother would hate?" Judy smirks
"I don't hate romance novels." Jade assures them "I just don't write romance novels myself."
Of Jade's three novels, two of them are murder mysteries, and the other is a psychological thriller about a girl who is kidnapped. They're very far from romance novels, although there are romantic subplots.
"Your books are more interesting than romance anyway." Avery shrugs
"Thank you, baby."
"So what is this 'Twilight Beach' about anyway?"
"It's about a soldier, I'm not sure what branch, that is injured in Afghanistan and sent home to recover." Avery explains "Except once he gets home he can't sleep because he has PTSD so he starts going for walks on the beach at night. And he meets this girl who is also going for walks on the beach because she can't sleep, something about nightmares from a car accident she had been in with her boyfriend who died and now she has survivor's guilt."
"And they fall in love?" Jade raises an eyebrow as she opens the fridge
"And they fall in love." Avery nods
"Sounds exactly like something your mother would love." Judy says to Jade
"It does." Jade agrees
"And if I remember correctly..." Avery says with a drawn out tone as she unlocks her phone and re-opens the webpage she had been reading before "Oh yeah! Lana Meyer and Beck Oliver are playing the leads."
Judy has to cover her mouth to cover her amused expression and keep herself from laughing, and Jade has to grab the door of the refrigerator to keep herself from falling over. She stumbles a bit and the door ends up slamming shut, the noise echoing through the kitchen as Jade steadies herself and tries to get a grip on the bowl of salad she had been holding.
"You okay, Mom?" Avery asks as she looks up from her phone
"Yup, just lost my balance." Jade sighs nervously, setting the bowl down on the kitchen island "Hey, kiddo? I think we're out of salad dressing. Would you mind taking your bike to Moe's and picking up a bottle?"
Moe's is only a few blocks away, so Avery won't be gone long...but she'll be gone long enough for Jade to collect herself.
"Sure." Avery nods "Which kind?"
"Any kind you want." Jade tells her "Grab some money out of my wallet. It's in my purse by the door."
"Kk." Avery stands up "Be back soon."
"Thank you." Jade says to her as she leaves "Ride safe."
She waits for the front door to open and close, insuring that Avery is out of earshot, and then Judy begins to howl with laughter.
"This isn't funny!" Jade hisses
"You're right, it's not." Judy apologizes as she collects herself "It's just...oh sweetie the irony of it all is just too good."
"Fuck...fuck, fuck, fuck." Jade groans, rubbing her temples "What the hell am I going to do?"
"You might just have to tell them both the truth."
"The Sandy Isle..." Beck says quietly to himself as he skims over their list of filming locations
"Something the matter?" His director asks him
"Hm?" Beck looks up from the page "No, no problems. Just talking to myself over here."
The name is familiar, but he can't quite place it. Maybe once he sees the area, something will click. He spent ten days in Charleston, or really a tiny little beach town right outside of it, one summer when he was in high school with Jade West and her little brother. They stayed with her grandparents and helped them do some work on the new restaurant they had just purchased, although it didn't open until a few months later when they were back in school.
"Well, welcome everyone!" The movie's director, Mark, announces to get the attention of the room full of people "I'm so excited to have you all here and to get to work on this awesome project! Let's hear it for Twilight Beach!"
The room erupts into applause as the rest of the cast and crew begin to cheer, and Beck reluctantly claps along. A romance movie hadn't exactly been at the top of his bucket list of projects, but his agent insisted. He had developed quite the bad boy reputation over the years, and she thought that a more vulnerable roll might help soften that. Not to mention it might help him win back over the opinions of all of the female fans he had offended when rumors of his marital issues with Ericka had leaked.
He'll be playing Sergeant Brody Crawford, a member of the US Army who is injured serving in Afghanistan and is sent home to recover. He suffers from PTSD and has a hard time sleeping, so he ends up taking late-night walks along the beach to pass the time and clear his head. He meets Riley Quinn, a woman also suffering from a bit of PTSD and survivor's guilt from a car accident that had killed her fiancé, and who is also out walking on the beach every night to clear her head. Long story short, they find comfort in each other and end up falling in love. Beck thinks the whole thing is very cliche, but the novel it's based on is very popular and the movie is expected to perform very well.
Although filming is slotted for three months, Beck is hoping they will wrap early. It's not that he doesn't want to do the work, despite his disinterest he puts all of his effort into every roll he takes. He just doesn't like the idea of being away from Ericka for a whole summer, especially now that their marriage could be in danger. Hopefully there are no issues with locations or no delays due to weather or scheduling conflicts, and he can get home as soon as possible.