Chapter 5 - The Deadline
Tommy returns home, Kian leaves the house to return to his own home, Tommy prepares instant noodles for Tammy and himself for supper, He enters his home office swiftly after a quick supper, turns on his laptop, and prepares himself for a very long night.
The room is dark, with only a side light on the desk fading just enough to see what he was typing as he jumped back and forth between writing notes and typing on his laptop.
Tammy turns off the television and heads to the kitchen as it is almost time for bed.
She uses a footstool since she is too short to reach the top of the cupboard above the counter. She steps on it, gets a tea bag, boils the kettle, and pours hot water into the cup while swirling the tea five times, first clockwise and then anticlockwise.
She then dumps the tea bag into the trash bin, a behaviour Tommy picked up after Gillian chastised him for leaving his tea bag in the cup, reminding him on numerous occasions that this is something British people don't do.
Tammy adds the finishing touches by combining two teaspoons of sugar with a small amount of milk and stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Tommy became a creature of habit when it came to his tea drinking. English tea is something Tommy would grow to thoroughly appreciate, especially given the long hours his chosen work entails. He insisted that his tea be made in that precise order before he would consume it.
Presentation was crucial to Tammy, something Tommy always admired with his daughter, so she delicately layers three chocolate biscuits on top of one another like a deck of cards being shuffled while setting the tea on a saucer.
In order to not disturb her father, who is likely working, she places everything on a tray and brings it to the home office. "Dad, can I come in?" queried Tammy
Tommy heard her through the door, "Of course Tammy, sweetheart, come in, are you alright?"
Tammy notices her father appears exhausted while holding the tray steadily in her hands. "I'm good, Dad, but I will say your eyes look whacked," she says.
Tommy fights fatigue while trying to preserve his awareness of what he's doing by straining to keep his eyelids open. "Yes, pumpkin pie, tomorrow is the deadline for finishing this script."
Tammy grinned and added, "I've made you a cup of tea just the way you like it."
Tommy smiles and takes Tammy's tray, delicately places it on the desk's side.
"Thank you sweetie, I suppose I should take a short break, that's not enough biscuits, I will get the rest of the packet!" added Tommy
Tommy dashes into the kitchen to retrieve the identical packet of biscuits. He goes back to his home office and brings a plate of biscuits for Tammy, who has just opened.
"Help yourself to some chocolate biscuits" said Tommy as he munches.
"I thought I wasn't aloud sweets or biscuits after 7?" asked Tammy
"This is just a treat, go on, help yourself" said Tommy
"Thanks, Dad" said Tammy grabbing a handful of biscuits.
Tommy supports her on his knee, holds her, and softly murmurs, "It's been a difficult couple of months for us both, pumpkin pie."
"I really miss Mummy," Tammy remarked as she rested her head against her father's chest.
"I miss her too, but she's in heaven now, looking down on us," Tommy murmured as he put his chin on Tammy's head.
"I really wish she could come back, why did she have to die so young?" Tammy gripped him tighter.
Tommy stroked her hair and added, "We will always remember her since we both love her very dearly.
Tammy replied, "I miss her her so much."
"I miss her too, but I promise it will get a little bit easier every day. It's going to be just us, but I swear I'll always take care of you as my special little girl," Tommy said.
He tenderly kisses Tammy on the forehead, he then looks at the clock on the wall "Is that the time already, it's nearly your bed time, you can go down and watch tv for half an hour than it's bath time young lady"
"Okay Dad" said Tammy as she returns to the living room.
In the meantime, Tommy dunks his biscuits in his tea thoroughly before taking a sip, and Tammy settles down on the floor to watch Reptar, which is still captivating the British audience. After an hour, Tommy experiences writers block, a mental impasse he did not wish to experience.
"Why am I unable to move past this paragraph? What occurs next? Tommy realised it was time for Tammy to take a bath as he wiped his exhausted face in an effort to spark some more creativity.
He chooses to run his daughter's bath as a quick diversion from the frustration of his creative rut.
Tommy works harder to think of what he wants to write next as he fills the bath with bubble solution and turns on the water. Tommy finds it harder to concentrate due to the sound of the running water. He dips his hands into the water to feel the temperature.
Tommy exclaims, "Tammy bath time!" as the warm, bubble-filled bathtub fills up.
Tammy hurriedly makes her way up the stairs to the bathroom after turning off the television and responding with 'I'm coming up'.
Tommy brushes and blow-dries Tammy's hair in her bedroom after she gets out of the bath wearing her dressing gown.
He tucks her in and kisses her on the forehead before saying softly, "Sweet dreams, pumpkin pie."
Tammy utters "Love you Dad" as she nods off.
He says, "I love you too," quietly shuts the door so as not to wake her, and goes back to work. He struggles for the better part of a half-hour before coming up with an idea for his vision of the next James Blaine movie.
Tommy clenched his fists in desperation as a thought at last dawned on him. "I finally got it!" he muttered so as not to wake Tammy.
Song - Show Must Go On By Queen
Tommy thought to himself, "If I'm to stay awake to get me through this madness, I better make a pot of tea."
He works nonstop all night, minute after minute, hour after hour. In his exhaustion, he would bang his desk while grabbing at his eyes.
Page after page, checking for grammar mistakes and making sure the plot made sense, only the light from his laptop kept him somewhat awake. However, with grit and perseverance fuelled by several cups of tea, he eventually made it to the last page of his script as dawn broke.
"How is this film going to end?" Tommy questioned
Tommy made many tries to come up with a suitable conclusion, but he kept erasing what he had written each time, growing more and more frustrated.
Finally, in a flash of insight, he realised what he should have done—it was a eureka moment. Tommy, who was severely sleep deprived, put his thoughts on paper before he forgot them.
Tommy types what he has written down onto his laptop, spends the next hour reading the script, looking for typos, plot holes, etc.
A short while later, it is 6AM, with an hour until he must wake Tammy up to get ready for school.
"I finally did it, I spent an entire night writing this but man, I finally got it done!"Tommy remarked, "Maxwell better like this writing or I'm out for good.
When his eyelids begin to close and he slams his face against the desk, the slap of the desk's wooden surface wakes him up and reminds him that he needs to make Tammy's breakfast.
Being very sleep deprived and not wanting to do anything too complex, Tommy searches for a packet of pancake mix while simultaneously putting together her packed lunch.
With plenty of maple syrup, he creates six enormous pancakes—three for himself and three for Tammy.
Tommy yelled as he placed the plates on the kitchen table, "Tammy, come downstairs and get your breakfast."
Tammy exclaimed, "Hooray pancakes!" as she walked into the kitchen. Tommy knelt down and gave her a hug as she kissed her father on the cheek.
Tommy inquired as he cut his pancakes, "What are you doing at school today, pumpkin?"
In between bites of her pancakes, Tammy stated, "We are working on a project about the jobs our parents do.
"Are you going to write a piece about me?" Tommy asked.
"Yes, Dad. I'm going to mention how awesome you are and that you direct films', Tammy said.
You consider me cool, right? added Tommy.
Tammy affirmed, "Yes, you are my dad and the coolest man I know.
"You're the coolest girl I know, a chip off the old block," Tommy added.
"If your teacher allows it, you should write a piece about your Grandpa Stu being an inventor and how he invented the Reptar Robot or the Reptar Waggon," Tommy said.
"No one is going to believe me!" exclaimed Tammy.
Tommy said, "I have some old pictures in the attic somewhere, don't worry I'll find them."
"Okay, I'm excited to see them, that sounds awesome!" Tammy stated.
"Yeah, your Grandpa invented some cool things and still does, finish your orenge juice so I can drive you to school pumpkin pie," Tommy remarked.
After finishing breakfast, Tommy drops Tammy off near the school.
"Have a wonderful day, pumpkin pie, and keep up your good grades." added Tommy.
He gives her a quick high five through the window and drives to the Y-OFF studios office to deliver Maxwell the script. His script is carefully concealed in his suitcase.
As soon as he enters the lobby and arrives, the receptionist inquires about the purpose of his visit. "Good morning, Sir, and what brings you here?"
Tommy Pickles introduced himself and said, "I'm here to see Maxwell." Tommy waited eagerly, his lack of sleep giving him the jitters, and he gripped his luggage tightly out of concern that he could lose it.
The receptionist said, "Let me check the system, ah yes Tommy, please accept my apologies, If you can wait just a second, I will call Maxwell."
She dials the internal number to reach Maxwell. "Hello, Sir, Tommy is here to see you."
She says, "Head through the lift and it's the top floor and on the left," before putting the phone back in its position.
Tommy politely nodded his head and said, "Thank you, love," as he walked to the lift.
Tommys reaches the top level, following the directions he was given, he spots Maxwells name on a plaque at the bottom of the corridor, he chaps the door, "Thomas, come in!" as he heard Maxwells voice through the door.
Maxwell is sitting at his gorgeous antique dark wood desk, on the left is an antique dark brown wall clock, and on the right is a large shelf full of awards "Y-OFF productions have achieved," and on the left side of the wall is full of photo frames of past actors who have played James Blaine.
"Ah yes, Thomas, old boy, Please take a seat," Maxwell said from behind his desk.
Tommy pulls out the chair in front of his desk, gently placing his suitcase beside him.
"Would you like tea or coffee, old boy?" Maxwell offered him a drink before they got down to business.
Tommy said, "I'll have a large double shot flat white please."
"Certainly, I'll have my PA make it for you," Maxwell replied.
Maxwell's young personal assistant Samuel enters the office to receive his next duty, "Ah Samuel glad your here please make a double flat white for Thomas,"
Samuel said enthusiastically "Of course, Mr. Carrington, I'll get to it right away."
Samuel swiftly brings Tommy's drink and leaves to allow their meeting to begin.
"Thomas, I realise it's a lot to expect of you to produce a whole script in such a short amount of time," Maxwell replied.
"Yes, sir, I'm simply glad it's finished," remarked Tommy.
"Right O', if you could kindly pass over the script to me," Maxwell inquired.
Tommy unlocks the suitcase and passes the script to Maxwell, who carefully opens the envolop and places the script on his desk. "Ah yes, excellent grammar, I certainly like what I see so far, old chap."
"Tommy, the reason why I hired you is that you remind me of myself when I started out as a young director, virbrant, enthusiastic, and sometimes creativly frusrated," Maxwell says as he stands up.
Tommy said, "Thank you Sir, I'm glad we both share the same perspectives on the creative process of script writing."
"Yes, exactly," Maxwell responds, "I would put hundreds of hours into writing scripts only to be let down by one tiny little flaw until I got the perfect script."
Maxwell continues, "Let me tell you old boy, you've got what it takes to make it big, you have the potential to make it to Hollywood. You have what many unlike what many directors of today lack, and that's originality."
Tommy grinned and replied, "Thank you, I'm delighted you have faith in me.
Anyway, Maxwell continued while leaning back in his chair, "I know it's not ideal, but I'm impressed you wrote all this in one night. I'll have a read over this as soon as my meetings are over."
"Of course, I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of my script," Tommy added.
"If I may suggest, go back home and get some sleep, my jove you certainly look like you could use it," Maxwell replied.
Tommy gets up from his chair and says, "Thank you, Maxwell. I look forward to catching some Zs."
Maxwell shook his hand and said, "I'll be in touch later today. Take care of yourself, old chap, and try not to pass out before you get home!"
Tommy laughed, "I'll try not to pass out!"
End of Chapter 5