Disclaimer: I don't own.
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Jade felt nervous as she stood there, outside the theater in New York, in early December. For whatever reason, Stanley Lions, the head of the production company that had made her debut film, had insisted on having the premier of the movie here, despite everyone involved lived and worked in Los Angeles. The blue eyed girl knew her work was the best she could do, talking about a girl's Christmas miracle as the man she met turned into the perfect boyfriend. The content was trash to begin with, with Stanley thinking the Bro community would love a film about how they were the perfect boyfriends. All the girls needed to do was see the kind of value one of those Bro types brought. Only, without explosions, the audience just wasn't there. Jade knew that, and had turned the whole film into a romcom that both mixed the original concept, that girls don't always see what is good for them, along with the miracle being the "Bro" in question being deeper and better able to deal with the various situations the heroin might deal with. Chet, the man character played by Carl Young, was given a lesbian sister who Jade was forced to play thanks to Tori bringing Neutronium money in. However, that money also gave her the control she'd needed to shift the film into something that would have an audience, thus overriding the producer, Stanley.
Stanley, who had no right to have his own production company, let alone the money to film a Christmas movie, had already sacrificed so much to get the movie made, and had little in the way of control once Mason started interjecting. Tori played the heroin, Cheri, a name Jade just could not get changed, because Stanley had to bring in a name to keep all his investors happy, and that was before Neutronium got involved.
"You nervous?" Tori asked, leaning into her now girlfriend. They'd gotten together after Tori took over the main roll of "Cheri's Christmas Miracle". Of course, Jade had discovered, when she looked at the old scripts, it had previously been the untitled Mindy Sinclair project before being renamed the untitled Hannah Hunter project, and then, AFTER Jade was brought on board in an attempt to calm down the investors and the studio, they changed it again to it's last working title, the untitled Tori Vega Christmas movie. Jade at least understood why the first picked director had walked off the set.
"No, why would I be nervous?" Jade asked. "I've just started my senior year in collage, and already I have two short films that have seen film festival exposure, and was asked to turn a direct to Lonely-girl movie into a general release. What could go wrong with my career?"
"Hay, I'm in this mess." Tori teased.
"But you're a pop princess, who's branching out. No one will judge you too harshly if the movie fails. Besides, you were great." Jade assured her.
"Wanna hear a secret?" Tori asked. "No, think I'll keep that one just a little longer. So glad we were able to find rolls for so many of our friends."
Jade had to admit, even if they were bit parts, like the one Andre, now a music producer slash songwriter with Neutronium, played as Catarina's assistant, or Cat, who basically played a fictionalized version of herself, a DJ who's success was breaking out. Of course, Cat's DJing career was bolstered by the impressive amount of original music she mixed in, as well as her ability to sing at events. However Cat's success had come, her and Andre had been in the film, and it was good to work with them again. 'Better catching up. Rob almost stole the movie with his physical comedy in the club scene. Had to makes sure Carl was distracted, cause Chet is supportive, but our boy was just too cruel to realize how in control Rob was.'
Her face got serious. "I put Rob as one of the writers. That's three of us getting writers credits, with the original basically the most bare bones skeleton for me to have strung anything across. But with Robbie's help, I rewrote this turkey and made it something passable. Funny enough, and passable. Now, if it just makes money, maybe I can be known for more than who I'm dating."
"Beck did an amazing job." Tori noted. "Not just as Chets coach, but as the best friend with a past, crushing on, and having dated Catarina, only to lose her to a less attractive man with a sense of humor..."
"Just, we leave a lot of that as subtext, so only our perceptive viewers will get it. The others, they'll just see that Carl Young can play the sensitive, understanding and kind leading man, strong without having to shove it down our throats." Jade noted.
"Be honest, when I got Mason involved, you had no idea what he was gonna insist you do for him, right?" The pop princess inquired.
"I get him wanting me in the film, no idea why Stan wanted me to play a lesbian." Jade shrugged. "Guessing it was the only way he could see me not being Chets sex toy. I play the mans sister…." She held her breath for several seconds.
"Honestly, that was more Mason's idea." Tori informed her. "The lesbian thing, that was his idea, and he knew, being Bi, you wouldn't get canceled for playing gay."
"Wait, Mason knew about my coming out?" Jade asked. "Wasn't exactly first page news. I told friends, some people I went to school with..."
"I filled him in when I was getting him to agree to help finance this movie in return for some control, cause when I came onto the project, about the only two things I knew was this was a Christmas movie, and you were directing it." Tori filled in. "So the whole 'I get a song or two on the soundtrack' deal sounded more then enough. But no, Stanley Lions turns out to be an aged out bro, with no understanding of how women work. Thinking he worked hard for years to become a producer just to have young girls wanna sleep with him for parts. Man is that kind of scum. Anyways, going back to the well, for more than permission, I had to give Mason something, and something big. Sure, he's my friend, but he never does anything for free."
"And what, prey tell, did you give him this time?" Jade wondered.
"Obviously, I gave him you." Tori replied. "Why do you think he insisted on a song from you, then two when the first was a Christmas song. He wants to sell you as a music act, though in this case, that's your secondary career. Raise your profile a couple of ways, get back the investments he's made so far. The big thing is he's gonna make up so much money just from this film, even if it bombs, cause we have you, me, and Cat, all on the soundtrack."
"Which was hell to edit together in the limited amount of time I had." Jade grumbled.
"I don't know, six months seems like a long time." Tori teased. "We met up for the first time in years back in July, when we started filming, stopped, you rewrote the script, filmed through the rest of summer, then edited, added effects, etc, all until last moth, near Thanksgiving, when you were finally ready for Stanley to see the finished products. Lucky me, I'm living with the director, or she's living with me, whatever. Bottom line was, I was able to see it before the critics preview…"
"Stan hated it." Jade smirked. "But you must admit, the movie is decent. The miracle, of whether or not Chet's character is a bro, a decent guy, or what. You never know if it's some miracle that changed him, or if he's just that kind of guy, hiding under that whole Bro lifestyle." She leaned into her girl... "Wait a moment…"
"What?" Tori tried to look innocent.
"I get how it made sense for you to give me a place to stay during filming, since I was gonna need to carpool in anyways, except on the days I didn't need you…" The goth was starting to make connections in her mind.
"Are you suggesting that you're my Christmas Miracle?" Tori asked. "How about we're each others miracle?"
"You joined the project after I was brought on board…"
"And I told you, I wanted you." Tori defended herself. "All that sexy, in a mans suit, cause stupid Stanley Lions had no idea how sexy a woman could be in a mans suit."
"This was planned?" Jade questioned her own sanity. "No way, the odds of it working out were…"
"Beck thought they were quite reasonable when he confronted me about this months ago." Tori said flatly. "Mason Thornesmith is my friend, and as such, he taught me never do anything without knowing the risks. Make sure there's something in it for you. I went into that movie shoot, and here's my big secret, but I went in after you. I'd heard you were gayish, and went in to win me a girlfriend. Let the crazy of the summer, all the work, the rewriting, the music, everything, distract you from questioning a good thing. I just made sure that those who figured it out were the kinds of friends who'd tell you if you were making a mistake."
"Like Beck?" Jade asked.
"Beck, Cat, Dre, Rob… So, all of them." Tori shrugged. "Whatever, the point is, I was respectful, only seduced you when it wasn't taking advantage. Yes, we live together now, and you're room, just an illusion to help you adjust. That, and it'll be your office now that you know the truth. Kinda needed, cause some of your chiz, scares the dickens out of me…"
"So you were never trying to cross over?" Jade demanded.
"That was reason enough to do a film." Tori said. "But one that needed a name, and had two major walk offs already? No, Jade West was reason enough. Plus, I knew, you'd never stand for any of Stanley's crap. So I put in the time, waited it out, and only pushed enough when I knew it wouldn't hurt. Honestly, you in the master bedroom with me, hadn't expected that this soon. Just, you know, everyone knows we're together now, cause of course I made sure the paparazzi knew about you living with me. That evening we relaxed in the hot tub together, that was way suggestive, but if I hadn't clarified things for them, through my anonymous snitch, they might not have confirmed we were an item."
"I should be so mad right now…" Jade growled.
"Hay, my plan made your career, cause no mater how good or bad this film is, they'll see your talent." Tori switched tactics. "I also got you a recording contract, at a much more reduced pace, AND Andre is anxious to work with you again. Knowing you're all gay will help him not fall in love with you again. THAT was a mess to clean up. You do realize, that song he sang after you helped him, at the Friday performances, every baby was a Jade, right?"
"No…" Her life was, once again, spinning out of control.
"We'll, he could only let go once he told you how he felt." Tori explained. "So we used music. Funny, you have no idea how many crushes after that he let go of through song. Loads of baby's and sweeties in his music."
Oddly, this distraction was calming Jade down, letting the pale girl see what had happened, and when. "You said I love you first."
"Yea, not how I planned to do it." Tori admitted. "After sex, even if we're just talking about chiz, wasn't the place. I wanted some place all romantic, where I'd let the mood just overwhelm me, and I'd say it. Of course, I so wanted to be the first to say it, just to help you along, but it had to be real, or we're have issues. Lucky me, I was smitten long before you ever thought of me as an option."
"Wait, that day, in Sikwotz's class, when you were rubbing my boyfriend, you were smitten with me?" Jade asked. "Cause I don't just get rid of potential rivals for my guy. I felt you were a threat, and felt attracted, and after talking to you, came to the only conclusion I could. Sweet Latina's like you were straight, and thus, a threat to finding out I swung both ways. That could have ended my career, at least in my mind, back before I realized how much the world h ad changed. So I turned on the bitch…"
"Okay, it wasn't until after you helped me clean up the Black Box." Tori admitted. "But it's all good. I wasn't good for anyone back then, and lord knows, I'd never have survived dating you. Just glad I got my miracle, and was able to snag me a girlfriend over those last six months. So, lets go see if this movie is just something in the rear view, or something we'll be talking about forever."
"Something tells me it'll be forever." Jade noted. She nodded to Robbie, who was living in New York, and could attend the premier, and plotted how she'd make his film next year. 'After all, all that comedic talent has to be harnessed for profit. If Stanley Lions isn't interested, I'll bet Mason Thornsmith is….'
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I wrote a whole story, and it wasn't good. This modified epilogue was and is better, and I hope shows the spirit of the season, as well as the real reason that one movie got made. So, happy holidays, happy Jori, and review.