Chapter 46 The Horror
“Diane, you have made amazing progress lately,” Emily said, praising one of her students as she looked over a landscape painting.
Diane had been there from the early days when Emily first began to give private lessons. She was a retiree who already had some painting experience when she started lessons with Emily.
“What would you say to the idea of me selling my paintings?” Diane asked.
“I would say, go for it.”
“I’ve been thinking of trying to take them to the local galleries,” Diane said, “Maybe even an arts and crafts fair.”
“Yeah, why not?” Emily replied. “Your work is beautiful.”
“I was just a little concerned that you might think it’s not good enough, or that it would compete with your own work.”
Emily was surprised at this, but then Diane had always been extremely considerate and tactful.
“Even if I did try to sell my art, I certainly wouldn’t mind a little friendly competition,” Emily replied, “But for me, painting is something I do purely for fun. I’m no Picasso. I don’t have anything too unique to contribute, though I enjoy bringing out each student’s unique talent.”
“Are you sure you’re not just being modest?” the older lady asked with a slight smile.
“Oh yes. If I wanted to go commercial with my creations, I would rather sell the hair clips and dresses I design. It’s more of a hobby right now.”
“I hope you do try to sell them one day,” Diane said, “You never know what might happen.”
Although the art school provided her with a stable income, Emily had always wanted to go into fashion design, but the competitiveness of that market intimidated her. But part of her still wanted the rest of the world to see her hair accessories and clothing design. Maybe it was time to sell her creations.
When she got home, she resumed work on some of the dresses she had been sketching out and constructing. She was so excited about the new designs that she hadn’t even seen Byron in a few days, and he seemed to be busy with work of his own anyway.
Emily heard nothing more about a sequel to Chipfairies, so she decided it must have been a joke. But when she looked up “Chipfairies 2” just to make sure it was not a real thing, to her surprise, she found an article about it.
Papyrus studios announced the making of Chipfairies 2. Production was slated to begin in the summer.
Finally she had a chance to talk to Byron about it as they met for dinner at a fancy Thai restaurant.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” Emily began, since Byron never even brought up the subject, “You’re producing Chipfairies 2!”
“Oh, yes, it’s going to be great,” Byron said. He had a good poker face, she had to hand it to him. One might have believed that he was being completely earnest.
“You really think so?” Emily asked, trying to see if he would crack a smile.
“Absolutely. I have a pile of scripts on my desk sent to me straight from L.A. Most of them are trash: superhero movies, Sherlock Holmes remakes. Not that I don’t like Sherlock, but how many reboots does he need? Then I see Chipfairies 2. Considering how much I enjoyed the original, it was a no-brainer.”
“So, is your ex-girlfriend going to play a chipmunk?” Emily asked casually.
“No, sadly, I don’t have the authority to make her do that,” he said, “although it would have been hilarious. Nova will play one of the humans who help save the chipfairies from the evil pirates.”
“And how does she feel about that?”
“I have no idea.” Byron sipped his cocktail like he hadn’t a care in the world. “I’ve got other promising scripts right now as well.”
“Oh, this ought to be good,” Emily said. “What are they?”
“There’s The Vampire from Outer Space, the title sort of speaks for itself.”
“Yeah, sounds like a B movie from the ‘70s,” Emily remarked.
“No, it’s very fresh,” he said ingenuously, “Everyone thinks the main character is a vampire, and it turns out he’s an alien!”
“What a surprise,” Emily said with a touch of sarcasm.
“And last but not least, a horror film called They Laughed as They Died.”
“Really?”
He shrugged. “It’s a working title. Imagine a clown so evil that his jokes have the power to kill anyone who laughs at them.”
“Actually, that one might have potential,” Emily admitted.
The real horror, though, is going to be seeing how poorly these films will be received by critics, Emily thought. But she decided to be supportive. If he was not going to admit that these films were just part of his strategy to get back at his ex, then she would pretend like this blatantly childish attempt at revenge was not bothering her at all.
Byron was abiding by his promise not to fire anyone, but Emily was a little peeved that he was trying to destroy the studio by choosing the worst possible scripts he could find.
