Press Release

4: Pressure Valve

By the time Xavier enters the trailer for lunch around 1:30, Minnie already has a full list of his transgressions. She had Meg pick up his favorite meal, and then sent the assistant off to run some errands to get cleaning supplies for the trailer.

"Soooo..." Minnie begins as Xavier tucks into his meal, "Do you often tell the director to 'fuck off'?" Xavier looks up from his meal, his mouth full, and Minnie continues, "You won't do that anymore starting right now. And when you're asked to stand on the mark indicated, you will not suggest that they move the mark to where you are standing." Xavier swallows, opening his mouth to protest as Minnie adds, "And when Harry --"

"Fuck Harry Styles!" Xavier bellows. "He gets everything he wants! If he wants a glass of ice water from Finland, everyone on the crew drops everything to get it for him with ice cubes fresh from Iceland. The fucker gets everything handed to him on a silver platter! I have to yell at people to get their attention at all."

Tilting her head, Minnie scrutinizes the man-child in front of her. Under her solemn stare, Xavier puffs out a huge breath of air before picking up his fork and tucking into his food again.

"Maybe you could stand to learn a thing or two from Harry Styles," Minnie suggests. "But first, tell me who hurt you so much."

Startled, Xavier's fork-holding hand stalls halfway to his mouth. "I don't know what you mean, Olivia," he spits out her name as though it were a curse word.

"You'll tell me sooner or later, Alex." He flinches when she calls him by the nickname he used back home in Iowa. "Yes, I know your background. Cost me a pretty penny to hire a private investigator in your hometown, but I know a lot more now. Care to take a walk back in time?"

When he doesn't speak, she barrels on. "Raised by your white mother and Hispanic father in the same small town where they still live, you have a half-sister who was 18 when you were born so the two of you were never close. Your mother thought she couldn't have children after your sister was born, so you were a surprise. Your mother works as a nurse to the only urologist in town, and your father manages the local car dealership." She's been looking at Xavier the whole time, as she's memorized the important bits from the report in front of her. The PI had been pretty thorough, although there was more she asked him to dig into. This was just what she could get in a few hours during the morning. "They brag about you all the time to anyone who will listen."

"They do?" his incredulous whisper breaks her heart. This baby boy is so insecure. How could no one else see it? He'd worked so hard to push people away so they weren't aware of his vulnerable side.

"They do indeed," Minnie reassures him. "In fact, your father wouldn't shut up about you to the investigator until he started asking about new car models. The PI almost had to buy a car in order to get out of there."

Xavier laughs, and the action is clearly so unfamiliar to him that he stops midway through the first chuckle, surprised that the sound came out of his mouth. Sort of like a dog who shocks himself by farting.

"You should do that more often," Minnie remarks, and when Xavier blushes, she encourages him, "What was it like growing up with a stable family?"

Cocking his head to the side, he studies her for signs of insincerity.

Touching his hand, she makes eye contact with him, "Look, I know it's hard to trust people here in LA. I've been burned before myself. But you have to trust someone or you're going to combust and end up a has-been. So I'm going to give you some names and phone numbers of some former clients. I want you to call them. Right now. I'll leave. Ask them if you can trust me." Passing a list across the table, she rises, preparing to step outside and stretch her legs. She's been in this cramped trailer long enough.