Summer to Winter

Chapter Four

Henry had worked on a lot of different studio lots but had never worked at Warner Brothers. He had spent the last few years working in cold weather and wanted to be in warm sun for longer than a few weeks at a time. When contract negotiations for this feature came up, he decided to fight for it to film in California. It was be helpful for him to be closer to the "action" and finally make his moves to be taken seriously as an actor. He loved the roles that he had gotten (who wouldn't love running around playing hero and villain), but as he got older, he wanted to be known for more than just a muscle man. He wanted roles with more depth and range... show the world that he was more than just one character. He would even consider doing a series again if it gave him a chance to dig deeper into a role. He thought to himself, "It might be nice for Kal and I to be in our own place for a while. Rental houses are nice, but a home of our own would be nicer..."

As he walked around, he realized that he should have taken Brian's advice and had security park him directly next to the production office. Instead, he stubbornly thought it would be nice to park in the garage with everyone else and have a nice walk. He didn't need to be in the office at any particular time, just to make sure that he had everything the lot needed to let him bring his dog to work with him and take care of any other paperwork for security. He also wanted to look at the gym to make sure it had everything his trainer needed to keep him in the shape that he was in. The walk around the lot was turning into the cardio he wasn't looking for that day. He looked down at the map the security guard gave him at the gate and it just looked like a bunch of squares on the paper. Nothing made sense, including the fact that the stage numbers didn't seem to be in numerical order at all.

Henry felt like he had gone in circles for the last twenty minutes; he passed Stage 15 so many times that he lost count. This time was slightly different in that he noticed a quiet young woman staring at a stage sign and take her phone out to take a photo of it. Her long dark hair fell to her lower back, wearing a red Hawaiian print sundress. She stood out like an island princess in the sea of California blondes that passed her on the sidewalk. He heard a high-pitched squeal and automatically assumed it was coming in his direction, but was surprised to see another woman running straight for the lady in the red dress. He watched them embrace and saw one of the most beautiful smiles he had ever seen appear on her face. The two looked like they were going to talk for a while, so he started walking again. Ten minutes passed and he found that he wasn't walking around another stage and took that as a sign he was going in the right direction. He felt someone briskly walking behind him like he was in a marathon and subsequently pass him on the right. He looked over and saw a blur of black hair and red flowers move quickly past him, weaving confidently through the crowd of slowly walking tour groups. It was his mystery lady in red. He didn't know why, but he was drawn to her and felt the urge to follow. She seemed like someone who knew her way around the lot, maybe she could tell him where the production office was. Or he could at least find out her name.