Her Superhero Lover

The two did, and Grady nodded. “Thanks. All right, I’m going to admit I don’t know a lot about how to run a photo shoot or a commercial shoot. But I know a bit about business, and I don’t tolerate abusive treatment of my employees or my customers. So even if it takes some extra time, I’d rather we get this done without screaming or yelling. Anyone have questions about filming or stuff like that, talk to our new directors. Anyone has questions about the money side of things, talk to me.”

Renee could see as the crew relaxed visibly, their stress gone with the departure of the director. The lighting director took over pretty well, and another take was soon prepped. Grady sat down in a director’s chair next to Renee, which brought him to only a few inches taller than her. “Thanks again. So what’s your name?”

“Renee,” she replied, still a bit stunned. “Renee Williams. And I really didn’t do too much.”

“So you say. How long have you been doing commercials, Renee?”

Renee shook her head. “This is only my third TV commercial. I do mostly print work, eyeglasses and stuff like that. But I get most of my work in DJ’ing.”

“Really? I’m surprised,” Grady said. “I’d taken you for an industry expert.”

“Well, I did my first makeup shoot six years ago, so I’ve been in the local scene a while. Like I said though, it’s mostly part-time nowadays.”

“I understand. I’d pick music over modeling myself too, if I had any sort of artistic talent. What sort of stuff do you play?” Grady asked, giving her a dazzling smile. Was he actually interested in her?

“Well, like a lot of DJ’s I have a pretty big selection of stuff I can work with. I’ve done some mariachi stuff, rock, old beach music for the Baby Boomers, and of course pop, hip hop and what I guess we could just call urban. Lots of remixes too, although I’ve yet to play any of the big electronic raves. I’d like too though, they are a lot easier than a hip-hop festival.”

Grady nodded, conceding the point. “Any good stories from the turntables, or do DJ’s even use those any more?”

Renee laughed quietly, making sure not to interrupt the shooting taking place. “I do, but I don’t use it a lot. Nowadays it’s easier to load up a high quality audio file of the play list, then drag and drop stuff out as we need it. During the song, I use electronic manipulators to tweak and rework the sounds. I can actually make it sound just like an old school DJ scratching the record if I want.”

Their conversation was interrupted as the lighting director came over, telling them that the first half of the commercial was wrapped up, and they were ready for the second scene. Renee sat as the loan officer, while Kristy and the man (she never did get his name) were supposed to be the customers. After a few still shots with them posing over loan documents from various angles, it was time for the video portion, in which Grady would speak. She glanced at him while a makeup artist touched up his forehead, and saw he looked nervous. “Just remember, there are a lot scarier things out there,” she whispered when he came back over.

Grady grinned and looked down at her, giving her a wink. “So when do you play your next gig?” he asked while the set crew ran around getting last minute adjustments done.

“Thursday, I’m playing at Bang Bang,” Renee said. “I’m doing a mix of Asian and hip-hop.”

“Nice deal. I’ve got some work to do late on Thursday, but I’ll do my best to stop by. What time are you on?”

“Ten until two, in three sets. The ten to eleven, eleven fifteen to twelve forty five, and one to two.”

“What’s the extra half hour for?”

Renee smiled and tapped her fingers on the desk. “Got some new stuff, straight from Korea. The club owner is letting me work it into the last set, but that means a long second set to make sure the crowd is hot for the night.”

“I gotcha. Well, I’ll see what I can do.”

The director came over, checking if they were ready, and their conversation stopped. The shoot went quickly, and by the time the clock reached four in the afternoon, the entire shot was wrapped up. Renee was impressed, she had expected it to go until dark like a lot of shoots she’d been on. Grady’s decision to fire the director had paid off. As everyone was wrapping up, she pulled off her wig. Grady, who was approaching, paused as he saw the red streak in her hair. “Whoa. So is red your thing?’

Renee laughed and ran her fingers through the long extension. “Well, it is this week. Bang Bang is going with a red motif, and they’re my highest paying gig. Besides, it coordinates with my outfit.”

“Really? I’d enjoy seeing that.”

“Come on by Thursday and you’ll get a chance.” She was about to say something else when Grady’s cell phone rang, and he pulled it out of his suit coat pocket. He talked to the caller for a minute, then hung up, shrugging his shoulders. “Business?”

“Always. Anyway, it was a pleasure meeting you, Renee. And I promise, I’ll do my best to come by Bang Bang on Thursday.”

Renee watched him walk out of the bank, shaking hands and thanking most of the crew, disappearing into the warm San Diego afternoon to climb into a Lotus sports car. Kristy, who had changed out of her commercial shoot clothes and into a jeans and a t-shirt that said “USNA” on it, jogged her elbow. “He’s cute. And he looked into you.”

Renee shook her head and lightly guffawed. “You must be crazy. That man has enough money and looks to get anyone he wanted. There’s no way he’s interested in a girl from the Heights like me. I just wonder if he’ll actually come by my set, or if he was just being nice. I’ll count it as a win if he comes by.”

“You never know,” Kristy replied. “You never can tell.”