Saturday - A week later
Denise and Carol flew out with Marlene Zanwick to met the team. By now the tour was further east and they were in the flat lands of the Midwest. They drove from the airport and met the team in a campground. They learned that Denise and Marlene would be staying for three weeks and then would be replaced.
Sunday
The held several meetings over the morning. They dialed in a conference call. Fritz had some things he wanted to pass on to the others. In three weeks Susan would be coming home with Marlene and Denise. Lou would be taking the lead with Barb and Donna as support. Over time they would be rotated so that only two of the leads would be on the road at a time. Lou asked what they would be doing on the weeks they were at home.
Donald laughed. "Work, work, work. A busy actress is a happy actress."
"But I'm not an actress."
Donald laughed again. "Tell me what you have been doing? You have been some of the best PR I have done. I had several studies done. I asked if someone would come to see a movie if each of you were the lead actress. Carol finishes behind Denise. Debbie, Susan, Lou, you finish just behind her. Barb, you and Donna finish behind them but ahead of some of my regulars. I am figuring out what parts you can take. Marlene will tell you that even a minor part in a movie can be economically rewarding." Marlene nodded. "In addition I need SME's for the writing staff."
Lou had come out of her shell in the recent weeks and was often the first to move. "What is a smee?" She pronounced the word.
"A smee is a Subject Matter Expert. It is someone who can help the writers make it more realistic by making the dialog more believable."
"I'm not a writer."
"I know. But writers get stuffy. They loose touch. They write crap. It is a smee's job to look at the crap and name it."
"So you want me to make the writers mad at me."
"Not unless they want to get mad. They should be listening to you. Be careful with their egos, they are fragile."
"Oh, I was just reading a book on that. It is called diplomacy."
Denise looked at her. "What does that mean?"
Lou laughed. "It means telling them in a way that doesn't make them mad."
"Oh."
Lou continued. "I prefer the other explanation. Telling them to go to hell and look forward to the trip."
Everyone broke up laughing. Denise finally said, "Did a book really have that?"
"Yes."
"Golly. I need to start doing more reading."
Fritz took back the conversation. "There is work here. Plenty of it. And you are getting a view of what it is like. I think we can make great movies if we do it right."
When they finished Sandra, Jan, Judd, Debbie and Carol left, went to the airport and flew home. Only Susan and Denise remained of the original crew.
Susan pulled the RV out of the campground. For the first time she was running the show. As she pulled on the road she realized what Debbie was talking about when they pulled out three weeks before. She looked over at Denise. "Carol had a lot to do that I didn't know about. Debbie tried to tell me that when we pulled out after you left. I didn't understand then."
Barb overheard it and said. "What?"
"You and Lou will find out when you are in charge. You will not understand it now."
Lou smiled. "I do understand now. I have a lot to learn."
Barb and Donna were listening. "So do we."
Five weeks later
Carol, Debbie and Susan were in the cafeteria eating when one of Fritz's assistants came in.
"Can you fly our day after tomorrow?"
"Why? Is there something wrong on tour?"
The woman laughed. "No. They are doing fine without you." She smiled impishly. "We still need you."
"That's good." Susan quipped.
"Fritz has something he wants you to do. He told me to come and tell you."
Debbie looked at the others. "It is some crap job and he doesn't have the guts to tell us. Who got boozed up and needs dried out?"
The woman laughed again. "I think when I tell you what it is, you will prefer to take out two Denise's or maybe three on one trip."
"God. This must be bad."
"Denise was in the office when Fritz decided. When he told her she said, "pigs are going to fly." He didn't know what she was talking about."
"I don't understand."
"The movies of the three of you are getting into production soon. A producer from Leno called, he would like you on the show. Denise said that you told her that would happen when pigs could fly."
The three sat there. Finally the woman waved at them. "Is anyone going to say anything?"
Carol looked at the other two and they nodded. She looked at the woman. "Where are the tickets and itineraries?"
The woman looked stunned. "Fritz said I would have a hard time talking you into it. Denise told him you would ask when you were to leave. She bet him a dollar she was right."
I believe I will end Denise here at this time. I believe in some future day I will write "Carol". I have told you her past but some day I will write her future.
