Death of a Blue Movie Star

"Not hardly." Rune laughed. "I've got to find a professional announcer to do the voice-over, then spend about three weeks editing it all together and cutting about ten hours of tape down to twenty-eight minutes. Shooting was the fun part. Now the work begins… Hey, Sam, I was thinking. Anybody ever done a documentary about the Bomb Squad?"

He kissed her neck. "Why don't you call in sick today. We can talk about it."

She kissed him quickly, then rolled out of bed. "I'm already in the doghouse with Larry and Bob. I didn't bring in fresh croissants the other morning."

"This is for House O' Leather? Is that name for real?" "I just make the commercials. I'm not responsible for the client's poor taste."

She finished her coffee. She sensed him looking at her. No, it was more of a stare.

No, it was worse than that; it was one of those sappy gazes that men give women occasionally-when they get overcome with thisfeeling, which they think is love though it usually means they're horny or guilty or feeling insecure. You can die of suffocation under one of those gazes.

Rune said, "Gotta go." And started toward the door with a coquettish smile that sometimes had the effect of throwing cold water on men who were sloppy drunk on love.

"Hey," he said in a low way that made him sound like a cop.

I'm not going to stop. Keep it cool. Keep the distance.

There's no hurry. "Rune."

She stopped.

What I'll do is wink at him, on my way out the door, all flirty and bitchy.

"Come here for a minute."

Wink, girl. Come on.

But instead she walked back to him slowly. Deciding that she wasn't reallythat late…

*****

Rune sensed it the moment she walked into the office, and what she noticed was not a good feeling.

Rune hung her coat up on the peeling, varnished rack and glanced around.

What was it?

Well, first: The mail was still on the floor. Larry usually carried it to Cathy's desk-well, Rune's desk now-and looked through it.

And there was the coffee machine, which Larry always got going right away, but which was now unplugged and wasn't giving off its usual sour, scorched smell.

And there was Bob.

Who was already in the office-at 9:45! Rune could see him though the bubbly-glass partition.

Something big was up.

Two heads moved, distorted by the fly's-eye effect of the glass. Larry was in too butthat wasn't unusual. Larry always got in early; he was afraid client checks would dissolve if he didn't pick them up early.

"It's "er." The voice was soft, but came clearly over the partition.

Her. That tone was not good.

"Right. Less 'ave a talk."

The door opened and Larry motioned to her. "Rune. You come in for a minute?"

She walked into the office. They both looked tired and rumpled. She began an inventory of recent screwups. It was a long list but included mostly minor infractions.

"Rune, sit down."

She sat.

Bob looked at Larry, who spoke: "What's happened is we got us a call from the client."

"Both of us," Bob threw in. "At nine this morning."

"Mr. Wallet?"

Son of a bitch, the postpro house missed the shipment. She said, "I told the postpro to ship it right away. I threatened him. He absolutely guaranteed me-"

"The tape got delivered to the client, Rune. The problem was they didn't like it."

They want me to take a cut in pay. That's what it is. House O' Leather's talked down the fee and they're going to cut my salary.

She sighed. "What was it he didn't like? It was the dominoes, right? Come on. I did the setup three times. I-"

Larry was playing nervously with a coin in his hand. "No, I think the dominoes were okay. " 'E said the logo was still a bit, you know, dodgy. But 'e could live with that."

Rune said, "The transitions? I did the dissolves real carefully…"

Bob said to Larry, "Show 'er what he wasn't too 'appy about."

Larry hit the play button of the Sony three-quarter-inch tape player. A colorful copyright slate appeared. The countdown from ten began, each second marked off with an electronic beep. At three, the screen went blank. Then:

Fade in: the smiling daughter, explaining how House O' Leather wallets were handcrafted from the finest cowhide, treated and dyed according to old family traditions.

Cut to: Factory workers making wallets and billfolds and purses.

Cut to: The daughter caressing a wallet (Model HIV 141).

Dissolve to: The dramatic domino shot.

Cut to: Two women performing oral sex on a water bed as the closing credits forLusty Cousins come on the screen.

Rune said, "Oh."

Fade out.

Larry said, " 'E fired us, Rune. They aren't paving the fee, they aren't paying expenses."

Rune said, "I guess something kind of got mixed in."

"Kind of," Larry said.

Bob added, "So we're out the profits and also out of pocket about seventy-five thousand."

"Oh."

Larry said, "I know it was an accident. I'm not suggesting it wasn't but… Rune, you're a sweet kid…"

"You're firing me, aren't you?"

They didn't even bother to nod.

"You better pick up whatever you got 'ere and 'ead out now."

"We wish you the best of luck," Bob said.

He didn't mean it, Rune could tell, but it was nice of him to at least make the effort.