Damage Control
This is Fiction - Based on a true story
Erin ran out of make-up, her phone in her hand as tissues under her collar flew out in the breeze of the corridor. Her face was half completed for her morning shift but the message to relay to Ed, her executive producer was too important.
She made it to studio 2B just as the infomercial had concluded. She knew Ed liked to shoot them live as the daytime programs aired. She watched as he patted the floor manager on the back. She checked the clock on her phone. She was on in fifteen minutes. She could have finished her make-up and spoken to him on the floor but that risked seeing Sam at the news desk and this was far too important to wait.
"Ed, can I have a minute?" she asked.
Ed removed his headset and proceeded over.
"What's up?" he asked her.
"Have a look at this?" she handed him her phone, still live to the news article that had prompted her to storm out of make-up. Ed attempted to read the first few lines.
"Erin, I'm sorry, I don't really have time..." he began to walk away. "Neither do you, really." He checked his watch.
"It's about Sam Alman," she said.
Seeing the despair in her eyes, Ed leaned into the phone once more.
"What about him?" he asked staring at the screen,
"The High Court in the UK has just released a judgment in his custody battle against Tabitha Freeman," Erin said. "Did you know he had a child with her?"
"I don't even know who she is," Ed said.
"She was the BBC Play School presenter until she resigned in disgrace due to leaked photos of her taking drugs at a private party in London, ten years before she even worked in television," Erin explained.
"Okay... So what?"
"So what?! Read it!" she demanded.
"I don't have time,"
"He's your best friend, Ed, don't you think you should take ten minutes to read about a ruling from the UK High Court about your best friend?"
"Can you just give me the low down?" he said as he began to walk over to the adjacent studio. "You can follow me and fill me in,"
"Well... the low down is, he was abusive towards her for two decades. He was violent to the point where she had to wear an abundance of eye makeup just to cover up the marks he would pound on her face. Not only this but when he would return to Australia periodically for work, she discovered that he had three other secret relationships in which he had two other children. After she left him she discovered he had placed locks on her bank accounts and tracking devices on her phones. To top it all off, the scandal that cost her the playschool job?"
"He planted the story?" Ed guessed.
"Well, it can't be proven but who else would be so vindictive?" she said.
"Okay, so what's your point?" Ed asked again.
She grabbed him by the shoulder to face her. Stopping them both in the corridor between the studios. Ed looked around to see if any crew had witnessed the manhandling.
"My point is this is all here in a High Court ruling. It’s not a rumor, this is a judgment from a Judge on the Highest Court in the land. Alman is scheduled to be on the program today to talk about his production company running the Taylor Swift tour. Ed, I think having him on is a huge mistake. I don't want him on... In fact, I never want him on again!"
Ed breathed in through his nose deeply.
"But he's already been through make-up and he's at the newsdesk now, waiting for us," he said.
"I knew you knew," Erin accused.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I knew you knew about this judgment and you decided to have him on anyway!"
"Give the guy a break, Erin! He's just gone through hell! He's had the highest court in the UK given him a blistering character assassination for everyone to read. His business will be lucky to survive, I just think we should all do our part to help him out." Ed said, trying to appeal to some misplaced sense inside Erin that did not exist.
"He's a wife-beater, Ed! A psychopath!"
Ed took a step closer and addressed her with a lowered voice.
"He's also the main sponsor's son and we don't forget who pays for our dinner, Erin," he warned.
"Are you kidding me?" she whispered back.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?"
At the newsdesk, Sam Alman was getting the last of a thick brush of rouge applied to his cheeks. He smiled towards Erin as she approached. A makeup brush of equal size approached her from the left but she waived it away, lest it showed a weakness and vulnerability towards her enemy.
"Morning Erin, how are you?" he asked as she took her seat.
"Fine," she replied, not returning the banter.
"Seen the weather outside, beautiful morning," he said, pretending he was not on the receiving end of reputational damage.
"Yes it was," she said. "But I didn't get to have my morning walk this morning which was a bit of a bummer," she admitted.
"Oh no, why not?" he asked
The floor manager walked over to address them both.
"Sixty seconds to air," he said looking them both in the eye.
"Thank you, Steve," Erin said. Sam gave him an indignant nod.
"Why didn't you get to have your morning walk?" he asked again in a whispered tone.
"Quiet on set!"
"I am reading this fascinating new release," she whispered back.
"Lights and key light up a dial please!"
"Oh yeah? I'm looking for a new book, what is it?"
"It's not a book,"
"In five!"
"It was more of a piece of news," she said.
"Four!"
"Oh yeah?" Sam asked intrigued.
"Three!"
"Yeah... I can send you the link if you'd like,"
"Two!"
"Fantastic High Court ruling out of the UK really brought a known asshole to justice. Someone who deserved it," she said.
"AND WE'RE LIVE!"
"Welcome back to Sky mornings, I’m Erin Reeves. Well it's concert season and the country will be experiencing a plethora of A-list talent hitting our shores over the next twelve months. That means it's big business for the touring and promotion companies out there who have all struggled in the wake of COVID-19 to get back on their feet. With the closing down of venues and other big-name events during the pandemic, it is high time for some feel-good news over the summer. So joining me now to discuss the inevitable onslaught of musical energy on its welcome way is the head of production and chief operations officer at Ready Energy Productions, Sam Alman. Sam welcome back to Mornings on Sky,"
"Thanks for having me, Erin," he replied through a gritted smile.
“Metallica, Taylor Swift, Mariah Carey all have booked the stadiums for major concert events this year… Does the live production space get any more exciting than this?”
“It doesn’t Erin, not in my 35 years of industry experience have we seen it this busy.”
“You really are excited?” she asked rhetorically. Sam was caught off-guard.
“I am,” he said.
“Do you think you will smash the industry in the face? Maybe keep tabs on it when it goes to another city without it knowing? That kind of excited?”
Sam laughed and stared down the barrel of the camera, conscious of the red light that flickered above the lens. It seemed brighter than before. It mirrored the flush that filled his cheeks.