Page 16 of Full Contact

“Okay,” he said.

“Really?”

“You answered everything I asked.” He nodded toward the last slide, where I’d scheduled August preparation and the first shoot for September. “One question. The clip’s everywhere now. Why wait?”

“Because an ongoing series takes more preparation than posting a clip.” I brought the calendar forward. “We’ll use August to choose the crew, settle approvals, and plan around your schedule. First shoot during camp week, about six weeks from now. We launch when the season starts and run through May.”

“May.”

“Yes. That’s why I want the arrangements settled before we start showing up at your door.”

“You’ve thought about this.”

“It’s my job to think about this.”

“Mm.”

He was smiling a little. I picked up my pen.

We worked through the practical details. Filming would have to fit around Peaches’s meals. Trier didn’t want someone trying to get a better angle while he applied her ear gel.

“I don’t need you to do it twice for a camera,” I said.

“Neither does she.”

I wrote it down. The September bloodwork appointment was still on the twenty-fourth. I already knew that, but this time I put it in the notes.

“Routine vet visits aren’t automatically part of this,” I said. “We’d ask you and the practice first.”

“Good.”

“And strangers? Anything the crew should know before they arrive?”

“She has a list of people she tolerates. It’s short.”

“Should I ask who’s on it?”

“You can. It won’t make it longer.”

He watched me add another note. “You’re taking this seriously.”

“You’re inviting us into your home,” I said.

For a moment he didn’t say anything. Then he shifted his chair closer to see what I’d written, his knee nearly touching mine beneath the corner of the desk.

“Have them text when they get here,” he said. “No buzz. I’ll come down and let them in.”

At twelve forty, Trier checked the clock on my wall and told me he had somewhere to be at one. We finished with five minutes to spare.

“So we’re doing this,” he said, standing.

“Subject to everything we just agreed. I’ll send it in writing.”

He picked up his duffel, then stopped in the doorway. “She’s going to be difficult, you know. She doesn’t perform.”

“I’m counting on it.”

Trier headed down the hall.