When I arrived at the front door, I held the two coffees precariously in my left hand and searched my jacket pocket for the keys. Just as I found them, the door flung open and Dimitri stormed out, knocking into me in the process. Both coffees smacked against my chin and emptied onto my shirt.
Dimitri said nothing but huffed and fast-walked away.
I caught the door with my foot just before it closed—lucky me—and slipped inside. Hans was behind the makeshift reception desk, wiping his coffee-stained shirt with a napkin.
“You too?” I said and set the empty coffee cups on the desk.
Hans glanced up at me then went back to wiping. “At least the coffee he threw at me was cold. Could have been worse.”
It’s going to be.
I bit down on my lower lip and was about to come out with the bad news, but Hans added, “Dimitri took our break up pretty well.” He crumpled the napkin, tossed it onto the desk, and looked at me with an expression of defeat on his face. “Losing his job, not so much.”
I tilted my head to the side and tried a smile I hoped was comforting.
Hans picked up an empty coffee cup. “What happened?”
“Dimitri got me too,” I said.
He glanced at me. “So I see.” He pulled out a napkin from the drawer. “The last one,” he said. “We’ll split it.” He tore it in two and handed me half.
“Thanks.” I dabbed my chin and wiped the coffee off my neck. “And the others? Have you told everyone else yet?”
“I told Michael, Jean-Phillipe, Eric, and Andre.” He tilted his head to the side and offered me an apologetic smile. “I left Gordon and Sanchez for you.” He shook his head. “It would break my heart to see their look of disappointment.”
“They haven’t come in yet?”
“Not yet.”
Poor Hans. Your heart’s going to break anyway.
I cleared my throat. “Hanson, I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”
He let out a long slow breath through his nose. “Give me the bad news. Why break up a streak.”
“Jericho Dreams canceled their contract.”
He jumped back. “What? They can’t do that.”
I nodded. “They did. Got a call from them just when I stepped out.”
“But they can’t. They’ve paid us already,” he said more as a question than an argument.
I shook my head. “They didn’t make the transfer. They said they have budget issues and have decided to go another route.”
“Budget issues? Go another route? What does that even mean?”
“It means we’re screwed,” I said.
“And what’s the good news?”
“Bakkar has given us the green light. They’ve even paid the advance already.”
He put the empty coffee cup down, picked up the other one, saw that it too was empty then set it down next to the first, and sighed. “That’s the good news? I was expecting both Bakkar and Jericho Dreams. And even then it wouldn’t have been enough.”
“And there’s more bad news,” I said.
“Of course.” He threw his hands in the air then let them fall to his sides with a smack.
“Why stop now when we’ve been on such a good roll. Let me guess.” He pointed an index finger at me. “They’ve decided they only want to do exterior shots?”
I shook my head. “No, they want exterior and interior. It’s going to be a long shoot.”
“Then what’s the catch?”
“The location.”
He looked at me sideways and raised his eyebrow.
“They’ve decided against Colorado,” I said. “Instead, we’re going to shoot in Montana.”
He raised his shoulders. “So? How is that a problem?”
“In Perth, Montana,” I added.
Hans stared at me blankly for a long moment in silence then he burst out laughing. Not the reaction I expected. “Of course, they want to shoot in Montana. I bet they’ve even rented out the old orphanage.”
“Close,” I said. “The lodge at Bear Peak.” Then I started to laugh too. “It’s not the orphanage, but it does have a great view of the orphanage looking down, in case we ever forget where we are and where we come from.”
“We don’t come from Perth, Montana,” said Hans, his tone of voice suddenly changing from laughter to deadly serious. “That was just one stop among many.”
“I know.”
“And a stop I have no intention of going back to, not for Bakkar, not for anybody.”
I stepped around the reception desk and took his hands in mine. “Hans, we don’t have a choice.”
He shook his head. “Greta, we’ve worked so hard to forget that place and rise above it.”
“And we did.”
He let go of my hands and turned his back. “I promised you we’d make it in the city. I promised you we’d never have to live like that again.”
“And we won’t.” I put a hand on his shoulder and eased him around to face me.
“Just think, maybe we’ll run into Mrs.Whiley. And she’ll say, ‘What are you two doing here?’ And we’ll say, ‘We’ve just flown in from New York. We’re doing a photoshoot for a national advertising campaign. Can’t talk, so busy. It was nice seeing you again.’ And then we’ll turn our backs on her and she won’t be able to do anything about it.”