When I wanted Penny to read, I wanted her to get the part.

I didn’t want to throw her into the middle of a media shit storm.

But that’s exactly what happened when Valora found out that the production wasn’t getting the shelf and she had been replaced before she had even gotten off the studio lot. She had called every media outlet she could find and besmirched the name of the film and everyone involved.

None more so than Penny.

So naturally, everyone wants to talk to Penny, the rest of the actors, the director, the studio, basically everyone that has anything to do with the production of this film.

Penny, thankfully, doesn’t really know any of this because she doesn’t even have a public relations agent, or even an agent for that matter. It’s been three days since she signed on for the film and since then she’s been given a Taft Hartly into SAG, Valora’s old trailer, a very, very generous pay raise, and a plethora of studio executives kissing her ass. The only reason why I know people want to talk to Penny is I have Ken Sunshine, my own PR agent, banging my door down to give interviews about Penny and how the filming is going.

But I don’t want to deal with the media. Not yet at least. I’m in the middle of a production and I think all of us are just trying to ignore the unwarranted attention. There will be plenty of time to do interviews and get assaulted by the media when the promotion for the film starts after the movie has been edited and finally completed.

“Justin, have you seen Penny?”

I swivel around in my makeup chair and see Jude standing by the entrance. I’ve been on the lot since early this morning doing scenes with Clark. I know Penny got here early, but I think that’s a force of habit from her previous position; she isn’t shooting her first scene until after lunch.

And judging by the fact that Jude is neither in wardrobe or makeup, his first scene isn’t until later either.

“She’s locked herself in Valora’s old trailer. I haven’t seen her since she got on set this morning.” I explain. I’ve changed out of Nathan’s uniform of jeans and a Columbia sweatshirt and I’m glad I don’t have to act like Nathan during the entire lunch hour. I don’t know how crazy Method actors do it – pretending to be a character for the entire duration of the shoot. Thank God I don’t have to put on a foreign accent.

“I see. I tried phoning her last night, but I guess she’s trying to distance herself as much as possible from this whole ordeal. I don’t blame her.”

I don’t know if this is a dig at me. I’m not really sure how Jude feels about Penny being thrown into the middle of this production. I know they’re pretty good friends, but Jude and I are definitely not. It’s more of a professional relationship. Besides, there are times when I can’t really understand what he’s saying, what with his accent and all.

“Let’s go see how she’s doing,” I say quickly as I push myself out of the chair. I walk right past Jude and outside. The day is quite overcast for May and I’m really hoping that the June Gloom doesn’t rear its ugly head next week.

Jude quickens his pace and is walking along side me. We start talking about the media and how Valora is probably eating all this attention up. We’re all pretty sure that she’ll get picked up for another movie really soon, but honestly, I could give two shits about Valora and her future in the industry. She really was the worst person I have ever worked with in my entire professional career.

We approach Penny’s trailer and all the curtains are drawn and it definitely looks like no one is home. Maybe Penny really doesn’t want to be bothered and I try to voice this opinion, but Jude ignores it and raps sharply on the door.

He stands back next to me and I throw him a furtive glance as we wait for Penny to open the door. I have a feeling she’s just going to ignore us.

But two seconds later and the door swings open so quickly that it bangs against the side of the trailer before trying to slam shut on someone who is so obviously not Penny.

I have never seen this guy before in my entire life. His hair is blonde, curly, and naturally bleached by the sun. He’s tall and kind of lanky, but you can tell that he works out some. There’s a natural sparkle in his brown eyes and he smiles this mega-watt movie star smile that would make most leading men in the industry jealous as hell.

“How’s it hanging, dudes?”

He only has to say four words for me to come to the conclusion that this guy is very, very high.

“Hello,” Jude treads carefully, “You must be Penny’s brother, Pepper.”

What the hell kind of name is Pepper?

“Oh yeah, you guys are in the movie with Penny Lane. I get it. What can I do for you?”

“Can we see Penny?” I interject. I can only assume that this guy, her brother, is some kind of trailer guard and I’m pretty sure we’re about to get turned away.

He stares at us intently for a few seconds and I’m wondering if he’s having some kind of hallucination or something. His squints his eyes as he gives us another once over and then steps away from the doorframe of the trailer.

“Sure. Come on in.”

We follow Pepper into the trailer and the place is completely different from when Valora inhabited the place.

There are flowers everywhere and it seems like Pepper has set up his station at the little kitchen table. The guy is actually making paper chains out of construction paper and hanging them all over the trailer.

Is this guy for real?

He sits down at his workplace and immediately pulls the lid up on his laptop and picks up a pipe in the shape of an elephant. In all actuality it looks pretty fucking cool, but I’m more than positive David Kinney would have a heart attack if I showed up on set high.

“Penny Lane! Visitors!”

There’s a rustling of papers in the back and the quiet sound of someone cursing. Jude turns to look at me and we both smile. It’s actually kind of endearing when Penny manages to let an expletive fly.

“Pepper! I told you not to let anyone in!” she cries out and Pepper responds with a deep giggle.

“Well, I’m high!”

And suddenly Jude and I are laughing with Pepper as Penny pulls aside a beaded curtain of a four armed blue woman who I think is a Hindu goddess or something. I’m sure Pepper threw that in for good measure, and I’m already curious to see what the hell is in the darker recesses of the trailer.

She stops in front of Jude and I and I automatically feel bad for the girl. It looks like she hasn’t slept since Kinney put her in the production. There are horrid bags under her eyes and it already looks like she’s lost five pounds.

“Hi,” she says with a halfhearted grin while she tucks a piece of blonde hair behind her right ear. “Come on in the back. Pepper sometimes gets testy when his work is disturbed.”

I look over my shoulder at Pepper who is staring intently at the computer screen while he absentmindedly glues another circle closed on a new paper train.

Penny holds the beaded curtain to the side and allows Jude and I to walk into what seems to be a meditation room.

Multi-colored pieces of fabric are hanging over the windows, casting the room in an array of colors. There are a few paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling which causes Jude and I to duck our heads to avoid hitting them.

Whatever Valora had back here has been removed and instead there are a ton of different sized pillows thrown on the ground. There’s a small table against the back end of the trailer and it’s got a piece of incense burning. It smells like lavender and I feel really, really relaxed. It looks like the inside of a harem or something rather than a trailer on a film set. I give Penny a questioning glance and she motions towards the front of the trailer.

“Pepper decorated the place. He’s obsessed with Eastern culture and thought that a meditation room would keep me calm during all of this. It’s actually kind of working,” she explains with a smile before she plops down on a deep purple pillow. Jude and I follow suit.

The only thing that doesn’t make it look like it’s straight out of some Bollywood film are the various papers and books on crack addiction strewn about the floor, as well as a few bits of the script of the film.

“How are you holding up?” Jude asks after Penny gets some of her loose paper in order.

“Honestly? I have no idea,” she explains before she jams some of the paper into a book, “This has happened so fast I haven’t had time to really process it. I could hardly get out of my driveway this morning because there were people trying to take pictures of me. I have no idea how they found out where I live so quickly…”

God I feel like shit. If I hadn’t practically forced Penny to do this she would still be back in the makeup trailer relatively happy.

“It’ll die down in a few days, don’t worry, Penny,” Jude reassures her and I nod in agreement.

She looks down at her lap, bites her lip and nods quietly. And I feel even worse.

“Do you really want to do this?” I find myself blurting out. I don’t know, maybe it’s the incense, or the fact that this room is starting to get really, really hot. But I feel like I need to know that she’s doing it because she wants to, not because she has to.

“Not really,” Penny admits as she looks up, “but it’s not like I have a choice.”

“But of course you have a choice!” Jude interjects, “You always have a choice, Penny.”

“No! I can’t drop out of this,” she whispers fervently, “There’s four weeks left of production and Kinney’s said there’s not enough money in the budget or time for that matter, to bring someone brand new in. And if I turn back now and the project gets postponed, then that means everyone is out of a job. I don’t want to let anyone down.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed with this girl. I know plenty of people who would go running for the hills if this kind of pressure were being placed on them so quickly, but she is ever the responsible, hard worker. I know I probably would have told the studio to shove it if they asked such a big favor of me.

There’s a knock at the door and I can hear Pepper stumble about in the front to go answer it. I turn back to look at Penny who seems like she’s close to tears.

“Well, you’re going to be amazing,” Jude, says with a smile as he reaches over and places a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looks up at him with a tentative smile and nods before she reaches down and picks up one of her books, “And if you need any help from us, you’ll let us know, right? We’re here to help.”

“I know, thanks you two…” she’s about to go on, but Pepper has pushed himself through the curtain his eyes even more bloodshot than when we first met him.

“There’s a runner at the door for you guys,” he announces as he points at Jude and myself. He doesn’t wait for a response; merely turns around and heads back to his table of paper chains.

“Thanks for stopping by, I’ll see you on set,” Penny says as we get to our feet and head for the front of the trailer. Pepper is engrossed with something on Youtube and he suddenly starts to laugh voraciously.

“Penny! Oh man Penny, come here! Look at this chipmunk!”

Jude and I give Penny and Pepper Pot Head our goodbyes as I open the door and find the runner looking like he wants to curl up into a corner and sleep for days.

Guess Penny isn’t the only person running on empty around here.

We step onto the ground and just as the trailer door shuts, I hear Penny’s laugh. It’s higher pitched than usual and it doesn’t sound like someone who’s found something absolutely hilarious.

It sounds more like someone on the brink of a nervous breakdown.