The Silver Screen Wars

22 - Pressure

 Kid was bipolar, clearly.

Bishop stared across the counter at Kodi, absorbing her every movement. He hadn't thought she would transform into such a wallflower at the drop of a dime. Where had all that fire gone, the sparks that had flown every time she so much as blinked? She'd still been displaying that untamed mustang bravado when she had walked in the place, but in the blink of an eye, all of it had disappeared.

Instead of the casual, cocky woman he'd collided with yesterday, the one who had shouted in his ear and argued with him over every word he said, he saw only a withdrawn toadstool anchored into the dirt, unmoving and unfeeling. She seemed determined to become a part of the furniture.

What was all that about?

Sure, it was convenient that she wasn't pissing off the rest of them, and he didn't care if any of them made friends with each other. In fact, he preferred when they didn't, so that they could focus wholly on the job instead. But the problem was that Kodi wasn't even trying anymore. She was quiet as hell, had zero opinions, and kept her head down while she let everything happen around her. What exactly was she going to contribute like that?

She hadn't even looked at him the entire night after her last outburst. What, was she pissed? Giving him the silent treatment?

Oh, he was going to have a good time if that was the case. He loved getting the silent treatment, loved breaking it even more. If she thought she was going to play games and try to sabotage his work, she was in for a wild ride.

"- Bishop?"

He ignored Drake, who had just called his name for the second time when he didn't answer.

"Bishop."

Jesus Christ, didn't the kid see he wasn't in the mood to talk?

"Bishop -"

"Say my name one more time," he said flatly. "I f*****g dare you, kid."

The boy shut up so fast that the clack of his teeth was audible in the silence. Bishop was well aware that almost every pair of eyes was now resting on him in response, forks frozen in mid-air and jaws half-open, but he didn't care. He didn't care, because there was exactly one person in the room breaking form and not doing the same.

Not just the silent treatment, then, huh? She wasn't even looking at him. What, did she think she was getting some kind of point across by giving him the cold shoulder?

"Kodiak, tell me more about your last job."

The corner of Bishop's mouth twitched in an irritated scowl when the woman's eyes flickered first to the left and the right, glancing over everyone else seated around the kitchen island. Like hell she was. He was speaking to her, and she would speak when spoken to. Not look around at everyone else first to see what they would do.

"Kodiak," he repeated, and there was an ugly twinge of a threat in his voice. "I asked you a question."

Oh, bingo, he had her. He saw the fleeting anger in her eyes as she finally looked at him, and even though she promptly tried to hide it with a casual shrug and a well-timed forkful of food in her mouth, he knew he hadn't imagined it. She hadn't like it, he thought with glee, but he had plenty more where that came from.

If she wanted to break his rhythm and make him stumble, she had another thing coming - didn't she know who he was? He'd broken in - and broken - more actors than he could even remember. If she wanted to play games, he would beat her at them so thoroughly that she would be jumping at his every order like a well-trained show horse by the end.

"Worked with Benny Ursine," she said smoothly once she was ready to speak. She shrugged again. "Before that was Grover Michigan."

"Benny Ursine," he repeated. A few seconds passed in silence as he stared at her. Benny Ursine. Who the f**k was Benny Ursine? He'd never heard of this guy before. What was he, some indie filmmaker? Michigan was some old crotchety fellow well past his prime, not a concern. But what about the other one?

"New guy," Jason volunteered. "He did some good work, fantastic newbie. Was supposed to get signed on to work exclusively for Bungee Ship Studios, last I heard."

Bishop didn't look over at him to thank him for the information, even though he did begrudgingly appreciate it. So he wasn't some indie wannabe if Jason knew about him, but no one else was speaking to shed more light on the topic. And Kodi's mouth was clamped shut like a bear trap now -

- what was that look in her eyes? Surprise? Regret? Had she expected no one to recognize the names?

Bishop perked up instantly. He liked that, liked it a lot. A vulnerability of some kind, then. Clearly she hadn't expected anyone to recognize the name, and now he saw her passing Jason a not-so-casual glance. A subtle SOS of some kind? That made it even more irresistible. The night had been so boring; he was glad he was finally going to be able to dig in and feast.

"Who else here knows Benny Ursine?"

Everyone looked around at each other except Kodi, who immediately looked down at her plate with a blank look. Oh, this was too easy. She was supposed to be an actress, and yet she couldn't help but give away that she had something to hide. Well, at the risk of utterly humiliating her (not that that was such a bad thing), he was going to have to interrogate her on it for her own good.

It would be a nice...team building experience, or whatever. Everyone would get to know Kodi a little better whether she liked it or not.

It was Jason who spoke again, though:

"Think he just released something two months ago. Maybe a little more. Heard some buzz about him after one of the film festivals that happened downtown, but I wasn't able to go to that one."

"That's because you're in the big boy league," Bishop snorted. "You don't have time to f**k around in those places, and you need to stop going. Anyone other than Jason know anything about him?"

He wasn't even bothering to ask Kodi. And oh, he knew she hated it. He knew because he was looking straight at her while asking everyone else, and for a second, he thought she was going to slam her hands down on the countertop and let him have it.

Except she didn't, and his blood pressure spiked a little harder than was probably safe. She wanted to keep playing this game? He was just getting started. It was day one, he had a little time to break her in before the wheels really got rolling.

"Uh..."

He looked over at Drake, who had pulled up his phone in the silence and was scrolling through something. "What is it."

"Uh...I don't know if this is the same Benny Ursine..."

A single glance back over at Kodi's stony face told him everything he needed to know. "I bet it is," he said smoothly, and he leaned forward in exaggerated anticipation with his elbows on the countertop. "Let me have it, but summarize."

"Uh..."

Did this kid ever stop stammering? "If you can't read..." Bishop began testily, but Drake gave him a firm nod and a hasty apology before diving in.

"Says he got busted for hosting orgies with the money he got for his budget. Ended up spending more than half on h****n and speed, but, uh, at least the film turned out to be a huge success? It won an award and everything."

A slow grin spread across Bishop's face. "Orgies?" he repeated. "Give me a little more. Good shit."

"Apparently almost the whole cast was in on it, so they all got an official censure -"

"Not the whole cast."

Everyone looked over at Kodi, who was gripping the edge of the countertop with both hands. Her knuckles had gone white, Bishop noticed, but her face was as calm and expressionless as ever.

"Don't be boring," he said smoothly, and his grin widened when she shot him a glare. Finally, signs of life detected. He hoped she'd learned her lesson with this and started playing nice. "There's no judgment here. I've been in a room full of naked fuckers all snorting lines off each other's asses."

A wave of chuckles washed around the group, all except the woman of the hour herself. She was looking over at Jason now, and before Bishop could catch what passed between them, her face cleared and brightened. With a smile, she joined in on the chuckles before returning to her plate.

The hell? He shot Jason a dirty look; no doubt the bald f**k had sent her some calming mojo, maybe that stupid f*****g smile he used to get in someone's panties. He'd been inches away from making Kodi bust wide open, and Jason had nixed it within a single second.

He was going to have to do something about that. Normally, it bother him when his worker ants made eyes at each other as long as they kept that s**t out of the workspace - he'd already warned them about scandals on set, after all, and it was the rare i***t who dared to disobey him. But he didn't trust Kodi to keep her hands to herself. He'd seen that look on her face yesterday whenever she so much as caught Jason in the corner of her eye - she would jump and bone him first chance she got.

It bothered him. A lot, actually, way more than it should. Clearly, his instincts were warning him that she was going to make unprecedented trouble, and he always heeded his instincts.

Definitely needed to keep them apart.

"So," he drawled, ready to pull the rug out from underneath Kodi's feet again despite the minor setback. "Have any plans for more orgies? What do we have here, six? Big enough for you?"

She didn't even blink. "Sorry, one short of my minimum. Next time."

Oh, now she wanted to be a little comedian. He didn't wait for Alexis to stop laughing behind her hand.

"I count for two. Finish going over the script early enough tonight, and I'll throw in a cast mold of my dick."

Another wave of laughter from everyone, except from Kodi who looked like she was half-hiding a grimace. Please. He knew she wanted him even if she couldn't stand him. Well, she wouldn't have to worry about her pride; he was never going to f**k her anyway, so she wouldn't have to sacrifice anything on principle. She wasn't his type. Too loud, too much attitude. Killed his inspiration.

...And that was enough thinking about f*****g anything even remotely Kodi-shaped for now.

He noticed she said nothing in response, however, and a trickle of disappointment tickled at his nerves. He'd been set up for a screaming match, one where he would promptly shut her down and bring her to heel once and for all in front of everyone. It was his usual foolproof method of controlling unruly troublemakers - or at least, it used to be his method back when he had unruly troublemakers at all. It had been a while since the last one; most of them just fawned at his feet now and took his word as gospel.

He kind of missed it.

Some other conversation began to bubble up to fill the lull now. Apparently, everyone was suddenly more at ease after sharing a conversation and jokes over orgies and cast mold d***s, which was irrelevant because Bishop didn't care about making anyone more comfortable. If anything, it irritated him that Kodi seemed so unaffected - even when Drake stopped and asked her about what it was like working with Benny Ursine, and whether she had seen any of the orgies took place, she gave him only casual, nondescript answers along the lines of "no comment" and "I don't know."

Hm. He was going to have to apply a few more well-placed bludgeoning strikes to c***k her open, but at least she was behaving a little better now. None of that stand-offish bullshit. He would be watching her closely, kicking her ankles back in line whenever she strayed and tried to slow down production. No doubt her odd silence all this evening was simply her attempt to get back at him by distancing herself from the others.

Well, that wasn't going to happen. He narrowed his eyes at her, making no secret of his intent stare - but again, she was looking at anyone but him. Pointedly, this time. Was she trying to say that he couldn't get to her? Please. He just needed time, time and pressure. He'd made diamonds out of coal plenty of times already, and she was going to be no exception.

He grinned.