The taxi cab came flying through the intersection to stop in front of the MGM studios. James didn't want to be late for his first day on the job. He was already five minutes late, but a friend back home in New York told him that the movie-star types didn't show up for work until thirty minutes after shooting started. He hoped that his friend was right. As James got up out of the taxi, he looked up at the large sign that would welcome him to work everyday for the next thirty years. In large golden letters, MGM shined with the morning sun.
Diane jumped up as Mr. Capra exited Mr. Goldwyn's office. Mr. Capra was shaking his head in frustration as he left the office. Diane quickly walked over to Mr. Goldwyn's office door, peeking her head in.
"Mr. Goldwyn, sir, is there anything I can get you? Coffee or maybe a croissant or a bagel?" Diane asked, moving closer into Charles' office.
Charles was sitting in one of the leather chairs next to his desk. A half empty glass of Mr. Capra's mamosa sat on the coffee table in front of Charles. Charles' own cup of coffee sat completely untouched, having turned cold thirty minutes into the conversation between himself and Mr. Capra. He had been arguing to Mr. Capra about a new movie idea that would help throw his new star, James Stewart, far into cinema stardom.
"Oh, uh, nothing for me thanks. I'll finish this coffee. Why don't you go get yourself some food from the cafeteria, I'll be fine by myself for a while." Charles took a long drink from his cup, grimacing at the horrible taste of the cold coffee. He was shooing Ms. Diane out the door, knowing full well that she wouldn't actually go to the cafeteria and would instead have something brought up to her. She was always countable to be near the office, even when it was in the middle of the night. James took another swig from his cup, grimacing as the rest of the coffee was finished, with the little specks of coffee grounds giving the taste an enhanced flavor of drinking dirt and leftover vanilla beans. He was definitely going to have to talk to the manager of the cafeteria about possibly not making the coffee so inedible.
Diane poked her head back in the doorway, "A Mr. Stewart to see you sir."
"Well, let him in! He's going to be a star, and he shall be treated as one from now on. Let him in!" Charles quipped from behind his large desk.
James Stewart walked into the room. He remembered the room from the other day. He almost wished that it was just a dream, but that would have been cruel, almost cynical.
"Um, good morning sir. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything important. I, I, I was just coming in to let you know that I am here on the lot - though I'm not entirely sure where I'm supposed to be going. The security guard at the front entracne didn't known either, but it seemed like he truly didn't care." James stood in front of the desk.
Charles was pouring himself a fresh hot cup of coffee. He turned to James and offered some. James refused.
"Yea, George doesn't really know much down there at the front gate. That doesn't stop him from interviewing every chance he gets. He's a good guy, he's just a little slow." Charles sat back down behind his desk. James took a seat in front of the desk.
"Now, you're going to be working on Lot 3 with Mr. Frank Capra. He's got a movie that's going to be starting in a few weeks and I want you there, shadowing him, getting to know him. Trust me, it's not the greatest task in the world, but it'll get his attention and he'll have to put you in one of his movies. He won't admit it yet, but he's working on a new piece. He has decided, with my help, that the movie would best be st in Washington D.C. A political feel-good movie. Oh, sure, we're going to catch some hell for it, but they can't do anything about it. We are the bread-makers of American entertainment You can't take down Hollywood, we're already top of the world. Besides they wouldn't want to - we'd sue their asses back to the Stone Age." Charles finished his cigar. He knew that James didn't understand, which was alright by him, Charles knew that James would eventually see it the way he did. Everyone did, it was a fact of life.
"First though, before you go over there, let's order some lunch." Charles shifted forward in his chair.
"But sir, it's only 11 o'clock." James seemed surprised that anyone was eating at this hour. It wasn't even noon.
"Ha! You'll have to get used to how we do things here. We order lunch at 11 because the cafeteria will take what will seem like hours to get ready. Just last week it took over three hours to get my BLT sandwich up here. I'm less than 100 yards away from the damned building that holds the cafeteria, what do you thing they were doing? Having the bacon flown in from Italy?" Mr. Charles Goldwyn laughed heartily.
James looked down at his shoes - he knew that this lunch was most likely going to take a few hours.
"Diane, please get two roast-beef sandwiches on rye with extra mustard, up from the cafeteria. Also, see if they have nay of that leftover whiskey that they brought up yesterday, that was some good stuff. Oh - what d'ya want boy? Diane, bring the boy up what I'm having. Also, cancel my appointments and meetings, I'm going to spend some time getting to know our new star here." Charles Goldwyn got up and after relaying his order to Diane, closed the door and sat back down in front of James.
"Ya see Jimmy, you're going to have to get used to the fact that while the rest of the world is going to be slumming the bill for a bit, we've got the whole world at our disposal. You want fresh caviar? We can get that for ya. You want beautiful women? Cigars? Brandy? Fortune and fame? That's all possible now! You're a Hollywood star!" Charles sat back down after pouring himself a tumbler of brandy.
"Um, Mr. Goldwyn, sir, that's something I've wanted to ask you. What is Hollywoodland?" James asked, sitting forward in his chair, taking a tumbler of brandy from Charles.
"Huh? What? Oh, that. Not really sure to be honest. I know there are some houses on the other side of that blasted hill. I think that area is called Hollywoodland, but it doesn't really matter now - you're in Hollywood! You should be worrying about where on Sunset Boulevard you're going to be living. I myself live at 1636 Sunset Boulevard, but there's no houses up that way for sale. You'll get to live in one of the number-500 houses. Those houses aren't bad, but for a new star just coming about, they're perfect. I remember wild parties, multiple women all over me, and what seemed like gallons of cheap booze - oh that was the past. Not something that an old man like me should be doing, but that doesn't stop me from the occasional gathering here-and-there. Especially now since I'm not a married man." Charles finished his first glass and started on his second.
James sat, in part daze and part awe at the power of Mr. Goldwyn's persona. Every time he was around Mr. Goldwyn, James felt a sense of empowerment - everything that Mr. Goldwyn said about having entitlement now that he, James, was a star sounded good. Life was finally looking up to him, and he wouldn't let it pass.
"Mr. Goldwyn, tell me more about the beautiful houses on Sunset Boulevard, I've never seen them before." James sat back in his leather chair finally feeling creature-comforts.
