“So, have you spoken to your performers about this? I don't want to just turn up with my camera crew and give them a nasty surprise.” Adeline Newman asked, scribbling a few notes down onto her pad of post its, the phone held precariously between her ear and a raised shoulder. There was a deep baritone laugh from the other end of the receiver.
“Yeah, they all know, they've all signed the waivers.”
“That's good, One less thing I'll need to do, thanks Todd.”
“Uhuh, now we've got a special event coming up soon, it's the two headed breaded dragons' birthday. Poncho and Lefty are gonna be three.”
Adeline smiled to herself, a special event would be an excellent way to kick the series off. It would be big enough to draw some serious ratings and get her producers to put more money into the project. She had come up with the idea of following the lives of the members of Venice Beach Freakshow after bumping into an old friend of hers who spouted nothing but praise for the place and dragged her along to witness a few of the shows. She had to admit, it was impressive.
“That's great, a special event like that is just what we need to get started. I know my bosses are going to love it. When are you hosting that?”
She could hear Todd flipping through the pages of his diary. She made a noise of confirmation and scribbled down the date, drawing a dark ring around the numbers.
“Ok well, I'd imagine it'll probably be best if we arrive a few days early, to get to know everyone. Get the right atmosphere with everyone.” she opened up and email, hoping to get the go ahead from her bosses as fast as she could, the date of the special event was a little too close for all the producer's normal dilly dallying. “I'll just speak to the head honchos and hopefully I will see you in a week or so. I'll let you know the plans and everything.”
“That's great Adeline. I should get going, we're just going to start getting ready for the show. It'll be nice to finally meet you.”
Adeline smiled, she really hoped everyone at the freakshow would be as nice as their ring master, they all seemed to be nice in the shows she had visited with her friend, but that could just be the performing persona, in her short expanse of a career she had seen several actors who appeared to be nice, become the biggest ass holes the moment the lights and camera were switched off.
“I'm looking forward to it too. I'll let you go get ready now, and I'll speak to you soon, have a good show.”
“Bye Adaline.”
She hung up the phone and finished signing off her email, smiling happily to herself as she pressed the send button. She was originally from England and hadn't been living in America long, and she had started to wonder whether she had made a mistake in leaving the BBC to pursue the directors position that AMC had offered her. For the first time she felt like she was on to something, something she'd actually enjoy, rather than the run of the mill shows she had been a part of since joining the company.
****
“Miss Newman, you're in room 106 and your crew are in rooms 98, 102 and 103. I hope you all enjoy your stay.” The cheery woman at the counter said with a wide smile, shoving four sets of keys into Adeline's open hand. She blinked at the shiny silver with their obscenely bright neon fobs. The hotel the company had set them up in was nice, not too upmarket but not shabby and cockroach infested either. It was in that nice, comfortable middle ground.
“I'm hungry Ads, can we get this over with so we can go get some food? Please?” Mia, the sound technician asked, dropping bother her personal case and the case of boom poles and mics onto the floor with a loud clatter. Her little team were hand picked and she was close with them all and trusted their skill. Mia had been the sound technician on most of the shows Adeline had worked on for the BBC and had come across to the US with her. Joey the camera man was a joker but could pull off some amazing shots in some of the worst conditions she had scene. And Warren, who was in charge of the lighting and grip work was quiet and studious, but had a wicked sense of humour and found it easy to get along with everyone.
“Alright, alright. Here's your keys. Don't be long, Todd says he's got a good place in mind for us to go for dinner.”
Her crew mumbled and darted into the lifts, desperate to wash the slimy feeling of air travel off of their skin.
Adeline, threw her case onto the springy double bed, and peeled off her travelling clothes, abandoning them in a pile on the floor. This meal was going to be her opportunity to make a good impression on the people she'd be working with, she had no intentions of screwing it up by smelling like the inside of a plane. She grabbed a towel, her wash bag and a change of clothes, heading for a quick shower.
She had never changed so fast in her life. She had been a big neglectful of the time while she basked in the shower's heat, and now only had 45 minutes until they were supposed to meet Todd on the boardwalk. She dried her long, red curls and pulled the sides back into some intricate braid work, leaving the rest to fall loosely around her shoulders. She barely had time to finish her make up and pull on the rest of her clothes when Joey and Mia started hammering on the door, shouting to her through the thick panel.
“Get a bloody move on woman! I will eat this door if you don't hurry up!”
“I will not be held responsible for anything she does!”
“I mean it! Hurry your ass up!”
Adeline rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself, snatching her bag, phone and keys off of the table and pulling open the door. Mia stood there, fist frozen in a knocking position and eyebrows raised. She offered a sheepish grin and shrugged.
“come on.” Adeline laughed, locking the door behind her, “lets go.”
****
“The flight wasn't too bad?” Todd asked as he held open the door to the restaurant. Waving Adeline and her crew inside. He pointed towards a long table that was surrounded by faces she instantly recognised, even though none of them recognised her.
Danielle, Phoenix and Asia all waved excitedly from the head of the table, Creature shot them the widest grin with a big thumbs up, Ali and Brianna waved. Murrugan nodded and Morgue just watched them silently, blue eyes flitting across their faces.
“Everyone, this is Adeline. She's been our contact for the show so far. And this is her team, Mia, Joey and Warren.” Todd announced gesturing to each person as he mentioned them. He turned back to them with a warm smile. “Welcome, my new friends to our freakshow family. Sit down won't you, I'm sure you're hungry.”
Everyone nodded and leapt towards the empty seats scattered throughout the tables. Todd pulled out a chair beside him and Phoenix for Adeline, nodding for her to sit down. The others found their seats quickly nestling themselves between the others. Joey sat between Phoenix and Asia, Warren was talking quietly between Brianna and Ali, and Mia had sandwiched herself between the indestructible woman and Morgue, chatting animately with Murrugan about his fire breathing trick she had caught online.
The food was ordered and brought to the table quickly, and the atmosphere was warm as people chatted amongst themselves amicably. Adeline laughed at a few of Todd's anecdotes and sipped at her wine, but a burning felling made the tiny hairs on the back of her neck rise.
Someone was watching her, intently. She put the thought from her mind and tried to ignore the feeling, listening to more of Todd's seemingly unending stories.