Wolves Without a Moon

Meghan avoided mentioning Will after that and let Robin think that the consultant was still

fired but held firm against her boyfriend's pleas that turned into requests and then even angry

demands to invest. It seemed that he had even told the people organising this consortium that he

would deliver a certain amount of investment to them. Why he would do that when he, like

Meghan, earned millions of dollars per film and was in a streaming series that paid him nearly a

million an episode, the star did not know. But it made her even more suspicious of the deal.

They spent the night together, but without any real passion and Robin left early the next day,

saying he had business on the East coast. He would be back soon.

Meghan continued to find uses for her consultant, including rehearsing parts in her films.

The first Will knew of this was one morning when he was handed a script for the streaming series

The Brandenburg Protocol.

"I want you to help me with rehearsals. Page twenty five. You're Jurgen."

"I'm doing a shower scene with you," said Will, in alarm, looking at the script.

Mia and Emma laughed.

"Lots of guys want to do shower scenes with me," said Meghan, also amused.

"Lots of guys won't get fired if their self-control slips during the scene," protested Will.

"Anyway, Violet always said I can't act."

"There won't be water and our clothes will be on," said Meghan who was sure Will would

behave himself. "As for acting, you don't have to act the part. I do. You're there as a prop only,

speaking lines. It helps if I can work through the part with a human prop."

"I'm no good at the guy parts," said Mia.

"I can't stop laughing during those," said Emma.

A few minutes later Will found himself in Meghan's bedroom with a view over the pool and

back garden and a neatly made up bed with a black cover and satin sheets befitting of a bad girl

with cabinets on each side. On top of the cabinet on what Will assumed was Meghan's side was a

collection of cigarette-like objects but much longer and thinner, with an external colour and texture

close to that of cigars. Will had heard of the soft drug product called Sticks, using a variation of

hashish, a drug related to cannabis. But it was not smoked in the traditional joint or bongs –

consumers of sticks turned their noses up at such crude methods of consumption – but rolled into

the thin pipes he could see on Meghan's bedside table. The writer was also aware that the habit was

widespread in Hollywood. He had seen Meghan glassy eyed once or twice and had thought nothing

of it.

The star noticed Will looking at her drugs.

"Do you want one?" she asked, showing them to him.

"Not my scene," said Will. "It's soft stuff, I know, but you still shouldn't keep those things

– sticks aren't they? – in plain sight."

"Yes, sticks, and I'll put them away."

She stuck them in the bottom drawer of her cabinet and they said no more about them.

Instead, Will soon found himself in the ensuite's shower enclosure, script in hand, his peace of

mind disturbed by the star having wrapped both legs around him, head on his shoulder, as if they

were having sex in the shower. He concentrated on the script.

For her part, Meghan thought that Will was a far more convenient prop than Mia or Emma.

For one thing, he could support her weight without effort.

"The guy probably wouldn't stand like this for any length of time," said Will, looking at the

script. "It'd be easier for him to lean the woman against the tiles or glass with one arm around her

back because the surface might be cold, even in a shower."

"You seem to know a lot about sex in the shower, Will Moorland," said Meghan, eying her

consultant quizzically, as they moved into position.

"There was the occasional for-real shower scene with Violet," said Will, trying to forget that

a woman often voted as 'most desirable' in magazine polls was breathing on his cheek. "It's just a

suggestion for your director. What do I do now?"

"Lean in, so my head is on your shoulder."

"It's bad of me to seduce you like this," said Meghan breathing in the writer's now

accessible ear, as she read from the script. Will was glad they had clothes on.

"Um, heavy breathing," said Will, looking at the script, "um, oh yeah. 'let's not talk now'."

"But I like to talk like this. Heave, heave." Meghan jerked her body a couple of times.

"Erk! Best not to do the actual action," said Will. "I don't want to be fired."

Meghan laughed. "Poor Will!"

"That's right, poor me. Okay," he looked at the script again, "'we'll have to talk about

Carl'."

"Oh, I don't want to talk about him, now," whispered Meghan in his ear. "I want to talk

about us. What you're doing to me now."

"Okay, grind, grind," said Will. "Knife in her hand while bottom heaves. Stabs Jurgen

repeatedly in the back... shower runs with blood. My character is killed, messily!"

"Price of sex with my alien character."

"You're an alien in this series?"

"Yup, murderous femme fatale alien, working to free comrades held by the US

government."

"Gets them watching I guess, but where does the knife come from? It's not as if you can

hide it on your body or in a shower stall?"

"Hmmm!" said Meghan, flicking through the script. "Good point. Better discuss that with

the director."

"If I may make a suggestion, about the only thing you could have in a shower stall that

would hide a blade would be a scrubbing brush. Have one in a brush somehow. You push a button

and a blade comes out."

"I'll pass it on," said Meghan thinking that it was a useful suggestion.

"Okay, I say 'Bitch!' and fall down clutching at you weakly."

"I step back and watch you bleed out without emotion, being an alien an' all." Meghan

stepped back.

Will fell to the floor of the stall hanging half out the door and turned the page. "I go glassy

eyed you grab his laptop which he's brought with him and start hacking it while naked – that'll get

the nerds interested."

"Hacking now," said Meghan, picking up her own laptop, and tapping at the keys.

Will flicked over the page. "My body is revived by nanobots! This script is getting out

there."

"Says the guy who writes slasher movie scripts."

Will thought about that for a moment. "Fair enough. Where do these nanobots come from?"

"Earlier in the script. I have a vial of them handy." Meghan took a lipstick off her dresser, as

a prop and pretended to feed it to Will.

"I revive and stand up jerkily. I'm still naked too. Something for the ladies."

The rehearsal went on for some time, with Will also taking the part of Karl returning to the

hotel room who was then murdered by his nanobot-revived character. The writer thought it was all

exhausting, although the shower scene was interesting. Meghan for her part thought that rehearsing

with Will was far easier than using Mia or Emma. She later discussed the knife issue with the

director who also agreed that the blade in a brush idea had potential.

Will was able to work out some of his feelings on the issue in a shower scene with

Charlotte, who unexpectedly appeared again despite still declining to give Will her number.

A few days after that Will got out of the pool following his morning swim to find three

strange females draped over sun lounges beside the pool.

"Ladies," he said taking off his goggles and swimming cap. "I'm Will."

"I'm Misty Dawn," said the blonde on the left, a singer and aspiring actress.

"I'm Bo Jovanovic," said the auburn haired one on the right, who Will recognised as a top

model. She spoke with a faint Eastern European accent.

"We're friends of Meg. She invited us over for morning coffee," said Misty.

"I can certainly do the coffee," said Will towelling himself. "And I know you're Meg's

sister Madison," he said to the girl in the centre. "There are pictures of you and your mother in the

living room.

"Hi!" said Madison, shyly. Although she did not have her sister's beauty, she was pretty

enough to have no problem attracting boys. In fact, of late that proved to be a problem.

"How come you're here instead of college?"

"Guy troubles," said Madison.

"All men are evil?"

"Some are still interesting," she said, eyeing Will.

"Incidentally, ladies, have you seen my shirt?" said Will looking around.

"Nope, no shirt," said Misty, eying Will. "Did you see a shirt, Bo?"

"I never saw any shirt," said Bo.

"I'm pretty sure I left it on the table here."

"I didn't see it," said Misty. Bo shook her head. Madison grinned.

"Hmmm! Well, I guess I can get coffee without a shirt," said Will. He saw a shoulder bag

under Misty's chair which seemed to be full but thought there was no harm in playing along for a

time. "Where is Meg, incidentally?"

"On a call in her study," said Madison.

Will took their orders – Meg had bought a coffee machine for the kitchen so that Will could

serve the full range – and brought them out to the pool area along with diet cookies that the

occasional lady guest seemed to like.

"Can I have my shirt back now, ladies?" he asked when he finished.

"We told you we didn't see a shirt," said Misty.

Meg walked up. "Will, I see you've met everyone."

"They've got their coffee and they still won't give me my shift back."

"Aw, come on you guys," said Meg, giggling, "give my consultant his shirt back. I need him

for work."

"Why does he need his shirt to work?" said Bo.

"Just a convention for guys to wear shirts at work," said Misty.

"It's a psychological thing," said Will. "I also have to do a phone conference later."

"Oh, very well," said Misty, picking up the bag under her seat and taking the shirt out. "Is

this the shirt you want?"

"Thank you," said Will.

Meghan later spoke privately to Madison.

"Will seems very nice," said Madison, Maddie to her friends. "What does he do for you?"

"I hired him as a consultant."

"Really! I want a consultant with a body like that. What does he consult on?"

"Lots of things, as it happens. A more important point now is what's happened to that

expensive college I'm paying for? Why aren't you at it, studying hard?"

"I broke up with Ethan and, well, the college wasn't really working for me."

Meghan sighed. "You've told mum about this?"

"Why do you think I'm hanging out here? I've gotta wait until she cools down. Let me stay

a week or so. Then I thought I could help Mum with the shop. Maybe try the college thing later."

"Humph!" said Meghan but acquiesced, thinking that she would discuss the matter with her

mother. Mrs Kowalski, after cooling down, thought that there was nothing to be gained by forcing

matters and that college could be deferred. In the meantime, she could use another hand in the shop.

She also wanted to discuss developments in her older daughter's life.

"Maddie tells me you've hired a good-looking man as a consultant who swims in your

pool," she said.

"A woman can hire a man without it getting personal, mother," said Meghan. "Happens all

the time in business. Being allowed to use the pool was part of the package when I hired him, and

he's proved very useful. It doesn't go beyond that."

If you say so, dear," Mrs Kowalski said.

Later in the week, with Will's permission, Madison took a picture of him emerging from the

pool and sent it to her friends with the caption, "My sister's new consultant, Will. He's very nice.

He also makes coffee." Some of her friends wanted to know what Will consulted on, others asked

what the coffee he made was like.

"I hope he makes good coffee," said one world-weary college freshman. "Men should be

good for at least something."