Chapter 193 - Sorrento (2)

May 26, 2013 – Sunday 11 AM – Sorrento, Italy

"hm, hmm, hmmm~" Juliana hums happily as she and Tayaw, arm in arm, walk around, a busy street of Sorrento.

"You're that happy?" Tayaw asks, weirded out by Juliana having bounce in her steps.

"Yeahp! I just wish that grandpa is here to see how much people love the film about him." Juliana says.

"Hmmm." Tayaw is reminded of his 'failure' but shrugs it off immediately. 

Tayaw who has been wandering alone around places neighboring Sorrento the past two days, finally has company after picking up Juliana this morning in her hotel in Naples. The whole morning, the two have seen three films selected for the festival including 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer'.

While Juliana enjoyed the romantic films, she enjoyed GBTD more even though she has already seen it a few times before. She especially likes watching the people in the theater watching GBTD as it gave her pride seeing their reactions to the things 'Giovanni' did, which parallels her grandfather's actions, despite the moral complications of those acts. 

"Oh, here we are." Tayaw stops in front of a simple but fancy restaurant.

"Hm? What's here?" Juliana asks, noticing the familiarity in Tayaw's gaze towards the restaurant.

"Oh. The actors in the film. We're meeting for the first time since December." Tayaw says.

"Really?" Juliana says, excited to finally meet the actors.

Juliana met many actors before, but the acting style of GBTD actors makes them somehow more real to her. 

"He's here!"

"Hey man!" Geoff and the other actors welcome Tayaw and Juliana at their table.

"Long time, fellas." Tayaw says, pulling a seat for Juliana before taking one for himself beside her.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Juliana, big fan!" Juliana introduces herself to the actors.

"Nice to meet you." The actors smile in acknowledgment at the enthusiastic Juliana. 

"I'm sorry, I only know your names in the film. Giovanni, Julietta, Micaela, Reece, and Antonio!" Juliana points at each actor calling them their respective roles, amusing the actors.

"Curtain call?" Tayaw suggests, confusing Juliana, but the actors immediately understanding.

"Hi. I'm Geoff Peterson. Or Giovanni D'Amato, or Giovanni Cervo, like you said."

"Adelina Nieves, playing Micaela Cervo."

"Courtney Hunt, playing Julietta D'Amato."

"Shaun Gordon, playing Reece Solino."

"Louie Sotto, playing Antonio Orsini." The actors introduce themselves curtain call style.

"ohhh.." Juliana stares at them, studying them, comparing them to their film counterparts, at the same time, not picking up the actors' real names.

"Hey. You're staring." Tayaw says.

"Heh. Sorry. I already met the actors for the second and third films, but I haven't seen the finished product yet. But these guys on the other hand." Juliana continues staring. 

Louie meanwhile is quick to pick-up the details and connect the dots.

"Wait, wait. How do you know a lot?" Louie asks.

"Yeah… Half Basin Studios was as secretive as the pentagon…" Geoff also notice the oddity.

"Hey Isaac. That's not really fair. I wasn't allowed to talk about anything with my husband." Courtney says.

"Juliana. What do I say?" Tayaw shrugs, passing the question to Juliana.

"Oh! I-m.. I'm an investor! This is the first film I've invested in!" Juliana quickly pulls out bullcrap out of her ass, not wanting to complicate things.

"Hok!…" Tayaw on the other hand, is taken aback at the lie.

"OH!..." The actors eat the lie up, meanwhile impressed at Juliana who seems to be very young to be an investor. 

"About that. Isaac, now I know why you told us to not talk about you in public…" Geoff changes the subject.

"?" Tayaw gives him a curious look.

Geoff then looks around the restaurant before leaning towards Tayaw.

"There are a LOT of people looking for you." Geoff reports.

"Yeah... Well, Geoff too has his own fair share of the attention, being nominated and all. They don't recognize us." Shaun says, on behalf of the rest of the actors.

"I bet you'll win!" Juliana interjects.

Geoff just looks down on the table in embarrassment, to his friends' amus.e.m.e.nt.

"He just might." Adelina says, having shared some scenes with Geoff. 

"Hm. How many job offers have you received now, superstar?" Tayaw teases.

"Alright. Stop it, guys. Anyways…" Geoff puts his hands in his pants' pocket and pulls something out.

"Here. They wanted me to pass these to you." Geoff passes the stack of business cards secured by what looks like a hair tie, to Tayaw.

"They'll probably looking for a distribution deal or just straight-out buying the film rights. Happened last year too." Tayaw says quickly browsing through the cards. "Too bad, I already have a distributor." Tayaw says before pocketing the cards.

"…" The people at the table though know that he will throw the cards away in dismissal, judging on the disgusted expression on Tayaw's face. 

"Anyways. Juliana and I will walk the carpet together. How about you guys?" Tayaw asks. 

The group continue their chat. 

…

~~~Naples – 9PM

Tayaw and Juliana just stepped out of their limo as they enter the red carpet. Tayaw is now dressed in a maroon-colored velvet three-piece suit and a black boater hat. The color and the texture of his suit attract eyes but is not too flashy at the same time that it is obnoxious, which is how Tayaw likes himself be seen at a red-carpet event.

Juliana meanwhile, is wearing a gorgeous skin-tight red sleeveless dress, its hem covering her heels when she is standing still, but also not long enough it touches the ground. The two matching their outfits, and also perfectly matching their stride make them an attractive sight as they glide along the carpet. 

"Isaac!"

"Isaac! Here!"

Tayaw and Juliana are blinded by the photographers' camera flashes as they enter the photo area of the red carpet.

"Now I get why you always wear sunglasses." Juliana tells Tayaw through her pretty smile as she poses to the cameras.

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. Your eyes okay?" Tayaw asks.

"Yeah… PuhAha!" The second Juliana looks at Tayaw to answer, she sees Tayaw's eyes are closed behind the dark pair of sunglasses, while still keeping his smile.

"Don't tell me your eyes are as sensitive as your ears?" Juliana asks.

"Yeahp." Tayaw simply maintains his smile, his eyes are still closed as he 'looks' at Juliana.

This makes Juliana laugh even more.

*FLASH* *FLASH* *FLASH* The photographers are quick to capture Juliana and Tayaw's happy and sweet-looking exchange. 

Having had enough of the cameras, the two soon move over to the press area of the red carpet. Juliana is about to stop and let Tayaw talk to the reporters but Tayaw just keeps walking, not even a glance at the reporters despite their call out to him.

"No interviews?" Juliana asks.

"Nah. I'm scared of entertainment reporters. Something about them just irks me." Tayaw says.

"…" Juliana does not know what to think of those words. 

~~~~~

~~~~~4PM - Washington Heights, New York 

Luca, Warren, and Frank, along with the other actors they made friends with during the filming, are all convened in the bas.e.m.e.nt of Warren's house, their attention all focused on their TV screen.

[[["The 56th Sorrento Film Festival Best Actor Award goes to… *Drumroll*… "GEOFF PETERSON! for 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer'. Congratulations Geoff." A presenter announces the winner.]]]

"YEAH!!!"

"GEOFF-Y!"

"HAHAHA!" the group celebrate with each other.

Popcorns are flying everywhere, water bottles are squirted in all directions, the cheers they are making shaking the air. 

[[[Geoff climbs up on the stage with an ear-to-ear smile. After accepting his gold statue, he takes a deep breath and leans into the mic.

"Thank you, Sorrento jury for recognizing my work. First of all, I want to thank Isaac…"]]]

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~9AM – Okuba 

[[["The 56th Sorrento Film Festival Award for Best Original Screenplay goes to... *drumroll*…

"ISAAC YAWAT for 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer'." *APPLAUSE*]]]

"He did it again." Liboo smiles proudly as he watches Tayaw on TV take the stage.

"Mm. Basing on what he told us while writing the film, I'd be so mad if he didn't win." Kilat says, feeling that Tayaw is entitled to the award especially when Tayaw showed them the film during his short break in January that he spent with them at home. 

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~5PM – East Hamptons, Long Island

[[["Thank you. I did not expect this at all. First of all, I want to thank the man who inspired me to write this story. Gonzalo Coniglio, this is my gift for you. I also want to thank the people who allowed me to use their likeness with a great extent of creative freedom in the film…]]]

"Hey… Don Sylvio … Is this really okay?" One Coniglio man asks Sylvio in panic.

"What? Like he said, 'great extent of creative freedom'. Everyone in New York and Vegas have heard stories about father anyway. And, those stories are just as mythical or as legendary as the film." Sylvio says, not a care in the world about the consequences of GBTD having mob ties.

"Even if the film is an accurate recreation of father's life, what are they gonna do? Have the cops dig his grave to arrest him? HAHAHA!" Sylvio jokes darkly.

"…" The Coniglio soldier cannot argue with the reasoning as it sends  chills up his spine. 

~~~~~~~~~~

9AM – Nabla Observer, West Ouigab

At the newspaper's headquarters, Ophelia, along with other journalists, are watching the conference room's TV. Instead of the excitement they should be feeling, they are watching the award show in boredom at a level movie award shows deserve.

[[["The Fioro D'Oro goes to… *DRUMROLL*"]]]

"Ugh. Just f.u.c.kin' say it. We all know who it is anyway." Nabla Observer's editor-in-chief interjects.

*Snicker* The journalists in the room are amused. 

[[[ 'GOLD, BLOOD, AND THE DEER! *APPLAUSE* *MUSIC*]]]

"That's the last award, right?" The editor-in-chief says.

"Yeah boss." Ophelia replies.

"Okay. Headline. 'Isaac Yawat cleans up Sorrento.' Go write whatever to fill that." The editor-in-chief commands the room before making his way back to his office.

"I mean… yeah…" Madi, Ophelia's friend in the office cannot even argue with the headline tag that their boss said. 

"How many awards was it again?" A journalist asks another.

"4? 5? I don't know…" the other journalist replies with uncertainty.

"Best Screenplay… Best Director… Best Picture… Jury Prize… Golden Flower (Fioro D'Oro)… and that award with the long-ass Italian name (Premio Per Una Certa Prospettiva)" Ophelia recounts.

"Yeah… So 5? Okay." Madi says. 

Unlike the previous year, the journalists this time are now numb to Tayaw's achievements. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

4PM – Pasadena, California

"…" Caroline, Harvey, and Anthony can only sit silently and watch the rolling credits of the live broadcast of the Sorrento Awards in Anthony's office TV. 

"What now?" Anthony asks the two executives of Vagner's film distribution arm (Vagner Cinema).

"Yeah. Let me make a call." Caroline says.

"…" Anthony and Harvey wait in anticipation as Caroline turns on the loudspeaker on her phone. *ring**ring*

/Hello Caroline?/ A man, an agent of the company answers from the opposite line.

"Yeah. Managed to talk to Isaac?" Caroline asks.

/No. I'm sorry… I-/ The man replies, making Caroline feel her blood pressure rise.

"And WHY didn't you?" Caroline interrupts.

/He was hard to find, Caroline. Just like last year. Best I did was pass along our card through his lead actor. He hasn't called yet./ The man explains.

"Are you sure that's the best you can do?" Caroline starts grilling her agent.

/,,,/ The agent has no answer.

"If I ever find out that our competition managed to sign a deal him, don't bother coming back. Do you understand?" Caroline says.

/I-I'll do my best Caroline./ The man can only vaguely promise to the threat.

"I'm waiting for good news." Caroline says one last time before dropping the call. 

"F*CK…" Caroline sighs..

"Are you really firing the guy? Or was that… negative reinforcement?" Anthony asks.

"Motivation. And venting." Caroline answers, making the two men shake their heads.

"I only hope we get to acquire a film that is as good as Isaac's." Harvey says, trying to stay optimistic.

"And if that doesn't work. I think I'm getting more inclined to go along with your plan, Anthony." Caroline says.