Jennifer Rae - Who's Calling The Shots?

Jack sighed. ‘Like I’ve said to you a thousand times, Dad—I don’t want your money. I don’t need your money.’

His father’s heavy breaths could be heard through the speakers. Jack saw him knock against the computer he was speaking into, losing his balance a little. Max’s lips pursed and released, then pursed and released again. He was thinking. Jack could practically see the old man’s mind ticking behind his eyes.

‘Maybe not, Jacko. Maybe you would be able to make a few measly bucks on your own. But how ’bout your mother? What would happen to her, Jack, if I were to shut up shop, take my money and run?’

And there was the stinger. It pierced Jack’s gut and lodged there. Jack’s father only had one weapon left to use against Jack. His mother. Who was still in love with his father, for some reason Jack couldn’t understand. His mother—who would be devastated if she found out how much Max didn’t care for her any more.

Jack knew exactly what his father meant. At the moment everything Max had—everything he knew about, anyway—was fifty per cent owned by Jack’s mother. But when Jack had discovered his father was having an affair fifteen years ago and threatened to tell his mother Max had told him he’d leave his mother with nothing if he did. He’d made Jack realise how powerless he was and then produced a contract saying he had to stay with the media arm of his father’s company until he earned enough money to buy his way out of it.

At nineteen, he’d thought it would be easy. But after station cutbacks, a fall in the economy and a cultural shift towards reality TV, Jack had barely covered costs each year. Perfect Match was his chance. It had trialled well in market research and the time was right. Dating shows were rating through the roof, and he’d already had a few bites to syndicate it in the US, the UK and India. This show was his ticket out of here—away from his father and the hold he had over him. But until then his father owned him, and he knew it.

‘What’s that, Jack? Your smart mouth can’t come up with anything intelligent to say?’

Jack’s blood sizzled but he held his face steady. He was getting too old for this. He needed to take control—one way or another. He needed to get his father out of his life, and today was going to be the start.

‘I’m running this company. I’m in charge. Not you. Goodbye, Max.’

Jack pressed the button that would end the video call. His father’s face disappeared. This show would be a hit. And when it was he’d pay his father his money and he’d never look back. And when he’d made his own money his mother wouldn’t need his father either. They could both escape from his cage.

‘Mick, I need you in here, my friend.’ Jack spoke into his phone, his voice back to its low, calm tone.

Mick didn’t need to know about that conversation. The crew were jumpy enough as it was, with all the rumours flying around about Max pulling their funding. He didn’t need them thinking there would be any changes in management. He needed to keep this ship sailing steady.

‘How’d it go with Max, boss?’ Mick was a man of few words, but he had an eye for entertainment and was one of the best editors in the business. For a man of such little drama, he knew how to produce one.

‘Excellent. Couldn’t have gone better,’ Jack lied. ‘But I’ve been thinking about the format for the show. I know we were going to introduce the men later in the show, once the girls have had a chance to get to know each other, but I think we should move it forward.’

Mick remained silent.

‘Bring the men in and have them decide what challenges they want the girls to do. Have them call the shots so they can decide which girls they want to take on dates. And I think we should cut it back to only four men. That way the girls will have to fight for a chance to meet their perfect match.’

Mick looked thoughtful. He stood still, moving only his head to stare out of the window behind Jack. Jack was used to him by now. He knew what he was doing. Thinking. He gave him a few minutes.

‘Female audience are not gonna like it,’ Mick finally said in his quiet voice.

‘Exactly. They’ll hate it. They’ll rage and be indignant and it’ll be all over social media. It’s a genius idea.’

Jack knew the female audience would hate it. He wasn’t even sure if it was a great idea. But he needed this show to be a hit. He needed it to work and work quickly—he couldn’t afford for anything to happen like last time. This time he was going to be brutal. He was going to call the shots. He was going to create a drama-filled show that had people tuning in every week. This show was about ratings—not about the people on the show. He had to remember that.

Slowly Mick faced Jack and a stern furrow formed on his weathered forehead. ‘They’ll kill you.’

They would. They’d slam him in the media. They’d call him a misogynist pig. He wondered how the contestants would react to the change. It was within his rights to change the format. He’d written it into the contract. Reality TV was like that—it needed to be fluid and reactive.

And the girls might not understand—they might have questions. He’d go and see them after this. He was sure he’d be able to win them over—he’d deliberately chosen women he could mould and shape. Except that one. Ms Wright. She hadn’t seemed very malleable. Gorgeous. Great mouth. Insane body. But not malleable. No, if anyone was going to jack up about this new twist it would be her.

‘That little firecracker won’t like it,’ Jack admitted.

Mick grunted. ‘I told you not to put her on the show. I knew she’d be trouble.’

Brooke Wright was the only contestant Mick had objected to. He’d said she’d be trouble, would cause problems and make their job harder. And he had been right. She’d protested from the beginning—not wanting to be on the show, then grumbling when he’d informed them they wouldn’t have any contact with their friends and families during the entire six weeks of taping. But she was nothing he couldn’t handle. He had learned how to charm women years ago. His father had been his mentor.

‘Tell ’em what they want to hear,’ his father would say. ‘Then do whatever the hell you want anyway!’

He’d always laugh after that. Jack never had. Not when it came to his mother. But after a few awkward ‘falling in love with a girl who didn’t love him’ moments back in high school he’d started to use his father’s tactics. And it had worked. Since then he’d been able to get women to do what he wanted—mostly.

Ms Wright, however, might prove to be a bit of a challenge. She tended to get into his personal space. She was a little too confrontational. To be honest, she made him a little uncomfortable. But she wasn’t there for him. She was there for the show—to make it a hit. Maybe this would be perfect. This new twist would send her into a new flutter and he’d catch it all on camera. It would be just what he needed.

He pushed down the small flutter of guilt that settled in his chest. He needed to work out the details and amend their choice of men. But first he had to supervise the taping of the first challenge. This time he was going to be there for everything. All the on-camera highlights as well as the off-camera drama. This time he wasn’t missing a thing—because this time was his last.

‘Tell Gaz to bring the car around, Mick—we’re going to see the ladies.’

* * *

She could do this. She knew she could do this. It was like lifting heavy weights. Ninety per cent mental, ten per cent physical. All she had to do was believe she could paddle out past the crashing waves, stand up on a thin piece of timber and balance while avoiding sharks and the tumble of the constantly moving water, all the while making sure she kept a smile on her face and her bikini top up—because at least eight cameras were set up on the beach and on jet skis to capture every fall, every failure and every embarrassing facial expression.