“Look, Alice, I told you I needed time off.”    

     “But they’re expecting you in Toronto Ontario next week to begin filming.”

     “I never said I’d do this movie.  You, and Martin, and Don told them I’d do it.”

     “Kate has already arrived at the location to begin work on Monday.”

     “Well, great for her.  See if Leonardo is free and he can do it with her.”

     “You can’t bow out at the last minute.”

     “Watch me.”

     He sighed heavily and his eyes turned more gentle.

     “Look, Alice, I’m burned out, exhausted.  I’ve done six movies in five years.”

     “And they’ve all been huge box office hits.”

     “The money’s great, but I need to rest, recharge.”

     “What am I supposed to tell the press?  You’re second in popularity to Samuel L.  Jackson.”

     “Tell them the truth.  That I need a breather, a little vacation.”

     “They’ll think you’re in the hospital with exhaustion or a drug problem.”

     “Oh, whatever.  Let them think whatever they want.  I don’t care right now.”

     Alice was silent for a few minutes, long ones to the young man.

     “I’m concerned about your career.”

     “I’m not.  I’ve earned more money than I can ever spend for the rest of my life.  I set my parents up before they died and now all that money is going to the local library for whatever they need forever and given my niece and nephew great trust funds in the deaths of their mom and dad.  On money, I’m good.  I could walk away now and live extremely well.”

     “Do you want to walk away?”

     Now, it was his turn to be silent for a few minutes.  Alice began chewing on the top end of her ballpoint.  She was afraid of what her top client might say next.

     “Just for a little while.  I need to go somewhere quiet.  Where no one knows who I am, where I can just be me, rest, relax.”

     “Good luck on that.  You’d better book a trip to the Amazon, or go live in a monastery for awhile.”  She paused and laughed.  “Or Amish country.”

     He grinned.

     “I might just do that,” he laughed back.

     “Very funny.”

     “Hey, you mentioned.”

     “How long are you checking out for?”

     “I don’t know.  A couple of months, several months.  However long I need to recharge.  Don’t book me on any project until I come back.  Understand?”

     “Oh, understood,” Alice said with a tone of frustration.  “Will I hear from you?”

     “I’m not taking my phone.  I’m going to unplug completely.  Besides, I don’t think I can get very good reception in the Amazon, or in a monastery, and maybe not even out in Amish country.”

     “Ha ha.  So not funny.”

     “Well, a little funny.”

     “Please don’t walk away.”

     “Are you saying that for me or for you, since, as my agent, you get a percent of all my earnings.”

     “Both, I guess.  You’re just too talented, and too young, to quit your career now.”

     “You know, I get that.  But, I also think I deserve this time off.  I’ve been reading scripts and filming movies back, to back, to back, for the last five years.  I need Zen time, breathing time, no movie sets, no directors, no memorized lines, no set locations.  I just want to be Jamie Walters, not the Jamie Walters.”

     “Okay.  Uncle.  I give.  You win.”

     “It won’t be for long.  I just need to rest, relax, recharge.  Then, I can come back better than ever.  Trust me.”

     “All right.  I’ll get on the horn now and tell the crew you’ve bowed out and they’ll have to get a replacement.”

     “Thank you.”

     “They won’t be happy.”

    

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