The Moonstone Starlet

Prologue:

They met on the roof at theWit on a quiet summer morning. During the week, Chicago’s loop was the epicenter of the city. Thousands of people and cars fighting for the right to go, horns blaring and trains clamoring by. On the weekends, it was an eerie ghost town. Only a few worked downtown on Saturdays, and most of the city’s residents were still asleep. TheWit had opened early for brunch, but few patrons were seated at the rooftop lounge.

When they walked up, she sat rigid in a lounge chair, playing with a ring on her finger and staring vacantly south through dark shades. Her hair was pulled lazily atop her head, looking as if it hadn’t been brushed in some time. Once they reached the table she stood up to greet them.

“Elia Downs,”
“Stan Bowman, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Good morning Elia.”
“Nice to see you again John.”

Stan and John sat down across the table from her. She shifted in her chair, pulling her foot under her and leaning to the left.

“Thanks for meeting me on a Saturday, I’ve been super busy this month, it’s--” she stopped as the server came by. She took down her sunglasses, and squinted up at the server.

“Can I start you off with some drinks?”
“Hi, I’ll have a coffee please, and a whisky.” She said quickly.
“Just water for me,”
“I’ll have a coffee also, thanks.”

Elia had taken out a cigarette and started to light it.

“Miss, I’m sorry, you can’t smoke in here,” the server said.
“But we’re outside?” she asked, incredulously.
“You can’t smoke on the rooftop patio, it’s the law.”

She didn’t respond, just slowly inhaled a breath of smoke. The server, looking uncomfortable, walked quickly away. With her sunglasses off, Elia looked exhausted. Her eyes were red, with smudged eyeliner in the corners. Her face looked gaunt, from too much alcohol or not enough rest. Or both. Her forehead creased in between her eyebrows, a permanent worry or frequent squinting? John was slightly startled by what he saw.

Elia was sixteen when she broke onto the national scene as a precocious underdog. It was a classic story of a girl and a horse. After working as a groom one summer at a horse track, Elia was hired to ride the thoroughbred Amaryllis, and moved to California to train with rider Gary Stevens and ride horses under Bob Baffert. Amaryllis and Elia went on to win horse racing’s Triple Crown in 2002, and a slew of other races before a devastating riding accident slowed her promising career. As her riding career stumbled, her film career took off.

John had met her at the turn of it all. Fresh off the Triple Crown and her first Oscar win, Elia, a life-long Cubs fan, started coming to the games all summer and filming interviews with players. She called it “Good Morning Baseball,” and while the videos contained some serious baseball analysis, they were mostly made in fun. After a couple weeks she was granted an official press pass and set up a booth in the outfield during warm ups. He remembered her then, bright faced and fearless. Full of energy and light. Those green eyes that lit up when she talked. That same summer she had filmed a documentary about the correlation of poverty and crime in Chicago. He wondered how she had come to be what she was now, all in only seven years.

Everyone had heard the stories. Some said the accident had broken her. Others said it was the struggle with prescription drugs, still others said it was just her disposition. John didn’t know. But he knew she had the exact talents they were looking for.

“Elia,” he began, slowly, “I want to thank you, first of all, for agreeing to this meeting.”
“Of course, you’ve always been very kind to me,” she smiled warmly for the first time all morning.
“I heard you were thinking of buying the Cubs?”
“Ha! I don’t have that much money.” she paused, “Although I might be, uh, involved in the process. There might be a partnership split going on.” She lifted her eyebrows and grinned, letting out a cloud of smoke. “You want your old job back?”
They laughed.
“No, no. I am very happy working for the Blackhawks organization,”
“Which is why we’ve called this meeting with you Elia,” Stan broke in.

He was interrupted by the server and a manager approaching the table.

“Elia, I am very sorry for the misunderstanding, you are welcome to do as you wish here at the Wit and we always appreciate your continued patronage.”
“Thanks Graham,” Elia said, as she pounded fists with the manager.

The server set down their drinks. Elia apologized to him for being difficult. She poured the whisky from the glass into her coffee and started sipping it. Stan looked sideways and John, uneasy. It was eight o’clock in the morning.

“Elia, we are a turning point with the organization. We are trying to reignite a fan base that has been disappointed with the team and the way its been managed. We want a way to introduce new fans to the team, and to get them involved, get them interested in the franchise again.”
“You want me to do some filming and commercials and stuff?”
“Well, we were thinking kind of a season long documentary.”
“What do you mean season long? And do you realize I don’t even like hockey? Why not hire someone like Sarah Spain?”
“We do know you don’t like hockey, and thats the thing--we believe if we can make you fall in love with hockey, you can make the entire city fall in love with hockey. And nobody can tell a narrative like you can. At least nobody that loves sports and competition as deeply as you do. We want you to get people into the team, track the progress, get them fired up.”

“An interesting challenge.” She took a long sip of her coffee.
“How long is a hockey season?”
“Our regular season games start in October and play through April, then there are playoffs.”
“Do you have a copy of the schedule with you right now?”
John handed her a print out of the schedule. She put her glasses on as she started reading, and pulled out her cell phone.
“It’s an interesting thing, earning the endearment of the people…” She started saying, slowly as she read through her phone’s calendar and the schedule.
“...What is it that makes people latch on to a celebrity or an athlete? For me, I was a kid and I was a winner. Everyone loves winners. Most of all, people want to feel like they are in on it, they are included, they know you. When Johnny Damon branded the 2005 Red Sox a bunch of idiots, everyone laughed with him...How is your team doing?”
“We were second in the Central Division last year, and fourth in our conference,”
“Is that good? What does that mean?”
“It’s our best year in recent history. We just signed Marian Hossa last month,” then, seeing her blank stare added “He is a five time All-Star.”
“Alright, so winning is questionable. I need to find a reason for people to relate to your people…” She trailed off again, thinking.

“I am in pre-production on what is, in my opinion, the most important film of my life. I am doing the writing, I am directing, and I am acting in it. It is slated to start filming in May 2010. In order for me to do this, I am going to need to get to know the sport, the team, and not just the players, I need to know the support staff, coaches, trainers, etc. I am going to need to be filming 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I need your entire organization to be on board with that. I will also need everyone to be on board with confidentiality agreements because unfortunately you will also be having 24/7 access to me. I want approval on every piece of video marketing, and ultimately I retain ownership of all footage I shoot.”

She took out a notebook and started writing out ideas. An hour and two coffees later they had a pretty good plan of how it would play out for the year. The patio was starting to fill up. The day was beginning for the rest of the world.

She started laughing suddenly.
“Fucking hockey! What am I doing?!”
Stan and John exchanged glances, not sure of what to say.
“Alright, I need to get some fucking sleep. Call my office tomorrow to hammer out the contract with my lawyer.” She threw a hundred down on the table and walked away.

They were silent for a few minutes after she left.

“Are you sure about this John? There must be a...more conventional...way to do this.”
“Stan, I know she seems like a liability, and I admit I am wary of the alleged drinking problems and documented history of substance abuse, especially with what just happend with Kane. But I’ve known her since she was a teenager, and when she is given a task she is focused and very professional.”

He hoped he was right.

Notes