The dog park in town was a happening place that morning. Since at least 7 AM, the commercial crew worked tirelessly to set up for the day’s filming. Town residents gawked from the street, as tents were erected, trailers were parked and equipment was brought into the park. The commotion brought police officers to the set, to keep the giggling gaggle of gawkers away.
“Keep away from the set” the officers would say to anyone who tried to get too close.
As the film crew continued to set up shop, the production van came and parked nearby. Getting out of the van was the PA and Buddy.
“Come on, boy” the PA said, as he grabbed Buddy’s leash. “Let’s get you signed in and introduced to the crew and the director.”
“I have to admit” Freddy thought to himself, as Buddy hopped out of the van and followed the PA onto the set. "This is pretty cool."
“Ah!” an onlooker exclaimed.
“That’s such a cool dog!” a little boy commented.
Buddy happily panted, as the PA walked him to where the crew was working.
“I’m a little excited about this, actually” Freddy admitted to himself. “I’m also really nervous, for a lot of reasons. I really hope I don’t change back before this is over. I hope they don’t make me do anything too embarrassing. I also hope this helps Josh with getting back on his feet. Speaking of which, where is my brother anyway?”
Just as Freddy pondered this, Josh came running up towards them. He was in an ecstatic mood, seeing as the town gave the production company the required tax credits to set up shop for the day. Not only that, but the mayor generously gave the production extra money than the minimum. Josh’s producer friend was thrilled, considering shooting more commercials here if the town kept up with its generosity.
Josh was also happy with his choice of cast. Evan was a good kid and Buddy looked like the ideal dog for the shoot. Spotting the PA walking with Buddy on his leash, Josh ran to bend down and scratch Buddy behind the ears.
“Aren’t you a good boy” he said, before getting back up. “You’re going to be in a for an action packed day today, Buddy. Hey Gary. Where’s that guy, Tom? Buddy’s owner?”
“He asked me to check on something first” Gary, the PA, replied.
“Oh? What’s that?”
“He has another dog he wants to bring to set today, but she’s in heat.”
“Oh. Wow. Well, hmmm. I don’t know.”
“I was going to go ask the director first, before I brought them to set.”
“Was Tom in the van with you?”
“He refused to go unless we figured out what to do with his other dog.”
Josh slapped his forehead and groaned loudly.
“Man, shit. He needed to be here to sign in. The director is not going to be happy to hear about this.”
“What am I not going to be happy to hear about?” the director asked, as he quickly approached them.
“Oh, hi boss” Gary replied. “I managed to bring Buddy to set.”
“He’s a perfect dog. Just what consumers are going to want to see. It’s amazing you could find such a perfect specimen of the breed like this, Josh, and on such short notice, too. Where’s his owner, Gary?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, boss. I went to go pick up Buddy’s owner Tom at his house and he has another dog he wanted to bring to set.”
“What kind of dog?”
“A female Shepherd like Buddy, similar coating and all.”
“Then what’s the problem? In case something happens to our boy here, it’s good to have a backup just in case. Is it over money?”
“No, boss. The bitch is in heat.”
“Oh.”
Josh fidgeted nervously, as the director thought about what to do.
“I’ll tell you what” the director said. “Bring them to set and we’ll see how things go. Worst case scenario, we keep the other dog in the trailer, so she’s not getting all the other dogs in the neighborhood running over here to greet her.”
“Ok sir” Gary replied. “Let me get the production van to go pick up Tom. Josh, do you mind watching Buddy for a few minutes until Tom gets here?”
“Uh, sure” Josh replied, as Gary handed him Buddy’s leash.
“Oh great” Freddy thought to himself, as Gary ran back to the production van. “Now my own brother is dog sitting me. This day is getting off to a great start so far.”
“Come on, Buddy” Josh said, tugging on the dog’s leash. “Let’s get you something to eat.”
“Hmmm. I wonder what Josh has in mind for me. I could use a real meal.”
Buddy sniffed the air, noticing something tasty off in the distance. As Josh led Buddy to the craft services table, where breakfast was being served, Michael approached a production assistant in his car, who was blocking off the street where the shoot was being filmed.
“Hi” Michael said. “My son is here to star in the commercial today.”
“A casting confirmation, sir?” the PA asked.
Michael pulled out his communication device and showed the PA Evan’s booking info.
“Gotcha” the PA replied in the affirmative. “We have a spot for you just a few cars down.”
“We’re not all coming onto set today” Sofya said, as her eyes turned pink. “It’s just my friend Michael, his son Evan and his mother. I’m taking the car back to the house when they’ve been dropped out.”
“Sure thing. Want to just let them out now?”
“Not just yet. I want to make sure that the director okays the arrangement. Sound good to you?”
Sofya let out a seductive wink, as the PA began to drool.
“Yuh, yuh, yeah, sure” the PA stuttered out, as Michael drove and parked the car in the designated spot.
When they were settled in, the four of them got out of the car and walked over to set. Their goal was to find Buddy and whoever else was in charge of making the final decisions. A Production assistant ran up to them to try to move them away from the set.
“Cast and chaperone only” a female PA said to them.
“The director agreed to two chaperones today” Sofya said seductively.
“I don’t think he did.”
“Oh, Michael” his mother said. “I can just—“
“No!” Michael snapped. “Stay right here.”
“Mind bringing the director over?” Sofya asked. “I’m sure he’ll understand.”
“I don’t know” the PA replied reluctantly. “My boss is very busy today and I don’t think he’s going to want to be interrupted.”
“Hey guys!” Josh called out.
Josh ran up to them, with Buddy on his leash.
“There he is” Michael thought to himself, as they approached them.
“Michael!” Freddy excitedly thought to himself, as Buddy ran up to him, barking as he did so.
“Easy boy!” Josh said, as Buddy hopped up onto Michael and licked his face. “Get down from there! Bad boy!”
“That dog really seems to like you” Michael’s mother noted, before turning to look at Josh. “Hi Josh. I haven’t seen you in…when’s that last time I saw you, anyway? You weren’t at the wedding, so when did we last saw each other?”
“Wow” Josh replied, as he went to hug Michael’s mother. “You actually recognized me. I didn’t think I looked anything like I did all those years ago.”
“You have that Benson look, like your brother Freddy. Speaking of which, where is he? The news said he disappeared after that incident at the auditorium and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.”
“Really? Michael said he went out for a jog yesterday.”
“Uh” Michael replied nervously.
“He’s out on business” Sofya replied. “He’ll be back later today or tomorrow at the latest.”
“This close to the election?” Josh asked. “That’s not good. If Freddy wants to win this thing, he needs to be in town campaigning in the final days of the election. He can’t just go running off like that.”
“Especially since a lot of people thought he was dead” Michael’s mother added.
“Oh great” Freddy thought to himself, as Buddy whimpered and laid down in the grass. “I totally forgot about that. My chance of winning this race is totally shot now. Of course, there’s probably more important things to be worried about right now, like changing myself back again and getting out of being Tom’s pet and Lady’s lover forever. Plus, we still have to get the ring back from the mayor.”
“Things will be fine” Sofya said assuringly. “In the meantime, Josh, where is the director?”
“Right here” the director replied, as he approached the assembled group.
“Oh good, I’ve been looking for you.”
Sofya gazed into the director’s eyes, flashing a pink light from her own right at him.
“I know normally the child actor is only allowed one chaperone to accompany him on set” she continued. “However, I was hoping you would make an exception for today.”
“What kind of exception?” the director asked, smiling brightly as he spoke.
The PA stared at her boss, confused by Sofya’s ability to lower his inhibitions like that.
“Evan would like to have his dad and his grandmother with him on the set today. I’m sure it shouldn’t a problem, right?”
“Not at all. They can both stay.”
“Great.”
Sofya’s eyes returned to normal, as she walked back to Michael’s car.
“I’ll catch you guys later” Sofya said, as she headed off the set to go back to Michael's car.
"Need the keys?" Michael asked, as he tossed them at Sofya.
"I do, thank you" Sofya replied, as she caught them, before heading off set to drive herself home.
“Um boss?” the PA asked. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah” the director replied, motioning Michael, his son and his mother, along with Josh and Buddy, towards him. “Come with me. I want to talk to you all about how today is going to go.”
The group followed the director, as they went to a more private area of the set to talk.
“So” the director continued “I want to start by asking if the two stars today have been properly introduced.”
“They have not” Josh replied, as he commanded Buddy to sit.
“Ok. You’re Evan, right?”
“Yes sir” Evan replied.
“I’m going to be the director on this commercial today. Nice to meet you, young man.”
Evan shook the director’s hand, before he was instructed to look at Buddy.
“This is the dog you’re going to be working with today” the director continued. “His name is Buddy.”
“Hi Buddy” Evan replied, as he rubbed the dog’s back. “Nice to meet ya, boy.”
“Boy” Freddy thought to himself, as he let out a whimper. “You’re my son. How do you not recognize me?”
“He seems a little nervous.”
“I’m sure he’ll warm up in due time” the director replied. “At least, I hope he does. A lot is riding on this commercial.”
“Of course” Freddy thought to himself. “Duh. He can’t recognize me. I’m not his papa to all these people. I’m just a dog. As far as they all know. we’ve never met before.”
“Speaking of Buddy, where is his owner?”
“Sir!” Gary exclaimed, as he ran up to him, with Tom and Lady by his side.
“Uh oh” Michael thought to himself, as he got a look at the German Shepherd bitch at Tom’s side. “She looks like she’s in heat. That’s not good.”
“Ah!” the director exclaimed, as he went to shake Tom’s hand. “You must be Tom, Buddy’s owner.”
“Yes” Tom replied shortly.
“Nice to meet you. I’m the director for the shoot today.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“Have you been signed in yet?”
“They signed me in on the way over here.”
“Good, good. And who is this other dog here with you?”
Lady panted, as the director scratched her behind the ears.
“This is my other dog, Lady. I hesitated to bring her today, because she’s still in heat.”
“Oh god” Michael thought to himself, as he noticed Buddy panting and looking in her direction. “He better not have done it.”
“Well” the director replied “let’s keep her away from the set for a while, unless we absolutely need her. Good to have a backup just in case. Did you get something to eat?”
“I did not” Tom replied.
“Well, breakfast is being served now. Gary will show you the way.”
“Ok” Gary replied. “Tom, let’s get Lady stashed away for a while and then I’ll get you some breakfast.”
“Sounds good” Tom replied, as he took Lady to follow Gary.
“So” the director continued to the remaining people and Buddy. “Did you get signed in yet?”
“I’ll do that now” Josh replied, as he pulled out his communication device.
“After you’re done with that, you guys can get some breakfast and then I’ll give you a rundown on what we’re doing today. Sound good?”
“Yup” Evan replied. “I sure am hungry.”
“Didn't you eat breakfast?” Michael asked.
“Evan could always use more food.” his grandmother replied.
“Yeah, I just had some toast this morning. They look like they have a whole breakfast table over there, dad. Eggs, bacon, waffles. The works.”
“Yes” the director replied. “All that and then some. We sure do like to eat around here.”
“Awesome!”
Buddy barked, leaving Josh's side, as he ran over to Evan.
“The dog really seems to like you” Josh noted, as Buddy nudged his head into his son’s leg.
“He seems like a good boy” Evan replied, as he rubbed Buddy’s back. “Just the kind of dog I’d like to have, if my dad wasn’t so opposed to them.”
“Let’s go get you breakfast” Michael said, trying to change the subject.
“Sign this first” Josh replied, handing Michael a stylus.
Michael signed all of the digital documents, while Evan continued to play with Buddy.
“What kind of tricks does he do?” Evan asked, as he stood up to face the director.
“I don’t know” the director replied. “We’ll go talk to his owner, Tom, before we start shooting.”
“We’re ready for you guys to eat breakfast” Josh said, as Michael finished signing the documents. “I’ll take you guys over there now.”
“Great. You have a 15 minute break for breakfast. Then, we’ll meet over by the gate to the dog pen, after hair, makeup and wardrobe have seen you first, Evan.”
“Ok. Come on guys, I’ll show you the way to breakfast.”
Josh led Michael, his mother, Evan and Buddy over to the breakfast area. Seeing that Tom wasn’t around, Evan grabbed Buddy by the leash and walked him over with them. When they got there, they could see a ton of crew members, from PA’s, to grips, to the camera operators, to the makeup people, getting breakfast and chatting with one another. Evan’s mouth watered at seeing all of the food on the tables.
“Wow!” Evan said, as he took in the sight and smells.
“Now this is a meal” Freddy thought to himself, as Buddy licked his snout and happily panted. “Maybe they’ll let me have some of this.”
In that moment, Tom saw Evan holding Buddy by the leash.
“Hey!” he yelled, as he ran over to Evan and snatched the leash from his hand.
“What’s the big idea, buster?” Evan replied.
Buddy growled at Tom, who ignored it and sternly looked down at Evan.
“Don’t take my dog!” Tom scolded.
“I just was keeping an eye on him, so he didn’t run off. You don’t have to be such an ass—“
“Evan” Michael hurriedly said, as he dragged him away from Tom and Buddy. “Let’s get you something to eat.”
“Oh hi, Michael” Tom said.
“Hi Tom.”
“Ugh!” Evan exclaimed, as he grabbed two plates and began to serve himself food.
“Fancy seeing you here” Tom said to Michael.
“Yup” Michael replied coldly.
“You’re not going to try to steal my dog here today, are you?”
“Of course not, because I’ve never stolen your dog. Haven’t we gone over this already?”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’m just paranoid about something happening to Buddy, that’s all.”
“Well, then you should have been nicer to my son, Evan. He was just trying to keep your dog from running off just now.”
“Oops.”
“Wow, remorse. Who would have thought you were capable of it?”
This comment flew over Tom’s head, as Michael got himself a plate and served himself breakfast. Buddy growled at Tom, who looked down at his curiously.
“You don’t like him, do you boy?” he said.
“No” Freddy thought to himself, as Buddy shook his head.
“Woah!”
Tom jumped for a moment, which caught the attention of the assembled crew members.
“Everything ok?” a key grip asked.
“Uh yeah. I’m fine. I just got a little startled for a second.”
The crew resumed eating their breakfast, as Tom looked down at his dog curiously.
“Huh. I wonder if Buddy is smarter than he looks.”
“Oh shit” Freddy thought to himself, as Tom dragged Buddy to get them something to eat. “I totally gave myself away just now. I hope Tom isn’t wise to the fact that I’m not really his dog.”
When Michael, his mother and his son got themselves breakfast, Josh led them to a trailer on the other end of the set.
“A trailer?!” Evan exclaimed, as Josh unlocked the door, which had Evan's name on it.
“Yup” Josh replied. “Your own personal trailer.”
“Awesome!”
Josh led the three of them into the trailer. Inside, there was a couch, a makeup chair and a rack of clothes. Some snacks were laid out on a table, things that Evan enjoyed.
“Cookies!” Evan exclaimed, as he put down his plates full of food. “Chocolate! Candy! Chips! This is the best Halloween ever and I didn’t even have to put on a costume to get it!!!!”
“Calm down, Evan” Michael replied, as he held onto his son’s shoulder and placed his food down on a table. “Pace yourself.”
“This is amazing” Michael’s mother said, as she put her plate down on the table and plopped herself down on the couch. “A real trailer, like a Hollywood star would have.”
“You guys can wait in here when the crew is setting up shots or when you’re not needed on set” Josh said. “It makes it easy for us to keep an eye on you and also gives Evan some privacy to change into outfits for wardrobe to look at.”
“This is amazing!” Evan exclaimed, as he sat down next to his grandmother on the couch. “Thank you so much dad!”
“Don’t forget to thank your uncle Josh, too” Michael replied.
“Thank you uncle Josh! You’re the best!”
“Thank you, Evan” Josh replied. “You guys really helped me out in a pinch. It’s the least I could do to repay you. I have some other surprises for you today, as well.”
“Yay! I can't wait!”
“I’m looking forward to this” Michael’s mother said. “The anticipation is killing me.”
“It’ll be a great day” Josh said with a smile.
“Josh?” Michael asked.
“Yes, Michael?”
“Thank you.”
Josh nodded, as he exited the trailer. Michael sat down on the couch next to his mother and Evan. They dug into their breakfasts and waited for the wardrobe people to come in and talk with them. Right next door, Tom was being taken to the adjoining trailer with Buddy. Buddy looked up to see his name on the door.
“Wow” Freddy thought to himself. “I’m a star. Or really, the dog I became is a star. I just get to play the part of Buddy for the day, though no one will ever know about it, hopefully.”
“This is your trailer” Gary said to Tom. “I kept Lady in here with a PA who has been watching her.”
Gary opened the door to a female PA scratching Lady behind the ears.
“She’s been no trouble” the PA said, as she got up to look at Gary, Tom and Buddy. “She’s a good girl. She’s just a bit nervous.”
“She’ll be fine” Tom replied, as he led Buddy into the trailer.
“I’ll be back in a few to take Buddy to set” Gary said. “Do you want us to go without you or do you want to come along?”
“Who will watch Lady then?” Tom asked.
“I’m not sure” the PA replied “because I have to get back to set.”
“Let me think about it.”
“Sure thing” Gary replied, as the other PA left the trailer.
Stepping inside, Tom was impressed with the small, but cozy space. There was a dog bed on the floor, which Lady was occupying, along with a couch and a mirror.
“I could get used to this” Tom thought to himself, as Buddy walked over to Lady and licked her face.
Gary closed the door and left Tom alone with his dogs. In the adjoining trailer to Tom’s, Evan had devoured his two big plates of food, while Michael and his mother ate at a more moderate pace. Tom ate a full plate of food in his trailer, occasionally feeding Buddy and Lady some bacon. Both of the dogs barked happily in appreciation, as they devoured the pieces that Tom gave to them.
“This will do for now” Freddy thought to himself, feeling sated with the bacon strips. “Certainly better than that god awful dog food Tom had in his house.”
After they all ate, a wardrobe assistant came in to look at Evan in his trailer.
“Let me size you up” she said.
Evan stood still, as the wardrobe assistant eyed him up and down. She was not impressed with the clothes he was wearing and would insist upon a change in attire. She went over to the rack and pulled out a few shirts and pants.
“Here’s what I want you to do” she said, as she handed Evan the clothes. “Go into the bathroom and change into the following things in this order. Green shirt and khakis first, blue shirt and red corduroys second and red shirt and jeans third. Got it?”
Evan nodded, as he walked into the trailer restroom and closed the door behind him. Over the course of a few minutes, Evan stepped out into the three outfits, in the order the wardrobe assistant instructed him to wear them. She wasn’t particularly impressed with any of them, until she had him make another change.
“Put the green shirt on with the jeans this time” she suggested.
Evan took off the red shirt and put back on the green shirt. When he showed her this look, she nodded in approval.
“Perfect. That’s the look I want. You can keep your other clothes in here until we’re done shooting for the day.”
“Ok” Evan replied.
Just as the wardrobe assistant was finished and left the trailer, the hair and makeup team, a man and a woman, came in and looked him over.
“Makeup is fine” the woman said, as she left the trailer.
“Let me just fix your hair real quick, buddy” the man said.
The hair stylist sat Evan in the makeup chair and made a few snips to his hair with his scissors. He put some gel in Evan’s hair and then blow dried it off to the side.
“Perfect” he said, as Evan got out of the chair. “They’ll be taking you to set shortly.”
The hair stylist left, as Evan sat with his dad and grandmother on the couch. A few minutes later, a female PA came to their trailer, while Gary came back to Tom and Buddy’s trailer.
“Come with me” the PA said to Michael, his mother and Evan.
“What did you decide about Lady?” Gary asked Tom in his trailer.
“I’m going to stay with her” Tom replied, as Buddy ran up to Gary.
“Alright. You can trust us to keep tabs on your dog at all times, Tom. We’ll take good care of Buddy and bring him back in here when we don’t need him.”
“I hope so.”
Gary took Buddy by the leash and walked him over to set. The dog could see Evan walking with his husband and his mother in law, with another PA alongside them.
“We’re back together again” Freddy thought to himself, as Buddy kept up the pace. “If only for a moment, we are back together again as a family.”
When they all arrived at the first location, they could see cameras getting set up to film the first shots of the day. The director approached them, ready to give them a rundown on the scenes to come.
“So today” he began “we have a large number of shots we need to take. Where’s Tom?”
“He’s in his trailer” Gary replied nervously. “He wanted to keep an eye on that dog of his in heat.”
The director smacked his forehead.
“Ugh. Son of a…never mind. I just wanted to know what tricks Buddy is capable of, that’s all.”
“Let’s try to find out now” Evan suggested, as he looked down at Buddy.
“Oh god” Freddy thought to himself, not looking forward to acting as Evan’s pet.
“Shake.”
Buddy extended his paw to shake Evan’s hand.
“Speak.”
Buddy let out a series of barks. The director smiled, happy that the dog was so responsive to Evan’s commands.
“Lie down.”
Buddy laid down in the grass.
“Roll over.”
Buddy rolled over onto his back.
“Play dead.”
Buddy closed his eyes and kept perfectly still.
“This dog is well trained” the director commented with a big smile on his face.
Buddy barked, as he got back up to look at Evan. Evan giggled, as he scratched Buddy behind the ears.
“You don’t need to get Tom” the director said to Gary. “I think this dog gets the gist of what we’re going to want from him today.”
“Ok boss” Gary replied.
“So let’s start filming, shall we?”
The cameras began rolling, as Evan and Buddy, who was actually his papa Freddy, were filmed doing a series of commands on camera. Buddy barked happily at Evan’s prompting, jumped up in the air and let Evan pet him all over. After the cameras caught some good shots, the director insisted on a wide shot for the next scene.
“So here’s what I want from you guys” the director said to Evan, as he put a ball to Buddy’s snout. “I want you, Evan, to take this ball and throw it as far as you can. Look like you’re having fun playing fetch with your pet dog.”
“That’ll be easy enough” Evan replied, as he rubbed Buddy’s back.
The director handed Evan the ball, before he got behind the camera. When the slate was taken and the director yelled action, the cameras caught Evan throwing the ball to Buddy multiple times. Evan was having so much fun. Not only was he able to play with his papa as a dog, which he had wanted to do since Freddy first transformed in his office months before, Evan was getting paid to do it. What more could he possibly ask for?
Buddy became distracted, chasing the ball and handing it back to his son. At first, he was a little timid with the actions, but the more he did them, the more Freddy lost himself in his canine instincts. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was having fun playing with his son. It was, hopefully, a once in a lifetime opportunity for them to bond and for Freddy to spend quality time with his son.
“Plus” Freddy thought to himself, as Buddy grabbed the ball and put it in his mouth “if it’ll help Josh get a regular job out of it, then I’m happy to help. I just hope Michael isn’t too bummed out about this.”
Michael stood off to the side, as he watched his son play fetch with his husband as a dog. So far, things were going according to plan. Tom was away in his trailer and the cameras were getting their necessary shots. However, at a certain point, he’d need to get Freddy out of there, before the shoot wrapped for the day. He was glad Tom was kept in his trailer, as it would be easy to sneak Freddy out without him noticing. Michael was just waiting for the right opportunity to pull off the dognapping heist that was required to rescue his husband.
What did bother him, though, was the female dog in heat.
“My instincts were right about that” Michael thought to himself. “I don’t know how Tom even got the money to get another dog, but he had one, as I suspected. I really hope Freddy resisted the temptation and didn’t breed her.”
When the crew was done filming the fetch scene, they let out a loud round of applause. Buddy barked happily and went over to lick Evan's face.
“Good job, Evan” Freddy thought to himself, as Buddy woofed happily, proud of his son.
“Thanks papa” Evan whispered to Buddy, as he scratched him behind the ears.
“He remembered me. That’s good at least.”
The director ran up to them, proud of the work they had done so far.
“Great job, Evan” the director said. “And you too, Buddy. We got some great shots back there. Let’s move on to the next scene and keep things on schedule.”
“Moving on!” a PA said loudly to the crew.
The crew moved the camera and other equipment to a picnic bench that was set up in another area of the park. The director motioned Evan and Buddy to follow him. Evan held onto Buddy’s leash and took him over the table.
“You can go back in the trailer for a bit” the director said to Evan, as he motioned Gary to take Buddy’s leash.
“Ok” Evan replied, as he went over to his dad and his grandmother.
“Are you ready to eat, boy?” the director whispered to Buddy, urging him to put his paws on the seat of the bench.
“No” Freddy thought to himself, as a bowl of dog food was placed before him. “This stuff looks and smells worse than the stuff Tom gave me at his house earlier. I can’t eat this. I think I’m going to barf now.”
Buddy heaved and shook nervously, as the director called out to Gary.
“Get Tom out here!”
“Yes boss” Gary replied.
“Monica!”
“Yes boss” the female PA replied.
“Watch Lady in the trailer, while Tom comes out here. I need help getting this dog to calm down, so we can film this next shot.”
“Yes boss.”
Gary and Monica ran to Tom’s trailer, with Michael, his son and his mother dragging behind them. Michael didn’t want to leave Freddy unattended like that, but he didn’t want to disobey the director’s orders either. Sighing, he made his way into Evan’s trailer, as he watched Gary pull Tom out of the other one.
Quickly, Gary and Tom ran back over to set. When they arrived, Tom went up to the director.
“Is there a problem here?” he asked.
“He’s been good so far” the director replied "but he’s been refusing to eat this dog food. That’s the whole point of this commercial. He has to eat it or we can’t go on with the shoot.”
“I’ll handle it. Buddy.”
Tom rubbed Buddy’s back and nudged his head into the bowl.
“Time to eat. Aren’t you hungry, boy?”
Buddy whined, resisting the urge to shake his head. He didn’t want to tip off Tom again as to who he really was.
“Come on boy, dig up. The sooner you do that, the sooner we can move on to the next shot and go home for the day.”
Accepting what was required of him, Buddy placed his head on top of the bowl. He tentatively licked a piece of the dog food with his tongue. He shuddered at the awful taste, with a gentle and encouraging pat on the back from Tom to spur him on further.
“That’s it, boy. Just do that when they yell action.”
Tom walked back over to the director and gave him the thumbs up.
“I think I convinced him” he said.
“I hope so” the director replied. “Let’s get into position, folks!”
“Got it!” the camera operator replied.
The director took a series of shots of Buddy eating the dog food from the bowl. The more Buddy ate it, the more grossed out Freddy got. Five long, grueling takes later, the director got what he needed to move on.
“You can take a break for lunch” the director said to Tom.
“Going for lunch!” a PA said. “Back in at 1!”
The crew scrambled to get themselves lunch from the catering tables. Inside of Evan’s trailer, the three of them sat around and talked to pass the time. Evan ate a few pieces of junk food, which Michael was not happy with.
“Save your appetite” Michael said. “Lunch is coming soon.”
“But dad” Evan replied. “It’s candy. Who doesn’t like candy?”
“I’m sure they’ll let you take it home with you, Evan dear” his grandmother replied.
Evan sulked, as Michael rubbed his hair.
“Be good today. This is a special treat. This probably won’t happen again for a long time, if ever. Be appreciative that you’re going to be on TV after the day is done.”
As Evan shrugged his shoulders, a knock could be heard on the trailer door.
“Lunch time!” Monica replied from the other end of the door.
“We’ll be out in a second!” Michael replied.
“I’m not so hungry” Evan said.
“Of course you’re not, because you ruined your appetite by eating junk food and candy.”
“Relax, Michael” his mother replied, as she got up and took Evan by the hand. “He’ll eat. Don’t you worry about that. He could always use more food. He doesn’t seem to be getting enough at home.”
“I feed him plenty, mom! I just don’t want to get him fat.”
“He’s just so skinny though. Look at him.”
“It’s ok, grandma” Evan replied.
“Nonsense. Growing boys like you need to eat more. Now come on, let’s get some lunch.”
The three of them left the trailer to grab something for lunch. Back at Buddy’s trailer, Tom spoke to the PA, Gary.
“Would you mind bringing me something?” Tom asked. “I really don’t want to leave Lady alone by herself.”
“Sure” Gary replied reluctantly. “Anything you want in particular?”
“Surprise me. Also, get some stuff that the dogs can eat, too.”
“Some more dog food, perhaps?”
Buddy let out a loud whine, which Gary chuckled out.
“He wasn’t a big fan of the stuff, huh?”
“He’s a spoiled boy” Tom replied, as he scratched Buddy behind the ears. “He only really likes human food, though he should be eating more dog food.”
Gary nodded, as he made his way out of the trailer to grab them some lunch. Across town, a chauffeured car was driving the mayor and three of his advisors, Marley, Dennis and Adam, to the set.
“I can’t wait” the mayor said with anticipation in his voice. “This is going to be the day I secure victory on election day.”
“I’m just happy that our town has an actual commercial being filmed here” Adam replied. “I don’t think our town has ever had that before, has it?”
“Not that I can recall” Dennis replied.
“Eh, whatever” the mayor said dismissively. “Irrelevant.”
“But sir” Marley interjected “this is good news for your election. Think about all the money we’re bringing in today. Think about how you can say you’re bringing jobs and productions to this town. That alone could help widen the gap in the polls against Freddy for next week’s election.”
“That alone won’t do it, especially since we practically paid this fucking production company to shoot here today. After all the tax incentives we gave them, we’re barely making any revenue from this. No, there’s a bigger goal in mind with having this commercial shot in our town today.”
The mayor stroked the Ruggeri ring that was tightly bound to his finger.
“No, this is the day that Fredy Benson’s campaign ends once and for all.”
When the mayor arrived to set….