(For His Pleasure 14) With His Belief (9 page)

“Of course, of course.” Eliza composed her face into a mock serious expression.

“You’re just doing your duty for God and country. Understood.”

Scarlett tried to figure out how everything had gotten all changed around and she was suddenly being scrutinized by Eliza Johnston. “I came here to tell you about the shooting schedule. That’s all.”

“Sometimes plans change.” Eliza grinned mischievously. “You should remember that, Scarlett. This can be a very, very tough business. And there’s a pecking order when it comes to romance.”

Scarlett shrugged, her hands feeling numb, her breath shallow. “If you say so. It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Well, maybe one day my advice will come in handy. I wish someone had explained this to me when I first started working in the industry. There’s a pecking order.

And the stars get their pick when it comes to flings and romance on set. It doesn’t really make sense to go above your pay grade. In fact, it’s a recipe for disaster.”

“Thanks for the tip. I appreciate it.” Scarlett kept her voice steady and cool.

“Glad you appreciate it.” Eliza sighed. “Okay, well—you can go now.”

Scarlett turned and left the trailer without another word.

***

They finally began shooting about an hour later. They set up a shot in a small alleyway of the amusement park that was made to look like a street corner from a different part of the movie.

There was scrambling to get one of the secondary actors to the set in time to play opposite Eliza, but eventually it worked out.

Bryson was harried and short on patience, but he seemed to be getting his bearings a little once they were working.

Scarlett watched him as he watched the monitors during takes. He wore headphones and would call cut, pulling the headphones off and then converse with the director of photography and assistant director.

They were on the third take when Lydia came running up to Eliza, squealing with delight. Clearly, the girl had no clue about what “quiet on set” meant.

She blew the take with all her noise.

“Cut!” Bryson yelled, turning around, his face almost purple. “What the fuck is going on, on my set?”

Lydia fell silent. Scarlett stared at him, a lump in her throat. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “She didn’t know we were filming.”

“She didn’t
know?
Was she confused by the cameras and people and the actors acting?”

“It’s my fault,” Scarlett said.

“You and her—get out of here,” he growled.

Everyone on set was watching the drama unfold, and the last thing Scarlett wanted to do was give them an eye full. “Okay, we’re going,” she said. “Come on Lydia.”

Lydia looked at Bryson balefully, as if considering a sharp retort, but Scarlett pulled her from the area as quickly as she could. They started to walk through the empty park, Lydia bitching and moaning as they went.

“What’s his problem, anyway? I didn’t know—how could I know they were in the middle of a scene? I thought it was like a rehearsal or something. I figured everything would be like—car chases, explosions, you know? Exciting stuff, at least.”

Scarlett had to bite her tongue.

Maybe if you talked less and paid more attention, you’d have noticed people were
trying to work. Maybe you wouldn’t have been screaming and yelling and carrying on
before knowing what was and wasn’t acceptable on a film set.
But of course, Scarlett couldn’t say any of that. As it was, Lydia was a time bomb that was ready to explode at any moment, completely unstable and unpredictable, and best of all—Scarlett was at her mercy.

“I thought Bryson was a nice guy,” she muttered. “Turns out he’s just like Hunter and all these other rich snobs around here.”

“He’s under a lot of stress,” Scarlett said.

“Why do you always take their side?”

“I don’t mean to take sides.”

“Well you should—you should take my side. I’m your best friend.”

“It’s a misunderstanding,” Scarlett told her. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Sure, just like it was a misunderstanding how that bitch Danielle talked to me last night, and how Nicole defended her.” Lydia looked at her imploringly. “Am I really such a bad person? Am I really so unlikeable, Scarlett?”

“Of course not.” Scarlett chose her words carefully. “But I think sometimes you do come on a little strong.”

Lydia sighed. “I just want people to like me. But somehow I’m always on the outside, I’m never in the group. Even in high school, it was just like this. I was cute, the boys liked me, but just for a make out session or trying to get their rocks off. No one wanted to be my boyfriend, and the girls were all jealous. They all hated me.”

“I’m sorry. High school sucks.”

Lydia nodded miserably. “College wasn’t much different. And then everything changed when I met Sean. Sean was a popular guy and he actually loved me, he liked spending time with me. I thought finally I’d be accepted by all of the cool people around him. But they ended up hating me just like everyone always has.”

“I think maybe you’re being too hard on yourself, Lydia. Maybe you need to stop trying so hard to please others.”

Scarlett had to restrain herself from cracking a smile as she said those words.

Lydia trying to please others? She was perhaps the most self-involved person that Scarlett had ever run across, and she’d met her fair share of self-centered narcissists.

“You’re right,” Lydia said, brightening. “I need to be myself. If someone doesn’t like me, it’s their loss. Right, bestie?”

Scarlett nodded, unable to even respond. They continued walking, and Scarlett tried to figure out when it might be safe to return to set. Would she have a chance to explain to Bryson what was going on? The way he had yelled at them in front of everyone was embarrassing, but she couldn’t really blame him.

Bringing Lydia to the shoot today had been reckless and the fact that it impacted the scene for even a moment was inexcusable. Lydia was not Bryson’s problem.

“Oh my God,” Lydia hissed, stopping short and staring straight ahead.

Scarlett looked up. She’d been staring at her feet, lost in thought. But now, not twenty feet in front of them, a familiar figure was making his way through the grounds.

“Is that who I think it is?” Lydia whispered, reaching out and clutching Scarlett’s sleeve.

“Yeah,” Scarlett said, “It’s Dale Nolan.”

“I’m going to pass out.” Her grip on Scarlett’s arm tightened. “Seriously.”

“Please don’t.”

Dale made eye contact with them and slowly smiled. He was dressed casually in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt, a baseball cap cocked sideways on his head. “Ladies,” he said, and tipped his hat. “What are you doing wandering around these parts?”

Lydia shook visibly. “I have to say, I am a huge fan of yours.”

Dale came closer. Her admission didn’t appear to faze him. “Thanks. What’s your name?”

“Lydia.” She reached out her hand and he took it gently, shaking it and making direct eye contact for a longer time than necessary.

“Lydia,” Dale repeated, like it was an exotic word he’d never heard before.

“That’s a really beautiful name. And I can tell there’s a beautiful soul to go along with it.”

Lydia flushed. “I can’t believe Dale Nolan just called me beautiful.”

Scarlett wanted to puke. Did he have a clue what he was unleashing here?

“I heard there was some friction between you and Bryson,” Scarlett said. “Sorry to hear that.”

Dale’s expression went from friendly to mistrusting in an instant. “What did he tell you about it?”

“Nothing really,” she quickly added. “He just said that he felt bad that there was a miscommunication between the two of you.”

“It wasn’t really a miscommunication,” Dale said. “I told him we have a dialog problem and he told me to go fuck myself. That’s not exactly a miscommunication.”

Scarlett was a little surprised that Bryson hadn’t been more clear with her about the nature of the issue. He’d said that Dale wanted changes to the script, but he didn’t say it was about the dialog.

“Bryson should listen to you,” Lydia told him confidently. “I mean, you’re a huge star and you’ve been doing movies for awhile now. I think you know what you’re doing.”

Dale grinned. “I really like her,” he told Scarlett. “You got anymore of her around here?”

“There’s only one,” Scarlett said.

“I’m just myself,” Lydia said, giving Scarlett a proud look. “I’m not one for mincing my words.”

“Good, because I’m so sick of these fake Hollywood types who just tell me what I want to hear to my face and then talk shit behind my back.”

“Oh, please, tell me about it,” Lydia said. “I was just saying the same to Scarlett.”

Dale folded his arms and turned to Scarlett. “Maybe we should let her talk to our fearless director and shake some sense into him.”

“Listen,” Lydia said. “I promise that Bryson will do what you want. Scarlett is very close to him. She’s his right hand girl. And I’m her right hand girl. So between the two of us, we’ll get through to him.”

“Do you mean that?”

“I don’t say it if I don’t mean it,” Lydia promised. “Ask Scarlett.”

Dale looked at Scarlett. “Will you get Bryson to listen to reason about the rewrites? We need to fix the damn dialog or this movie is going to go down as one of the biggest disappointments in film history.” His eyes hardened. “I’d rather make sure this movie never gets released at all than attach my name to something I don’t believe in.”

“I understand your concerns,” Scarlett said, trying to be careful in choosing her words. After all, she didn’t know if Bryson would listen to anyone or change anything if he didn’t want to do so. “I’ll make sure he hears and understands what you’ve told me.”

Lydia pointed at him. “And after she tells him what you’ve told us, I’ll make damn sure he gets it through his thick skull that he needs to do the right thing.”

“Wow, this woman is amazing.”

“You could say that,” Scarlett replied, her brow gathering beads of sweat.

She wanted to stuff a gag in Lydia’s mouth, but it was too late. The damage had been done.

Dale exhaled, smiling. “Man, I feel so fucking relieved. This is awesome. I was thinking I needed to call my agent and set the attack dogs loose on Bryson. But now, I feel like maybe this whole situation isn’t totally screwed.” He looked at his watch. “It’s lunch time. You girls want to come get some grub with me?”

“Absolutely!” Lydia screeched.

“Have you met Eliza yet?” Dale asked Lydia, throwing his arm over her shoulders as they headed back towards the set.

“Eliza Johnston? God, no. But I’d love to.”

“Well, she usually eats with me, so you’ll definitely hang with her today.”

Scarlett allowed herself to fall slightly back as the two of them walked ahead, chatting like true besties. She was in a bad dream. This couldn’t really be happening right now. Lydia had somehow managed to infiltrate almost every aspect of Scarlett’s life. She was like a virus, and letting her in the door one step had led to a massive infection.

The problem now was that in order to get rid of the infection, Scarlett realized she might risk killing off everything—including Scarlett’s career and personal life.

When they arrived back on set, craft services had set up an enormous buffet of food, with everything from pasta to salads and heavy desserts. There were picnic tables all around and plenty of actors and crewmembers sitting scattered around, or lined up at the hot trays to get their lunch.

Scarlett immediately spotted Bryson. He was walking towards Dale and Lydia.

He stopped and spoke briefly.

She could tell from his facial expressions that he wasn’t happy, although he covered it well, with a smile and laughter that never touched his eyes. Lydia was chirping at him, but Scarlett couldn’t hear what was being said and, frankly, didn’t want to know.

When Bryson was done chatting with them, his eyes locked on hers. He came towards her. “Do you have a second?”

“Of course.”

“Come on, then.” He started walking away from the food and towards the parking lot. He was moving quickly. Eventually, they got to some kind of office where the amusement park staff must normally have been located. Bryson used a key to open the door. “Go in, Scarlett.”

She went inside, her stomach full of butterflies. The office was musty, small, with a couple of old wooden desks, chairs, some filing cabinets and ancient looking desktop computers. “Bryson, I know you’re probably angry with me.”

He slammed the door shut behind him. “Are you trying to ruin my life?” he said.

“Of course not.”

“Could have fooled me. What were you thinking, bringing that nitwit on my film set?”

“It’s complicated.”

“No it isn’t. You’re screwing me up, Scarlett, and I really don’t appreciate it.”

His blue eyes stared unmercifully into hers.

“I’m not trying to screw you up, I swear. It’s the last thing I want to do.”

“You keep saying that, but your actions tell a different story. Now Lydia’s hanging out with Dale Nolan and he said something to me about how Lydia and you would be having a long talk with me later today. What the fuck is that about?”

Scarlett put a hand to her forehead. “I’ll get rid of her. I’ll do what I need to do.

It was a huge mistake bringing her here, but I thought I didn’t have a choice.”

“Why would you think that?” His hands were on his hips as he awaited her answer.

She wanted to tell him about the contract and trying to protect Kallie, but the words wouldn’t come. “I just did. I’d promised to try and include her in things…”

“This isn’t high school,” Bryson said, his voice getting louder. “This isn’t some game for you to play with your friends. This is my life.” She saw the pain and betrayal in his eyes. “Dale Nolan is becoming a thorn in my side, and now I’m starting to think I’ve got nothing but thorns around me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry’s not good enough anymore,” he said, nearly a yell.

Suddenly, it came to her. He was right. Sorry wasn’t good enough anymore.

Scarlett dropped to her knees, looking up at his face. He registered surprise and bewilderment.