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2 DAYS TO MAKE A MOVIE...
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SUNDAY MORNING WAS bleak and grey. Jack grimaced at the weather. It mirrored how he felt exactly. The tension that had been with him since Davy had kicked him out on Friday was still there. He tugged his weary legs out of bed and headed to his balcony, hoping that some time on his treadmill would deal with the stress. He pounded the miles. He couldn’t see the waves crashing in the distance. All he could see was Davy’s stricken face when she’d realised that he’d been playing with her. Part of him was angry. How was he supposed to know that the movie meant that much to her? The rest of him was afraid. What if she never talked to him again? Usually running calmed him. Not anymore. Davy generated too much stress for the machine to cope with.
The doorbell rang and he went to answer it, expecting to find Andy on the other side.
“You are a complete and utter fool,” Marianne said as she stalked into his apartment. Jack glanced at the clock – barely eight a.m.
“Come on in,” Jack called behind her.
Although she couldn’t have been more than five foot six and built like a daisy, he wasn’t taking any chances. He put himself between her and the kitchen. The last thing he wanted was Davy’s scary friend to have access to a weapon.
“You really screwed this up, didn’t you?”
Jack wasn’t quite sure how he was supposed to answer that so he said nothing.
“Davina has been hiding under her duvet since Friday night. She won’t even eat chocolate. And you’re to blame.”
Jack held up his hands.
“Now wait a minute. I didn’t put a gun to her head and force her to steal from her workplace.”
“Ha!” Marianne said. “Davina knew there was a chance that would blow up in her face, but you? You were a surprise. You betrayed her. You laughed at her whole life, you mocked everything she’s been working towards for years. How would you like it if someone did that to you?”
“Look,” Jack said reasonably. “How was I supposed to know that the movie was serious?”
Marianne rolled her eyes.
“You were listening to everything she said. You might have heard a clue.” She threw the bug on the coffee table. Jack swallowed his embarrassment. “I found that when I was cleaning last night.”
Jack folded his arms and tried to look mean.
“So what?” he said.
“So, moron, you heard her go on and on about this film being her last chance as an actress, and yet you still thought it was a joke. You thought she was a joke.”
She stepped towards him and poked him in the arm for emphasis.
“Just because something isn’t important to you, doesn’t mean it isn’t important. I’m really angry with you, Jack. And to make matters worse, I’m fed up with listening to Davina go on about how betrayed she feels. There’s just so much moping a woman can take. Now, it’s doing my head in.”
She waited. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her that he didn’t answer to her and that he wasn’t afraid of her either. Seriously, Davy and Marianne had an exaggerated sense of their own abilities to intimidate. He was six foot two. He could snap Marianne in half if he wanted to. She seemed to be reading his mind, which was a little disconcerting.
“You know, a lady never hits,” she told him. She was pulling a Davy, messing with his head, making it hard to follow the conversation. “But she can break in and sprinkle laxative on all your foods, or block all your drains, or sign you up for a life time supply of Tampax.” She stepped towards him. “Or put you on every gay dating site in Brighton. Amongst other things. I have a head full of ideas. One a week for the next three years and I wouldn’t use them up.”
“That’s harassment. It’s an offence.”
“You would have to catch me, and trust me, you’re not that good.”
“Fine. I’m just waiting for some stuff to come together so I can approach her in the right way.” Jack took a deep breath. “I will fix things. I was planning to fix things before you interfered, just so you know. Fixing things isn’t your idea.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I don’t care whose idea it is, numbnuts, I just want you to stop being an idiot and apologise to Davy in a way that will make her hear it. Got it?”
“Can you get out now?”
“With pleasure.”
She stormed to the door.
“And take a shower. You stink,” she said before she slammed the door behind her.
Jack sat on his old grey sofa, put his face in his hands and concentrated on breathing slowly. A month ago he spent his time watching daytime TV and eating cold pizza. Now, he had to deal with two insane women. He pitied the man who ever took on Marianne. In the meantime, he had his own problems. He had to figure out what to do with Davy, and fast. Otherwise he’d be eating hidden laxatives and dealing with blocked plumbing at the same time. Not a delightful thought. He reached for the phone. It was time to put a rush on the job he’d ordered. By the sounds of things, the sooner he presented his gift to Davina and smoothed things over, the better.
“Get out of bed,” Marianne ordered. “You have visitors.”
Davina buried her head further under the duvet.
“If it’s Jack you can tell him to go to...”
The duvet disappeared. Bright sunlight attacked Davina as she shivered against the cold.
“I said visitors. Plural. Get dressed. I’ll make them tea.”
Marianne disappeared mumbling something about feeling like the housekeeper before Davina could ask about the visitors. She pressed her head back into the pillow and groaned. The last thing she wanted to do was see people. She didn’t even want to see daylight. She wanted to hide in bed until she miraculously felt better about life. If that ever happened.
“Davina?” Marianne’s voice hollered up the stairs.
Davina pummelled the mattress in frustration but dragged herself out of bed anyway. She glanced at the clock and was surprised to see how late in the morning it was – she’d been asleep for about fourteen hours. Even she knew that wasn’t a good thing. Ten minutes later she was dressed in blue jeans, knitted socks and an old grey sweatshirt. She’d pulled her hair into a messy knot on top of her head and hadn’t bothered with makeup. She was pretty proud that she’d had the energy to brush her teeth. Everything else felt like a mountain.
Davina’s heart sank when she entered the kitchen to find the three teenage boys from her movie, flanked by their mothers. Great. Now she’d get it for corrupting their minors as well as everything else. Marianne handed her a hot mug of tea with a smile so fake everyone must have noticed.
“Be nice,” Marianne hissed.
“Hello,” Davina said, then she stopped. She had no idea what else to say.
“You must be Davina,” one of the women said as she stood.
She stepped towards Davina and for a second Davina thought the woman was going to hit her.
“Madge Carmichael, David’s mother,” the woman said as she stuck out her hand.
“Pleased to meet you,” Davina mumbled as she gave Marianne a confused look.
Marianne shrugged, clearly no wiser than Davina.
“We wanted to come see you in person and thank you for your efforts with the boys,” Madge said cheerily. “We were sad to hear that the project has finished.”
Huh? Davina knew she was standing with her mouth hanging open, she just didn’t seem to have the energy to shut it.
“Yes,” one of the other mothers said. “It’s amazing the change in attitude since the boys started helping with your movie. Brian’s suddenly seen the importance of an English qualification and his teachers across the board have commented that he has more focus.”
The last woman patted her son’s head, making him grumble.
“Josh here wants to be a film director,” she said proudly. “Before your encouragement, we thought he’d be unemployed and playing computer games for the rest of his life.”
Davina felt like she was in an alternate universe.
“So,” she said at last, “you’re not angry?”
“Good heavens no,” Madge said with a chuckle. “What gave you that idea?”
Davina shook her head slightly.
“I was under the impression that you didn’t know about the movie,” she told them.
“Ah,” one of the mothers said, as the three of them shared a look, “we didn’t at first, but teenage boys aren’t that good at keeping secrets.”
“Thank heavens,” said the other.
“Amen,” said Madge.
“We were a bit annoyed about them missing school and then we started to get reports that their effort had improved, and their absences didn’t matter so much after that,” Brian’s mum said.
“No, I looked on it as work experience,” said Joshua’s mum.
“Huh,” said Davina again.
She plopped down in the old armchair. They all smiled at her. They seemed to be waiting for something.
“The movie was a disaster,” she said. “I didn’t even finish it.”
Madge beamed at her.
“It might not have reached your expectations but it surpassed ours.” She grinned at her son. “You really lit a fire under these boys.”
Davina tried to smile back. They seemed to expect more of a response than that.
“Well, that’s nice,” she said. “Any time.”
The women gathered their things. Each one shaking her hand and thanking her personally as they left. Joshua lagged behind, hanging his head shyly.
“When I’m a movie director,” he told her, “I’m casting you in everything I make. Just like Tim Burton and Johnny Depp.”
“Thanks,” Davina said.
He turned beetroot red and ran from the room. For a second Davina stared after him.
“Do you hear that, Mar?” she told her friend. “I only have to wait another ten or twenty years and I’ll get a movie role.”
“Good to know you have a plan for the future,” Marianne said. “Now how about helping me to clean up? I feel like the live-in maid, only I don’t live here and I’m not your bloody maid.”
“Fine,” Davina grumbled as she picked up the dishes. “Nobody forced you to take time off work to hassle me.”
“Help you.” Marianne corrected. “And yes, somebody did force me. You.”
Davina ignored Marianne. If there was one thing she knew about her friend it was that no one could force her to do anything. Well, no one outside of her family anyway.
As she put away the mugs, her head was reeling. It wasn’t every day that she was told she’d had an impact on someone’s life. Three someones, in fact. It boggled the mind. After a while pondering the visit, Davina decided to file it under ‘things she would never understand.’ It sat there along with her thoughts on bank charges and views on pedal-pushers.
As the day progressed, it became increasingly stranger. Students from the evening class she taught came to tell her how much she’d influenced and inspired them in their career choices. Her boss from the college paid a visit and suggested that she apply to become a full time member of staff as soon as there was a vacancy. Davina was touched. Her tiny film crew had rallied and were trying to make her feel better. Each one of them told her not to be sad, that they’d had a great time working with her and would do it again in a heartbeat. Marianne added that next time they made a movie, it would be nice if it was legal.
By the end of the day Davina was beyond stunned. She felt like someone had reached into her head with a whisk and scrambled her brain.
“It’s not just me, is it, Marianne?” she said as she put her feet up on the old stool beside the living room couch. “This has been the strangest day, hasn’t it?”
“No kidding,” Marianne said from her perch in one of the armchairs. “I didn’t know you were so popular.”
“Neither did I. They seemed genuine, didn’t they?” she said.
“Yes, they all seemed genuinely eager to risk a jail sentence to work with you again.”
Davina lobbed a pillow at her head.
“Still,” she said. “It was nice of them to tell me. Even if it was out of pity. I did make a catastrophic cock-up of this whole thing, didn’t I?”
Marianne sipped her tea.
“Let’s just say you made the phrase ‘one-track-mind’ resemble a runaway train.”
Davina stared through the old bay window into the garden and her heart clenched. It felt like the only person in the whole of Brighton that she hadn’t seen was Jack. And she didn’t want to see him anyway. She bit her lip. She was almost one hundred percent sure that she never wanted to see him again. Well, maybe ninety percent.
“There’s a lesson in this,” Marianne said. Her head was resting on the back of the chair and her eyes were closed.
“Don’t use things without permission?”
Marianne opened one eye.
“How about: don’t become too obsessed?”
“And don’t hire amateurs?”
“Don’t be afraid to change your life plan, maybe?”
“Don’t eat too many brownies?”
Marianne grinned at her. “I don’t think you’re taking this seriously.”
Davina sighed, but she definitely didn’t feel as worn down as she had done earlier.
“I think I went about this the wrong way,” she said. “Next time, it needs a bit more planning.”
“Next time?!”
Marianne let out a long cat-like wail and they both collapsed into giggles.
“Now all we need is for Jack to apologise and things can get back to normal around here. Or at least what passes for normal in your life.”
Davina sat up straight.
“What did you do?”
Marianne blushed.
“Well, you were so upset. Suicidal, practically.”
Davina folded her arms.
“I’ve never been suicidal.”
“Fine.” Marianne threw her hands in the air. “I was feeling murderous. Same difference. You still end up dead. I was fed up with you moping around, going all ‘woe is me, I’ll never be an actress’.”
“My life fell apart on Friday,” Davina said. “It’s only been two days.”
“Trust me, with your penchant for drama two days is a very long time.”
“What did you do?”
Marianne sighed heavily.
“Fine, after Jack upset you and stomped all over your dreams, I may have had a word with him.”
Davina shot to her feet.
“You did not!”
Marianne at least had the decency to look guilty.
“It was bad enough that you lost your job and the movie was over, but the thing that made you most upset was that Jack had made fun of you. I tried to fix it.”
“That wasn’t the thing that made me most upset. How could you think that?”
“Oh, I don’t know, you wandered around the house gathering equipment to return to the studio mumbling to yourself that Jack didn’t even know you, that he didn’t understand you, that he made fun of you. Maybe there was a hint in that.”
“Oh.” Davina sat back down.
“This isn’t my fault,” Marianne said. “It’s yours. You act like the world is ending just because your movie was a failure. But, as today clearly showed you, you are not defined by your acting ambitions.”
“Huh,” Davina said.
They sat in silence for a while. Davina stared out into the garden and wondered if the place would ever feel the same without Jack lurking in the bushes.
“I only ever wanted to be an actress,” she said at last. “It was my dream.”
“Time to get a new dream,” Marianne said primly.
Davina blew her a raspberry.
“I’m going home,” Marianne said wearily. “Why don’t you write a list of all the things you love to do and all the things you’re good at and come up with a new dream?”
“It isn’t that easy.”
“Fine, just sit there feeling sorry for yourself instead.”
Marianne picked up her coat from the chair by the door. She smiled sympathetically as she left the room.
Davina nuked the rest of lasagna left from lunch and sat at the table to eat. There was a pen and notepad on the table in front of her so she reached for it. Damn Marianne and her oh so practical ideas. She made a list headed ‘Things I love’ and started to write. Acting, definitely. Teaching, surprisingly. Baking, absolutely. Feeding people. Messing in people’s lives. Inspiring people. Getting her hair done. Shopping. Eating. Jack.
She dropped her pen and stared at the list.
Jack. Where the heck did that come from?
She looked at the list again. It clearly said: Things I love. And there was his name. She read the list out loud. It all made sense until she came to Jack’s name. She couldn’t. She didn’t. It wasn’t possible. He was an imbecile. A moron. Annoying and rude. And sexy. And funny. Cute. Maybe a little sweet. She shook her head. Her palms began to sweat. She left the rest of her lasagna and started to pace.
Surely if she was in love she would feel happy about it? Mainly, she felt nauseous and her head hurt. She sat back down at the table. Her mind ran through the events from the past two weeks. There had definitely been chemistry between them, chemistry that went bang when they got too close, but that didn’t mean it was love. She wasn’t ready for love. She was waiting. For what she wasn’t sure, but definitely until she was ready.
She stood in a panic. Surely a woman knew when she was ready for love?
This didn’t make any sense.
There was only one thing to do. Confront the problem. She rooted around in the paperwork the lawyer had sent over telling her that her landlord had changed and found Jack’s home phone number. Without thinking it through, she dialled.
“Hello,” Jack’s deep voice said in her ear, making her belly clench and her nipples stand to attention.
Attraction. Definitely animal attraction.
“I don’t love you,” she told him by way of hello.
“Good to know,” he drawled.
“I don’t appreciate you interfering in my life either.”
“I think you actually have to have a life for me to interfere.”
“That’s exactly the kind of thing that makes me not love you,” she told him. “You have no idea who I am.”
“You know you sound crazier than usual, right?”
He had a point. She hung up.
Davina stared at her reflection in the dark glass of the window. There was a mad glint in her eye that just wasn’t attractive.
She looked at the phone. What was she doing? She dropped it onto the table beside the list and stomped out of the room. She’d had enough of this day. She was going to bed. She scowled all the way up the stairs.
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JACK HUNG UP WITH A stupid grin on his face. Davy, Davy, crazy lady. She didn’t love him. She called to tell him she didn’t love him.
Which meant – she did love him and she couldn’t handle it.
Jack grinned wider. Her huff with him was obviously over. Now she’d moved on to something else. What, he wasn’t sure, but at least she was talking to him again. Talking and freaking out. He started to laugh. Davina Davenport loved him. And she was seriously cheesed off about it. He wiped a tear from his eye, he was laughing so hard.
It was only when he calmed down that he realised something else. The fact she loved him didn’t freak him out. In fact, it made him feel kind of proud. She might not like her new-found feelings, but he definitely did. And wasn’t that a revelation?