It was past ten o’clock at night. Billie barely saw Diana all day, and when she went by the office her best friend was either on the phone or yelling at the fax machine. As people retired to their rooms or the bar for a drink, Billie searched for Diana, but didn’t find her.
She wandered outside, enjoying the warm night air, and heard voices near the trailers. There was one for wardrobe, one for makeup and hair and small mobile dressing rooms for the three lead actors. The other actors had to fend for themselves and huddle in the tents with the crew if they wanted a place to relax between takes.
She wandered closer and recognized Lark’s voice.
“But Ricky, it isn’t fair! I’m just as pretty as Jordyn, right?”
“Yeah, you’re really pretty, but Jordyn, she’s got that whole Hollywood thing. You’re a little more . . . .”
Lark sobbed, and Billie shook her head. Richard sure had a way with words.
“You like her!”
“Jordyn? Yeah, all men do, that’s why we cast her in this film. And if I convince Fay to put that topless scene back in, we’re golden.”
Lark cried harder. “You think I’m ugly!”
“You’re not ugly,” Richard conceded. “Hon, you’re just a lousy actress. I mean, you could do porn, they don’t care about things like getting lines right and stuff. But this is a real film, it needs trained actors.”
The crying slowed to a few sniffles. “You think I’m pretty enough to do porn?”
Billie tried not to groan at Lark’s warped priorities. That girl had a whole suitcase full of issues.
“Oh boy. Wow. You should be in beauty school, not porn. Jesus, Lark, this is why I don’t want you in the movie, that kind of attitude is bad news. If this film was anything like The Armless Hooker, I could get you a part easy. But it’s not. This is some major highbrow stuff. It’s Fay, she puts some really big words in her scripts, psychological bullshit. Tell you what, I’ll see if I can get that nude scene in, and if Jordyn doesn’t want to do it, maybe you can be her body double. It’ll be tasteful.”
“Really?”
The hope in Lark’s voice was enough to make Billie want to lose her dinner.
She peered around the corner and saw Lark and Richard kissing as if their lives depended on it. She wasn’t a prude despite what Diana thought, but it looked like Lark was giving Richard a tonsillectomy.
“Ricky, let’s go skinny dipping!” she said when she broke their kiss.
“I dunno, that lake is pretty cold. Cold water isn’t good for my skin.”
Billie figured that was code for his twig and berries shriveling up if he went skinny dipping.
“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun!” Before Billie could avert her eyes, Lark whipped her tank top over her head.
“Well, I can’t say no to an invitation like that.”
Billie backed into the darkness as they linked hands and jogged toward the lake. When moaning issued from where they’d disappeared, she was glad they were hidden in the shadows. Her lot in life was overhearing other people having sex. Billie headed for the lodge.
Miles and Claudia were on the front porch, Claudia smoking a cigarette in the darkness. Miles was having a beer.
“What’s your hurry?” Claudia asked. “You look like you’ve seen a wechuge.”
“A what?”
“Some forest creeper Joe keeps prattling on about. So what’s got you looking like you’re fleeing for your life?”
“A repeat performance of the other night, but with different leads.” Billie looked at Miles with a wry smile.
“I don’t even want to know who,” he chuckled.
“Who what?” Claudia asked.
“Stick around out here and you’ll probably hear them going at it.” Billie gestured toward the lake. “Night.”
She walked into the quiet lodge and headed up to her room. For once she’d be the one with some gossip to share with Diana.
Diana leaned against Billie, resting her head on Billie’s shoulder.
“That long of a day?” Billie’s tone was sympathetic.
“Grady came in, twice. He’s pissed because I set up a couple interviews with some fansites for Joyce. You remember that old television show she broke out on?”
“Yeah, the one where she was a witch, right?”
“Switch, yeah. Apparently, there’s a cult following. Joyce had a blast doing it, talked the film up and I used those photos you took during rehearsals. It was some great PR, if I do say so myself—and I do—but, if Joyce gets any attention, Grady wants Jordyn to get twice as much. It’s a pain in the ass.”
“Maybe he’ll leave. He’s been here for days. He’s got to have clients in LA who need him.”
“And Dick can’t understand why no reporters want to come out here. I told him he picked the worst possible location, and he started ranting about how perfect it is and how this film requires the ‘right atmosphere’ because it’s a psychological thriller or some shit. The last I checked, this was a slasher. Did they change the damn script again while I wasn’t looking?”
“Fay told me her original draft is a psychological thriller. I hope it goes back to that.”
Diana sat up straight. “The two of you are getting awfully cozy.”
“We spend a lot of time getting out of everyone else’s way.” Billie shrugged.
Diana sniffed. “It’s not that I’m jealous or anything. Just making an observation is all.”
“You are my best friend.” Billie wrapped her arm around Diana and gave her a tight squeeze.
“I know that.” She hugged Billie back. “I just thought we would spend more time together. I didn’t realize we would barely see each other.”
“I know, I miss you, too. But, when we’re in Vancouver, we’ll have an entire city to explore together.”
Since they weren’t shooting in Vancouver, everything would be new. “As long as we don’t trip over any more dead bodies.”
“That’s a deal.”
“Change of topic—any update on you and Miles? He stopped in and asked after you again.” She took a bite of her turkey sandwich.
“That’s so weird. We’re on the set together all day long.”
“He’s too shy to talk to you. That’s why he asks me.”
“He seems pretty confident to me,” Billie said doubtfully.
“If he was, he would have asked you out by now.”
Judd wended his way through the crowd toward them.
“Here comes Judd,” Diana said. “If I had any idea he was going to be so clingy, I never would’ve slept with him. Plus, at least eighty percent of the reasoning behind it has to do with showing up his ex.”
“Break things off.”
“I would, but I sleep so much better.” She sighed. “And there’s no one else appealing.”
“There’s Miles.”
“Don’t try that; I wouldn’t do that to you. But it’s sweet of you to offer.”
Judd sat down next to her. “What a day.” He shook his head. “Jordyn was screaming all day, kept edging my meters into the red.”
Diana frowned. “Isn’t she supposed to be screaming?”
“Yeah, but it’s so shrill.” Judd winced.
Across the room, Claudia got up and waved her hands around.
“Uh-oh,” Billie said.
Dick shot out of his chair like he had a rocket booster lodged up his ass. His hands went like a pair of windmills. Coming from a family of hand-talkers, Diana interpreted it as a variation of “the hell you say.” She wished her next-to-youngest brother Innocenzio was here—he was the king of the hand-talkers.
Silence spread across the room. The usual clamor died down so much Diana could hear them from across the room.
“You’re not acting like yourself,” Claudia yelled.
Dick grabbed her arm, but Claudia pushed him and he went ass over teakettle.
“What the hell, Claudia?” Dick yelled from somewhere underneath the table.
“I don’t even know who you are anymore, Richard!” Claudia screamed.
Dick looked over the edge of the table. “You’re fired, Claudia!”
“I should walk off set!” Claudia strode toward the exit. “It would serve you right! You keep acting like this, you won’t have a crew left!”
Dick scrambled to his feet. “What the hell are you all looking at? Go back to whatever you were doing!” He opened his mouth, then closed it, turned and hustled out of the room.
Fay sat at the table for a long minute, then got up and hurried after Dick.
“Wow,” Billie said.
“Those two are interesting,” Diana said.
“Claudia and Richard?”
“No, Fay and Dick.” Diana pushed back from the table. “I’m exhausted. I think I’ll have a bath and relax. Are you coming?”
“No, I think I’ll see if Claudia’s okay.”
Diana’s perfect eyebrows arched. “She’s probably chain-smoking and cursing her Bluetooth for not getting reception.”
“I’m still going to check.” Billie got up and headed into the lobby, but Claudia was nowhere to be found. She checked outside and spotted Fay talking to Richard on the back deck. She checked the lake and around the rest of the first floor, but Claudia wasn't anywhere. Billie headed upstairs and stopped when she heard voices around the corner in a small alcove near the stairs.
“I do everything for him, you don’t understand!” It sounded like Claudia, but the voice was tinged with tears, and she wasn’t sure Claudia knew how to cry. Liquid sloshed in a bottle.
Billie climbed the last few stairs and slipped around the corner so no one would catch her eavesdropping.
“You do work hard, but yelling at him isn’t going to fix anything.” Miles; she didn’t peg Miles for the type to comfort Claudia.
“It’s like this all the time. He gets onto set and it’s like I’m invisible. I do all the things he needs! During pre-production he was so wonderful. And now he just . . . ignores me. It’s not fair. I work so hard.”
Her voice broke, and Billie felt bad for her. Claudia did do a lot of work on set. She wrangled everyone, arranged locations for the next day, handled paperwork and God only knew what else.
“It’s all of these other people,” Claudia sighed. “They get in his face, they stress him out, and he takes it all out on me.”
“That’s not true,” Miles said. “You guys get along very well. You know how to handle him better than anyone on set. As for the stress, it won’t be for long. Everyone will be out of his hair and out of yours soon. I can make sure no one bothers him on set. I promise.”
“You’re a good kid, Miles,” she slurred. She must be drinking.
“Claude, I’m not much younger than you, I don’t qualify as a kid.”
“Sure you do, kid. I feel like shit. I never should’ve pushed him. He wasn’t hurt, was he? I hope not.”
“His pride was probably bruised, but he bounces back quicker than most. He’ll have forgotten it by morning.”
“I hope you’re right. I know he won’t really fire me, but . . . I want things to be better.”
“They will be. I’ll make sure of it. Come on, I’ll help you to your room.”
They would see her. She panicked for a second, then rocketed forward. “Hi.” Billie swallowed a lump, hoping they thought she just came up the stairs. “Are you okay? I was looking for you to see if you were okay. You know . . . after Richard.”
Claudia’s eyes were watery and unfocused. “That’s nice. I’m fine. We do this all the time. Just part of the stress of making movies, I guess.”
“That’s right.” Miles guided Claudia down the hall, but she tripped and dropped a bottle of Jack Daniels.
Billie bent and grabbed it. “Let me help you.” She grabbed Claudia by the other arm.
Claudia struggled to get the key in the lock until Miles grabbed the key, unlocked the door and opened it, revealing a quiet, dark room.
“You have a roommate?” Billie set the bottle on Claudia’s night stand.
“No,” Claudia said. “The one nice thing Richard did for me is give me peace and quiet while I work.”
“That is nice,” Billie said gently. She was good at babysitting drunk girls after her years in the sorority. She took over, helping Claudia onto the bed and pulling off her shoes. “It surprises me a little.”
Miles shut the curtains.
“Richard being nice?” Claudia asked.
“Yeah . . . remember how I said he offered to pay for Lark to go to cosmetology school?”
“He did?” Miles asked. “Wow.”
“I told you,” Claudia said stiffly. “He’s very nice.”
“Lark seems to think so,” Billie said. “Those two make the weirdest couple I’ve ever seen.”
Claudia grabbed the bottle and took another slug of Jack, choking on it.
“Why don’t you drink some water?” Billie gestured to Miles, who went to the bathroom and got a glass. “Then you can lie down and sleep for awhile. That’s what you need—a lot of rest.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Claudia said drowsily. She drank the glass of water down, then nodded a thank you. She laid down, curling up on her side, and was asleep within moments.
Billie and Miles backed out of the room. He locked the door and slid the key under the door.
“Thanks,” he said. “You were really good with her.”
“It’s not my first time.”
“She’s under a lot of stress. The location scout quit before the production, and it brought a ton of work down on her. She’s working three different jobs, dealing with Joe, doing all the paperwork, including union stuff and travel arrangements. Not to mention the work she does while we’re shooting. She’s not usually like this.”
“Film people love drinking,” Billie sighed. “Serena certainly does.”
“Serena’s a basketcase.” Miles ran a hand through his hair. “Anyway, thanks.”
Billie hoped all movie sets didn’t have so much excitement. She wasn’t sure she could handle it.