Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss(66)

It was early. Before first call. I wasn’t on the call sheet today, but I knew I couldn’t put this off. I stepped into his trailer, leaving the door open. “Third?”

“Faith, my son, and you.”

“Faith was here? Did it have to do with me?”

He waved his hand. “No. It was nothing. What can I do for you?”

“Did you read the article about me online?”

“I did.”

“They’re talking about your movie. That’s good, right?”

A toothy grin spread across his face. “No publicity is bad publicity? Is that the angle you’re going with?”

“And sticking to,” I said.

He let out a surprised laugh. “I’m remembering why we hired you. You’re spunky. I had forgotten in all your greenness.”

“I know I’m green. But I wanted to talk to you about the fact that someone is setting me up.” I hadn’t convinced myself I was going to use Amanda’s name yet. I just wanted him to know I was professional. That I hadn’t actually done all those things.

“Setting you up?”

“Someone is trying to make me look bad.”

His expression that had softened with my speech went hard again. “Lacey, I don’t need drama on my set.”

Okay, so he didn’t want to hear it; he thought I was being immature and paranoid. I would only sound more immature if I insisted I was right. That was fine. I knew who was setting me up, and I would make sure she knew I wasn’t going anywhere. “You’re right. I’m done with drama. I’m here to work. I just wanted you to know that.”

“I’m happy to hear it.”





Thirty-Two


I left Remy’s trailer and headed for my own. Amanda must have seen me out her window as I walked by because she came flying out the door. “Lacey!” She gave me a hug. “Don’t you love it up here? I used to camp with my family all the time. We should have a campfire tonight in the trees and tell ghost stories.”

I stood frozen to my spot, still not sure what I wanted to say to her.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing. I’m just . . . tired.”

“You have another day off though. Lucky.” She paused, seeming to realize what she just said. “Wait, if you have today off, why did you drive all the way up here?”

“I needed to talk to Remy about you, actually.” I wasn’t one to hold things in. I knew this about myself.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I know what you did. What you took. I’m still trying to figure out why though.” A thought occurred to me. “Was it for Grant? To help him out? Were you trying to get rid of me? Hoping someone better would be put in my spot?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I found what you took. You might as well come clean.” Maybe this wasn’t the place for this discussion with the security guards behind us and crew members walking by.

“Found what?”

She’d probably moved it by now, but I pointed to her trailer. “I’ll show you.”

“Okay.” She held her hand out to the side, inviting me to lead the way.

I marched up the two metal steps and to the small kitchen, where I yanked open the drawer half expecting it to be gone. She had followed behind me and stood looking over my shoulder. We both saw it at the same time, the unassuming red plastic case sitting there.

“What the—” She lifted it out of the drawer and immediately opened it as if to verify what it was. “I did not put this here.”

“Right.”

“I didn’t! Why would I put it here of all places? If I took this I would’ve put it as far away from me as possible.”

That logic tripped me up. “You might as well just admit it. I just want to know why. To help Grant? To help yourself?” Maybe she’d been worried about my effect on the movie’s reputation too.

“I didn’t do this. I swear.”

“It doesn’t matter because I’m not going anywhere. You can try all you want, but I’m here to stay. I earned this part, and I’m keeping it because I’m good.”

“I agree. You are and you should. I like you, Lacey. I thought we were friends. I would never do this.”

It was hard to fight with someone when they seemed so concerned and sincere. I crossed my arms. “I didn’t actually tell Remy, but I’m on to you,” I mumbled. I fled to my trailer, leaned back against the door and let myself cry again.

Waiting in front of someone’s house until they got home from school was not creepy behavior. Especially not after telling said person that I needed to sort things out, implying that lots of space was needed. He was obviously giving it to me. He hadn’t called, texted, or stopped by in twenty-four hours. Scratch that, twenty hours. And eight of those hours had probably been spent sleeping. Another eight he’d been at school. So that left four hours where he hadn’t called, texted, or visited me. Four hours! Okay, I was being creepy, but that thought didn’t make me turn the key in the ignition and drive away.

I checked the clock on my phone. School had gotten out thirty minutes ago. I’d been sitting here for thirty minutes. Maybe he had something after school. Paper stuff. Or maybe he worked right after school. I pulled up my messages again to make sure I hadn’t missed any. “You could just text him, Lacey, instead of being creepy.”