by Claire Raye
A security guard calls out, telling Noel to stop, but we all know he’s not listening. His rage has taken over and he will stop at nothing to get to me.
Noel rounds the corner, his eyes set firmly on mine and before I can move, he’s on me. I can feel the heat from his body before he even touches me, and then his hand wraps around my neck, shoving me back until I’m pinned up against a wall.
I struggle to get away from him, but he’s stronger than me, cutting off any air I have as he tightens his grip.
“Listen you fucking cunt, I made you and I can end your career with one word. You are going to recant everything you told that fucking journalist or I will make you pay,” he hisses in my face and panic builds inside me.
He’s going to kill me.
He’s going to kill me on a set full of people who are too afraid to step in.
The security guard comes up behind Noel, but all he does is ask him to let me go and the seconds tick by, but they feel like hours.
I grow lightheaded and I don’t know if it’s from the fear or the lack of oxygen. Noel’s face blurs in front of me and I close my eyes, and when he starts to speak again, I’m able to suck in a ragged breath.
I realize in that moment Paul has tackled Noel. He’s sitting on top of him, Paul’s knees are pinning Noel to the ground, he has an arm across his neck.
“Sadie, call the police,” Paul says calmly but firmly. “Sadie, call the police,” he repeats, louder this time, his words making their way to my ears.
I grab for my phone and do exactly as I’m told, the adrenaline rush taking over and making me pull myself together.
“Get off of me!” Noel screams, thrashing about as security rushes in and takes over for Paul. My phone call to the police is brief and within minutes I can hear the sound of running feet as more security guards enter the studio set.
“Do you know who I am!” he shouts in the face of the security guard who is now handcuffing him. “Do you have any idea how powerful I am!”
But no one answers him.
Because no one cares anymore.
And what happens right in front of my eyes is the last nail in the coffin of Noel Robinson’s career.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Paul
The security guard yanks Noel’s hands behind his back, not bothering to be gentle about it. I open my mouth to speak, to tell the guy what Noel did and that the police are on their way, but I don’t get a chance.
“You fucking stupid bitch!” Noel shouts, apparently not realizing this is over for him. His face is red, spit flying from his mouth as he continues to rant. “You did this, you fucking did this to me, you…”
The security guard slaps a hand over Noel’s mouth, even though I’m sure he shouldn’t. I nod once at him to confirm he should get him out of here before turning to Sadie.
She’s standing beside me, her fingers curled so tightly around her phone, that her knuckles have turned white. Her whole body is shaking, her eyes wide and a huge red mark on her neck as she takes in her ex-husband hurling abuse and insults at her while the entire crew watches on.
“Sadie,” I say, my voice gentle as I step toward her. “Babe?”
She doesn’t move, her eyes fixed on Noel who’s now being dragged to the other side of the room by security.
“Sadie,” I repeat, my hand resting on her shoulder. She flinches at my touch, even though she doesn’t look at me. “Sadie,” I say again, the word firmer this time. “Are you okay? Are you…?”
I don’t have a chance to finish my question. Instead I move to catch her as she shakes her head, her legs collapsing beneath her as she sinks to the ground.
“I’ve got you,” I whisper, pulling her into my lap. “I’ve got you, baby.”
Her whole body is trembling in my arms as I pull her close, rubbing a soothing hand up and down her back. Everyone on the set continues to look on, most of them frozen in place, as though they have no idea what to say or what to do or even what the hell they’ve just seen.
I scan the room, searching for Shannon, her assistant. When I finally find her, I call her over. “Can you get her some water?” I ask, as she stops in front of us.
“Of course,” Shannon replies before quickly moving away. She returns with a bottle of water, unscrewing the lid before handing it to me.
“Here,” I whisper, holding it out for her. Sadie reaches out, her hand still shaking as she takes the bottle from me and has a tentative sip. She still hasn’t looked at me, her eyes, wide and unblinking, fixed on some distant point.
“Let’s get you to your trailer,” I whisper, knowing how much she will hate that everyone’s watching her right now. “Come on.”
I pull her to her feet before she has a chance to argue, my arm around her shoulder as I turn her away from the watchful eyes and we make our way toward her trailer. Shannon follows behind, but as we reach the door, I turn back.
“Just give me a sec?”
Shannon glances at Sadie, before turning back to me. “Sure. I’ll be right outside.”
I open the door and steer Sadie inside, shutting it behind us. Moving her toward the couch, I ease her down before taking a seat beside her.
“You okay?”
Sadie shakes her head even as she immediately jumps up and starts pacing the small trailer, her fingers twisted together.
“Sadie.”
She doesn’t look at me. She just keeps pacing the room. She looks distracted and scared, as though her brain is going a million miles an hour. I wish she would come and sit down. When a knock sounds at the door, she stops, her head shooting up to look at it.
“I’ll get it,” I say, standing to answer the door.
Shannon is on the other side, a worried look on her face as she looks up at me. “The police are here.”
I nod once. “Just give me a sec,” I tell her before closing the door and turning back to Sadie. “Baby,” I say, walking over to her. I stand in front of her, take her hands in mine as I lift them to my mouth, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “The police are here, okay? I think you should come talk to them.”
Sadie shakes her head, her eyes wide as she stares at our joined hands.
“Sadie,” I say, a little firmer this time, ducking so I can look her in the eye. “You need to talk to the police, tell them what happened.”
She shakes her head immediately, her whispered, “I can’t, I can’t,” the first words she’s spoken since this all happened.
I offer her a small smile, squeezing her hands. “You can. And I’ll be right there with you, okay?”
She shakes her head again, her whole body now trembling as once again, her legs collapse beneath her and she sinks to the floor. I watch as she buries her face in her hands, still shaking her head.
I crouch down in front of her, pull her hands from her face and cup it in mine. “Sadie,” I repeat, holding her gaze with mine. “You need to do this. You need to tell them what happened, tell them what he did to you.”
“I…I can’t,” she whispers, as silent tears start to stream down her face. “He’ll, he’s…” she pauses, her eyes widening as she looks quickly about her trailer. “FUCK!” she suddenly screams, making me jump. “Fuck, fuck, fuck…”
Her sobs are louder now, her body heaving as she struggles to breathe, the tears falling down her face, as she pulls her hands from mine and starts to pound them into the floor.
“Shit,” I murmur, pulling her into my arms, holding her tightly. She buries her face against my chest as I rock her gently and just let her cry.
We sit together for a few minutes, neither of us saying anymore. Eventually Sadie’s tears stop and she pulls back, her red-rimmed eyes now looking up at me.
“Sorry,” she murmurs.
I smile, press a soft kiss to her lips. “You have nothing to be sorry for,” I whisper.
She nods, although I know she doesn’t believe it.
“You okay?” I ask, even knowing it’s a stupid question.
&nbs
p; Sadie shakes her head. “No,” she replies.
“This will get better.”
She shakes her head again, still not believing me. It breaks my heart that Noel is doing this to her, that she doubts herself and everything she has achieved because of one fucking asshole. I want to tell her that he’s the one who’s wrong, he’s the one who’s created this mess and he’s the one who’s fucking everything up for her.
But before I can, she pulls herself from my arms, standing and moving toward the sink in the small kitchen area. She turns on the faucet, splashing her face with some water before drying it off. Then, smoothing her hands down her thighs she turns to me, smiles and says, “Coming?”
I scramble to my feet, confused. “Whoa, hang on. Where are we going?”
Sadie tips her head toward the door. “Out there, the police are here.”
I step toward her, take her hand in mine. “Baby, are you sure you’re okay?” I ask. “We can take a minute here. Let’s talk about this.”
Sadie slips her fingers into the front pocket of my jeans. “I’m okay,” she says, still smiling. “I just needed to, to process that or whatever that was,” she adds, shrugging as she pushes up on her toes to kiss me. “But,” she continues, taking a deep breath. “If you think for one second that I’m going to let that prick get away with doing that to me, then you’re sadly mistaken.”
I grin, slipping my hand to the back of her neck as I pull her in for a hard kiss.
Sadie recounts her story to the police, telling them everything that happened today, in addition to the run-ins with Noel that have led up to this moment. They interview several crew members too, who all provide corroborating statements of the day’s events, while I confirm previous incidents.
When they’re finally done, they ask Sadie if she’s willing to press charges and she doesn’t hesitate for a second when she says yes. Nodding, they tell her they’ll be in touch, before turning to thank everyone and leave.
After they go, Sadie moves to the middle of the set, asking everyone to gather around. I hang back, knowing that this is her moment, her time to show these people who she really is and what she’s made of.
“First up, I just want to say sorry for the intrusion and disruption today,” she starts, her eyes moving over the crew. “Noel never should have been allowed to come onto this set and none of you should have had to have seen that.”
“You shouldn’t have had to go through it,” a male voice calls out.
I glance over, see Ian Hudson, the lead actor and someone I now know has also suffered at the hands of Noel. He smiles at Sadie, before stepping closer, everyone watching him.
“You aren’t alone in what you’ve gone through,” he says quietly, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. “Just like it isn’t your fault either,” he adds.
Sadie nods, a sad smile on her face. “It’s none of our fault,” she says, her voice shaky. “But I have stood silent for too long,” she says, turning back to the cast and crew. “All that’s going to change,” she continues. “I know you’ve seen the article, but I want you to know, I’m not stopping there. I’m going to tell this story to the world, give every single one of you who’ve been victimized by him a voice.”
My heart pounds in my chest as I step toward the group, slowly clapping at what she’s just said, at what she’s going to do. It doesn’t take long for the rest of them to join me, all of us gathering around Sadie as we show her we support her.
Her smile grows, her eyes wet with tears as she looks at each of us, one after the other. When her gaze finally lands on mine, I watch as she moves closer, never taking her eyes off me.
When she’s standing right in front of me, she slips her arms around my waist, pulling me close as she whispers, “I couldn’t have done this without you.”
I grin, wrapping her in my arms. “You could have,” I whisper back. “You’re stronger than you realize.”
Everyone takes a break to get themselves settled before we spend the rest of the afternoon working a few scenes. Filming is basically done in the next few days and even though Noel’s interruption delayed things a little, everyone has rallied to make sure we finish on time.
When Sadie calls cut on the final take, everyone exhales a collective sigh of relief before moving off to pack up for the day. The crew do some final preps for filming tomorrow, while Sadie goes over a few notes with her assistants.
With the stunts now all done, there’s nothing left for me to do, so I make my way back to Sadie’s trailer to wait for her. Even though we came in separate cars today, I want to suggest we go home together because we have no idea if the press will have gotten wind of Noel’s little outburst here today.
I’m relaxing on the couch in her trailer with a beer when Sadie finally comes in. Smiling, I watch as she walks over to where I’m sitting, kicking off her shoes before straddling me.
“Hey,” I say.
“Hi,” she replies, taking my beer and having a sip.
“You okay?”
She nods, leaning over to put the beer on the side table. “I am,” she replies, her hands on my chest. “And I meant what I said out there,” she adds. “About not being able to do this without you.”
“Sadie, I…”
“No,” she says, cutting me off. “You say I’m strong, that I can do this and hey, maybe now I finally can,” she says. “But a big part of that is you, Paul. Knowing I had you in my corner, knowing you were backing me, supporting me,” she continues, her gaze locked with mine. “Knowing you weren’t running from this, it was…well, it was more support than I’ve ever had for anything.”
I slide my hands onto her thighs, as I stare back at her. “I’d do anything for you, Sadie,” I whisper, a truth to my words that I’ve never felt before. “All of this, it’s so…so easy for me, because I…”
The rest of my declaration is cut off by the phone ringing. Sadie’s smile falls, her hand reaching into her back pocket to grab her phone. As much as I wish she wouldn’t answer it so I could finish telling her why I’m here for her, I know she needs to.
“Fuck,” she whispers, her body tensing as she glances down at the screen.
I look at it, see the name flashing in front of us.
Ethan Fitzgerald
Clapboard Films
“He knows,” she says, her eyes flicking to mine again, now filled with fear at the prospect of speaking to the studio executive.
“It’s going to be okay,” I whisper, squeezing her thighs, watching as she nods once before swiping the screen to answer.
“Hello, this is Sadie.”
Chapter Thirty- Five
Sadie
I begin to pace the room before Ethan even has a chance to speak, my breaths coming quickly as I wait for him to say something. Nothing good can come from Noel being arrested on my movie set, for him to be carted away in handcuffs for the world to see and it plastered all over every media outlet. But more than that, it tarnishes the name of Clapboard Films and if I were Ethan that would be my biggest concern right now.
A scandal on a movie set, a director assaulted, and all of this attached to the name of a film they are in charge of. This movie will never overshadow the hype of my broken marriage and my abusive ex-husband.
I can’t let him have the first word, so I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind, the thing I turned to every time I had an issue with Noel, anytime he went and fucked something up.
“I’m sorry,” I say, admitting full blame for something I know isn’t my fault, but Noel would never own up to what he did.
You’re sorry?” Ethan responds, his tone almost shocked. “For what? I was calling to see if you were okay.” His words come out with a hint of a question attached as if he’s genuinely concerned for my safety.
My hand instinctively goes to my neck, three small raised lines mar my skin where Noel’s hand was and by tomorrow they will probably form into a bruise.
“Yes, I’m okay,” I say, but there’s a shakine
ss to my voice that practically gives away my fear over the situation.
“I’m glad to hear that, but after everything you’ve been through I imagine this won’t just disappear,” Ethan says, stating something I’ve been living with for a while.
Noel’s always there in the back of my mind and up until today, I never quite feared him the way most people did. I always viewed him as loud and intense when he didn’t get his way, but now I know when backed into a corner he will bite.
He’s watching his career and his life burn before his eyes, losing everything, but it’s all been brought on by himself.
He deserves it all.
“I also wanted to let you know the studio is pressing charges against Noel for trespassing and breaking and entering, and a few additional things our lawyers are looking into,” Ethan continues. Letting out a deep sigh he adds, “And I think you should consider doing the same.”
Pressing charges against Noel isn’t something new. I heard it from the officers who arrived on set, I heard it from Paul and I’m certain when the media pounces on this story, I’ll hear it from my parents. I hate that the public is able to reach my family before I am, but it’s the nature of the job.
My father will demand I press charges. He’ll want me to hire security guards and install a new alarm system, get a dog and possibly move back to New York.
Can I do this? Can I have my soon to be ex-husband thrown in jail on assault charges?
If I don’t, what kind of person does that make me? How can I say I support all these people who’ve come forward with their stories of Noel and his abuse, but turn a blind eye to what he just did to me?
I can’t. It would make me a hypocrite and everything I’ve said, everything I’ve put out to the world would be a lie.
“Of course I’m pressing charges,” I say with finality. “I’m reaching out to my lawyers today.”
I pass Paul as the words leave my mouth and the smile on his face almost touches his ears. He would never pressure me into making a decision I wasn’t comfortable with, and just knowing he was here to support me regardless only adds to the confidence in what I’ve told Ethan.
