by Claire Raye
“Joanna just came by,” I say, tightening my arms as I feel her body stiffen a little.
“What did she want?” she asks, pulling back so her eyes meet mine.
I shrug. “To fuck with me, I don’t know,” I say.
“Are you okay?”
I take a deep breath, letting it out in a long slow exhale, before I grab both of our glasses in one hand and steer Ava toward the couch. She grabs the bottle as she walks past, and I can’t help but chuckle a little.
We both sit and I pull her against me, nuzzling my face against her neck. She smells amazing, the lingering scent of my soap and the warmth of the shower still on her skin. I press a kiss against the side of her neck, inhaling deeply.
“I’m okay,” I eventually say. “Just pissed off, that’s all.”
“Why do you think she’s doing this?” Ava asks, reaching for our glasses and handing me mine.
I smile gratefully, taking a sip of the amber liquid. “Honestly, babe,” I eventually say, knowing that as much as I don’t want to tell Ava any of this, I know I have to. That deep down, I actually want to because I’ve been in a relationship that was filled with secrets and lies, and it only ended in trouble. And that’s not what I want with Ava. She’s too important to me.
“She’s jealous, she’s pissed off that we’re married, and I know she’s dying to meet you, to find out what it is about you that changed things for me.”
“Changed things for you?” Ava asks, confused.
I chuckle, tucking a lose strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah,” I say, leaning in to kiss her lips. “I never wanted to get married and she knew that, but now I am so she’s, you know,” I say, shrugging. “Curious.”
“You didn’t want to get married?” Ava asks, genuinely surprised.
“Nope,” I say, laughing. “I didn’t.”
“But,” she says, shaking her head a little. “You…you literally proposed to me a day after I got back here,” she continues. “When we still didn’t even know each other that well, when…”
“Ava, babe,” I say, still laughing as I silence her questions with another kiss. “I proposed to you because I love you,” I whisper, my mouth against hers.
“Yeah, but…”
“I’ll tell you a secret,” I say, cutting off her question. “It’s true, I didn’t ever want to get married. Never really thought I was the marrying type to be honest. Never wanted to accept that ring you now wear, but it was left for me, so I did. It sat in my drawer and I honestly never thought I’d use it. But my dad always told me that one day, someone would change that. That the second I found her, everything would change, just like it had for him. I never believed him,” I add, shrugging. “But then you walked into my pub one night and completely proved me wrong.”
“I did?” she asks as though she still doesn’t get it.
I laugh, kissing her again. “You did, my sweet girl and I’m very happy that you did, too.”
“But Joanna isn’t?” Ava asks.
I shake my head. “No, but it doesn’t matter, because there’s nothing she can do about it,” I add. “Anyway, she’s gone now, forget about her. Tell me what happened at work today?”
Ava takes a sip of her drink before telling me about the tantrum her wanker boss threw on set, including calling the lead actress a cunt. None of this surprises me, not after the way I saw him talk to Ava that night I came to work with her. The guy’s an egotistical wanker who clearly gets off on being a bully.
“And to top it off,” she says, finishing her whisky and pouring us both another refill. “He fired me, before his wife then unfired me.”
“What?”
Ava shrugs. “Yeah, apparently I was fired, but now I’m not fired, even though I’d totally be okay being fired.”
“So quit,” I tell her. “You know you don’t need to work for him. Fuck, I don’t want you working for him.”
“I know,” she says, brushing her hand across my cheek. “But I think his wife needs me. She seems stuck and maybe a little scared and I don’t want to leave her like that when she’s asked me to stay.”
I put my glass on the table pulling Ava closer to me. “I love that you care this much, baby,” I say, kissing her temple. “But this isn’t your fight, you know that.”
“I know,” she says. “And hey, maybe I really will be fired and it won’t matter anyway.”
I cup her face in my hands. “As much as it pains me to say this, I actually kinda hope you are.”
Ava smiles now, giving me a quick kiss before saying, “How about we both forget about our shitty days and instead you take me to bed.”
“Mmmm, I knew there was a reason I married you.”
Ava and I head into our bedroom, Ava pulling off her t-shirt as we walk in, but when my eyes fall on her naked back, I stop in my tracks, knowing that what I’m looking at is something far uglier than what either of us has put up with today.
And it’s something that was definitely not there this morning when Ava left our bed.
“Ava.”
“Yeah?” she asks, glancing over her shoulder, a sexy smile on her face.
“What…” I pause, stepping closer as I gently brush my fingers against the ugly purple bruise on the back of her rib cage. “What is this? Who did this to you?”
Ava lifts her arm, her smile gone as she glances down as where my fingers lightly touch her skin. “Shit,” she mutters.
Chapter Twenty
Ava
Lewis’ words cut deep, like knife into my flesh. There’s a harshness to what he says and I watch his jaw clench in response.
Who did this to you?
I stumble over my words in reply, not because I’m making excuses, but because I had no idea the bruise was even there. My day had been such a whirlwind of business and chaos that it never even crossed my mind that I had somehow been hurt during Noel’s rampage.
“No one touched me, Lewis,” I tell him, my words quiet but not defensive as I search my brain for when this could’ve happened.
I move to the mirror, angling my body, my fingers running along the messy purple splotch that mars my pale skin. It stands out like a red wine stain on a white dress. But more than the bruise is the look on Lewis’ face as he waits for an explanation.
With his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes rake over my bare skin and the mark that couldn’t be hidden if I tried. He begins to roll up the sleeves of shirt as he lets out a long slow exhale. But when his eyes fall upon mine, what I see in them is fear, a fear for my safety and I know I have to say something more.
“He didn’t hit me,” I say, looking at Lewis through the mirror. “There was a point when…”
“When what? When he put you and everyone on that set at risk with his behavior?” Lewis asks, but there’s not really a question in his tone. It’s accusing and I understand his concern. And while in the moment I didn’t ever feel unsafe, I knew what Noel was doing could escalate to that.
“He threw some books and one must have hit me,” I explain, but even that doesn’t somehow make Noel’s behavior appropriate. I sound casual when I know everyone on set was anything but. Unfortunately I know how these things play out and because of his status work will resume tomorrow as if none of this ever happened.
He’s creative, people will defend him and on set outbursts bring out the best in actors. All of this will be conveyed in the press. It will bring a name to this already huge Hollywood production and it may even be the reason Noel did it. Everything in this world is calculated.
“I want to tell you not to go back tomorrow,” Lewis starts and I throw a hand up before he can finish.
“Lewis, seriously, it’s okay.”
“It’s not okay, but I’m going to let you handle this before I intervene. I don’t want to be the dickhead who demands shit from his wife and controls her. I married you because of your fierce independence, and while everything in me is screaming to protect you, I have to trust that you would never put yourself in
danger.”
“I would never and I promise you his anger wasn’t with me. He just projected it onto me and his wife and everyone else on set. He’s a lot to handle, but I can deal with it.”
Lewis exhales hard, dragging a hand through his hair, processing my words and as much as I am a little fearful to return to work tomorrow, I can’t just quit. There’s so much more going on than just Noel’s reckless behavior. I feel responsible for helping Sadie find her way out of this.
“How about I stop by the set tomorrow? Just hired a new guy at the pub so I’ve got some free time now. I’ll bring you lunch and we can chat and I can stand around and intimidate your fucker of a boss.” Lewis winks at me, proud of his ability to throw around his off-putting appearance: the tattoos, the lean muscle, and the permanent harsh look on his face.
“That sounds fine to me as long as you keep yourself in check,” I tease him.
“Oh, I’ll be just fine,” Lewis states, stepping over to me and slipping his arms around my waist. “It’s your boss that needs the reminder. That’s the problem, you know. No one has ever told that manipulative, misogynistic prick where he can stick it.”
“And I’d prefer it not be you,” I tell him, leaning back a little and tapping a finger on his chest. “But I can tell you where to stick it,” I add, my tone teasing, as my hand moves into the waistband of his jeans.
“Such a dirty girl.”
When I walk onto the set the next morning it’s like nothing ever happened. Noel is reviewing changes to the script with the writers and Sadie is placing cue marks for the next scene that is set to film. The set is bustling with order like a well-oiled machine and the faint voices of Noel’s anger have faded, but while they still ring loud in my ears, Sadie’s words ring louder.
I watch the crew finish setting up for the day while I organize Noel’s schedule and arrange his lunch delivery. It’s still shocking to me that everyone is moving about and carrying on as if yesterday didn’t happen, and when Elizabeth walks on set for her first scene, Noel is actually somewhat pleasant.
It only takes me a moment to notice though that Noel’s kindness shouldn’t be mistaken for what it really is: passive aggressive sarcasm. All he’s trying to do now is appease the lead actress with his over the top behavior. It’s all about his gain and what he has at stake should she choose to take this whole debacle public.
His whole life has been built around an exchange of power and influence, including his marriage.
“Elizabeth,” Noel purrs, immediately after calling cut, stalking over to her side and running a hand down her arm. “That was impeccable. Exactly how I pictured the scene, intense and emotional and it’s why I knew you were the perfect actress for this role.”
I almost puke at his sickeningly sweet attempt to make her feel like she did something wrong yesterday. There isn’t even a bit of honesty in his words, but the look on her face screams that she believes him. Beaming with pride, Elizabeth smiles. But behind her smile hides her thoughts, and after being in this industry I know exactly what she’s thinking.
She’s worried about her career, and she’s as insecure as the rest of them. She’s worried she’s washed up like Noel told her yesterday. She’s worried she’ll never work again should she decide to report his behavior, and right now he’s preying on all these insecurities.
I look down at my watch, noticing it’s time to get Noel’s lunch ready and nearly time for Lewis to arrive. I’d left his name at the security gate so there shouldn’t be an issue, but I’d like to make sure he doesn’t happen to run into Noel while he’s here.
I can hear Noel’s smarmy voice as I leave the set and I can’t even believe people are buying his bullshit.
“Ugh!” I call out, shuddering, my shoulders shaking as a chill runs up my spine. Just the sound of his voice makes me cringe inwardly and I wonder if I’ll be able to stick this job out for the duration of my contract.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” a voice says, echoing along the corridor of the walled wooden set. “Guess we’re the only ones who recognize what he’s doing.”
I turn to see Sadie standing a few feet behind me and she walks to meet up with me. This is her life. This manipulation is what she deals with and why she can’t leave. She’s broken down and defeated by every word he says and I can only imagine what he holds over her at this point.
“I’m not sure what to say,” I respond, not wanting to speak poorly of her husband or my boss despite his awfulness.
“It’s about to get ugly and Noel has no idea,” she suddenly admits, her voice is low as she glances around a little.
“What are you talking about?”
Again she looks around and then starts to move toward the exit that leads to the cast and crew trailers and I follow her. She’s piqued my interest, but I also know someone like Noel isn’t just taken down by one on set incident. And she won’t suddenly leave him because he’s not going down that easily.
We enter her trailer and once the door is closed she lets out a hard breath. Wetting her lips, she then begins to chew a little on her bottom lip before speaking again.
“I got word from my publicist that Elizabeth Hutton has filed a breach of contract complaint and should it all go through the movie will come to a screeching halt.”
“But you’re attached to the film too. That can’t be good for your career,” I say, reminding Sadie that she’ll lose any money she was paid prior to the start of filming.
“If this is my way out, then I’ll take it.” She shrugs her shoulders, a casualness to what would normally send most people into a panic.
Sadie may not need the money this film will bring in, but everyone who is working on the set does. And if production ends so do the jobs of the camera crew, set builders, assistants, grips and anyone else who are relying on this movie to continue.
“I understand that you want to leave, but think about what this means for everyone working on this set, Sadie. These are contract employees and I’m sure they have a clause about not getting paid should production shut down.”
“I worked with Elizabeth on this and she has Noel paying severance to everyone who will be out of work. She’s walking away and the lawyer is set to serve Noel sometime today.”
I run my hand through my hair trying to process how this is all going to go down. It’s weird because as much as I despise him and the way he treats people, I feel badly about him being blindsided.
Well, fuck, it looks like he’s gotten to me too.
“Listen, Ava. I know what’s happening right now and I understand where you’re at, but please understand that if we keep allowing him to treat people like this he’s only going to get more powerful. He’s taken over my life and he’ll take over yours too.”
Before I can respond Noel’s booming voice rings through loudly, calling out Sadie’s name.
“Fuck,” Sadie hisses out, pushing the door to the trailer open, but as her hand rests on the handle I notice it tremble. I can’t even imagine what she’s going through right now, what her thoughts are as she processes what she’s just done. How’s she going to keep this a secret from him? Eventually it will come out that she knew what was happening and hid it from him.
This could be career ending, but it could also be the one chance she has to separate herself from him.
“Sadie!”
I follow her out of the trailer, hot on her heels, worried about what might happen to her, but also secretly intrigued by how this will play out. It’s clear by the way he’s screaming the shit has hit the fan.
Noel comes into view, a manila envelope in his hand, he’s swinging it around, his face red and he’s huffing like a wild bull.
“Sadie, they’re fucking shutting down production. That fucking cunt Elizabeth Hutton filed a breach of contract claiming unsafe working environment and harassment.”
We’re both standing there staring at him, unsure how to respond and Sadie clams up, the nervousness now washing over her, guilt and
fear pushing her back to him. It’s a horrible cycle.
I step in, diplomacy winning out over my disgust, but it’s not fast enough for Noel and he begins barking out orders and taking all his anger out on anyone within shouting distance.
“Call my fucking lawyers and do it now!” he spits out at me, and I nod my head, but that obviously wasn’t the right response. “Pick up the fucking phone and call them now, Ava!”
He’s stalking over to me and my heart begins to slam hard against my chest, my palms growing sticky as I prepare myself to fight back.
But before I have to cross that road, I hear Lewis’ voice.
“Don’t you dare put your hands on my wife.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Lewis
The fucking wanker just stands there as he turns to look at me, his face red and his eyes practically bugging out of his head. Either he can’t believe this is happening to him or he can’t understand what I’ve just said to him.
I’m more than happy to repeat it to him though. More than happy to spell it out loud and clear with my fist too.
Because inside I am absolutely fuming right now. But at the same time, I’m trying to maintain some sort of calm on the outside for the sake of my wife and her career.
I know this is not my fight and I meant it last night when I told her that I don’t want to be, that I will never be a demanding, controlling husband like I know this dickhead is.
I trust Ava to handle this, to know what she’s doing, but fuck me if it isn’t taking every single ounce of self-control I possess not to just walk over and deck this guy. It’s him I have the problem with. Guys like him think they own the fucking world, just because they make a movie and earn a bunch of money and have people throwing themselves at them. Well fuck him, because money and fame does not give you free reign to be an arsehole.
