by Natasha West
‘Not this, no. It’s not acting, really.’
‘But you said that you were pretending to be fighting over a silly man with big muscles. And that’s certainly not you.’
‘No, I guess not.’
‘Then it’s acting’ Kathy said. Daisy could see that for her, the matter was closed. ‘So, nine, yes?’
‘Oh my god, Mum! You look like a woman off the telly!’
Daisy laughed. ‘That’s because I am.’
The episode had been on for twenty minutes and they’d finally reached the restaurant scene. So far it had been fairly Reece focused but they’d had a few glimpses of Daisy, as she exchanged furtive glances with him. Daisy knew what Jake meant about looking like ‘A woman off the telly.’ She was surprised at how at home in the Laid in Medford environment she looked. She was as glam as anyone else on the show.
‘You should do your hair like that more often’ Kathy said.
‘That’s professional work, Mum. I wouldn’t have the first clue.’
‘Oh, I see.’
And then Alexa Lockwood came on screen and Daisy presumed she wouldn’t get much of a look-in now, not until she got into the row. But then the show cut to a shot of Daisy watching Alexa walk through the restaurant.
‘Mum, why are you looking at that woman’s bum?’ Jake asked.
‘What? I’m not.’
‘I’ve got to say, it does look that way’ Kathy chipped in with a smirk.
Daisy didn’t know what to say so she stayed quiet, not wanting to encourage further debate on the matter. Her mother and son knew she liked women, that wasn’t the embarrassing bit. It was more that she’d been caught leering. It wasn’t a good look on a grown woman.
Then came the muscle squeeze, the row, the wine toss. And then it was over, the scene ending with Daisy looking at her ruined outfit in shock. After that, it cut to a scene on the street. Reece begging for forgiveness, Alexa not giving it.
And that was it. All over. Daisy blew a sigh of relief.
‘You were great, Mum’ Jake said.
She smiled at him. ‘I don’t know if I’d use that word but thanks.’
‘It’s a pig's ear of a show but Jake’s right, you made a silk purse out of it’ Kathy said.
It was a better compliment than Daisy had expected from her mother so she just said ‘Thanks, Mum.’
Half an hour later, Daisy was getting into bed, thrilled the day was finally over. It had been too long and too strange.
Just as she’d closed her eyes, her phone vibrated. She tried to ignore it but after several minutes of trying to fall asleep, she knew she’d have to check it before her mind would allow her to nod off. It was a text from Abigail.
THE INTERNET HAS EXPLODED. #TeamDaisy
Team Daisy? What the hell did that mean? Daisy clicked on the hashtag and it took her to Twitter. She scrolled through the feed with astonishment. It was tweet after tweet about Daisy’s fight with Alexa. People had liked it. And apparently, they’d liked someone standing up to Alexa Lockwood. Hence the supportive hashtag.
Daisy searched #TeamAlexa and found that lots of people had not been a fan of Daisy’s debut. There was plenty of criticism, all manner of unpleasant comments were aimed at her. When Daisy couldn’t take any more of it she shut down the Twitter app to reply to Abigail’s text, although she had no idea what to say. It was all too bizarre. People were discussing her, strangers more accurately. Daisy didn’t have the first clue how to feel about it.
As she wondered how to reply to Abigail, a call came in. She didn’t recognise the number. Who would be calling so late?
‘Hello?’
‘Is that Daisy Howard?’
‘Yeah? Who’s this?’
‘It’s Aaron from Cut and Shut. Are you available for a meeting with Ryan tomorrow to discuss more appearances?’
She’d been warned this would happen, by more than one person. Still, she’d never really believed it.
‘But it was only just on!’
‘Yeah, but Ryan likes to have the social media monitored while it airs live, to see what responses we get. And you got a good response. So he wants you back.’
‘I see’ Daisy said, playing for time. She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t do this whole Laid in Medford thing again. She’d promised herself.
‘So can we expect you tomorrow?’
‘Err…’
‘Ryan thought you might have some reservations and he told me to tell you he’d double your fee.’
‘Can he see me after four?’ Daisy found herself saying.
Seven
Alexa Lockwood was lying on her back, sweating and moaning.
‘Just two more, Lex’, a woman’s voice shouted enthusiastically.
Alexa was desperate to stop, but she was too close. She pulled herself up with everything she had left, completing one horrendous ab crunch and then another before she dropped back, the world spinning.
‘And that’s your last set, you’re done’ Alexa’s trainer Charlie Black told her, as she checked off her list of exercises. ‘Catch your breath and then we’ll stretch.’
‘That last set was evil’ Alexa moaned as she sat up and took a long sip of water.
‘Yeah’ Charlie agreed. ‘I can’t do that many.’
‘Then why the fuck am I doing them?’ Alexa asked herself.
‘Because you’re famous’ Charlie shrugged. ‘And high def is unforgiving of even the most minimal FUPA.’
Alexa smiled. ‘Still, one of these days, I’m just gonna say fuck it and eat nothing but cheeseburgers, let myself go completely.’
‘Oh, man. Now I want a cheeseburger. Can we go and get one?’ Charlie said.
‘You’re not supposed to say that. You’re supposed to tell me to eat avocado or lean chicken breast, you realise that?’
‘Maybe we could split the difference and get a chicken burger with a slice of avocado in it?’
Alexa wiped the sweat off her brow and sat up.
‘You’re meant to whip my arse into shape, not add to it.’
‘Pfff… I don’t need to. You do that all by yourself.’
‘Then what am I paying you for?’
Charlie shrugged, cheekily. ‘Fucked if I know.’
Alexa shook her head at Charlie, the world's laziest personal trainer. ‘Fine, you win. Let’s get a burger.’
‘So, you got any good spoilers for me?’ Charlie asked as she chewed her burger, her mouth open a little wider than she probably realised.
Alexa, mid-fry, raised an eyebrow and swallowed.
‘You don’t watch the show. Would you even know a name if I told you?’
‘Yeah, but the wife watches. She asked me if I could weasel anything out of you.’
‘Tell her to stop watching. Tell her to read a book instead. In fact, tell her to dangle herself over a shark tank or jump out of a plane. Anything but watch Laid in Medford, it kills brain cells.’
‘That’s what Amy likes about it. It switches her brain off.’
Alexa sighed. ‘Good to know.’
Charlie watched Alexa picking at her food.
‘Are you alright? You seem a bit… I dunno…’
‘I’m fine. I’m just feeling a bit… Did you ever feel like you’re living someone else’s life? Like you’re just pretending to be the person everyone else has decided you are?’
Charlie swallowed her fry. ‘I think everyone feels like that sometimes.’
‘But that’s my whole life now. Alexa Lockwood, the megabitch with perfect hair that throws wine in people’s faces. And it’s boring.’
‘So quit.’
‘I’ve thought about it. But then what?’
Charlie didn’t have an answer to that. And that was Alexa’s whole problem these days. Neither did she.
Later, Alexa was back on set, sat next to Reece, quietly reading a novel on her kindle as she waited for the crew to finish setting up. Reece was holding a dumbbell, grunting lightly as he swung it out to his si
de. More than once, Alexa felt the air of a dumbbell swing near her face, but she said nothing. Reece was likely trying to annoy her on purpose, to get her attention. She wouldn’t cave.
‘Watcha readin’?’ he eventually asked her.
Alexa never took her eyes off the electronic page. ‘It’s about a man who really likes working out.’
He looked over her shoulder to see the word Thou on the screen. Reece shook his head. ‘I’m not stupid, it’s one of those things with horses and bonnets. They didn’t even do working out back then.’
‘Can you imagine? No P90X to pass the time?’
‘You can take the piss if you want, but I’ve seen your body, you work out nearly as much as I do, Lex.’
Alexa realised he was right. Still, the thought of Reece lumping her in with his own fixation with ‘Getting swole’ bothered her. She wasn’t sure why. But it did.
‘Speaking of bodies-’
‘No, Reece.’
‘You don’t even know what I was going to say.’
‘You were going to turn the conversation into an attempt to get me into bed again. And I haven’t got the energy to tell you to fuck off right now.’
Reece sighed, disappointed. ‘I don’t get it. I was good, wasn’t I?’
Alexa looked at Reece and she felt a dash of pity for him. ‘That was a year ago, Reece. Please do your best to get over it.’
‘I’m not asking you to marry me. I’m just saying, when I watch the show, we look good together. And I think we owe it to each other to try and make it work.’
Alexa had many things she could have said in reply to that but what was the point? Reece truly wanted to believe he was the man he played in the show. And that was the last thing that Alexa wanted, to turn into her on-screen persona.
‘Reece, it’s not going to happen.’
‘Because you’re into women?’
‘Amongst other things, yes.’
‘But I never see you with any.’
‘That’s because I can’t very well go looking now, can I? I’m famous. It would get in the way.’
‘Is that why you shagged me?’
There were several answers to that and Alexa could’ve listed them easily. A: She was coming off the back of a very nasty break-up and B: Reece had been there, paying her attention, being nice to her and generally buttering her up and C: she’d just been thrust into the limelight that came with Laid in Medford and he was the only other person who knew what that was like, plus D: she knew there was absolutely no chance she’d get hurt by Reece in the long run, because there was no possibility that she could ever get attached to him in the first place. Add E: booze to the mix and you ended up with X: An inevitable mistake with a person she didn’t even really like, never mind fancy.
The incident had been so inconsequential that she hadn’t even asked herself if it meant she wasn’t one hundred percent gay. Reece was a dreary blip, nothing more. But as much as Reece drove her up the wall, she wouldn’t give him her list of reasons for the one-time pass. He would never understand. But he couldn’t help being a vapid meathead when you got down to it so Alexa tried to give him something.
‘It was a one-off. And that’s where I want to leave it, alright?’
‘But-’
‘Reece, Alexa!’ called the director.
Thank god, thought Alexa.
After the scene wrapped (Alexa throwing a fit because Reece forgot her birthday) Alexa was pleased to be done for the day. And it was the last scene of the ep, which meant she’d get a few days off. All she wanted was to go home, get in a hot bath and soak her tired body.
But then she spotted Ryan, waving at her from the edge of the set. She hoped this wasn’t going to be one of those conversations where they debated the line of how much flesh she was willing to show for some saucy scene that was in the pipeline. She’d spent one of her very first days on set in a bikini and she’d asked never to have to do that again. Ryan had agreed on it at the time but now and again, he’d have a request for a scene where she’d be a nipple away from naked. Alexa always said no, but it didn’t stop Ryan from asking, in his tenacious yet oh-so-respectful way.
‘Ryan, I was just about to knock off for the day-’
‘It’s OK, I only want a quick word. Won’t take a minute.’
Ryan only ever wanted quick words. It was almost always a lie. But he was the boss so Alexa summoned her patience.
‘We’re thinking of bringing on a new regular for the back half of the series. Wanted to run it past you, get your thoughts.’
‘Oh?’ Alexa replied. If he was ‘thinking of’ doing it, it was already happening. Alexa had no say in the show and she knew it but this was classic Ryan. He thought it was clever to boost her importance, that it would keep her sweet. But what kept Alexa sweet was professionalism. Plus, her onscreen habit of chucking her toys out of the pram gave her a very strong desire to behave like an adult around the set. Outside-hours tantrums would count as unpaid work. And if you’re good at something, never do it for free, that was Alexa’s motto.
‘Do you remember the girl you threw the wine on?’ Ryan asked.
‘You’ll have to be more specific.’
‘Ha, of course. She was the blonde, in the restaurant scene. Not sure you were ever formally introduced but her name was Daisy.’
‘Yes, I know who you mean.’
And she did. She’d had a great time playing off against the girl with the dimples. She’d hoped to catch her at the end of the day, to apologise for covering her in wine. Although she’d been instructed to do it, she wasn’t sure anyone had let Daisy in on the plan. But when she went to look for her, she’d already gone.
‘That’s good. How would you feel about a few more catfights with her?’
‘I’d feel fine.’
‘Great. I’ll get her in, then.’
Usually, when Alexa left the set, it was with a sense of relief. But today, as she got in her car, she found she had a feeling she hadn’t had in a while. She was looking forward to coming back to work, to play against the new girl. Daisy.
She had a feeling she was going to make her scenes more interesting than they’d been in quite some time.
Eight
Daisy was back in the makeup chair, Isabella working away on her with concealer. It was six in the evening.
‘These are some serious bags under your eyes. Ten minutes with a gel eye mask would have saved me a lot of work.’
‘I don’t think I’ve got one of those.’
‘Christ, if you’re gonna be on screen, it’s day one stuff. Get one.’
Daisy didn’t know what to say. Sure, she hadn’t slept too well last night. Poor Jake had picked up a touch of stomach flu and she’d been up with him till three while he prayed to the porcelain god. But she didn’t think her eyes looked that bad.
‘Done. Go’ Isabella commanded, throwing her out of the back room in the bar where they were shooting today. It was a party scene with all the regulars present. Daisy had seen Robyn already this morning, who’d greeted her warmly with a ‘Told ya you’d be back!’
And now it was time to go back into the lion’s den. Crew, equipment, actors, background artists, not to mention Ryan and a few suited cronies, the room was packed out. Daisy felt strangely more nervous than the first time. She thought it might be because she felt a larger weight of expectation on her shoulders today. The first day was a test and she’d apparently passed it. Today, she’d have to build on whatever it was that she’d done before. Daisy wasn’t a hundred percent sure she knew exactly what that was, but she’d heard the word ‘Sassy’ banded around so she supposed they wanted more of that.
It was funny, Daisy hadn’t ever really thought of herself as being sassy. It was a light word, a word that held connotations of being fun and cheeky. Daisy thought that in the real world, sassy really meant rude. But if they wanted rude, how hard could that be? Christ, if they put Reece in front of her again, it’d be like falling off a log.
Speaking of which, there he was. Mr Gun Show himself. And he was talking to… Oh shit. Alexa Lockwood. Daisy took a deep breath. I will not leer, I will not leer, I will not leer…
‘Ready for round two with Alexa today?’
Daisy jumped around to see Ryan with his usual easy smile.
‘It’s another scene with Alexa?’
‘Yep, people responded to it before so we want to push forward with that.’
‘She’s not gonna throw more wine on me, is she?’ Daisy asked with trepidation.
Ryan laughed. ‘No, we’ve done that. We don’t want to do it again. It wouldn’t have the same punch.’
‘Good. I was really hoping to stay dry today.’
‘And you will. Don’t worry. So here’s the lowdown. Today’s argument, it’s not a million miles away from the last one. What happens this time is that Reece has spent weeks trying to put things right with Alexa, and then they go to Robyn’s birthday party and you’re there. But Reece is less shaken this time, he’s ready for you and he’s trying not to let Alexa know that you mean anything at all to him. But what do you go and do? You snog his best mate.’
