Page 44 of Off Script

“Welcome back to work, everyone. Before you can all start whispering away and theorizing, I’d like to set the record straight. Jada and I are a couple, and the other day’s incident was a misunderstanding. However, we would appreciate it if you would treat us as professionally as always, and respect our privacy.”

“That sounds good to me,” Ren interjected. “Now if we could—”

“You’re right, Ren. It does sound good. Maybe even a little rehearsed,” Angela said.

Ren’s glare at his leading actress was so sharp Jada could almost feel the daggers shooting out of his eyes. Whatever smart remark he wanted to throw back never left his lips as Andrew rushed up to him with panicked eyes.

“Mr. Kurosawa, he’s here.”

“Who’s here?”

Ren’s answer came in the sound of a man’s booming voice berating one of the PAs. The tall man heading toward them paid little heed to whatever the PA had said to him. Instead, he marched forward, talking over the lowly production assistant.

“I know they have a lot of scenes to get through today. That’s why I came. Some encouragement to help things go smoothly.”

As the man made it to the soundstage, Angela let out a squeal of delight.

“Daddy!” She rushed over to embrace him as if she hadn’t seen him in years. Hard to imagine that was the case since she’d snitched to him only a few days ago.

“Hello, princess,” he said indulgently, before moving on to the rest of the crew. With the commanding presence millionaires were known for, Mr. Collins wielded his privilege over them like it was his birthright.

“Ren, I hope you don’t mind that I stopped by. Just wanted to get a feel for things on your first day back.” His gaze grew sharper as he noticed Tristan’s arm wrapped around Jada’s waist.

“Hello, Tristan. And this is the infamous Ms. Berklee, I presume?”

“Yes, that’s me, sir,” Jada said. Sweat beaded on the back of her neck at his shrewd examination of her.

“Do you mind if I speak with you two for a moment?” Mr. Collins motioned for them to move a few feet away.

Given the man’s authoritative—and loud—voice, Jada doubted taking a few steps to the left would stop everyone else from overhearing whatever he had to say. The one thing stopping Jada from truly freaking out was that Tristan hadn’t let go of her. He kept his arm steady around her, and his own expression stayed friendly and relaxed.

“Of course, Mr. Collins,” he said respectfully, then steered them off to the area the man had suggested. Fortunately, as he started into them, Mr. Collins did actually lower his voice.

“Let’s get right to it, shall we? I’ve made it clear to Ren—and my daughter—that I want the rest of this film to go smoothly. I hope the two of you want the same thing?”

Jada and Tristan both nodded as his underlying threat rang through the question.

“Good. That being said, I won’t tolerate any more bullying on this set. Or shenanigans of another nature.” With this last part obviously directed at Tristan, the actor stepped up.

“Mr. Collins, I take full responsibility for my part in my past relationship with Angela. I just hope she and I can be polite to each other and make amends.”

“Same,” Jada added. “The amends part.”

He scrutinized them a moment longer, searching their vows of repentance for any false notes. At last, he nodded. “Fine. Now that that’s settled, let’s make some movie magic, right?”

Tristan and Jada once again put on their aye, aye, sir act and hurried to get back to the safety of the surrounding crew. Angela remained serenely smug as the two returned properly chastised. Relieved all his stars were in one piece and their chief investor had been mollified, Ren hopped into the filming logistics.

“Okay, guys. We’re taking it back from where Claire and Diego are trying to find a way to put an end to the time loop with Lana’s help. But then all three of you end up getting sucked back into it. This is going to require some great imagination on your parts. We’re going to need to work on your blocking and how you’ll move in front of the screen.”

Jada disengaged from Tristan’s side and rushed to take her mark. After Ren’s guidance, she moved offscreen, waiting for her cue as Tristan and Angela got into their positions. They went through several practice runs, rehearsing the blocking with ease. However, the second they began rolling, Angela fumbled her way through the scene, her facial expressions and movements much too stiff.

“Diego! I think the only way to escape is . . .” She trailed off, conveniently forgetting her lines right when Jada was supposed to enter, intentionally fucking the scene up—and everyone else over—to satisfy her whims. As Ren called cut, Angela held up her hands with feigned innocence.

“Gosh, I’m sorry, Ren. Something must be throwing me off. I don’t know what it could be.”

“Well, we’ll be staying here as long as we need to until we can get this right. So let us know if we can doanythingto help you along,” Ren said.

His voice was calm but anger simmered beneath his cool tone. Mr. Collins’s looming presence stopped him from calling her out properly. As Angela put her hands on her hips, about to protest, her father cleared his throat.

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