Page 15 of Hot Set

“Make it a little brighter,” I added.

Alex glanced over his shoulder at me. He had nice eyes; bright, like polished gemstones. My heart skipped a beat.

“We will,” Bioncia said. “We’ve already tested the colors under the lights. We need more red and some teal to balance it out.”

“Oh, good,” I replied. “You’re doing great.”

“Did you end up running into Seth?” Alex asked.

“Not yet,” I said.

“What did Caitlyn want?” Bioncia asked.

I sighed. “She’s out.”

“Out?” Bioncia asked. "Likeoutout??"

I nodded. Bioncia shook her head.

“She’s…?” Alex trailed off.

“Our love interest,” I replied. “To be honest, I really shouldn’t be surprised. She’s been a pain since the beginning.”

“That seems really unprofessional, though,” Alex said.

“It is,” I said wearily, “But it’s not like I can chain her to the set and demand she stay. I’m calling our head writer over, so we can stay up all night and shred the script.”

“I know! I can put on a wig and claim to be her,” said Celeste, who was brunette, three inches shorter than Caitlyn, and at least twenty pounds heavier.

“I don’t think that would fool anyone,” I said, “Although I appreciate your sacrifice.”

Celeste’s lips cocked into a crooked, fond smile. “Let me know if I can help,” she said.

“And me,” Alex said quickly, “Although I’m not good at much except make-up.”

At least he was good at something, though. The more things I tried, the less I seemed to be good atanything. Still, maybe this movie would pan out. Despite frustrations like this, I actuallydidenjoy working on this film and doing all the little things involved.

“Actually,” I said, “How do you all feel about coming over to my place and reworking this script to death? I’ll bribe you with booze and pizza.”

“I’m game,” Bioncia said, “And you know Seth will be. He’d agree to jump off a bridge for food.”

“I’ll come, too,” Alex said. “I’m not much of a writer, but I’ve been in enough productions to know how a drama is structured.”

Celeste shrugged. “I watch movies,” she said. “Maybe I’ve picked up a thing or two.”

And maybe between all of us, we’d manage to work this out. “Cool,” I said. “We’ll go to my place after work then and stay as long as it takes.”

“Maybe it won’t be so bad,” Bioncia said. “At least, if Caitlyn is gone, we won’t have to deal with her drama all the time. Remember how she kept losing shoes from wardrobe?”

“She wasn’t losing them,” I said tiredly. “She was walking off with them, so she could keep them.”

“I’m sure, too,” Bioncia replied, “We call that theft, Brandon.”

Admittedly, Caitlyn would’ve had a harder time with it if I’d kept decent records like I was supposed to. Unfortunately, I had a bad habit of charging my card and never keeping track. I hadn’t thought to hire a bookkeeper when I began this venture, and now I wished, for the millionth time, that I had.

My phone beeped again, heralding Scott’s arrival. I smiled wryly. “Well,” I said. “It sounds like my reckoning has arrived.”

At least, Scott and I would have help with this; that might be enough to keep him from strangling me. I texted him to let him know where I was, and then I waited.

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