Page 53 of Love At First Fright
She walked towards him, and Ellis stepped back. He was too close to cracking, too close to sayingFuck it, let’s do this anyway.
“They are. I’m not…I’m not a good person, Rosemary.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The things I like, the things I want from you…”
This time, Rosemary moved across the room to him so fast that he didn’t have a chance to move away.
“Is this about last night?” she whispered. “About the phone call? The kiss? Ellis, you didn’t do anything I didn’t want as well. I want all the things that you want to give me.”
Everything she was saying made it hurt all the more.
“Can we just forget it ever happened? That would be easier.”
Hurt stung in his chest as he said it, the acid taste of regret immediate. Rosemary blinked at him, as if she couldn’t quite take in what he’d said.
“Easier? For whom?”
“For both of us.”
She looked at him—no,throughhim. Ellis felt that every ugly part of him was on display.
“I thought you were better than this,” she said, and left.
20
Half a day and eveninghad passed since her mortifying conversation with Ellis, and she was trudging, flashlight in hand, through mossy undergrowth and moonlit woodland, to find the glade where they had set up filming for the night.
Unprofessional? That asshole. She should have known that it was too good to be true. She couldn’t have just found a super-hot person, who happened to be single and interested in her, who wasalsodominant in the bedroom and have things go her way? Oh no, that would have been too easy.
She’d wanted to shout at him, maybe throw a tea towel at him, but when she looked back into the kitchen after fleeing, Ellis had been slumped in a chair, the ghost dog pawing at his legs, trying to comfort his owner. Rosemary had felt the sudden urge to go back in there and comfort him, too, but he’d made it clear he didn’t want her.
As she approached the set, she heard Jeremy laughing a little too hard at a joke from whomever he was on the phone with. Likely the studio. That’s all he ever seemed to be doing. After the conversation with Ellis, and trying to figure out whatto do about his ghost dog, all wrapped up in the mess of her needing to finish her book draft, Rosemary was decidedlynotin the mood for Jeremy’s bullshit.
They were setting up a take, Vincent directing Ellis as he jumped up and down on the spot, shrugging off the cold. Rosemary definitely didn’t look at Ellis; she didn’t even turn her head in his direction. She’d have to speak to him eventually, but the brief sight of him in that billowing Victorian shirt again had her mind and body in a mortifying mix of confusion and arousal.
Jeremy clapped his hands to gather everyone’s attention. “I’ve just come off a call with the studio, and they suggested it might look good if we add in a moment where Ellis fights with one of the ghosts?”
Vincent frowned, tapping a pen against his bottom lip. “It could work…adds more action, certainly.”
But it didn’t make sense. It went against not just the lore of her book, but the lore they’d already created in the movie.
On another night, Rosemary might have remained silent. Not tonight.
“That won’t work,” she piped up. “It’s already established in the scenes we’ve shot that the ghosts’ power weakens when they are further away from the house. They wouldn’t be able to fight at this distance.”
Jeremy faced her, scorn written plain on his face. He held his hands together like some catalogue male model, gesturing for her to calm down. It made her seethe.
“Listen, sweetheart, we all appreciate your enthusiasm. But we both know that you’re out of your depth here, so please leave the direction to the professionals.”
Rosemary considered punching him or shouting, but she knew what happened to difficult women in the workplace…they were never invited back to said workplace. Instead, shetook in a deep, steadying breath through her nose, reminding herself exactly who the fuck she was.
“Jeremy,sweetheart,” she said, with all the fake Southern charm she could muster. “Perhaps you’ve forgotten that I not only wrote the book, but also the script. I appreciate you having your important phone calls and passing that information on. It’s good that the studio execs have a messenger like you. But you’re not the only one with contacts. I could also ring up my film agents. And I’m sure they would be very interested to hear about themannerin which you’ve been passing on their feedback.”
“Perhaps I’ll call up Lucinda, too. She’s your line manager, if I remember correctly?” Ellis stepped forwards. She didn’t need his help, but was perversely pleased at the feel of him standing beside her, backing her up.
Jeremy held up his hands. “There’s no need to bother Lucinda with this.”
