Page 28 of Death By Llama
A voice.An angry voice.
EIGHT
I sat up,focusing on the door.From this distance, and the thick, high quality of the oak door—back to wood again—I could only make out every other word or so.But the tone was harsh and sharp.There was no missing that.
Carefully, I eased off the bed, wincing slightly as the bell on my left shoe clanked, just a slight tinny noise as the pellet in the jingle bell shifted.There was no way the person out in the hall could have heard it, but I needed to be careful.
“Easy does it,” I murmured to myself as I slid my slippered feet over the New England braided rug in its muted colors of pale blue and sage green.One thing was true, Cameron had a great eye for details.
As I got closer to the door, I could make out more of the conversation.
“What do you mean I should just calm down?”
There was a pause, and I realized that the person on the other side of the door was probably talking on a phone.
“Yeah.Yeah.Yeah.I know I got the lead, but I don’t even want him involved in the project, period.He’s not a good actor.And, frankly, this is my big break.I don’t need somebody making me look bad.”
I leaned back from where I had had my ear pressed against the door and stared at the wood panel.I knew exactly who the deep voice belonged to.That was Nick.
I’d been right at dinner.He had gotten a role over that other actor, Vance.
“Listen.I am not having Vance Taylor make this movie into a bomb.I want you to tell the higher-ups that I’ll walk before I’ll be in a movie with that untalented hack.”
I blinked at the door again, cringing.Was this Nick guy insane?You didn’t tell people in the acting industry what you would or wouldn’t do—especially not when you were coming out of an acting troupe in Boston.He just played Saint Nick, for heaven’s sake.He wasn’t exactly in a position to make too many demands.
There was a longer pause, as who I assumed was his agent probably tried to tell him the same thing.
“Alright,” Nick said.“Alright.Yeah, I guess if you think that’s the best way to handle it.But I’m telling you right now, I do not want to be in a movie with him.He is not going to make me look bad.”
There was another moment of silence and then a muttered curse.I heard Nick’s footsteps move down the hallway, away from my parents’ hotel room door.
I stayed motionless, focused on hearing any tiny noise.After a few moments, I blew out the breath I had been holding.Nothing.Not a sound.
I sagged against the wood panel.Wow.This Nick guy was really a piece of work.I knew from my time in acting that you couldn’t be a diva and expect to actually get jobs, especially with no track record behind you.But that wasn’t slowing this guy down at all.
Sure, he had a good look—rugged and handsome—but silver fox or not, I wasn’t sure what he was basing his arrogance on.I thought back to his behavior earlier today.How he had reacted to Peanut as if wandering around a small town festival as Saint Nicholas was going to be totally destroyed by some old local in a shabby Santa suit.
My mind paused on that.He’d said a similar thing about Peanut.That the drunk, old man was going to ruin his gig today.Would that be enough reason for a drama queen Saint Nick to walk by and just give Peanut a little heave-ho over the edge of the cliff?
It didn’t seem plausible.
But when it came to acting and egos, anything was possible.
Listening for a moment again, just to be sure the coast was clear, I slowly turned the door knob.I poked my head out, looking one way, then the other.The hallway was empty.
I stepped outside the room, gently closing the door behind me.Then, shuffling like a zombie penguin, I made my way down the hall, trying not to let the bells on my elf shoes signal I was there.The stairs were a little tricky, requiring me to carefully set each foot on the steps one at a time, but somehow I made it down to the front hallway.
I could hear chatter in the dining room, and things seemed to be normal—jovial, even.
That was a good sign.I beelined straight for the front door.Hand on the doorknob, about to turn it, a voice behind me made me jump.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I whipped around to see Oliver giving me a questioning look.“I just decided to step out for a little bit of fresh air.”
He raised an eyebrow, disbelievingly.“Mm-hm.”
“Okay,” I admitted.“I was going to go walk down to the rock wall and see if I could find anything.”
