Page 41 of Hollywood Games
Zoe ran, dialling 999 as the cold air burned into her lungs. She finished the call as she got to the post office, where Morag was already up and sorting the morning newspaper delivery. Ever practical, Morag yelled for Jamie and began the Kinloch bush telephone whilst Zoe ran back. By the time she arrived, a crowd had gathered. There was no sign of Mrs McCreedie, and Rory was attempting to break down the front door, cheered on by the crowd who obviously didn’t think offering to help might have been useful. Rory lifted his big boot and aimed a few punishing kicks at the lock. It gave way with a splintering crash and he dashed in, yelling at Zoe to stay back.
Only the approaching sirens broke the silence, as the crowd watched, most of them filming on their phones. Rory’s voice carried outside as he bellowed at Mrs McCreedie to wake up and a few of the children laughed. Zoe held her breath, looking at the house which now appeared to be held up only by the lorry. She heard a thumping of boots on the stairs, then Rory emerged, carrying a tiny old woman wrapped in her bedclothes. Zoe sagged with relief. The crowd cheered and clapped.
Rory didn’t seem to notice. He turned to her. ‘Can you handle this end while I get her to Morag’s?’
She nodded and he strode down the road, the old lady in his arms.
Less than five minutes later he was back, having passed her to Jamie. Zoe was happy to let him take centre stage as he liaised with the fire crew and police. It was thrilling watching him. He was a born leader. She would follow him into the jaws of a shark if he asked her. Watching him in action, her mouth was dry, but her body was wet. He was controlled, charismatic, and sexy as hell. He strode up to her, took her head in his hands and kissed her deeply. ‘Can you go to the castle, let them know what’s happened and keep an eye on things there?’
Zoe nodded, his kiss robbing her of the power of speech. She grabbed her bag from the truck and walked the short distance up the hill to the castle. She couldn’t find Brad, but saw Crystal and filled her in before going to the estate office. She had half an hour to catch up on a bit of work before she was needed as Kirsten’s stand-in.
The first email that caught her eye was from Cassandra, confirming the ‘eligible earl’ shoot with Rory forTatlermagazine the next week. Zoe chewed her bottom lip. She still hadn’t told him what she’d arranged, and as every day passed he became more on edge. She would have to find the right moment. She read another email from Margaret at the bakery, telling her they’d taken the first orders of spiced shortbread. She clapped in excitement. It was all coming together.
Whilst she responded to more emails and updated the castle’s Instagram account, her phone pinged with a message from Sam. She was having breakfast and cheering up Mrs McCreedie who was very excited to have met someone off the telly. Sam told Zoe she just needed to wash and blow-dry her hair and put make-up on, then she would be ready to come and be introduced to Brad. Zoe promised she would get her in, but couldn’t guarantee Brad would fall in love with her on the spot.
The estate office had been blissfully quiet, but the great hall was chaotic with noise, scenery, lights and cameras. Zoe hovered at the edge of the room, watching people rushing about, each of them seeming to have the most vital role, without which the entire enterprise would collapse. She spotted Brad already dressed as a king and gave him a little wave. He called her over and enthusiastically introduced her to the principal camera crew before seating her on one of the thrones.
‘Okay, babe? We’ll be all day here. Just sit tight and I’ll show you the ropes.’ He strode off, young women with clipboards and headsets trailing in his wake.
Zoe sat back. It was finally happening. She was in the middle of a Hollywood movie!
Two hours later, the glamour had worn off and she was bored witless. No wonder Kirsten wanted a stand-in. This had to be the most tedious job in the whole world. It took ages for anything to happen, and when something did, it was so short, then repeated again and again until all excitement had been trampled out. When Kirsten showed up for her shots, she switched on her star power at ‘action’ and off again at ‘cut’, when Shauna would rush to drape a puffa coat around her, steer her away and feed her guava.
Zoe snapped a few surreptitious shots of what was going on, then messaged Rory who was still dealing with the emergency services and attempting to make Mrs McCreedie’s home safe. She thought she’d better save the news of theTatlershoot for later, so amused herself driving him wild with innuendo. During the short tea break she went to the main entrance to let in Sam, who was wild-eyed and nervy.
‘You sure you want to do this?’ Zoe asked her, worried about the escalation of crazy she was seeing in her friend.
Sam swallowed, rubbing her palms on the outside of her skin-tight skirt and tossing her hair back like a skittish racehorse. ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m ready. Let’s do this.’
Zoe led her through the castle to a side room where Brad was sitting, giving yet more orders to Crystal. He looked up when Zoe and Sam entered. ‘Hey, babe, everything okay?’
‘Yeah, great, it’s been such a fun morning,’ Zoe lied. ‘I wanted to introduce you to my best friend Sam.’
Brad stood, and turned his attention to Sam, taking her hand in both of his. ‘A real pleasure to meet you, Sam, I’m Brad,’ he said, his practised patter off to a tee.
Sam gawked. For the first time in her life, she appeared lost for words. This situation obviously happened all the time to Brad so he was unfazed. He put his head to one side and gazed at her quizzically. ‘Hey, do I know you?’
Sam blushed. ‘Yes, I’m—’
Brad dropped her hands and slapped his thigh. ‘I knew it! You sang the song with Jamie! I saw it on Instagram. Man, that was sick. The two of you…’ He brought his fists together, then splayed them apart. ‘Boom!’ He thumped himself in the chest harder than King Kong. ‘It got me here. Sucker punch to the heart, baby. Have you been together long?’
After a brief pause, Zoe looked on in horror as Sam’s mouth wrote a cheque she would never be able to cash. ‘Yes, we have, we’ve been writing for a couple of years now. We’ve been really inspired by your work, especially what you’re doing with Braveheart 2. In fact, we’ve written an entire album dedicated to you. The title track is called “The Heart of Scotland”.’
Brad’s eyes widened. ‘Hot damn! Sing it for me now. I have to hear it!’
Sam opened her mouth, shut it again, then blinked a couple of times. ‘I can’t without Jamie, maybe later?’
Brad turned to Crystal. ‘Speak to the dude at the pub, set something up the night before we wrap.’ He looked back at Sam. ‘This is intense, baby. I wanna hear it all!’
Sam gave him a dazzling smile. ‘Absolutely, we can’t wait to share our music with you.’
Another of Brad’s minions poked her head around the door and called to him. ‘Mr Bauer, they’re ready for you now.’
He squeezed Sam’s shoulders. ‘Crystal will arrange it.’ He walked out of the room, Crystal following, leaving Zoe and Sam alone. The moment the door shut, the tableau collapsed.
‘Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, what have I done!’ Sam wailed.
‘The Heart of Scotland? You’re priceless!’
