Page 29 of The Summer of Christmas

“Pretty exciting,” Drew said. “I got a good feeling about this one. Great director. Great actors. And great production designer.” Drew didn’t mention the script. He was going over things with his assistant and was in work mode. Ivy knew not to bother him.

“Cue the smoke!” Bruce called. Ivy sat back and put on her headphones and watched the movie she had written come to life. The scene about to be filmed was near the midpoint of the movie. The midpoint was the middle of the story. It usually hinted at the ending. It was like an intermission in a Broadway musical. A big emotional moment. Ivy remembered coming back from college after her first year and how it was so emotional for her to reunite with Nick. Bruce screamed, “Quiet on the set. Places. Roll sound. Roll camera!”

“Action!” Vera said as she pointed at the actors like it was agosignal. The background extras milled out, all dressed for winter. Amari, playing Ilsa, was looking for Rick. He wasn’t to be seen. There was a burst of steam from the train which obscured the end of the station. Through the steam Rick was to emerge and see Ilsa. Ivy watched intently as emerging from the fog/steam was—the real Nick. Not Rick. Not Griffin playing Rick. Nick Shepherd walking into the shot, very confused. It took a while to recognize him in the fog, but Ivy knew it was him. What the hell was he doing ruining the first shot of her movie?

Ivy yelled out, “Cut!”

Everyone stopped. Looked over at her. Vera glared at her. “I don’t know what they teach you at USC, but at NYU the only person who yells cut is the director, and that’s me!”

“That’s not Rick, I mean Griffin,” Ivy said. By now, all eyes were on the real Nick standing confused, admiring the train.

Amari ran over and hugged him. “Nick! You made it! Great to see you again,” she gushed. Ivy watched as Amari gave Nick a very long hug. Amari was proving that she was indeed a hugger.But why is she hugging Nick? He doesn’t seem to mind. Where did they meet?Ivy wondered.

Drew saw Griffin approaching the set with a ham-and-cheese croissant in his hand.

“Griffin, where were you?” Vera asked.

“Oh damn, did we start? So sorry. J. B. was getting me a ham-and-Brie croissant. The caterer is off the rails!”

Drew escorted Griffin to the set as Bruce brought Nick to Ivy. There was a small exchange of recognition between the fake Nick and the real Nick. The real Nick was dropped off right next to Ivy in video village. He smiled. She glared.

“What are you doing here?” Ivy asked.

Nick was in a good mood. He joked, “Is this the part where you kill me?”

“I would have invited you to that scene. How do you know Amari?”

“We met yesterday. She’s super friendly.”

Ivy put on her headphones to hear the scene as it played out. Nick did the same.

Bruce screamed, “Quiet on the set! Places! Everyone back to one!” Everyone moved back into position. It was like watching time go in reverse. The actors and extras returned to their marks—small pieces of tape unseen on the ground. “Roll sound. Roll camera!” Bruce yelled out.

“Action,” Vera said with her signature pointing at the actors. Griffin emerged from the steam. He rushed toward Amari, and they embraced. There was suddenly a giant scream of delight from thirty or so Griffineers. They must have had Griffin radar. They had found him. Vera called, “Cut!” and told Drew to do something.

Drew had made sure the town’s sheriff would be on set the first day. “Sheriff Peters, can you tell them to vacate?”

“I can’t do that. They’re allowed to be here,” Sheriff Peters explained. He was also eating a ham-and-cheese croissant. Drew wondered how much over budget they might go on the food.

“You have to get them to leave,” he said.

“They have cameras on their phones. I’m up for reelection. Sorry.”

Drew wanted to rip the croissant out of the sheriff’s mouth. The Griffineers were now chanting “We want Griffin.” Griffin nodded to Vera and walked over to his fans.

“Hi, thanks for coming out,” he said. They cheered. “We would love to have you stay and watch, but it’s not helping us with the filming if you scream.” They screamed again. “So how about this, you stay quiet, very quiet. And I will take a picture with each of you during my break.” The Griffineers nodded with silent smiles.

Griffin walked back to the set and pulled Drew aside. Griffin was still “miked up,” which meant he was wearing a microphone. Anyone with headphones could hear what he had to say, including Ivy and Nick. Drew offered a thank-you to Griffin, but the young actor would have none of it. He cared about his career and took his job seriously. “Drew, you’re the producer, take care of this. This can’t happen every day. Find the person who leaked the production schedule and fire them!” Griffin walked away. Drew looked around, all eyes on him. Slightly embarrassed. Ivy had been on enough student films to know how important good chemistry was on a film shoot. So far day one of filming was highly combustible.

“Did you hear that?” Nick said excitedly. “The guy playing me just bitch-slapped that dude. Who is that?”

“That’s my boyfriend,” Ivy blurted out. She meant to say that Drew was the producer. But she hopedboyfriendhad carried more weight. Nick laughed again.

“Why are you even here, Nick?” she demanded. “You already ruined the first shot of the movie.”

“I came to tell you that you can film in the winery,” Nick said, without even looking at her. His eyes had found something else. Amari.

“Really?” Ivy said.

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