‘Lila? Lila, are you okay? Are you hurt?’
She scraped herself into a sitting position and took some fortifying gulps of fresh, cold air, trying to compose herself in some way before she faced him again. Then she stood up and pulled the window open from the outside.
‘I’m okay. I made it.’ She bent down and peeked through, managing to spot his head over the top of the shelf inside; shadowy and dark. ‘I guess I’ll run inside to get the door unlocked…unless you want me to check your phone for a signal out here? Maybe you’ve got a text or voicemail I can tell you about.’ That way, if he wasn’t in such a desperate rush to get out, she could maybe spend a little more time figuring out how to liberate him without anyone knowing. That was definitely something she wanted to achieve if possible.
Before, she’d just been worried about Sibyl being annoyed at her for somehow damaging the star of the movie. Then he’d told her all about the reality of what people would think. That people would say they’d snuck off for a quickie in the storeroom and accidentally got locked in.
If Sibyldidn’tsack her that would be a living nightmare. They’d think she was some easy lay for a celebrity orworse, she’d slept with him to get the job. She’d immediately be branded a…a floozie by a bunch of people she was supposed to work with for the next six months. Knowing people were judging her was her worst nightmare. She seriously didn’t understand how he could shrug it off so easily.
‘That would be great.’ He slid his phone across the metal shelf, and she fumbled it through the window, trying to shelter it from the misty rain. He called out his four digit security pin to her and she tapped it in, crouching back down by the window. The battery was low but there was at least one bar of signal.
‘Wow, you get a lot of messages,’ she murmured as the little numbers lit up all over the squares.
‘Do I?’ He laughed weakly, and that reminded her that he was still losing blood probably. She needed to get a move on. ‘Just look for ones from “Terry” or “Mum”.’
She shivered as her T-shirt grew damp at the back from the rain and she tapped into text messages, then WhatsApp, doing her best not to invade his privacy as she searched.
‘Oh!’ She opened the most recent one from “Terry” and her heart gave a little squeeze. There was a photo attached to the message showing a tiny baby; tight, soft dark curls all over its head, and the caption:Your new nephew, Joshua, 8lb 2oz. They’re both fine. Siobhan did amazing. Get your arse over here as soon as you can.‘A message has come through.’ And she slid the phone back to him through the window. Now it was downloaded, he’d be able to see it.
He went quiet as he looked, and then when he spoke his voice was even deeper with a touch more gravel. ‘That’s brilliant. Thank you, Lila.’
‘Congratulations.’
‘Thank you,’ he said again. ‘Would you be able to do me one more favour? I’m just going to write a message replying – could you send it for me?’
‘Of course.’
Once it was sent, she looked around the empty car park – not a soul had spotted her so far. ‘Right, I’m going to go back in now. If you start to feel woozy, lie down and raise your arm over your head.’
He laughed like she was joking, and she trotted around the building, through the mostly empty car park to the front doors. What was she going to do if Sibyl was sitting in the makeup department still, and she had to explain that she needed the key? Was she going to say she accidentally let the door close? Sibyl would probably say it didn’t matter, it was the end of the day and needed to be locked up anyway. How would she get the key off her? Maybe she could say she left something in there, but what? Her handbag and coat were hanging on a hook directly opposite Sibyl’s desk.
Oh God, what a mess. Her heart knocked against her ribs and her stomach was definitely back in residency behind her belly button because it was twisting itself into a figure-eight knot.
She pulled open the door at the front and then jogged up the wide staircase to the first floor, making her tread lighter when her footsteps echoed through the largely empty building. How long had they even been in that storeroom? All the general bumble of noise was absent. It made her wonder how all the banging and yelling Rowan had done initially on the door could have been missed – but maybe that was for the best now.
She paused for a moment outside the main makeup department room. She could hear movement inside. So, Sibyl wasn’t gone. Whether that was something Lila should be pleased about or not, she didn’t know. It meant the keys were still available, but it also meant facing the dragon.
Smoothing her hair, she walked into the room as calmly as she possibly could, despite the suspicion that she looked guiltier than a child caught with chocolate on their face, surrounded by candy wrappers.
Sibyl looked up from where she was packing a folder away in her bag and frowned immediately. ‘What on earth took you so long?’
I got trapped in the store cupboard with a movie star and had to crawl out the window, via his chiselled Adonis body. He’s still in there, bleeding from a wound inflicted during a botched escape attempt. Just another day at the office, right?
‘Oh, it was erm…really dark in there, without the light working and it being so grey out…made it hard to see where things needed to go. All put away neatly though – I double-checked like you said,’ she added hastily, because Sibyl was looking at her like she was a complete moron. And it was true anyway – she had double-checked and put the stuff away neatly, like she’d gone down there to do. Lord knows what mess they’d left it in now though.
‘Really? That’s it? This whole time?’
‘Oh, and I went for a comfort break on the way back.’ Lila frantically thought up more excuses. Sibyl’s keys were still resting on the desk next to her empty mug.
Sibyl made a humpf noise and then did a double take, her hand pausing in mid-air on the way to her laptop, while her eyes narrowed on Lila’s thighs.
Lila glanced down and was mortified to see rusty smears on her right leg. The blood from Rowan’s hand must have soaked through the cotton pad as he was lifting her up. White static played in her brain. She was all out of excuses for that one. She’d just mentioned needing to go to the ladies’ and there was blood on her pants – Sibyl was going to join the dots provided and Lila would still remember this moment while lying awake at 2am when she was in her eighties.
‘Right, well, I’ve got to go talk to the production team heads. I’ll…goodbye.’ Sibyl walked out abruptly, leaving all her belongings behind.
Lila’s legs were weak but at least her embarrassment had led to Sibyl making a sharp exit. Lilacouldhave told her the truth to save her from thinking the worst, but would the truth have even stopped Sibyl at looking at her with less suspicion? At least by taking it all on her own shoulders as being a complete disaster zone, she would save Rowan the gossip. He seemed a nice guy and she’d been one step away from running off to live in a cave anyway.
Lila bit her lip and eyed the keys. This was her best opportunity. She grabbed her coat and bag from the corner of the room and swiped the keys as she walked out. Worst-case scenario, someone caught her and thought she was intending to steal something – so she’d have to lead them to cupboard and reveal Rowan. Hopefully, he would still be conscious, and she wouldn’t be arrested for attempted manslaughter too.
