‘Well, you know what my guess is.’ Jackie sighed. ‘Stan Gillian. I bet he’s one ofthose. The handsy kind.’
A black feeling twisted into nausea and a cold sweat broke out down Lila’s spine. ‘You think he did something to Ruth?’ her voice came out all strangled.
‘Uh-huh. Makes sense doesn’t it?’ Jackie nodded towards her, her eyes skimming over Lila’s face. ‘I can see you think it too. What vibe did you get off him this morning? Honestly?’
Lila pressed her lips together. It felt like a leading question and saying anything even slightly controversial went completely against her usual MO but…it was the truth, wasn’t it? And it was just her opinion. Even if nothing had happened like Jackie was suggesting – and she really hoped it hadn’t – she was still entitled to her opinion. ‘Truthfully? He was a little…creepy.’
‘You see.’ Jackie swung her gaze to Marcus, like she’d been trying to convince him. ‘He’s old-school sleaze.’
‘Why don’t we wait until we find out the truth before we start slandering a man’s character? For all we know Rowan lost the plot over a disagreement about how to play the scene.Or, Ruth was flirting with Stan and Rowan got jealous – maybe something’s been going on with them this whole time. He’s well known for sleeping around and you know how easy Ruth is.’
Lila’s mouth dropped open in shock at what Marcus was saying. She’d thought he was seeing Ruth. And if it made Ruth easy because he’d fooled around with her, then by his logic, he was easy himself too. It was a total crock.
‘How disappointingly predictable of you, Marcus,’ Jackie said dryly.
Marcus rolled his eyes but before they could carry on arguing, Sally opened the door. She frowned down on their group and then noticed Lila. ‘Ah, perfect. Lila, can you take Ruth back to your apartment?’
‘Of course,’ she agreed immediately. ‘Shall I come back afterwards?’
‘No. Filming for today is going to be rescheduled. Jackie you can go in and speak to Sibyl though.’ Sally turned back to talk to someone inside and Ruth came out a moment later, her eyes red and averted from them all.
‘Here, you like black coffee right, Jackie? I’ll see you later.’ Lila handed the cup over to Jackie and fell into step with Ruth as she immediately started walking away from the trailer. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked quietly, as they rounded the corner.
‘Not really.’ Ruth’s voice was flat and a little hoarse. ‘I just want to get back and have a shower.’ She gave a little shiver.
That said it all really.
They took a cab back to their apartment and Ruth went off into the bathroom, just like she’d planned. Lila sat at the kitchen table, looking at the box of pastries she’d brought, the grease beginning to turn the white cardboard grey. She made some milky coffee, the way Ruth liked it, and wondered if she needed to say more to her. Lila always hated the feeling that she was prying into people’s business. She didn’t want anyone to think she was being nosy or insensitive – but what ifnotasking was worse? It might make her look like she didn’t care, when of course she did. And maybe Ruth needed to talk about it but couldn’t bring herself to volunteer anything. Just because Lila herself would prefer no one to ask her anything personal, didn’t mean other people felt that way.
Ruth came out of the shower and joined Lila at the table, fiddling with her phone. ‘What’s in the box?’
‘Pastries. They were meant to be for Stan Gillian.’ Ruth curled her lip and leaned away from them like they were contaminated. Lila laced her fingers around her coffee mug. ‘Ruth, d’you want to talk about it?’
Ruth sighed and flicked her short hair back out of her eyes. ‘What have people said?’
‘Not much. Just something about Rowan dragging Stan out of the makeup trailer and Jackie…’
‘Jackie?’
‘She thought that was maybe it was because Stan had done something…to you?’
‘She’s a sharp lady. Been in this business long enough.’ Ruth shook her head. ‘It wasn’t anything drastic – he stuck his hand up my skirt.’
A wash of sickness flooded over Lila. Nothing drastic? ‘That’s awful.’
‘I’ll survive.’
‘You shouldn’t have to,’ Lila said quietly, wishing so much that this wasn’t the world they lived in. When she thought about it too hard, it made her wonder if her instinct to shy away from people was so strange. And cry. It made her want to cry too. But this hadn’t happened to her, and she had to be there for her friend. ‘He had no right, Ruth.’
‘Yeah…yeah. That’s true.’ Ruth made a disgusted noise and crossed her arms over her chest. ‘Why am I even underplaying it? I was just starting to do his makeup and he was talking to me about the early morning starts, how they could be cold even in a place like this but that…he was pleased they didn’t force me to cover up.’ She gave a little shudder. ‘I turned to get the wipes and his foot ran up the inside on my calf. I thought maybe it was an accident y’know? It’s close quarters. But then he started asking me how old I was and if I had a boyfriend. I went to get the base and a brush, and he ran his hand up my leg. I jumped away and that was when Rowan came in – or, he was already there, but he came over and stepped in…’ She trailed off and shook her head. ‘I don’t know why I just stood there and let it happen—’
‘You were in shock.’
‘I should’ve slapped him.’ She huffed. ‘But yeah, I was in shock and…it was Stan Gillian, y’know? He’s a god in Hollywood.’ Her grey eyes landed on Lila’s, wide with worry. ‘Lila, I might never get a job on a Hollywood film again because of this. I’m probably going to be fired.’
‘What? Why wouldyoube fired?’
‘Because it’sStan Gillian. They won’t be able to firehim. He’d bring the whole production down. Wesley will have a black mark against his name with the big studios. Rowan’s already dug himself that grave. Doors will close all around him. That dirty old man might even insist Rowan loseshisjob. He’s got the power and influence to do it. And then the film will probably fold – they can’t afford to reshoot everything with a new lead.’ Ruth rubbed her temples. ‘Stan Gillian was only due on set a week anyway. It’d be far easier for them to sweep one insignificant MUA under the carpet, wouldn’t it? Put pressure on Rowan not to say anything, get rid of me and everyone can pretend it never happened.’
