AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know that,” Davina said pathetically. “I’m a teacher.”
“In that case, you really should know better.”
Davina hung her head in shame as the man walked down her drive.
“Anything I can help with?” Jack asked.
He looked suspiciously as though butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. Davina shut the door with a quiet click just as a spasm developed in her neck. She wondered if a person could die from tension.
“We just lost our actors,” she told the rest of the group.
The college students seemed bewildered, Derek looked annoyed and Marianne was worried. Davina plopped down in a frayed armchair. It was time to regroup.
“We can film the scene where the heroine is scared by the phone calls she’s getting. I’m the only one in that.”
“Fine,” Derek said as though he was in charge. “Let’s get on, time is money. I took a day off work for this.”
Gritting her teeth, Davina ran up the stairs to change. She was halfway through her scene, second take, when the lights went out.
“What the hell?” Derek shouted. “I’m working here.”
Davina practised taking soothing deep breaths as she went to see what was wrong. The fuse box was housed in the old pantry, which was outside the back door. It was now used as a place to store dirty shoes and mops. She found Jack standing before the open fuse box.
“There was something dead in here. We’re going to need a new fuse. You got any?”
“What were you doing in my fuse box?” she said through her teeth.
“Don’t you mean my fuse box?”
“Well?”
He pointed at the dustpan and brush.
“I came in for that and smelled something smouldering. Lucky save.”
Davina stood, hands on hips, staring at him. She imagined his head exploding into tiny little pieces that floated around in the air like pixie dust.
“That is one scary look you’re giving me,” he told her.
“You have no idea how close you are to death,” she said.
He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand. There was only so much a woman could take.
“I think I’ve got something in my toolbox that will do the job,” Jack said.
“You’ve got five minutes. And then, I swear, I won’t be responsible for my actions. Clear?”
There was silence for a beat.
“Clear,” he said at last.
Davina clenched her teeth tight as she went back into the house. Her head was throbbing. Her neck had a spasm and her stomach was slowly developing an ulcer. To top it off Derek slithered over to her.
“What’s the deal with the electricity?” he said.
“It’s being fixed. Give it a minute.”
He inched closer.
