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Rip could barely believe what he was hearing. He hadn’t been belittled like this since, since… well, since Captain Castor. But he was damned if he was going to put up with it from some bratty Little.
“This is insane,” Rip barked. “These… activities have nothing to do with gun safety or safe-handling of armory. In fact, your presence here is the opposite of safe. You’re a danger to this movie and everyone working on it.”
Mabel looked taken aback for a moment. Then her cocky smile returned. “I’m just trying to make people less scared of you, Rip.”
Rip clenched his teeth. “They’re scared of guns. Not me.”
Mabel laughed. “You don’t get it, do you? You’re the problem.” She pointed the gun at Rip again, but he was having none of it. He rushed forward and grabbed the water pistol out her hands, then threw it to the ground and stamped on it, smashing the plastic into hundreds of tiny green shards.
The Littles gasped in shock, as thoughhewas the baddie here.
Didn’t they understand that this was all Mabel’s fault?
Rip shook his head, staring at them all in disbelief, then, moodily, he marched away. He muttered a strong of expletives to himself as he did so. Cursing at her under his breath for being unprofessional, cocky, smug. And cursing at himself for noticing her. And the worst of it was, he’d gotten a glimpse of her legs today. And they were drop dead fucking gorgeous.
*
Hmmm. Making Rip angry had seemed kinda fun at first. Mabel felt like she was standing up to the school bully, and winning herself a bunch of new friends in the process.
But as she watched Rip marched away, Mabel felt a little empty inside. Almost likeshe’dbecome the bully.
“We’re gonna take a break,” Mabel said to the Littles, quietly. “Ten minutes. No. Fifteen.”
The Littles looked at her, confused. Work had only just begun for the day. But she wasn’t about to explain herself to them. She was their boss right now. If she said to take a break, then take a break they would.
She pulled a lime green towel around herself and ran after Rip. She wasn’t sure what her plan was. Apologize? Back down? Make things worse with another smart-ass comment?
As it happened, she wasn’t going to find out, because suddenly, Rip started yelling at someone. “You’re too fat to be a stuntman! You got women’s legs or something?”
Mabel gritted her teeth together, grimacing. Jeez. This guy hadissues. But taking them out on the staff was super dumb and extremely unfair. Getting personal about someone’s appearance was totally unacceptable. In fact, he deserved to lose his job over it.
“Yeah?” the stuntman called back at him. “Well, fine. I’m done with this stupid job. I quit!”
Everyone who had been scurrying around on the set suddenly froze. “No, no, don’t do that!” said a woman with a red clipboard and a headset. “You’re our only stuntman this week! Please don’t leave, sir. You’re doing an amazing job. Totally incredible. I applaud you.” She began to clap, literally applauding him, which was… awkward.
The stuntman spat at the floor. “Not a damn chance. I’ve had it up to here. This movie set is in the middle of nowhere, I’m surrounded by Little people, wearing diapers and talking like babies, and now this guy is insulting me. This is all just too freaking much. It’s like some demented nightmare. I’m leaving.”
Rip didn’t even try to stop him as he walked away.
Mabel was angry at the stunt guy for talking like that about the Littles, but she was even angrier with Rip.
“Wait!” she called out. “We should firethisman! He’s a bully and a bigot.He’sthe one that needs to go.” She paused, looking at the stuntman. “Maybe they both need to go.”
Rip turned around, narrowing his eyes at her. “Oh good. You again. The answer to all this movie’s problems.” He sounded angry and sarcastic.
The woman with the clipboard brushed her hair out of her eyes. She looked harassed. “Look. We really need to focus on creating a supportive work environment. I know Brandon’s not on set right now — unfortunately, he has urgent business back in LA — but he very much wants this to be a positive experience for you all. It hasn’t been easy to find people willing to work on a DDlg movie. So, please. Let’s get these issues ironed out. We’ll speak to HR. We’ll make sure everyone feels seen and heard and respected. We’ll discuss the importance of using kind language and not judging or discriminat—”
“The stunt guy has already gone,” said a man with a blue clipboard and a thick mustache, stepping forward. “We can’t work on our scene today now he’s quit. In fact, we can’t work onanyscene.”
“We can’t do it anyway if the Littles are too scared to pick up the weapons,” said the woman, sounding defeated.
The man sighed. “We need to figure out these camera angles, though. We’re so behind on this already.”
Suddenly, the woman turned to Rip and Mabel. “Hang on,” she said. “You two are equipped for this. You can handle the weapons, right?”
Mabel nodded, not entirely sure where this was going.
The coordinator continued. “And Rip… you’re trained in stunts?”
