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“Yes,” I reassure her, kissing her forehead and taking her arm. “You should.”
We start back down toward the town, but as we’re halfway back, flashlights overwhelm us.
“There they are!” I hear someone yell. “Get them back to the cabin!”
“Uh-oh,” Stella sighs. “I think I’m in trouble this time.”
“Don’t worry. I know a few lawyers,” I assure her. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
CHAPTER 11
Stella
Our amusement doesn’t last long.
The second we come face-to-face with the camera crew, we realize that they’re not alone. Jessie and the director are both with them, and they are livid. Even in the dark, with the flashlights off, I can see the throbbing veins of Roy’s bony, bald head throbbing.
“What the hell do you two think you’re doing?” the director screams. “Don’t you know how dangerous and stupid it is for you to have run off like that?”
“Dangerous?” Bennet sniggers. “It’s Rosewater. There are more cows than people in the city.”
“Don’t start, Bennet. You both signed a contract, and this is the second time you’ve broken it, Stella,” Jessie interjects, playing negotiator as always. “You’ve been warned about this already!”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I lie. “We were walking around. It’s not my fault your cameramen can’t keep up.”
“Yes, you do know what I mean. I’ve already discussed your little stunt with Gabe, and he insisted it was the camera crew’s fault, not yours. You think the same excuse is going to work two times in a row?”
I double down. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe the challenges are too much for your crew to handle.”
My gut knots, and I eye Bennet, but he’s not flinching. He’s got my back. I exhale slowly.
“Let’s discuss this back at the cabin,” Jessie says tersely. “But rest assured, this is the end of it.”
Her words give me a chill of apprehension. What does that mean? The end of my time here, or the end of our little pranks? I want to ask her, but Bennet puts his arm out as if to stop me. He shakes his head almost imperceivably.
“You’re overreacting,” Bennet says coldly. “We just wanted a break from the cameras.”
“You don’t get a fucking break from the cameras!” the director roars. “Don’t you get that? I own your asses until the end of the month! That’s what you signed off on! If that’s too much for you, then we’ll replace you!”
His voice carries, and I cringe, withering at the loudness. Dread withers my earlier confidence, but Bennet is irate.
“Don’t youevertalk to me that way,” he hisses, advancing on Roy. “I am not one of your starving actors who need this bullshit gig. I will end you and your career.”
Jessie steps between the incensed men and tries to brush it off as if a war isn’t brewing. “Look, emotions are running a little high right now because we were worried about you,” she tells us reasonably. “Why don’t we just get you home and have a glass of wine? You guys can hop in the hot tub…” She trails off. “Doesn’t that sound nice?” she concludes feebly.
I say nothing and give Bennet another look, but he’s still seething over the director’s comment.
“Come on,” Jessie urges, ushering Bennet and me back to the car. We sit close together in the Hummer, and I feel like a reprimanded schoolgirl. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have dragged Bennet into this.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to Bennet as we start driving back toward the mountains. “I was being impulsive, stupid. I should have known that this would happen.”
He scoffs. “I’m a full-grown man, Stella,” he states loudly enough for both Jessie and the director to hear from their spots at the front of the Hummer. “I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions.”
The director hisses like an angry cat, but Jessie merely maintains her serene disposition, which I’m sure she doesn’t feel in the least. Yet her eyes give away that she’s pissed off.
Driving back feels like it takes twice as long as driving there, but when I see the cabin, I suddenly want to turn around and go back to the city. I don’t want to be cut off from the rest of the world. I want Chris and my mom. I want the bustle of LA and some semblance of normalcy.
Maybe it would be better if I just quit. They should find someone who has more experience.
