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I could have invited April to join us, but I didn’t like inviting other people into our house. Even though it had been sixteen years since mom died, Dad still stayed on the couch most of the day, with a beer in his hand and food stains on his pants. I used to be embarrassed when my friends saw him, but these days I just wanted to protect him from other people’s judgment.
On his bad days, that even included April.
“Suit yourself,” April called through her open window. She drove fast, her tires spinning on loose gravel as she turned into the main street. I followed at a slower pace and headed home, where I went inside to find dad parked in his usual spot on the couch.
“Hey.” I dumped my bag on the floor and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Want a drink?” I went to the fridge to get myself a sugar-free cola.
“Thanks love, a beer would be great,” Dad said, and I passed him a can as I perched next to him. “Ready to continue our movie marathon?”
Even though he’d fallen asleep during almost every film, I could tell he was enjoying this as much as I was. So far, we’dwatchedThunderdome,Two Dreams and a Lie, andDarkness Falls. Tonight, I went into Dad’s streaming service and selectedBreaking the Rules, Dean’s most recent film and his edgiest role yet. The movie had only been released a few weeks ago, and I’d added it to my watch list but had been so busy at the cafe I hadn’t found the time to go back to it… until now.
I felt a shiver of excitement as the production company’s logo appeared on the screen and faded to show a dark, wet alleyway. Names flashed in white text as the camera followed a man’s feet, starting with the production company, the director and then... Dean Hart, in small uppercase letters.
My heart fluttered.
The man walked purposefully, each step echoing over ominous music. The opening credits continued until the camera panned up the man’s trench coat and, once it reached his chest, the last name faded away. There was Dean, his handsome face in a serious expression, gazing somewhere in the distance.
In the next shot, you could see what he was looking at: a seedy strip club with men and women smoking and laughing outside. He took a deep breath, then stepped off the pavement on the road, only to be barely missed by a speeding car.
I flinched, but Dean looked unbothered. He kept walking, ignoring the fading sound of the driver swearing back at him, the red lights from the club making his face glow.
Was it too late to make popcorn? I longed to get some, but couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. Already, I was hooked.
Dean ignored the smokers and gave the security guard a nod as he walked inside.
“For five years, I was the king of this world,” he said in a voiceover, as topless women in gold bikinis swayed their hips and grinned at him. “Nothing could touch me. Until one night, a night that started like any other. Until I mether.”
A woman with a silky shock of blonde hair walked through the men in a red evening gown. Her earrings twinkled, and she grinned as she approached Dean. She was an actress I recognized from somewhere, although I couldn’t quite place what she’d been in before.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said, and the screen went dark, only to pivot to a flashback from Dean’s character’s past.
I barely blinked through the rest of the movie.
Dean’s character fell in love with the blonde woman and they made hectic love on a stained mattress in the back room of the strip club. I was glad my dad was already snoring by then because the scene washot— both characters moved with an animal passion that made my pussy throb and my own past relationships feel bland. The woman was everything he’d ever dreamed of, but of course she was an undercover cop: Dean’s character had been using the club to launder money, but the feds lacked enough evidence to charge him.
I held my breath when he finally discovered the woman’s badge in her apartment.
“I had no choice,” he said in another voiceover. “If I was going down, she’d have to come down with me.”
Every moment in the movie was so well-acted that when the closing credits rolled, I blinked and felt disoriented for a moment. For the first time since I’d agreed to work as an extra, I wondered if I was really good enough to be in the cast.
You’ll just be in the background, I reminded myself.There’s nothing to worry about.
Still, after I switched the television off, kissed my dad goodnight and went into my bedroom, I double-checked all the information Marina had sent me to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.
Arrive fifteen minutes before your call time, her email said.Bring two or three outfit options and a book to read. Therecould be a long wait between scenes, and you will need to keep yourself entertained.
I’d already packed three outfits in a garment bag that I’d hung on the back of my bedroom door, and borrowed two books from Bob’s cafe, which were ready alongside my handbag.
My leg ached, so I removed my prosthetic and rubbed the stump absent-mindedly while I re-read the rest of Marina’s instructions. There was some general information about working as an extra, followed by rules we would be required to follow:
No phones allowed on set. No talking during filming.
And the hardest one…Do not approach or talk to the main cast unless instructed by the director.
I switched the light off and wondered what I’d do if Dean approached me. Or Wyatt, or Isaac. Would I be able to resist talking to them?
I doubted it.
