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“Gladly,” I grit out between clenched teeth.
Andy quirks an eyebrow at me. “There’s a lot of politics surrounding this film behind the scenes. Carla’s people are being difficult, and I’m having problems with the forest people who are concerned about some rare frogs we might encounter while filming. I’m under a lot of pressure, and then there’s all this talk aboutyouin the press, and you’re not saying anything. You can see how I could misinterpret it, can’t you?”
Pursing my lips in a hard line, I glare at him. “I know I work for you, but more than that, I thought we were friends. You were at my wedding. Maybe you didn’t notice, but the only people at it were friends and family.”
Turning on my heel, I stalk out of his trailer and head toward the buffet table. Not noticing anyone around me, I put an assortment of food on a plate, grab a drink, and stride toward my trailer. A body appears in my path. Without looking at who it is, I try to sidestep them, but they block my path.
“You’re in my way.”
The guy grins at me. “Am I?”
I sigh and glare at him. “Buddy, I’m on lunch. Which means I need to eat and then get back to it. Do you want something?”
His lips turn down, and he shakes his head as he looks me up and down. “No. But tell me, how’s that little slut of yours? I hear she can do five guys at once.”
The plate I’m holding hits the floor, closely followed by the drink in my hand. Raising my fist, I slam it into the smug son-of-a-bitch’s face, and he goes down. My security detail comes out of nowhere, pulling me back as he laughs on the floor, wiping the blood from his split lip. He stands, stalks toward me, and swings, hitting me in the eye.
“Fuck you, Kris!”
My security detail lets me go and walks him backward off the lot. Andy is by my side, eyes blazing, staring at me.
“What the fuck, Kris?” he shouts.
“He started it!”
“I don’t care. Walk it off. You know it comes with the territory. We’re done for today. Go home, cool off, and I hope makeup can fix that eye tomorrow.”
Staring at Andy in disbelief, he whirls around and stalks over to one of the camera assistants on the set. I’m left standing there as the cast and crew awkwardly try to avoid eye contact with me. With my hands on my hips, I stare up at the ceiling, make a clucking sound, then turn and walk out of the building to my trailer. Flinging open the door, it bangs loudly. Athena lets out a small squeak, and Todd draws his gun.
“We’re leaving.”
“What happened?” they both ask at the same time.
“Apparently, I’m a drug addict who starts fights.” Sarcasm drips off each word.
Athena stands. “What? That’s ridiculous.”
“Do they know you?” asks Todd as he holsters his weapon.
“No. I thought they did, but clearly, they don’t. Come on, let’s go home.”
Athena packs up her things, and Todd goes in search of my useless security detail. They made it really easy for whoever that was to punch me in the face. There was no way for me to defend myself while they had both arms pulled back. Maybe the guy planned it that way.
Athena and I have said very little to the press about her rape. Having some moron with a low IQ defame her like that made my blood boil. I didn’t think it through and reacted. Andy is right. It comes with the territory, but Athena has been through so much and doesn’t deserve to be disrespected by some douchebag.
“What happened?” Her hand lands on my face, and her thumb sweeps under my eye, which is already beginning to hurt.
“Some asshole said something about you, and I punched him.”
Her hand drops from my face. She opens the refrigerator and hands me a bottle of water. “Hold it to your face. What did he say?”
“Doesn’t matter. He was looking for a fight, and I shouldn’t have hit him.”
Slinging her laptop bag across her body, she takes my hand and leads me out of the trailer. “Come on, let's go home. You’re my hero.”
“For getting a black eye?”
She tilts her head to the side and looks at my face. “It might not go black. You’re my hero ‘cause you always have my back.”
