AllFreeNovel
Share Us
In the quiet after the cacophony, she finally faced Jake.
"I want to go home."
CHAPTER24
After the long weekend,Tuesday morning was brutal. Everyone was dragging. Half the crew showed up late or hung over. Frankie couldn’t even call them on it because her own head was threatening to split in two after indulging in a wine-and-Netflix binge late Monday night to try and stop her brain from spinning things out of control.
She had flown home solo from LA, needing some space after that overwhelming party. Jake had stayed behind to take care of the meetings he'd scheduled around their trip. He'd explained, but she hadn't been listening. Too intent on retreating to lick her wounds, she'd barely paid attention to the conversation they'd had as he drove her to the airport Sunday morning.
He would be here today. Frankie hoped they could work through the weird vibe that had settled between them after the party. Could they get back to the place where she trusted him?
Something about the thousands of conversations she'd had was niggling at the back of her mind. Some little tidbit she felt like she should have paid more attention to.
She walked into the production trailer hoping to find him. Lorena sat at one of the bays of editing monitors, scrolling video back and forth, but Jake was nowhere to be seen.
She looked over Lorena's shoulder, curious about what she was working on. A scene of her dealing with the latest snafu of broken tiles played in forward and reverse as Lorena moved her mouse back and forth.
"Whatcha doing?" Frankie asked, laying a hand on Lorena's shoulder. She bit back a laugh when the woman jumped in her chair and whipped her headphones off.
"Jesus, Frankie. You scared the crap out of me."
"Sorry, I thought you heard me come in."
"I can't hear a thing with these noise-canceling headphones on."
"What's this?" Frankie hadn't paid too much attention to the actual process of making the show.
"I'm trying to decide which version of the tension trigger works better here, you discovering the broken tiles or the guys finding it and reacting by not wanting to tell you."
Frankie's brain poked her hard. "What do you mean by tension trigger?"
"That's what I call the point in each episode that ramps up the tension, you know? Makes the viewer think, 'Can she really pull this off?'"
"There's one in each episode?" Frankie felt like she was walking through mud, struggling to make the connection. "How do you make sure you get something for each show?"
Lorena just looked at her like she couldn't possibly be this slow.
Oh my God.How could she have been so blind? Frankie had thought this build had more than its fair share of disasters. Because they'd been staged on purpose! Her mind walked back over every setback, every snag, every sleepless night she'd spent worrying about how to get it all done and not go bankrupt.
She'd been sabotaged.
She needed to see how badly she'd get slammed in the actual show. Was this going to kill her reputation? If she looked like a fool who couldn't run a build site, why would anyone trust her to run Valenti Brothers?
"Lorena, can you pull up the pilot for me?"
"Which one?"
That Lila lady had said that her version was testing well. Maybe it wouldn't be too awful if people were liking it. "My version?"
"Sure thing. It's not quite done yet, but here's what we have so far."
With a few clicks, Lorena had pulled up the first episode, and they watched it in silence. Frankie had to admit the story flowed. It was the kitchen episode, and there was just enough give-and-take, just enough humor to balance the serious drama of the missing racks and the delayed concrete.
She desperately tried not to think of what else had happened in the wine cellar, but when the footage Jake had filmed with his phone popped up on the screen, she had no choice. It was emblazoned across the screen. Her face was softer, happier. Her post-coital bliss there for everyone to see. She had trusted him with so much. The magnitude of her error was becoming more and more clear with every frame.
Thankfully, it switched to a stupid drawer pull contest she’d suggested and cut off right before the reveal. It was good. Damn the man.
But something was still prickling in the back of her mind.
