by K. M. Morgan
Isabel was mousey and often mistaken for a librarian with her modest wardrobe and wide-framed glasses. She wasn’t going to win any beauty contests, nor was she the type to ever enter any. She wanted to be known for her writing anyway.
Isabel took particular offense to Hunter’s abrasive directorial style.
“I think we can do without it,” Hunter continued.
“Oh no you don’t. I didn’t give you permission to change my script,” Isabel said.
Hunter shot Isabel a glare.
“I don’t remember giving you permission to talk. I’m in the middle of rehearsals here. This is between me and the actors,” Hunter said.
Isabel realized this wasn’t the place to wage war over her words. She couldn’t let the subject go without getting one last sentence in however. “This isn’t over.”
“We don’t have time to waste. There’s a lot to do today. Let’s move on from the kissing scene,” Hunter insisted.
Daisy couldn’t have been happier to be doing the redecorating off to the side. With all the squabbling she was overhearing, it seemed like this movie was starting to suffer from the drama kiss of death.
Chapter Six
Unfortunately, there were more verbal clashes during rehearsals. The next disagreement came over the scene where the killer is revealed in the script. Fiona Foster began acting out her big speech from the script, with a few changes thrown in.
“The whole thing was a piece of cake. The way I see it, that woman got her just desserts,” Fiona said.
Hunter looked up from his script completely perplexed. “Stop.”
Fiona huffed with frustration over being stopped before she had a chance to get to the meat of the speech. “Why?”
“Those aren’t the lines in the script,” Hunter said.
Fiona Foster was the complete opposite of her younger step sister Isabel. The only thing the two had in common was the same father. Fiona was neither mousey, nor librarian-ish. She had girl next door looks. In Cozy Creek, her mid-shoulder length brunette hair, hazel eyes, pretty face, and trim frame made her quite desirable to men.
Hollywood had different standards for their actresses however, and Fiona fell short of jaw-dropping, traffic-stopping beauty that Tinsel town craved. Because of that, Fiona’s acting career stalled before it ever had a chance to really start.
It burned her that airheads like Candy Caldwell always took center stage while she was relegated to second banana. What Fiona did have in her corner were brains.
Unfortunately, she also had a mouth on her that got her into plenty of trouble when she wasn’t careful. This was primed to be one of those times.
“I took some creative liberties. Haven’t you ever heard of improvisation?” Fiona asked.
“Except, I didn’t ask you to improvise,” Hunter replied.
“Let’s face it, my character is a little flat,” Fiona said.
Now Fiona had more than just Hunter to deal with.
Her younger step sister Isabel wasn’t about to stand on the sidelines as her writing ability was run over the coals. She immediately went on the defensive. “How dare you say that?”
Fiona was a woman of strong opinions, and she wasn’t afraid to go toe to toe to defend them—even with her own sister.
“The character has no depth. She’s like a cardboard cutout. I just want to add some sass. If I have to be the villain, at least make her fun to play, zingers and all.”
Isabel could barely hide the look of hurt on her face. “Of all the people to change my script, you’re the last one I expected to do it.”
“I’ve been telling you for weeks that your script could use punching up, but you didn’t listen. Maybe now you will,” Fiona said.
“I poured my heart into this script. Every word is exactly how I want it,” Isabel insisted.
Hunter could sense he was losing his grip on the situation. He turned to Isabel and didn’t waste any time with tact.
“Isabel, how many times do I have to tell you to stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong? Now take a walk and let me handle this.”
Isabel gave him an icy cold glare. “First of all, you have a lot of nerve talking to me like that. And second, this is now a family matter, so step aside.”
Hunter hated backing down, but as he now had both Foster sisters glaring at him, he decided to take a step back.
Isabel and Fiona then resumed their disagreement.
“I don’t know why you’re getting so bent out of shape about me changing a few of my lines. I’m just trying to make the movie better,” Fiona explained.
The sisters had a rocky past. They had a natural step-sibling rivalry, although most of the time the end game was to try and get more attention from their father. This time was different.
Neither of their career paths were close to where they wanted them to be. They could both feel their Hollywood dreams slipping away. Then this production came along. It was their chance to make a splash, maybe the best chance they’d ever get.
With those kinds of expectations, the pressure they put on themselves was high. Working side by side every day only made things more intense. Sometimes that led to unexpected blow ups. Other times things got downright ugly.
Isabel let her emotions get the better of her. “No, you’re just upset that you didn’t get the lead in this movie. Face it, you got beat out for the role.”
That barb hit a little too close to home for Fiona. She let her cattiness get the best of her. “It definitely wasn’t because of acting ability, I’ll tell you that much.”
Up until that point, the rest of the cast kept a safe distance and let the step sisters duel it out, but that last line was a verbal jab at Candy.
The gloves came off all of a sudden. Candy glared at Fiona.
“Hey, watch who you’re insulting. No one talks about me like that,” Candy Caldwell replied.
Hunter knew things could get out of control in a hurry. It was time to step back in and break things up. “Alright, enough. Everyone back to their places. We’re going to run this again with the lines as they are written.”
Fiona folded her arms and put her foot down. “No. We’re not done here. Be honest. The only reason Candy got the lead in this movie is because she’s sleeping with you.”
Hunter wasn’t going to let allegations like that fly, especially when they were so obviously true. He nearly blew his top. “You’re lucky I don’t replace you right now.”
“Replace me? Who do you think you’re talking to? My dad is paying your salary. If anyone is going to get replaced on this set, it’s going to be you,” Fiona insisted.
“That’s exactly what you’ve been trying to do, isn’t it?” Hunter said.
Candy’s eyes got wide. “Is that true?”
Hunter kept his focus right on Fiona. “I know you’ve been trying to get your father to replace me with your boyfriend. But let’s be honest, the only reason you think Logan should direct this movie is because you’re sleeping with him. It sure isn’t because he’s got talent.”
Logan Lark had stayed in the background all day. That was a great metaphor for his entire life. The man was born to be a second banana.
He wasn’t the most attractive man anywhere he went. He wasn’t the most talented man on the set. He wasn’t the smartest guy in any room. He was good, but never great. That seemed to be his lot in life.
Because of that, he carried around a gigantic chip on his shoulder. In addition, he had a huge inferiority complex that he just couldn’t shake.
As an assistant director, Logan mostly just shadowed Hunter. But he wasn’t about to just stand around as Hunter badmouthed him.
“What did you just say about me?” Logan asked.
“You heard me. You’re a hack. All you have to do is ask Marty’s Mattress Mart that,” Hunter fumed.
Logan shot him a glare. “You have a lot of nerve.”
“Look in the mirror ol’ buddy boy. If you think you have the directing chops I do then
you have another thing coming. I’m an auteur, you’re nothing but a poser,” Hunter declared.
Logan had to restrain his rage. There were a lot of things he wanted to do to Hunter, but they would all get him fired. Before he had a chance to act on his impulses, the lead actor Ethan Crabtree stepped in as the unexpected voice of reason.
Ethan pulled a prescription bottle of pills out of his pocket. “Hey, why don’t we all just chill out? How about a round of tranquilizers for everyone?”
Hunter agreed. “You know what? You’re right.”
“I was actually just kidding. This are my anti-anxiety meds, but I got you to stop screaming at each other, didn’t I?” Ethan continued.
Hunter then put an end to it all. “Alright folks. Everyone take an early lunch. We’ll meet back here in an hour.”
The crowd slowly dispersed. Daisy McDare meanwhile minded her own business redecorating the set. She couldn’t help but overhear the bickering however and almost dropped a few props when she heard some of the verbal jabs being exchanged. Go figure--who knew the drama behind the scenes would be better than the movie script itself?
It was amazing. Daisy had never seen a group of people that needed to get drunk and burn off steam at a karaoke bar more in her entire life.
Daisy wasn’t even involved in the argument and she needed a break just listening to the bickering. In times like that, she was glad she always came to work with chocolate.
Chapter Seven
By now, Daisy needed a break from decorating the set. She was tired, hungry, and her back hurt from bending over. She thought the presence of delicious food would be able to distract the cast and crew from their beefs with each other. She was dead wrong.
Daisy seemed to be the only one in any hurry to give the catering table her full attention. Everyone else let their unhappiness get the best of them. Daisy grabbed some finger foods from the catering table and watched the set devolve into drama right before her eyes.
The screenwriter Isabel Foster in particular couldn’t seem to let anything slide off her back. She tailed Hunter as he moved towards his trailer at the back of the warehouse.
“I need to talk to you,” Isabel said.
Hunter was in no mood, especially after the earful Isabel had just given him in front of the cast. Besides, it was always the same thing with Isabel. She was possessive about her words. She treated her script like it was set in stone. Hunter meanwhile viewed screenplays as only a blueprint—the finished project could look quite different.
Hunter tried to ignore her and continue to his trailer. “It’s not a good time.”
“Make time. This is really important,” Isabel insisted.
Hunter never wanted to chain smoke his way through a pack of cigarettes more in his entire life. Isabel was like a gnat that just wouldn’t go away. She was always hovering around. He just couldn’t seem to get rid of her.
Finally Hunter couldn’t take it anymore. He blew up at her. “You know, most writers aren’t even allowed on film sets.”
Isabel didn’t back down. The woman had serious fight in her. “They are when their father is producing the movie.”
There was the rub. Hunter was in a bind he couldn’t seem to find his way out of. If Isabel had been just any old writer, he wouldn’t have allowed her on the set in the first place.
The fact that her father was paying the tab for this production meant Isabel was a necessary evil to deal with.
Hunter exhaled. “What is it?”
“You can’t let my step sister keep pushing things when it comes to tweaking my dialogue. My words are not to be changed under any circumstances. You have to put a stop to this,” Isabel insisted.
“Trust me, you don’t have to worry about Fiona changing the script.”
Isabel breathed a sigh of relief. “Good.”
Hunter wasn’t done with his thought quite yet. “I’ll be the one making the changes around here.”
Isabel’s eyes opened wide. “What are you talking about? You can’t do that. My words are sacred.”
“Sacred? Your script is called ‘Nothing Bundt Homicide.’ It’s not like we’re talking about Shakespeare here.”
Isabel stared him down. “Leave my words alone.”
Hunter could see the fire in her eyes. She was staring daggers into him. He couldn’t believe how much she was overreacting. She seemed to have a screw loose or something.
“You’re crazy. Scripts get rewritten all the time. This will be no different,” Hunter insisted.
“I know you don’t understand, but this screenplay means a lot to me.”
Hunter scoffed. “That’s what all writers say. I knew a guy in film school who acted like his Beer-A-Palooza road trip script deserved an Oscar.”
“This is a different. I adapted my screenplay from an unpublished manuscript written by my mother. You see, my father never believed in her writing skills. He never even read her material. He just looked at her as nothing but a housewife. My father made a mistake. My mother’s words deserve a shot to see the light of day. And when my dad sees her words onscreen, my father will be proved wrong,” Isabel explained.
Hunter didn’t think the family situation between the Fosters could get any stickier. How wrong he was. There was a vendetta at play, and he was caught in the middle of it. As if directing a movie wasn’t hard enough without long held familial resentment taking center stage.
“Don’t get me involved in your family drama,” Hunter insisted.
Isabel didn’t back down. She was tireless in defense of her writing. “I’m going to tell you for the last time, leave my words alone.”
Hunter was done walking the tightrope her family had set up. His frustration boiled over. “Enough. I’m the director here. I’m going to do what I want. And I’m telling you, I’m going to give this movie a touch of noir.”
Hunter then stormed off as Isabel tried to keep from blowing her top.
Chapter Eight
Daisy wished she had a bag of popcorn on the set with her since it already seemed she was watching a movie. Emotional fireworks seemed to be going off everywhere she turned. The latest drama display was put on my Fiona and Logan.
Fiona was still hot and bothered about the confrontation with Hunter earlier. Her boyfriend Logan Lark wasn’t exactly in a happy headspace either. Hunter had not only take pot shots at Fiona, but insulted Logan’s assistant directing chops as well.
Still, Logan tried to play the role of the comforting boyfriend first and foremost. He gave her a kiss, then held her close.
“Are you ok?” Logan asked.
“Are you kidding? This whole thing is turning into a disaster,” Fiona replied.
“If it’s any comfort, I like your changes to the character.”
“Thank you. They’re so much better, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“I just don’t get it. Why is everyone so up in arms because I want my character to not suck so much? I mean, who wants a cookie cutter cardboard villain?”
“I sure don’t. If I was running things around here, I’d keep your changes and make a whole bunch more. After all, you were born to be a star,” Logan said.
Logan knew the quickest way to an actress’s heart was through massaging her ego. For someone like Fiona, who had been bitten all too many times by the audition rejection bug, a compliment went a long way.
A smile came to Fiona’s face as his flattering words went to her head. “You really think so?”
“Oh yeah. You’re so much better than some rinky dink indie movie. You could be America’s Sweetheart.”
Fiona swooned at the thought. Logan was buttering her up really good. Her flight of fancy didn’t last long however. Her bubble quickly burst when it dawned on her how far she was from that happening. After all, she was second banana to Candy Caldwell in a movie that was financed by her own father.
“That’s a nice dream. It’s too bad reality had to get in the way,” Fiona bemoaned.
Logan
wasn’t so quick to give up on his dreams. “You know, things don’t have to be this way.”
Fiona furrowed her brow. “What are you talking about?”
“We both know Hunter is keeping us from our true potential,” Logan revealed.
“What are you proposing?”
“Your father is the one with all the power in this situation. And, seeing as how you’re his daughter, he’ll listen to you. What if you were to tell him there was a better choice of director for this movie?”
“Look, I have tried. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love it if you were directing this movie--”
“Try again. Things have changed. Hunter has made an enemy out of everyone on this set in some way or another—including your father.”
“True, but getting Hunter off of this movie isn’t as easy as it sounds,” Fiona said.
“Why not?” Logan asked.
“Despite their run ins, my father has it in his head that Hunter is a great director. An auteur. I’m not sure a few heated arguments are enough to have changed by father’s mind. Besides, you’re unproven.”
Logan grumbled. “I can do this. In the same way you’re born to be a star, I’m meant to be a director.”
“I know that, and I believe in you. Convincing my father of that is a different story entirely.”
Logan got a look of determination in his eyes. He painted a picture of the future once again. “Think of it this way, if I was directing this movie, I’d give you the lead role and demote Candy Caldwell to the cardboard cutout villain.”
Fiona got stars in her eyes. “Really?”
Logan nodded. “So what do you say, are you ready to be a star?”
Chapter Nine
Daisy finished up her lunch then made her way back to the set to rearrange some accent pieces. That’s when she saw Ethan Crabtree pull Candy Caldwell aside.
Ethan had his own plans for the future. He wanted Candy to be the leading lady in his real life, not just his onscreen flame.