by Nikki Ashton
Phoebe looked down at the boys and then back up at Alexi and nodded. “Okay.” She then stooped down to eye level of both boys, and gently pulled them in front of her. “Now, remember you have to be extra quiet as soon as Mr. Rodrigo says ‘action’, okay?”
Both of them nodded and gave her a grin. I had to admit they were pretty cute.
“You boys want to watch through a camera?” Alexi asked.
They looked at Phoebe, who nodded, and then turned back to Alexi and gave him their own grin.
“Be good,” Phoebe warned, checked her wig and walked off to her mark.
“See you later boys.”
I pushed up out of my chair to follow their aunt.
“Bye, Dick,” they chorused.
After doing the reverse shots of the office scene, I was dressed in a tux and moved on to the dinner party scene. In the scene, Addison is in some fancy ass restaurant eating with friends when the bad guys storm in and take his ‘love interest’ hostage during the melee, so as I talked with Alexi about the way he wanted the scene to go, I watched the extras get into place in my periphery. They were milling around, taking their spots, and getting last minute direction from Monique, the Second AD. It was then I spotted her, smack bang in the middle of them, wearing a tiny fucking sequinned dress – Auntie fucking Peepee, with the longest, toned legs I’d ever seen.
“Fuck me,” I growled under my breath.
“Something wrong?” Alexi asked, looking over his shoulder.
“No, nothing. Just remembered something I’ve forgotten to do.”
I tore my eyes away from Phoebe and gave Alexi a quick smile.
“Okay, let’s do this,” Alexi said and slapped me on the shoulder.
As he walked away I noticed the boys sitting on chairs, both wearing a huge pair of headphones each and watching everything that was going on. Mack spotted me first and gave me a thumbs up before nudging Callum and pointing toward me. Callum waved and I gave them a quick wave back, wondering why they made me smile so fucking big. I’d never spent much time with kids – didn’t have any friends who had them, had no siblings and so had no nieces or nephews, yet I instantly liked these two boys and wanted them to like me. I wondered whether my getting tight with them would mean Auntie Peepee would consider wrapping those amazing legs around my neck.
Woah – where the hell did that thought come from?
Concerned at the shit my brain was coming up with, I glanced over at Phoebe again. She was bending over talking to some guy with a beard, who was sitting at one of the dining table set ups. While Phoebe talked to him, the damn douche canoe’s eyes were firmly on her cleavage which, it had to be said, was as fucking spectacular as her legs.
Did that make me a douche canoe as well, for noticing her tits?
I suppose it did, but at least I was doing it on the sly. The bearded guy may as well have held a placard up that said, ‘I’m looking at Phoebe’s tits, bring me a towel for the drool’.
What a prick.
I seriously considered storming over and covering her with my jacket, when Alexi shouted for everyone to take their places. I was back to being Addison Yates and Phoebe’s tits and legs would have to wait.
The dinner party scene took hours to shoot. There was a lot of action in there, with hand to hand combat and some explosive special effects, so Alexi wanted it done perfectly. We’d choreographed the fight scenes weeks before, so they all went well, but when a table cloth was set on fire, it had got a little out of hand, pushing things back a while. While the set was redressed to a suitable starting point, I talked to Bruce, who was not only our stuntman but also our Stunt/Fight co-ordinator. I was checking he was happy it all looked realistic enough, yet the whole time, I had one eye on Phoebe.
Even though her nephews were watching her, she never lost concentration or let her eyes stray to them. She kept to her marks and did her job. Credit to the boys, they were quieter than I ever thought was possible from kids. There wasn’t one peep from them and when I looked over, they were watching with rapt attention at what was going on. The only time I heard a noise from them, was their screams of delight at lunch when they saw all the mini burgers and hot dogs that catering had provided. I’d eaten with Alexi and Francesca, who was playing my love interest, as Alexi wanted to discuss some of the location scenes in a couple of days’ time. The whole time though, I’d kept one eye on douche canoe, Phoebe, and the boys, wondering what they were talking and laughing about.
After lunch, we were straight back to it until finally, Alexi was happy. Even though it was only around four, we were all tired and smelling of smoke, and as the following day was going to be on location, he called an early end to the day’s filming. The extras were all herded off set and while I had my hidden Lavalier mic removed, which we use alongside the boom to pick up dialogue, my eyes were drawn to Phoebe, wanting to get one last look of her legs in the that dress.
Douche canoe had disappeared, thank fuck, but Phoebe was listening to the boys while they talked animatedly to her, both flinging their arms around and throwing their bodies from side to side. I had a feeling they’d enjoyed the fight scenes and would be re-enacting them for a few hours at least.
“There you go Mr. James,” Bailey, the assistant sound guy said, taking a step away from me with the mic in his hand. “You’re free to go.”
“Thanks, Bailey. See you tomorrow.” I gave him a quick head nod and stalked away, hoping to see Phoebe before she left.
Why?
I had no fucking clue.
Phoebe
I couldn’t believe how well behaved the boys had been while I’d been on set, but I also couldn’t believe that Mr. Rodrigo had allowed them to watch. I’d heard from a friend of mine, who’d done a film with him in Australia, that he was laid back and extremely approachable, but never expected him to agree to have two six-year-old tearaways on set.
“Dick was amaaaazing when he was fighting,” Mack cried excitedly, as we walked towards the bus stop. “Did you see him hit that man with the big scar?”
“Yeah, and when that other man went to punch him, and he picked up the table and put it in front of him and the man got his fist stuck in it.”
“Awesome.”
Callum and Mack were buzzing and so happy, I just hoped that Beth’s day had gone just as well as theirs. I don’t know what all of us would do if it turned out to be bad news. She was the glue that kept us together, the one who chivvied me along when I thought about quitting and getting a proper job, the one who the boys adored. We’d all be devastated if anything happened to her, but I wasn’t sure the boys would ever get over it. She was their only parent, because Steven sending a few quid every now and again certainly didn’t constitute parenting.
My heart thudded rapidly at the thought of the boys having to go to Steven. Not a chance would I let that happen. I’d fight tooth and nail to keep them. Not that he’d want them anyway. Two small boys did not fit in with the lifestyle of holidays, expensive cars, and designer clothes- that he was evidently leading with Miss Cock Sucker – according to his numerous social media accounts, which Beth and I stalked when we were pissed on cheap white wine.
As Mack karate chopped Callum, I pushed the dark thoughts from my head and plonked myself down on the bench seat under the bus shelter.
“Boys,” I called, “stop Kung-Fu-fighting and come and sit down. The bus will be here soon.”
“What’s Kung-Fu-fighting?” Callum asked, his cheeks rosy red from the exertion of battling with his brother.
“What you were just doing.”
“No we weren’t,” Mack said breathlessly. “We were doing unarmed combat. I’m Addison Yates and Callum is the big, ugly, bad guy.”
“Why am I him? You’ve been Addison for ages. It’s my turn to be Addison now.”
“It’s my game,” Mack protested. “You should have thought of it if you wanted to be Addison.”
I took a deep breath and counted to five – they might well have killed each
other by the time I got to ten.
“Okay boys, enough of that game now, but next time you play it, Callum is Addison. Okay?”
Both looked at me with a frown. Their little brows pinched and cupid bow lips pouting. They were so damn cute, I dragged them both into a hug.
“I love you two,” I sighed, inhaling in their scent of fresh air and baby shampoo that Beth still used on them.
The boys squirmed a little and while Mack pulled away, Callum, the one who always loved a cuddle, gave me a little squeeze before following his brother.
“When will the bus be here?” Callum asked, pushing himself up on to the bench next to me.
“Not long, ten minutes,” I lied.
We’d missed a bus by five minutes and there wouldn’t be another for a half hour. The boys, however, did not need to know that.
“I’m hungry,” Mack groaned, leaning his head against the grubby Perspex of the shelter.
“I’m thirsty.” Callum decided to join in.
“Well, I don’t have any food or drink on me, so you’ll just have to wait until we get to the railway station.”
“Can we have a burger?” Callum cried excitedly.
“No. You had burgers at lunch. In any case, your mum might have made something by the time we get back.”
“Can’t you text and ask her?” Callum asked. “She might say we can have burgers.”
I shook my head. I didn’t want to text Beth again. I’d sent one earlier telling her I’d pick the boys up from Wendy’s on my way home – I didn’t want to remind her that Wendy was away and she’d forgotten, it would only make her feel bad, and I didn’t want her to. I was putting off another text because I was scared that this time I’d get more back than an ‘Okay, thanks’ as I had earlier. What if she gave me bad news? I knew she probably wouldn’t have any results yet, but it still worried me. What if they had noticed something and taken her in straight away – yes, logically I knew she’d have called me if that was the case, but fear still tapped at my breast bone.
“You’re not having another burger. I’ll get you a cereal bar and some juice.”
Callum and Mack pulled identical faces – tongues out and eyes crossed.
“G-r-oss,” Mack complained.
“Tough, that’s my final offer.”
I heaved a sigh and pulled my phone out of my bag, contemplating again on whether to call Beth or not. Before I decided, I flicked through a couple of emails and a text message from my service provider offering me more data. Okay, I was putting it off, but what was wrong with that.
“Auntie Peepee,” Callum hissed, pulling on my sleeve. “Look.”
“What?” I asked, looking up.
Stopped at the side of the road was a huge, black, four by four. It had blacked out windows and black alloyed wheels – it was big and sexy and looked extremely expensive. As I admired it, the back window slowly whirred down, to reveal the handsome, tanned face of Grantley James.
“Woah,” Mack cried, running towards the car. “It’s Dick. Hey, Dick.”
I cringed as Grantley stuck his head further through the window and looked directly at me.
“Boys,” he said, addressing Mack and Callum, finally taking his eyes off me. “Did you enjoy yourselves today?”
“It was so cool,” Callum cried, excitedly. “When you punched that big man, it was amazing.”
“I liked the fire too,” Mack added, jumping up and down on the spot. “It went, whoosh.”
Mack threw his arms up into the air, demonstrating the licking of flames. I glanced at Grantley and noticed a warm smile spread across his face, as he listened intently to the boys.
“Well it sure sounds like you enjoyed it a lot.”
“Oh we did, Dick. Didn’t we Mack?”
Mack nodded enthusiastically and stepped forward next to Callum and, standing on tiptoe, tried to peer through the blacked out windows.
“Mack,” I warned. “Don’t be rude.”
“It’s fine.” Grantley laughed. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
He looked directly at me again and gave me a small chin lift.
“We’re waiting for the bus to the railway station,” I replied, glancing over my shoulder at the bus shelter.
“You have to get a bus and a train to get here?”
“Yep. But it’s no biggie, lots of people have much worse journeys to work.”
“But you did that journey with the boys too?”
I nodded. “Yep. They didn’t mind though did you boys?”
The boys ignored me, now too interested in the good looking black guy in the driver’s seat, who had opened the passenger door and was letting Mack and Callum have a look inside.
“I think they’re more interested in your car.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m sorry, they’re not normally so easily distracted. Usually I can bring them to heel with a whistle and get them to beg with a click of my fingers.”
Grantley’s lips twitched and then he let out a quiet laugh. “They’re well behaved kids, their parents must be proud of them.”
I glanced at the twin trouble. “Beth, my sister, their mum is, but their father is absent and has been since they were a year old. They’re all down to Beth.”
“Their mom has brought them up alone all that time?” Grantley looked at them anxiously with his brow furrowed.
“Pretty much. I moved in about four years ago, and help out where I can, but it was just Beth before that. She’s pretty amazing to be honest.”
A lump formed in my throat, as I thought about Beth and what she might be about to face. No one deserved cancer, but Beth had worked so hard to provide a good home for the boys, it seemed even more unjust.
“What, their dad just up and left?” Grantley asked. His nostrils flared a little as he clenched his jaw. “And he’s never been back since?”
I shook my head, a little taken aback at his evident anger over the boys’ and Beth’s situation.
“We do okay though,” I replied, feeling the need to explain and to calm Grantley’s ire.
His head suddenly disappeared and the man talking to the boys, leaned between the two front seats. After a few seconds, the rear passenger door opened.
“Come on,” he beckoned with the tilt of his head. “Get in, we’ll give you a lift home.”
“It’s really not necessary.”
“Woah cool,” Callum shouted. “Can I sit in the front?”
“No, I want to sit in the front.”
“I asked first.”
“Please Callum,” Mack whined.
Callum, the first born by twenty minutes, shook his head and rooted himself in the car doorway, arms firmly planted across his chest confirming his stature as the eldest.
“Boys, I didn’t even say we were going in Mr. James’ car. The bus will be here soon.”
“We’re giving you a lift and that’s final.” Grantley growled and then turned to pick up, what looked like scripts, which were spread across the back seat.
“Really, it’s not necessary,” I sighed.
“I said we’re taking you all home.”
Grantley stepped out of the car with a pile of papers under his arm and moved to the open passenger door where the boys were having a stand-off. Callum wasn’t budging from his spot, but Mack was determined, trying to pull him away by his arm.
“Okay guys,” Grantley said breezily. “To save any arguments, I’m gonna ride shot-gun and you both can sit in the back with your aunt.”
“But-.”
“No arguments, Cal,” Grantley replied, shocking me that he knew which twin was which. “In any case, I think you’ll be pleased when you see the DVD player in the back. There’s already a Marvel film loaded up and ready to press play on.”
Callum almost bowled Mack over as he ran and flung himself up the high step-up into the car, sprawling across the back seat.
“Callum,” I admonished, glancing warily at Grantley. “I’m so sorry. I’ll pay if he’s scratched the leather or any
thing else.”
Grantley gave me a small smile. It was tiny in fact, a simple twitch of his lips at the sides, but pure amusement glittered in his pale green eyes.
“What’s so funny?”
“You really think I care about some scratched leather in a rented car?”
“You will if you have to pay for it.” I pointed at the seat, which now Callum and also Mack were sitting on and bouncing up and down. “Boys, stop it.”
“They’re fine,” Grantley said softly, ushering me to the door. “Now get in and we’ll get you home.”
“Honestly-.”
“Please just get in the damn car,” he sighed.
“But it’s probably miles out of your way. It will take you almost an hour to get there.”
“Barney doesn’t mind, do you?”
Grantley leaned down to peer inside the car, flashing a grin at the driver, Barney.
“Nope, call it my good deed for the day.” His voice was deep and rich and images of him serenading someone with a sexy love song while he gyrated around them sprung into my mind.
I really did watch too many music videos.
I sighed deeply and looked down the road, wishing for the bus to suddenly appear. Although how I’d get the boys out of that damn car if it did, I had no idea. I was about to succumb when I spotted Declan running towards us.
“It hasn’t gone yet, has it?” he huffed, pulling his bag higher onto his shoulder.
“Not yet,” I replied as a red-faced, puffing Declan ran up beside me.
With his chest heaving, Declan looked between myself and Grantley, his mouth dropping another inch with each little bit of realisation that I was talking to a Hollywood star, and my nephews were sitting in the back seat of said star’s car.
“Oh,” he said before snapping his mouth shut.
“Hi,” Grantley said, giving Declan a tight smile.
“Mr. James,” Declan simpered. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Declan Johnson. I’m an extra on the film alongside Phoebe.”
Declan held out his hand to Grantley, who took it and shook it firmly.