Do You Do Extras? (An American in the UK Book 1)

by Nikki Ashton

  “Nope he isn’t.”

  “The fucker feels too guilty?”

  “Nope not at all,” I replied. “But it’s a long story.”

  “Well go on then,” she cried, throwing her arms into the air. “Fucking tell me.”

  “No fucking way?” Marcia squawked. “What a fucking cunt.”

  I’d told Marcia the whole story and her reaction was pretty much what I’d expected. Her eyes were almost popping out of her head as she gripped the edges of the throw cushion on her lap. I was like a son to her, and this was momma bear about ready to rip Sue-Ann’s head off.

  “Get the bitch out of bed now and throw her out,” Marcia demanded.

  “That might be a problem,” Barney replied. “I gave her a sleeping pill. Didn’t want her upsetting Grant on his first night back.”

  “I don’t care. Still throw her out.” Marcia threw the cushion to one side, grabbed the bottle of whiskey from the coffee table and took a long slug.

  “Marcia just calm down,” I said, rubbing at my temple. “We need to decide what to do.”

  “What I’ve just said, throw the fucking cock-sucking whore out.”

  “Believe me, it’s tempting to do that right now, but I don’t think it’s that simple.”

  “Grantley wants to call the police,” Phoebe added. “But I think it might harm his career if he does that.”

  Marcia stopped mid-swig of her whiskey and eyed Phoebe.

  “What?” I asked.

  Marcia put the bottle down, folded her arms over her chest and grinned at me.

  “I do believe your little missy there has some brains.”

  “I’m not stupid,” Phoebe complained, copying Marcia’s body language. “And I care about Grantley. I don’t want to see all his hard work go to waste because of his bloody, putrid mother. The publicity from this could be damaging, especially as he’s looking for more serious roles.”

  “Wow, I like your thinking girly.” Marcia laughed. “She really does have balls, doesn’t she?”

  Pride filled me as I watched Marcia smile at Phoebe. The woman who had done more for me than any other person, who protected me like a mother, who fought my corner when no one else was interested, actually liked my girl. I’d never given a shit before what she’d thought of past dates or girlfriends, but now that she actually seemed to like Phoebe, I realized it mattered. It only hadn’t mattered previously, because they hadn’t mattered- the women I’d dated and even lived with, weren’t important to me - not like Phoebe was.

  “So, what do you suggest I do?” I asked, pulling Phoebe under my arm and hugging her to my side.

  Marcia inclined her head and looked at me. “You really like this girl, don’t cha?”

  “Who, this girl?” I pointed at Phoebe. “Nah, not particularly.”

  “Hey you.” Phoebe slapped a palm at my stomach. “That’s not nice.”

  I grinned and kissed her hard, and when I heard her let out a satisfied little sigh, ‘Little Dick’ woke up.

  “Alright, alright,” Marcia groaned. “Cut it out.”

  “This is what I had to put up with all the way back from the airport,” Barney offered.

  Still kissing Phoebe, I gave him the middle finger.

  “Grantley, stop with the damn kissing. We need to talk about your fucking mother.”

  Reluctantly, I pulled away and turned to Marcia. “Okay, I’m all ears. What do you think we should do? I’d be happy to call the police, but I understand what you’re saying.”

  “It’s gonna be a shit storm if you do,” Marcia said. “Because once the press finds out about this, they’ll dig into every other thing she’s ever done. They’ll get onto your prick of a father-.”

  “Hey, no.” I held my hand up to stop her. “My dad is not to blame in any of this. I found a few things out over the last couple of days.”

  “What, how to abandon a six-year old kid and still have him worship you? Yeah, great fucking lesson kid.”

  “It was more than that, Marcia.”

  “Well go on, I’m all fucking ears.”

  “He’s not my dad.”

  I rushed the words out, hoping that if I said them quickly enough the pain in my chest wouldn’t start up, just like it had a million times since I’d walked into his house.

  “You’re fucking kidding me?”

  “Seriously?” Barney asked.

  I turned to him and nodded, slamming my lips together in a thin line. “Yeah Barney, seriously.”

  “So what he found out and left? Still a shit trick if you ask me.”

  “It wasn’t quite like that,” I replied. “He wanted to take me, but Sue-Ann said she’d get him arrested for kidnapping and threaten to tell the authorities that he abused me.”

  “Wowzer, that cunt of a mother of yours just keeps getting better and better.”

  “Yeah, she really does. The point is, Dad wanted to take me even though he knew I wasn’t his. She then told him we were moving to Florida with my biological dad. Social media wasn’t a big thing then, so he cut himself off from me and lost touch.”

  “How you feeling, buddy?” Barney asked. “You okay with it all?”

  I shrugged. “As good as I can be. It’s going to take time, but I’m positive about our relationship.”

  “That’s good, real good.”

  Barney looked a little shell-shocked and I knew he must have been thinking about his relationship with his own father. Their argument the day his dad died haunted him, which is why he’d always pushed for me to keep faith with Sue-Ann. I guess even he had to now admit that she was a lost cause.

  “Okay,” Marcia said on a sigh. “This is what I think we should do. We don’t say anything until I try and find out about this clinic she said you’d be going in to. Then tomorrow night, when I have more information we decide what to do. If the clinic appears to be in on her fucked-up plan, well you have no choice but to call the cops. Either way, I’m getting her on a plane out of here tomorrow.” She picked up her iPad and started tapping at the screen. “I’ll sort a flight now. I take it she isn’t going First Class?”

  “No way,” I replied, vehemently. “Not a chance. She can go in the hold with the animals for all I care. Or maybe put her next to the john, right where she can smell shit for the whole flight.”

  “Aren’t you worried she’ll go missing, if the police become involved?” Phoebe asked.

  “She’s got no money, no friends, and no fucking brains, so no,” Marcia responded, while tapping away.

  “She must have some brains, to come up with this plan.”

  “Either that or someone is helping her, Phoebes,” I answered. “Which is my guess. She doesn’t have the brains to pull something like this off.”

  “Grantley’s right,” Marcia said. “She’s gotta be the fall guy, but I’ll find that out. There, that’s it. She’s booked on a flight. Has to be day after tomorrow, but it’s an eighteen-hour trip with two lay overs, leaving Manchester at six in the morning.”

  “Nice,” I replied, giving Marcia a grin and a wink.

  “And you ain’t taking her Barnabus,” she growled. “She gets a damn taxi.”

  Barney shook his head. “If you say so.”

  “I do,” Marcia snapped. “And if I find out you did, I’ll cut your fucking balls off and feed them to my neighbor’s dog.”

  Barney and I winced as Phoebe giggled.

  “And on that note,” I said. “I’m off to bed.”

  “I’m not sure I’ll sleep,” Phoebe said, turning to me.

  “Me either, but who mentioned sleeping?”

  As Marcia and Barney groaned, Phoebe gave a sexy little moan and now ‘Little Dick’ was well and truly awake.

  Phoebe

  Waking up in Grantley’s arms for the past few days had been wonderful, especially when he had an extra special way of doing it. I could thoroughly recommend an orgasm – or two – before breakfast, it gave you a much better glow than porridge ever could. However, having b
een woken with his fingers or ‘Little Dick’, as I now liked to call it, I was now dreading going home. I’d missed Beth and the boys like mad, but I had a feeling my yearning for Grantley at six each morning would be just as great. But, I guess I had to go home sometime. I just didn’t want it to be yet.

  Going home also got me thinking about what was going to happen when Grantley left. We only had a few weeks of filming left and then he’d be gone. Back to LA, his life, and numerous women desperate to get inside his undies. In all the time we’d spent together, we’d never discussed what would happen post filming, and if I was being honest, I didn’t really want to. It was ridiculous of me to even contemplate him keeping in touch, never mind there being anything more, but the alternative was a horrible thought.

  “So, how was your trip?” I heard Penny ask Grantley, as he prepared to shoot his last scene of the day, with Francesca.

  “Good, just some business I had to deal with.”

  I was watching from behind the camera. I hadn’t had any scenes to film, but Grantley had insisted I go with him to the studio, so that he and Barney could drive me home afterwards and maybe get some dinner with Beth and the boys. I loved the idea, although I was definitely starting to flag with jet lag, and wasn’t sure I’d stay awake through dinner. But, I’d soldier through it, because I had a suspicion that Grantley wanted to do it because he was filming his sex scene the day following our rest day, and after the Serena incident, probably suspected that I would be feeling a little insecure.

  “Phoebe enjoy it too?” Penny asked with a smirk and a glance over at me.

  Grantley’s eyes followed Penny’s and I returned his stare with my mouth gaping open.

  “Yes, she did,” he replied, while staring at me with a beautiful smile. “We had a fantastic time.”

  Penny patted his arm, powdered his nose and turned to leave. As she did, there was a loud bang and shouting behind me. I quickly turned to see the studio door fling open and Sue-Ann stumble through, wearing boots which I was pretty sure were replicas of Julia Roberts’ in Pretty Woman.

  “Where the hell is my son?” she yelled, pushing a boom operator to one side. “Grantley, where the hell are you?”

  Grantley fisted his hands at his sides and took a deep breath before storming in my direction.

  “How the hell did she get in here?” he shouted to whoever was listening. “Someone get security and then fire their damn asses.”

  “Grantley,” I said, trying to catch hold of his arm. “Calm down.”

  He swung around to face me, his pale green eyes burning with anger. “I’ll calm down once she’s out of here.”

  “Grantley,” Sue-Ann called as she spotted him. “I need to talk to you now.”

  Grantley pulled away from me and stalked to Sue-Ann, with me following behind.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” he hissed, taking her arm and turning her around.

  “I need to talk to you. Do you know what that bitch has done?” Sue-Ann stopped dead, causing me to barrel into her. “Watch what you’re doing,” she snapped, looking over her shoulder at me.

  “Don’t you dare speak to Phoebe like that.” Grantley poked a finger in his mother’s face. “I told you before, you treat her with fucking respect. Now get the hell off this set.”

  With a hand against Sue-Ann’s back, he pushed her to the double doors. Kicking them open, Grantley ushered her through them and marched her down a corridor towards his dressing room. I followed part of the way and then stopped.

  “I’ll tell Alexi,” I called.

  Grantley looked over his shoulder. “No, I need you in here with me.”

  “But Grantley-.”

  “Phoebe please, just get in here.”

  As they disappeared inside, I looked back to where we’d come from, expecting to see Alexi following us, but the corridor was silent. So with a deep breath, I jogged to the dressing room, went inside, and closed the door quietly behind me.

  “What the hell are you doing, letting her put me on a flight out of here in the morning?” Sue-Ann screeched.

  “Marcia told you then?”

  Grantley placed himself in front of Sue-Ann, his hands on his hips. He was wearing a scowl that I’d never seen on his face before, and it was at that moment I saw the true likeness between him and his mother.

  “Yes, she fucking told me. You’ve put me on a six am flight that takes forever to get home. And why the hell are you sending me home, anyway. We have things to sort out.”

  “Do we?” Grantley asked, shoving his hands into his trouser pockets. “And what would that be?”

  “You know,” Sue-Ann said, looking at me and then back to Grantley. “Things with your father.”

  “Oh my father.” Grantley nodded slowly. “The same father who died of a heart attack years ago, probably brought on by his liking for blow, or the one you told me was my father?”

  Sue-Ann’s face blanched as she took a stumbling step backwards.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, guilt written all over her face. “Who’s told you that crap?”

  I couldn’t help my snort of derision, as she straightened herself up and jutted out her chin defiantly.

  “What’s your problem?” Sue-Ann snapped at me.

  “I don’t have a problem, but I’d say you do.”

  “You going to let her speak to me like that?”

  Grantley sighed. “We’ve had this fucking conversation before, Sue-Ann. So, let me spell it out for you. Yes, I am, because you are a lying piece of work, who should have been sterilized at birth. You have no rights being a mother and I’m damn well ashamed to call you mine.” Grantley took a step forward and leaned into Sue-Ann’s personal space. “The person who told me that ‘crap’ was Trent Miller, the man who for twenty-six years I’ve believed to be my father.”

  Sue-Ann’s breath faltered as Grantley moved in even closer.

  “He told me everything,” he hissed. “About your sordid hook-up while I was watching TV and how you wouldn’t let him take me with him.”

  “You’re my damn son,” she cried. “You weren’t his to take.”

  “But he wanted me. You didn’t.”

  “I did want you. I loved you, I do love you, baby boy.”

  “You left me alone for days on end and thought I’d be okay because I had ten fucking dollars in my pocket.”

  A vein on the side of Grantley’s head was bulging with the rage inside of him as he poked a finger at Sue-Ann. His other hand was fisted at his side, as his fury of the last twenty years spilled out. I was worried he was going to collapse, or have some sort of aneurism, as his face grew redder with each word he spat at Sue-Ann.

  “Grantley,” I whispered, moving alongside of him. “Please, just take a deep breath.”

  “She’s right, Grantley,” Sue-Ann simpered. “Calm down.”

  “No, I won’t calm the fuck down,” he bellowed, so loudly that both Sue-Ann and I jumped. “I am sick to death of having to deal with you. Either giving you money, or bailing you out of some other shit or other. Well this time, you’ve gone too damn far.”

  As he took a step forward, I moved with him. I didn’t think he would, but he was so angry I wondered whether he was going to hit her. I held my hand up to stop him, but he didn’t raise a finger, but moved his face to within an inch of his mother’s.

  “I know you’re fucking game,” he said, his voice dripping with venom.

  “W-what game?” Sue-Ann flicked her hair over her shoulder, trying to appear nonchalant, but the tremor in her voice and the tremble in her chin gave it away.

  “Who did you really need my kidney for, Sue-Ann?”

  Grantley’s voice was so quiet and measured that it scared me. Grantley being in control was more worrying than when he was losing it with her. Sue-Ann must have recognised it too because she gasped and tried to make a run for the door. Grantley was too quick for her though, and grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her back in front of him.


  “Who the fuck were you going to sell my kidney to?”

  “I-I. Grantley you don’t -.”

  “I asked you a damn question. Was it some dealer you owe money to, or were you just going to sell it to the clinic. Tell me now.”

  Sue-Ann flinched and closed her eyes.

  “It wasn’t…I wasn’t.”

  “Now, Sue-Ann, because I swear to God, I’ll-.”

  “Stop,” I said, pulling on his arm. “She won’t talk if you keep badgering her.”

  Grantley turned his head. “Badgering her? This is nothing to what the damn cops will do.”

  “Sue-Ann, just tell him what he needs to know.”

  I didn’t care about her, whether Grantley badgered her or not. She deserved every last bit of shit she was going to get, but I didn’t want him doing something he might regret. Yes, she was an evil, vindictive woman, but she was still his mother and if he did hurt her in some way…I dreaded the thought.

  “Phoebe, I wouldn’t touch her if that’s what you’re worried about,” Grantley whispered, cupping the side of my face. “I swear.”

  “You can’t say that,” I protested. “Because I’ll tell you something, I’d gladly slap her face and she’s not done this to me. She’s not my mother who has betrayed me.”

  “Don’t you dare touch me,” Sue-Ann cried, pointing at me. “I’ll scream.”

  “Just because I want to, doesn’t mean I will,” I replied. “Some of us were brought up with manners.”

  “How dare you?”

  “I dare because you have to be the most odious woman I’ve ever had the displeasure to meet.”

  “I don’t smell,” Sue-Ann said, her eyes wide. “You can’t say I’m odious. I take a shower every day.”

  Grantley rolled his eyes, and when I took a breath to start and explain he held up a hand.

  “Leave it pretty girl, she has the brain cell of a dung beetle.”

  “What do you mean?” Sue-Ann asked, pushing her hands to her hips.

  Grantley shook his head. “Nothing. Now tell me who you wanted my kidney for.”

  “I told you-.”