Vengeance
Page 34
As the carriage was turned and led back down Decatur Street Kirsten walked over to Jake. ‘That sky is bothering me,’ she said looking up at the way the sun was threatening to burst through the cloud.
‘It’s bothering me too. We’ll have to be quick about this or nothing’s going to match.’
‘Did you take a look inside the carriage? Are we seeing them all right, or shall we take the roof down?’
‘Which would you prefer?’
‘That the roof is up.’
‘Then we’ll make it work. Phil!’ he shouted to the gaffer and leaving Kirsten he went off to organize the lights.
‘Make-up!’ Kirsten called.
‘Right here,’ an assistant answered.
‘Take another look at Anna before we go for a take. Her hair’s too tidy. No, don’t do it now, we’ll do the rehearsal first. Have you got any more of that lip salve?’
The make up assistant handed it over, Kirsten ran it quickly over her wind-chapped lips then moved off to talk to the sound guys.
‘There’s no dialogue until the carriage stops,’ she told them, ‘so we can wild track the horse’s hooves.’
‘Danny’s already over there rigging up the mike,’ Bob told her.
‘Great. Did you get the steamboat whistles earlier?’
‘Not really. Too much other noise.’
‘OK, we’ll get it set up for another time.’ She swung round as a trumpet suddenly blasted from across the street.
‘David!’ she yelled. ‘David!’
‘I’m on it,’ he called back and Kirsten watched him briefly as he headed off towards the busker who had somehow broken through the police cordons. ‘How are we doing up there, Russell?’ David shouted into his walkie-talkie.
‘A few more minutes,’ Russell answered. ‘The carriage is almost here.’
Kirsten stood with her hands on her hips absently watching the riggers as they greased the tracks on the pavement and checked the dolly for progress. Her mind was already leaping ahead to the scenes they would shoot that afternoon. It could be, if the sun did come out, that they would have to change the schedule and do some interiors.
‘Vicky!’ she shouted.
Vicky came running down the street.
‘Get on to the production managers and find out what’s set up over at Little Joe’s studios,’ Kirsten said. ‘Once you know dig me out the scenes that correspond to the set.’
‘OK. Laurence called just now, by the way. He said do you want to join him and Joe for lunch?’
‘Not unless it’s important.’ She took off her cap, ran her fingers through her hair and made off towards the chair. ‘How are we doing?’ she shouted to anyone within earshot.
‘Nearly there,’ someone called back.
Kirsten perched on the edge of her canvas chair beside the script supervisor. ‘Remind me what we’re coming off of here,’ she said, peering over Nicola’s shoulder.
‘Off the steamboat wheel,’ Nicola answered, moving her script so that Kirsten could get a better look.
‘That’s right. A mix. Steamboat wheel to carriage wheel. Great. Did you get the dialogue changes for the ballroom scenes from Ruby?’
‘Yes. The cast have them too.’
Kirsten nodded, put her hands behind her head and relaxed back in her chair. Seconds later she was out of the chair again, sitting at the camera, one eye pressed to the view finder as it tracked down the street. Then she was running up to the carriage pulling open the door and talking to Anna.
‘. . . I know, it’s terrific,’ she was saying. ‘Just make sure you keep your face as much in the light as you can. You look wonderful. Remember, you’re going to be dignified about this . . . You don’t care what anyone else thinks . . . But don’t forget the touch of uncertainty, especially when Marie Laveau . . .’
‘It’s all right,’ Anna laughed, ‘don’t worry, I’ve got it. Helena is going to turn to me on her line. I thought I’d give just a split-second of hesitation before I get out . . .’
‘Great. That should do it. Keep your eyes down until you get right into close up. Do you need a mark?’
‘I don’t think so. We’ll see after the rehearsal.’
‘All right!’ Kirsten shouted, closing the carriage door. ‘Clear the street . . . Lindon! Lindon!’ she was heading towards the camera operator. ‘I want you to take them through the gate up to the house, tracking back along the pavement and holding those railings foreground.’
‘Yeah, Kirstie,’ he laughed, ‘we already discussed it.’
‘Did we? So we did. OK, everyone!’ she shouted. ‘Let’s go.’
Fifteen minutes later the shot was in the can, the clouds had smothered the sun and they were setting up for another street scene.
By now they were ten days into the shoot and Kirsten was as amazed by how well it was going – mainly thanks to Little Joe and his faultless organization – and she was delighted. Every night after rushes Laurence went out of his way to tell her how great it was all looking, the crew hung on her every word of praise and the cast were constantly begging her to dine with them so that they could either boast about their performances or discuss their roles. Kirsten was happy to listen, encouraged them as much as she could and was hardly able to believe the thrill she was getting from it all. It was as though she had developed a totally separate personality. Kirsten the director had now eclipsed Kirsten the woman and were it not for the odd moment in the day when she saw Anna looking so blissfully happy as she caught sight of Laurence coming on to the set Kirsten might have persuaded herself to believe that she didn’t care about their affair at all. The fact that her heart seemed to clench at her chest when she saw them disappear into Anna’s trailer together, or when she saw them laughing at some private joke while everyone raced about the set, was something she would admit to no one, with the exception of Helena, and not even for a moment did the pain show through the mask of total happiness and absorption she wore. And the fact that she consistently refused Laurence’s invitations to lunch or dinner was because she just couldn’t stand the way he looked so damned guilty every time he set eyes on her. It was as though he felt sorry for her and though the temptation to tell him just what he could do with his pity was almost overwhelming, she had so far managed to refrain.
On every other level she and Laurence were getting along fine. They spoke civilly to each other, even made each other laugh, but should Laurence ever look like he might be about to broach something of a more personal nature Kirsten would always make some excuse to get away.
By the beginning of the third week they were into the brothel scenes. Several of them were already in the can and had caused a great deal of ribald laughter as well as a quickening of pulses during the shooting and at the viewing of rushes. It was in the largest of the upstairs rooms in the brothel that Anna and Jean-Paul were playing out their big love scene. At that moment Anna was in a two hour make-up call having any tiny blemish the camera might pick up covered and all the relevant parts of her body high-lighted. In the meantime they were setting up for a scene between Jean-Paul and one of the prostitutes.
As Kirsten and Laurence walked through the languid ambience of the amber and carmine lit room out on to the cable strewn landing Helena was watching them. She had plenty more to worry about than Kirsten right now, but a brief feeling of sympathy coasted through her as she thought of the way Kirsten was trying so very hard to keep her feelings under control. Helena was still in no doubt though that it would all come right for Kirsten in the end, so why waste the pity when she had her own problems to deal with? The local press were hounding her for an interview, wanting to know what it felt like to be playing a voodoo priestess in light of her mother’s involvement with the cult. The publicists were handling them for the moment, but Laurence was of the opinion that she should make some sort of statement herself. He’d asked to see her later in the day to discuss it, which meant that Helena had had to postpone her date with Campbell who had flown in the night before and
was staying in a hotel on Bourbon Street. She wasn’t going to mention anything about his arrival to Laurence, Dermott could do that himself, but boy was she going to have something to say to Laurence when she saw him! In fact she was crazy to have held back this long because with Campbell’s arrival on the scene she was running out of time.
Out on the landing Kirsten and Laurence were leaning against the banister, talking quietly to each other.
‘You sure you should be here?’ Laurence said. ‘You still look pretty peeky to me.’
‘I’m fine, and that’s the fourth time you’ve asked so can we just drop it now,’ Kirsten answered. ‘It was a touch of food poisoning, nothing more. Now, I want to talk about these extra rehearsals the choreographer’s requested. I know we can’t afford to take the time out, but neither can we afford not to. They just have to have the whole cast together for at least one more day.’
‘I thought you were asking for two,’ Laurence said.
‘I was. But I’ve talked to the choreographers and they think they can manage with one, but it’s barely enough, Laurence.’
‘Do you have a day in mind?’
‘The production managers are looking at the schedule.’
Laurence nodded. ‘OK. I’ll see what they come up with. By the way I’ve just given the go ahead for a local news crew to come in and interview later today,’ he said. ‘They want you, Anna and Jean-Paul.’
‘OK for the other too, not me though.’
Laurence grinned. ‘Now how did I know you were gonna say that?’
‘I don’t know, how did you know I was going to say that?’ Kirsten sighed.
‘I guess,’ he said, his eyes narrowing as he looked down at her, ‘that I know pretty well most things about you, Kirsten Meredith.’
‘Well if that’s true, Laurence McAllister, then how come you don’t know that I’d like to slap your arrogant face for a remark like that?’
‘But I do know it,’ he laughed. ‘And I also know that you’re not going to do it in front of the crew.’
‘No?’
He shook his head.
‘Then perhaps you do know me well,’ she said and crunching her heel down on his toe she turned and walked away.
That might have been an end to it, but for the fact that Laurence reappeared later in the day with an extremely large bandage around his foot. Seeing him hobbling into the room Kirsten rolled her eyes, but Anna, who was blocking through her love scene with Jean-Paul, immediately drew herself up from the bed and, clad only in a thin sheet, went to kneel at Laurence’s feet. Kirsten watched her as she stroked the bandage like some Grecian nymph paying obeisance to a greater god. The whole crew was watching her, slightly stunned by such an open display of intimacy that was turning them all in to unwilling voyeurs. A couple of them sniggered and turned away, but not even the fact that Laurence’s embarrassment showed how deeply he regretted the stunt could bring a smile to Kirsten’s face. Inside she was feeling murderous. As if her own imagination wasn’t hard enough to deal with, she was now being forced to face the reality of what the two of them looked like together. And when Laurence stooped down to pull Anna to her feet and Anna slipped her arms around him Kirsten felt such a surge of jealousy as his hands brushed lightly over Anna’s back that it was only Jake, who shoved the console operator aside and deftly switched the lighting to a garish, unflattering mauve, that saved her.
‘Are you going to stay for the rest of the scene?’ she heard Anna whisper to Laurence.
Laurence’s eyes were on Anna’s. From where she was standing Kirsten couldn’t read his expression but she heard him say, ‘Do you want me to?’
Anna nodded and smiled and for one terrifying moment Kirsten thought they were going to kiss.
She turned away as Jake came up behind her. ‘Sit down, don’t say a word,’ he muttered in her ear.
Kirsten lifted her eyes to his. They had never once discussed her relationship with Laurence, but this wasn’t the first time Jake had indicated that he knew how she felt. ‘I want to kill her,’ Kirsten said through clenched teeth as Lindon and the other assistants started to mount the camera on its tracks and Anna remained at Laurence’s side, the sheet barely covering her nudity. ‘Why is she doing this?’ Kirsten seethed.
‘To make you jealous, why do you think?’
‘But she’s the one who’s got him?’
Jake’s eyebrows arched. ‘Is she?’
Kirsten turned away irritably. She wasn’t getting into that. ‘Anna!’ she snapped. ‘Can we have you back on the bed, please. Flissy, could you bring something to cover Anna up while we get settled.’ She waited for Anna to prise herself from Laurence’s side then walked over to him. ‘A word, please,’ she said, pulling open the door.
She walked ahead of him down the stairs and into a deserted room off the main hall. ‘I’m sorry you’ve forced me to do this,’ she said, as he closed the door behind them. ‘But as the director of this film I am requesting that you do not come on to the set during scenes that Anna is playing nude. That little display up there just now . . .’
‘I apologize,’ he interrupted. ‘I only came back to show you this goddamned stupid bandage. It was a joke that back-fired. I forgot you were doing that scene . . .’
‘I don’t care whether you forgot or not. Just please keep away from the set while we do this. Now, if you’ll excuse me . . .’ and sweeping past him she walked out of the room and straight into Helena.
‘I just heard,’ Helena said. ‘What the hell got into him . . .’
‘Not now,’ Kirsten said abruptly and ran off up the stairs.
‘OK,’ Helena said, tapping her fingers on the arm of the sofa in Laurence’s hotel suite, ‘you want me to come clean and make a statement, then why don’t you do the same thing?’
‘It’s not my mother who’s in jail,’ Laurence answered, none too tactfully.
‘Well maybe she should be, just for having a goddamned son like you,’ Helena snapped.
Laurence’s head came up in surprise. ‘I think we’re getting off the topic here,’ he said. ‘I’m talking about . . .’
‘I know what you’re talking about,’ Helena interrupted. ‘And OK, I’ll do the interview. So what about you coming clean about what’s going on around here? What the hell is this farce of an affair with the Simperer all about?’
Laurence’s dark eyes flashed. ‘What the hell gives you the right –’ He collected himself quickly. ‘My private life is my own affair, Helena, so don’t come here thinking you can speak up for Kirsten.’
‘Well someone’s got to, it’s just a shame you don’t have anyone to speak up for you. And even more of a shame you don’t have the guts to speak up for yourself. What’s going on with you, Laurence? We both know you’re crazy about Kirsten, so what the hell is all this about?’
‘Jesus Christ!’ Laurence raged. ‘Just where does everyone get off telling me what I do and don’t feel. You sound like my goddamned wife and God knows I won’t tolerate it from her. From you . . .’
‘You can shout and bully other people around as much as you like, Laurence,’ Helena declared, ‘but it doesn’t do anything for me. You wanted Kirsten on this movie, you wanted her to direct it and you were the one who wanted the partnership. Are you so fucking goddamned stupid that you can’t see why you did that? So why the hell are you doing this to her now?’
‘Apart from the fact that it’s none of your fucking business what I do, I don’t know what you’re getting so worked up about when Kirsten’s hardly starved of company herself. It can’t have escaped your notice the way she is with Jake Butler. Now do I come running to you asking you to tell her to back off?’
‘Do me a favour,’ Helena sneered. ‘There’s nothing going on between Jake and Kirsten and you know it!’
‘Do I?’
‘Yes, you do. You just want to think there is to appease that conscience of yours. Well it’s not going to work. She’s not having an affair with Jake any more than I am. But
I’ll tell you this. I wouldn’t say no, and if pushed I don’t reckon Kirsten would either. And you sure are doing a lot of pushing, Laurence. Shit!’ Her hand suddenly crashed down on the arm of the sofa. ‘I can’t believe you guys!’
‘And I can’t believe you’ve got the fucking audacity to sit there saying those things to me. Just tell me, what is it to you what we do, Helena?’
‘I’ll tell you what it is to me,’ Helena cried, springing to her feet. ‘She’s my friend and I care about what this is doing to her. Open your eyes, Laurence. Look at her. She’s right on the edge and she can’t take much more. Oh sure, she hides it well, I don’t reckon even she knows how close she is, but take it from me if you want this movie finished then you give it up with the Simperer and give it up soon or you’re going to live to regret it. Now I’m out of here before you get me really mad.’
21
‘Oh come on, Ruby, don’t cry,’ Kirsten said, going to sit beside her on the bed and putting an arm around her shoulders. ‘We’ll work it out together.’
‘Sure,’ Ruby sniffed into her handkerchief, ‘I know we will, we always do.’
‘Then why are you getting so upset?’
Ruby shook her head and gazed absently down at the cluster of cheap bangles on her wrist. Her fingers were stained with fountain-pen ink, her nail polish, normally so immaculately applied, was chipped at the edges.
‘Come on, what is it?’ Kirsten prompted gently.
‘You’re gonna think I’m crazy,’ Ruby said. She gave a dry laugh as her head fell back. ‘I guess you already do, the way I’ve been carrying on . . .’ She paused for a moment and closed her eyes tightly. ‘I don’t like what’s happening to me lately,’ she said. ‘I can’t seem to stay off the juice for more than a couple of hours at a time. It’s like the world frightens me . . . I can’t handle it or something.’
‘But you’ve done a great job with the script,’ Kirsten reminded her. ‘And we’re only talking about minor dialogue changes. Laurence and I will do them if you like.’