Behind the Scenes

22. Harley

harley

. . .

“ S he’s still working?” I asked Penelope over the phone after Laura decided not to reply to any of my messages.

My chest was tight, anxiety crawling up my spine. Couldn’t she just rest?

I had fallen asleep the night before and woken up far later than I should have, pushing everyone’s schedule back. I wanted to stay longer with Laura, especially when I felt how hot her head was.

But if I did, I would be putting the fucking movie at risk, as well as my reputation.

So I told her I’d go see her during our lunch break. I’d take care of her. I wanted nothing more than to have her here with me, but I also knew she needed time.

And then my fucking manager…

Someone had complained about my tardiness, and Julian decided to fly in, showing up to give me that stern look of his.

He’s fucking annoying.

He made sure to stand at the edge of the set, watching my every move. Every time our eyes met, he would be giving me a look that made my blood boil. He was older than me, but not by much, and somehow thought that he could treat me like a child.

If only he knew I could kill him in ten seconds…

I hadn’t even done anything wrong. Fine, people were probably annoyed about me being late, but I had been on time every single day. On top of that, I was doing great with my lines and scenes.

My co-star, on the other hand … I was starting to question why she was even there in the first place.

I had watched a movie of hers once or twice but never noticed how mediocre she was until I was forced to shoot scene after scene with her because the director wasn’t satisfied with her performance.

Not mine. Hers.

It seemed like the whole universe had decided to piss me off.

Not only was my mind preoccupied with the love of my life working herself to an early grave, but every single person decided to have a problem with me.

If it wasn’t the director making us redo take after take, it was my co-star trying to cozy up to me. If they decided to leave me alone for a couple of minutes, Julian would be there to pick up the slack.

When I tried to sneak off during our breaks, he made sure to lecture me about how important it is that I don’t fuck around with this job .

Like I didn’t fucking know that? Like I didn’t take every single job seriously?

I was close to exploding. I could feel the invisible time bomb ticking down inside me. Most of the time, I could handle my manager. He was useful for my image. He got me nice parts.

But goddamn do I want to kill him.

I’d wanted to for a long time. It was lingering under my skin. The monster was whispering in my ear.

And today, he was really pushing his luck.

In my rage, I forgot I was even on the phone to begin with until Penelope’s voice interrupted my perfect daydream of ripping Julian’s head off.

“I tried to stop her, but she won’t listen to me,” Penelope said in a whisper. “At least she finally ate something. When I came in here, the whole tray was?—”

“I can still hear you if you whisper, you know?” Laura’s voice rang through the line, and even with her snappy tone, her voice soothed the beast. “Tell her to stop being overbearing. I have work to do, and so does she!”

I couldn’t be mad at my Laura. Annoyed, yes. But my love for her wouldn’t let me be angry with her. She wasn’t the type of person to stop, even if she got sick. Her dreams and career were much too important for her to slow down even a bit. I respected that.

My manager, on the other hand…

He was still watching me like a hawk. Even on the little break I was allowed, he wanted me to know that he had his eyes on me and knew exactly what I was doing. Warning me that if I ever so much as tried to sneak away, he would be there.

Part of me was aware that he was keeping me away from Laura, and that did not bode well for him. Not one bit.

“Harley!” The director called. “It’s time!”

I cursed under my breath.

“Keep an eye on her,” I ordered Penelope. “Try to get her to eat more. And rest. Or I may just pay the hotel to cut off the Wi-Fi.”

I hung up and repeated calming mantras in my head.

Don’t kill the manager.

Or the director.

You need them.

You need them.

But the more Julian stared at me, the more violent those thoughts turned.

Don’t smash his head in.

Don’t ambush him in the dark.

Don’t accidentally spike his drink and then throw him into the ocean ? —

“Harley! ”

I put on my best charming smile. The one that said, I don’t want to kill any of you. Not at all .

Just as I was about to go, I got a flurry of texts and pictures from my informant. She had found the perpetrator, and, unfortunately, it was just an angry fan who had seen Laura and me together and snapped.

The issue was that I knew her. She’d been stalking me for some time, but before now, she hadn’t crossed any boundaries. To be honest, she kind of sucked at the whole stalking business.

This was the first time she had actually done anything serious, which would suck for her. I was being lenient before, but now that Laura was here, I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her.

“I won’t ask again, Harley. Now!”

“Coming!”

They were punishing me. Me. The star of their movie.

The sun had long since set, and they still were not letting me go back to the hotel. They claimed that they wanted to get a head start on one of the scenes for the next day, but I called bullshit.

At the pace they were going, they wouldn’t even get to that scene for another two to three hours, and I was supposed to have left two hours ago already.

Unable to stop myself, I brought out my phone and looked at my conversation with Laura. She hadn’t replied yet. Anxiety clawed at my throat as I imagined all the awful things that could have happened to her while she was sick.

Are you doing okay, my love?

I waited a few moments, but there was no response, and that only made my frustration worse .

Penelope had stopped giving me updates, so I was flying blind. Frustration and anxiety swirled together and made the murderous thoughts even more potent.

Every time anyone even looked my way, I would imagine bashing their head in.

Time to reassess the surveillance clause.

To top it off, I was stuck watching as my co-star fumbled her lines over and over. She was stumbling through them, probably feeling the pressure of my glare.

But I didn’t care. She was a professional. Or at least she was supposed to be.

On any other day, this would piss me off. Today? I was enraged .

“Sorry,” Julian said, coming up to me. He had a water in his hand and gave me a sly smile.

His dark hair was slicked back and he wore an embarrassingly bright tropical print shirt.

Like he’s on fucking vacation . “I didn’t think it’d take this long.

But you know the director has been a bit annoyed with the progress, so?—”

“If he’s annoyed, you should be having this conversation with her ,” I growled and pointed my chin at the still fumbling actress.

I couldn’t keep my anger in anymore.

I was exhausted. Cranky.

Worried.

I hadn’t slept that badly the previous night. Especially after pushing the fucking pillows out of the way. Especially after Laura had let me cuddle her. That was progress, and I smiled at the memory.

But I’d had enough, and I couldn’t remember a time when I had a stronger urge to kill someone.

“Well, I’m not her manager?—”

Fuck this.

“I’m leaving,” I spat out and turned away, but his hand was on my shoulder, holding me back.

“Harley, don’t fuck this up. You need to work with me here and?— ”

His words became muffled by the rush of blood through my ears. I clenched my hands into fists as the shaking took over.

More than ever, I was ready to kill him. Not ready, I needed to. Like I needed to breathe. Like not doing it would crush me.

How dare he touch me? How dare he stop me?

The risks of killing him here were high. It would just be losing his connections. It was high exposure. The lights from the set had attracted tourists, and as much as our security tried, we were unable to keep all of them away.

In that moment, I considered it all. All the work—the years—I’d put into building my mask. Letting go of it and the loss of all the money that came with it.

And yet it still seems like it’s worth it.

I slapped his hand away and turned to him, getting unreasonably close. I could smell his sweat. I could feel the heat from his skin.

So close. Just one move and ? —

“I see what you’re doing.” My voice was low. A warning. “Let me do my thing. I came here and worked like I was supposed to. Don’t make me remind you and the director just how many times we had to reshoot her parts versus mine.”

His eyes widened and he took a startled step backward. I had snapped at him before, but never like this. Could he feel just how hard it was to keep my hands at my side and not around his throat?

I hope he does. I hoped he could feel the murderous rage that was boiling just under my skin and how close his life was to coming to an end.

But instead of shying away, he narrowed his eyes at me.

“You need to remember who has the power in this industry, Harley. It’s not the actors. No matter how much money you make, you’re a tool of the trade. Something we rent out to make the big pictures work. People don’t pay to see you?—”

I threw my head back and let out a bitter laugh .

If people weren’t paying attention to us before then, they sure as hell were now.

“You see those people?” I asked and pointed at the crowd watching us from behind the barriers that had been set up.

There were many I recognized. Fans who followed me from set to set.

Always in the front. Always cheering me on.

“They are here for me . You think people give two shits about this mediocre romance movie? They come for me ? — ”

“She’s right,” a voice from behind me said.

I know that voice.

I turned to see both Penelope and Laura walking toward us. Laura had her hair up and her glasses on. She was wearing a lounge set I’d never seen before. Her skin was pale and she had no makeup on.

She came right from the hotel.

My gaze snapped to Penelope. She gave me a sheepish look that told me that she couldn’t stop Laura from leaving the room.

“And who might you be?” My manager asked, his footsteps muffled in the sand as he moved closer to my side. I instinctively moved away from him.

“I’m Laura, Harley’s partner.” She made no move to shake his hand when offered.

“Nice,” he said and brushed off the obvious slight by wiping his hand on his shirt. “Well, to be frank, this doesn’t involve you?—”

“I’m also a lawyer.” The vicious smile on her face was seriously turning me on. My girl. “So when I notice my client being treated unfairly, it does involve me. In fact, it really becomes my problem.”

“Client?” my manager said with a huff. “Isn’t it unethical to fuck a client?”

Laura didn’t seem rattled in the slightest by her words. In fact, she smiled wider, something dangerous flashing behind those beautiful blue eyes of hers.

“Not if said fucking is consensual, started before I became her lawyer, and I don’t demand or require sex as a condition of my services,” she said in a sickly-sweet tone.

Fuck, I love her.

All the anger melted from my body and all I could focus on was her . She still looked tired, with bags under her eyes and a pale face. But she was always beautiful to me.

No one had ever been able to calm the storm inside me as effectively as she just did. And she hadn’t even spared me a second glance. She hadn’t touched me. She hadn’t even acknowledged my presence.

She was just… here.

I’m a fucking dog for her. Ready to kneel in front of her and be walked on a leash.

“What matters is, Mr. Manager, ” she started as she came to stand by my side. “It’s been about fourteen hours since filming started for both Harley and the crew?—”

“And they will get paid overtime,” my manager interjected.

“One, don’t interrupt me again. And two,” Laura tilted her head to the side. “Penelope, in all the time you’ve worked with Harley, has she ever gotten paid overtime?”

My assistant perked up at this. “No, she hasn’t. Many claimed she is paid more than enough to compensate for the long hours, regardless of the union’s rules.”

Laura’s gaze never wavered from Julian, taking in his annoyance like it fueled her.

“As such, her job is done here.” Laura jerked her head to the side, motioning for me to move. “Let’s not have a repeat of this tomorrow, hm?”

And like the good, obedient dog I was, I followed her.

My manager had nothing to say. Not even when Laura grabbed a card from her pocket and flicked it at him.

The love of my life indeed.