Chapter 4
Chapter Four
I t was Monday morning on set. The scene was simple—the leading actress jogged through a snow-capped Willow Creek as the sun came up in pinks and oranges—but it required the entire crew and the caterers to be there by four in the morning. Sophie had an entire breakfast setup of biscuits and gravy, bacon, breakfast sandwiches, and cinnamon rolls. As the cameras set up and Natalie, the actress, got ready in her trailer, Sophie set about decorating the catering cart with a little more Christmas flair.
One of the sound guys, Beck, walked by as she adjusted a blue bauble. "Looking good, Soph!"
Sophie grinned and turned to look at him. He wore a headset that made his hair look like a bird's nest.
"You can tell me," Beck said. "Are you trying to taunt Derek?"
Sophie made a face. "I would never!" And then she winked.
Beck cackled and hurried over to the sound guys to tell them. He brought Mike and Isaac back over for a quick biscuit, and as they ate, they watched Derek yelling at one of the camera guys. Derek pulled his dark hair and gestured wildly. "It's five o'clock in the morning, and the sun is about to come up, and we need to start rolling! Do you hear me?" Derek cried.
Sophie winced and pressed her hand to her chest. How can he be so cruel?
"That's the guy you're messing with," Beck said under his breath. "That's our fearless leader!"
Suddenly, another figure appeared at the catering table. "Sophie, it smells amazing!"
Sophie turned to find Jeremy in that same bright traffic vest with his hands on his hips. Sophie's heart sank. "Oh. Hey."
"Is this your great-aunt's recipe? The one with salted butter?" he asked of the biscuits.
Beck, Isaac, and Mike watched them curiously. Sophie's cheeks were warm. "It's the same." She hated how tentative her voice sounded.
Jeremy took a bite and moaned with his eyes closed. "They're better than they used to be. Like loads better. You're killing it, Sophie."
Sophie flared her nostrils. She wasn't going to thank him for that backhanded compliment—one that implied she used to be worse at baking than now.
"That traffic won't stop itself," Jeremy said. He sounded chipper as he hurried back to his post.
"Is anyone going to tell him there isn't any traffic this early in the morning?" Mike wondered.
Sophie stifled a laugh.
Excited by the savory smells, several other crew members came up, including Natalie the actress. Her makeup was superb; her lipstick was sharp. She gazed at the food with her hands clasped.
"I can't have any of it till after the scene," she moaned.
"Why are you wearing so much makeup, anyway?" Sophie asked. "Isn't your character going for a run?"
"In movies like this, women always wear lipstick," Natalie said with a wink. "Just in case they meet the love of their life under the mistletoe!"
Sophie cackled.
"I know," Natalie said, waving her hand. "I love Christmassy and romantic movies just as much as the next person. But they don't resemble my life in Los Angeles at all. I usually meet guys on dating apps. Then, they inevitably disappoint me, and I get back on the apps, and the cycle continues."
Sophie nodded and smiled. She couldn't really relate to dating. After Jeremy broke up with her, she hadn't bothered with the apps. It wasn't like anyone from Willow Creek was on the apps, anyway. Everyone was either married or engaged or too young or too old.
Sophie had missed her window.
About twenty-five feet from the catering table, the director continued yelling at the cameraman.
Natalie sighed. "We're meeting all week at four a.m. Somebody needs to tell Derek to get enough sleep so he's not this grumpy."
"It's weird," Beck admitted. "He wasn't like this on the set of the last film."
Sophie and Natalie turned to peer at him curiously.
Beck raised his shoulders. "He was the director for this crime drama we filmed last spring. He was great. Kind to the workers. Kind to the actors. Funny at film parties. Always very complimentary of the caterers."
Sophie's heart sank.
Isaac nodded. "Seriously. I remember saying I wanted to work with him again."
"And now? Silver Bells has already ruined his reputation," Mike agreed. "I've been texting everyone back in LA about him. They're calling him Krampus."
"Krampus?" Natalie asked.
"It's like the evil version of Santa Claus from Germany," Mike explained.
Natalie and Sophie looked at one another and shrugged.
"But we have our very own Christmas fairy here," Isaac said of Sophie. "She's the light Silver Bells needs."
"You should be the director!" Mike said.
"And these biscuits are crazy good," Beck gushed. He then bowed his head and looked at Sophie more intensely. "Who's that guy that keeps bothering you, by the way?"
Sophie wrinkled her nose. She knew he meant Jeremy. "He's just a guy from Willow Creek. I've known him forever."
"Is there a history between you two?" Mike asked.
Sophie raised her shoulders. "There's history between everyone in Willow Creek. We're in each other's business all the time! It's a blessing and a curse."
They peered at her curiously. Sophie decided to change the subject.
"I think you guys will like these!" Sophie hurried to the side to haul a large container onto the table, peeling the plastic top off to reveal stacks and stacks of Christmas cookies. She'd used her mother's recipe and decorated them with icing—
Santa Claus and Christmas trees and reindeer and stars and holly. It was the first week of December and finally time to indulge!
Mike clapped his hands. Beck took one immediately, biting into Santa Claus's head. He closed his eyes and moaned. "Are you kidding me right now, Sophie?"
"What's all this?" a voice rang out, and a minute later, Derek Brownlee's boots crunched through the snow. He stood at the catering table with his hands on his hips, peering down at the stacks of Christmas cookies. A strange expression crept across his face. Silence hung heavily over them. It was difficult to know what he was thinking.
But it was clear it wasn't good.
"I don't think my crew needs sugar for breakfast," he snapped at Sophie. "They'll crash by ten."
"I was just showing them what I made," Sophie explained. She wouldn't be taken down a peg by this arrogant monster. "They're meant for later."
Hurriedly, Beck swallowed the rest of his cookie, trying to conceal the crumbs. Isaac stifled his laughter.
Derek splayed both hands in front of him and inspected the Christmassy decor of the catering table. "It's so cheesy," he mumbled. "So stupid. Aren't we supposed to be professionals?"
Sophie felt the words like a smack. Derek gave her a dismissive smile, one that meant, Who is this silly girl working on a film set? She doesn't belong here!
"Let's set up, people," Derek called out. "Natalie? I need you on your mark."
As soon as Derek turned around, Natalie reached across the table to squeeze Sophie's wrist. It was an act of tenderness Sophie hadn't expected.
"Keep going, Christmas Fairy!" Isaac whispered as he breezed past en route to his spot. "We need you!"
Due to the early morning call time, Silver Bells finished filming that afternoon by four. Sophie and three of her catering staff members—Fiona, Randy, and a newbie, Stacy—had stayed for all twelve hours, serving breakfast, lunch, and snacks and chatting with crew members eager to warm up with some delicious grub. Sophie and her crew were often frigid during the day, taking turns next to the space heater Sophie had borrowed from her father's garage.
When Derek called the end of the day, the sun had begun its descent in the sky, casting long shadows across the cobblestones of downtown. Sophie and her crew packed the leftovers in big metal containers and loaded them onto the catering van.
Suddenly, Natalie and the leading actor, a model-handsome guy named Brent, hurried forward. They were still wearing layers and layers of makeup from their most recent scene. Their eyes were sharp with hunger.
"Wait!" Natalie cried. "We need Christmas cookies, Sophie!"
Brent rubbed his hands together like an expectant child. "I'm seriously starving. Derek ran us ragged today."
Sophie laughed. "One sec." She hurried back to the van to fetch two Christmas cookies for the actors. When she handed them over, Natalie and Brent ate them in three bites and asked for seconds.
"I've been dieting for months for this role," Natalie said with a laugh.
"I've been dieting my entire life," Brent declared. "I can't take it anymore! I need cookies!"
As Sophie hurried to grab another few cookies, she made eye contact with a woman she'd seen occasionally on set. She was tall—nearly six feet—with a chestnut bob and a headset. She wore all black and was far too thin to be anything but Hollywood-adjacent.
Sophie decided to smile. I'm the cheerful caterer from Willow Creek. You can't get me down!
"Hi," the woman said. She sounded friendlier than she looked. "You're the caterer. Sophie Masters?"
"That's me," Sophie said. "Want a cookie?"
"Not today, thanks," the woman said.
Sophie checked her name tag and saw it read: Cara. Which department was she in?
Cara read Sophie's curiosity and announced, "I'm Derek's assistant."
Sophie's lips formed a round O. Her job must be the worst in the world.
Behind her, Natalie and Brent had forgotten about their second round of cookies. They'd begun flirting outrageously and giggling in a way that suggested they were overly tired and hungry.
"Can I get you anything else?" Sophie asked. "There's leftover cinnamon rolls? Biscuits? The bacon's cold, but you can always heat it in the microwave."
Cara laughed openly. "I've never tried that. Does it work?"
"I have a special trick," Sophie said mischievously.
"A magician never reveals her secrets," Cara said. "I get it."
On the other side of a group of camera guys, Derek marched back and forth and muttered angrily into his phone. Sophie burned to know who he was talking to. But she guessed Cara was too professional to share.
"I saw him ripping into you a few times," Cara said tentatively.
Sophie sniffed. "It's cool. I'm used to unhappy clients."
Not that I've had many clients at all.
"He's getting back into the rhythm of things," Cara said. "Being a director is no easy feat."
"I imagine not," Sophie said.
She wanted to say, It's pretty easy to be nice to people. It's pretty easy to show respect.
But she didn't want to get into any more trouble.
"Let me give you a cookie for the road," Sophie insisted.
Cara closed her eyes and smiled. "Fine!"
Sophie wrapped a reindeer and a star with two napkins and watched Cara slip the package into her pocket.
Cara took a breath. "It's really magical around here. The air is so fresh and clear. It's almost enough to make me forget Los Angeles exists."
Suddenly, Isaac, Mike, and Beck stormed up to her. Excitement made their cheeks ruddy.
"We want to go to the best bar in town," Beck announced.
"And we want you to show us where it is!" Isaac said.
Sophie laughed. At first, she reached for her typical excuse—that she had tons of work to do back at the head kitchen. But the truth was, Tommy and Piper had been prepping for tomorrow's meals all day today. Tommy had just texted a "thumbs-up" to indicate it was nearly finished. Sophie's only real plan for tonight was to drop off the van, go to the grocery store, and maybe make soup. She planned to eat the soup in front of a Christmas film or a rom-com from the early 2000s.
"Did somebody say the best bar in town?" Natalie chimed in from behind them.
Beside her, Brent beamed.
"We need a local with the very best tips," Isaac pressed.
"And we're going to need more of those Christmas cookies," Beck affirmed.
Sophie cackled. When was the last time she went out and had a good time with new friends? Culinary school? Even then, she had to go home early to call Jeremy on the phone.
Even then, she couldn't "cut loose."
That was a depressing thought.
"We have to be back on set by four tomorrow morning," Sophie said with a wince.
"That's why we have to go out early," Beck explained. "Pack up the rest of your van, and let's go!"
Sophie knew she couldn't get out of it. But as she hauled the final metal container of leftovers to the van, she realized she didn't want to.
New stories had come to Willow Creek to find her. Finally, her life was changing.