Debutante (16 page)

Emily glanced around the room, taking in the Geological diplomas and maps and photos she'd admired all her life. Her vision blurred. Lung cancer had killed her dad and while Bobby blamed ‘those damned devil sticks', the cigarettes he'd smoked, Emily had always clung to the belief that he'd died of black lung, the miner's disease, because he was always down in the mines, making sure the mines were safe and the miners were treated well. He'd prided himself on that.

Pride. Emily had made another note. She'd planned to throw a big party, once she had the money to pay everyone's tuition increase. She'd imagined doling out cheques to the grateful employees of NAIL when in fact they didn't work for NAIL, they
were
NAIL.

She'd paid the graphic artist his asking price, after haggling with him all summer, for the gorgeous NAIL Productions Limited logo he'd created. She'd paid the bands Marion had chosen from the demo discs Eric had provided. She'd paid the huge amount NAIL owed the clinic where cast and crew received their monthly PCR/DNA tests.

Next, Emily had fished Vito's sample contract from the pile of paperwork she'd ignored all summer. It had been easy enough to draw up contracts and issue cheques to the people living in her house, but she hadn't seen anyone who lived in the house on campus except Richard. He'd tried to sneak in and drop off the first short of the ‘Strangers' series – Marion at the student demonstration – without being caught. But Emily had cornered him.

Now, she almost laughed at the way he'd stuttered and stumbled his way through his explanation of exactly how he and Luke had found their cougar.
Fuck
. He kept reminding her that she'd told Luke to do whatever he had to do to get an older woman for their shoot. She'd squeezed the truth out of him, trapping him with questions that expressed concern for everyone's wellbeing. Did this … this Gloria woman have papers that proved she was free of STIs? ‘Oh yeah, we made sure of it. She takes the same test we do, every month. I felt perfectly safe.' And Luke? Had he felt safe, too? Richard had rushed to reassure her. ‘Absolutely. Luke was just as comfortable as me.' Only then had Richard realised what he'd done.

Emily's hands balled into fists. Gloria was supposed to arrive this afternoon for the cougar shoot and when she walked through the door Emily would pound her to – Her own words came back to haunt her: ‘Go get a cougar … I don't care what it takes.'

She made a series of notes in increasingly large, illegible print.
Idiot. Power hungry. Fucking rude. Thoughtless. Careless. Bad.

After Richard had left she'd watched the short. Luke, her Luke, shoving his way through the crowd to the barrier at the front. Barking his ‘lines' at Marion while he unzipped his pants and stuck his raging hard-on up that red-headed slut's ass. On the one hand, it was porno gold. On the other hand, it was heartbreaking. ‘Go. Just go!' she'd ordered Luke and Paul. But Marion didn't do Paul. Luke … well, obviously the size queen anal whore had no qualms about doing him.

It was a good thing she'd finished the contracts by then because she'd run straight up the stairs to her room, getting there just in time to puke her guts out in her bathroom. She'd thrown herself on her bed and covered her head with a pillow to muffle her screams.

Kara and Jillian let themselves in, though she'd yelled at them to stay away. She'd confessed all. She'd begged Kara to send Gary to get Luke and Kara had done so, while Jillian stroked her hair and rubbed her shoulders and gently washed her face.

Finally, she'd sobbed herself to sleep, sure that when she awoke Luke would be there to hold her. To forgive her. Fuck, to beat her with his belt if that's what it would take to get him back.

But it hadn't turned out that way at all.

Now, she heard the unmistakable sound of Paul's old car pulling up to the house. Thank God! They were shooting that fucking cougar this afternoon and she'd held on to the hope that professionalism would force them to show up. Richard and Paul got out of the car, each loaded with equipment. She waited, though it was obvious the car was now empty. No Luke. No Marion, either.

Jillian knocked at the door of the study and opened it. ‘Honey, I've got to dress the set.'

Emily nodded. She gathered her papers together carefully, but before she tucked them into her soft-sided briefcase she added one more word to her list:
Hopeless
.

A dozen cables snaked up the staircase and into Emily's bedroom. Emily crept up, planting her feet carefully. They were supposed to be shooting the
Sleepover
sequence in her bedroom but it didn't sound like it.

Half the room was still pink and white and frilly, kept by Bobby like a shrine ever since Emily had left. The other half was cluttered with lights and filters and reflectors; sound equipment, apple boxes, gels and their two cameras, one static, on a tripod, the other mounted on a rubber-wheeled dolly. The crew, Richard, Tony and Gary, was standing around, idle. Luke was sitting in his director's chair, shuffling papers on a bar stool he was using as an improvised desk. He did not look happy. He
was
wearing his heavy leather belt.

The sight of it made Emily tremble.

She'd texted her list of personal failings to him and asked him to come to direct the
Sleepover
piece. His reply, also by text, had been a simple ‘OK'. She hadn't been quite sure if that meant she was forgiven but the mere knowledge that she'd see him the next day had been enough to raise her spirits.

She'd slept in Bobby's room last night so her room could be dressed for the shoot. To her chagrin, she'd been so relieved she'd slept like the dead, missing Luke's arrival and the prep for the shoot by several hours. A call to her cell from Vito had finally roused her. People were clamouring for more NAIL movies. He wondered when she'd be delivering new product.

Emily wondered the same thing.

There'd been no time to waste primping for what she hoped would be her reunion with Luke. Instead, she'd simply set the rest of the Movie Mob to work, preparing the main floor for the first scene of the long awaited
Pool Party
shoot and then headed up the stairs to check on the progress of
Sleepover
.

Emily didn't want to greet Luke like the wacky E.P. of NAIL; she wanted to greet him like a contrite girlfriend. So she waited patiently until he finally decided to acknowledge her arrival by glancing in her direction.

‘Hi,' she said.

‘Hello, Emily,' he replied.

‘Problem?'

‘You don't know?'

‘No. What?'

‘Aileen phoned from Vancouver. She has the flu. Can't make it. That leaves us with two girls for our threesome. We're ready. Everything is set up. All we're missing is one more female body.'

‘Fu– for crying out loud. We don't have another girl!'

‘Nope.' He threw a fistful of papers down. ‘Our two girls, Marion and Jillian, are pretty flexible about who they'd do but that doesn't help now, does it! Jillian's first choice was Marion.'

‘How about Marion's first choice? I don't remember …'

‘Why does that not surprise me?'

Em shrugged. She'd worked hard over the last few days. In fact she had a contract and cheque for Luke in her briefcase and the same for Marion and Jillian. They were the last members of NAIL left to be paid, except for herself. Unfortunately, Em wouldn't be paid a penny because NAIL had no more money.

If Luke wanted to keep punishing her for not paying attention to the details of cast and crew there was nothing more she could do about it. She started to toss her head but stopped herself in time.
No pride, Emily. Not now
. It was fucking impossible to be a contrite girlfriend and a professional E.P. at the same time. But she was damn well gonna keep trying!

‘Marion wrote a name in, but not that of one of the talent,' he said.

‘Who then?'

‘You.'

‘Me?' That was a stunner.

‘Remember now? Or are you still in denial about your deep dark desire to make out with chicks?'

‘Oh, Luke! Stop it.' Emily fished his contract and cheque out of her briefcase. That'd give him something to do while she figured out what
she
should do next.

He barely looked at the paperwork. ‘Thanks.'

‘Everyone's being paid today,' she said.

‘Great. So? Time's a-wasting.'

‘Just give me a moment to think,' she muttered.

‘Whatever it takes,' Luke reminded her.

‘I know, Luke.'

‘By the way, I'm sorry about Gloria. She didn't seem like a drunk the night she and Richard and I … met.'

‘She showed up hammered at two in the afternoon. We had to send her away in a cab.'

‘What did she have to say about that?'

‘She said, quite distinctly for someone so smashed, “We are not amused.”'

Luke laughed. ‘Crazy English bitch. Anyway, I imagine NAIL needs this girlie shoot?'

‘Desperately.'

‘Emily, it's simple. Is it or is it not time for your close-up?'

‘I need a minute.'

Luke shrugged. He stood, hooked his thumbs into his belt loops and ambled off to confer with his crew.

Emily sank into his director's chair, then quickly jumped up. Nobody sits in the director's chair but the director. So. Pros and cons. That's the way to make important decisions. On the pro side, the show had to go on. On the same side, she'd been wondering about her own sexuality ever since NAIL had started. If she
was
bi, this would be one way to find out – in a movie, though, which was definitely a con.

That goddam mind-blowing ass-fuck between Marion and Luke had practically driven Emily insane. How did she feel about making love to a girl who'd fucked her man, on camera no less? Was that a downer, or did it add spice? The only way to find out would be to try it.

And then there was Luke. She'd kinda, accidentally, not meaning to, encouraged him to screw that useless cougar Gloria, and then she'd done it again, pushing him into screwing Marion, in public no less! That just wasn't reasonable. Now, Luke was challenging her to appear on camera, in an all-girl scene that featured Marion as one of the players. Was he just trying to punish her? Or would that make it even-steven? One thing was for sure, if Luke got to watch her make out with another girl – two other girls, actually – it'd drive him crazy, in a good way. Would his lust heal their relationship? If he wanted her badly enough, would that make him forgive her?

Goddam right it would!

Emily called, ‘OK,' quickly, before she could change her mind.

Luke returned, thumbs still hooked in the loops of his jeans.

Emily almost laughed.
Yes, dear, I see your scary black belt.

‘You'll take direction from me?' he asked.

‘Of course.'

Luke grinned.

It melted her heart. Her eyes filled with tears, but he wasn't looking at her, he was looking at the script. She blinked hard. Time to put on a new hat – that of the actress.

Luke explained the scene to her in detail, even though she'd written it. She nodded and asked questions as if every word he said was liquid gold.

‘So I'm playing Abby?'

‘Yes. Marion is Connie. Jillian will be Babs. How come their names start with A and B and C?'

‘Writers' reasons. Movie Magic Screenwriter
remembers names for you. If they all have different initials, a name becomes a single keystroke.'

‘Huh. Saves time.'

She willed him to look at her but he kept his eyes on the script.

‘Abby gets the shirt, right?' Emily asked.

‘It's waiting for you in the make-up–wardrobe room, not that you need make-up.'

‘On screen, we all need make-up.' That was nice, what he'd said, especially since he knew better. He had to be warming to her already.

Marion and Jillian were doing each other's make-up when Emily walked in. Jillian took off, powder puff in hand. Marion's face blushed neon pink.

‘I'm sorry,' she said. ‘You can hit me if you want but I'm supposed to be on camera any minute. Unless I'm fired.'

‘You don't have anything to apologise for,' said Emily. ‘Everything that's gone wrong is my fault.' She handed Marion a contract with a cheque clipped to it. ‘This is long overdue.'

‘Thanks, Em.' Marion glanced at the cheque. ‘Wow. Thanks again!'

Emily shrugged. ‘You earned every penny.'

Jillian peeked around the door. ‘Is it safe?'

‘Silly,' said Emily. ‘Get in here.'

She handed Jillian her paperwork. Now everyone's fee hike had been covered, except her own. But they didn't need to know that.

Twenty minutes later, Luke called, ‘Action!'

The three girls giggled off camera for a count of three and then ran onto the set to throw themselves on to the double bed. Emily, playing Abby, wore a man's crisp blue shirt, buttoned most of the way up. Marion, as Connie, sprawled in a pair of pink satin pyjamas. Jillian, as Babs, was a throwback to the 50s in a peek-a-boo babydoll made of chiffon and lace. She was the only one who was showing much skin, apart from Abby's long slender legs. The top was transparent and cropped, so her nipples were almost visible and there was plenty of midriff on display above her frilly panties.

Babs said, ‘Abby, it's so good of your folks to let us a have a sleepover while they're gone. When will they be back, anyway?'

‘Not till morning, earliest. They've gone to see
Turandot
.'

‘An opera,' Connie explained when Babs drew a blank.

Abby continued, ‘They've gone with another couple and are going back to their place for “drinkies” after. They'll sleep over and come home tomorrow.'

Babs gave her a knowing look. ‘Two couples, sleeping over? I wonder who will be sleeping with who?'