Page 88 of Romance Is Dead

“Talk down there.” Natasha rifled through her clipboard. “Once everything’s set up, we need to run through blocking one more time and start filming as soon as possible if we’re fitting in this shot tonight.”

“Yes, ma’am,” we both murmured.

“Don’t call me ma’am.” Without another glance, she hurried off to talk to a boom operator who was looking lost.

Feeling bad about stressing Natasha out more than she already was, I tugged on the arm of Teddy’s shirt and we made our way to where everyone else was prepping for the next scene. Spotting me, Mara came over to freshen up my makeup as Teddy peeled off to get a hair touch up.

Avoiding eye contact, Mara said nothing as she took some concealer out of her fanny pack and started dotting my face with the cream.

“I’m really sorry,” I whispered. “I know I’ve been screwing up lately, but—”

“I don’t want to hear it again, honestly.” She capped the concealer and grabbed some powder. “Let’s just not talk, ok?”

My heart sank. Mara had never been this angry with me before. And I deserved it.

After learning the truth about the gossip account Trevor had been running on TikTok, I’d completely forgotten to respond to the text from Mara about Austin’s Instagram post. I hadn’t remembered until I showed up to hair and makeup earlier that morning to find Mara giving me the silent treatment. She wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, but it wasn’t hard to figure out: she’d found out that Austin was dating someone new, thanks to his post, and I hadn’t been there for her when she needed me.

Worse, I’d actively ignored her.

“I’ll make it up to you,” I tried. “Once the movie wraps and things go back to normal, I promise.”

“You know. . .” Mara met my eyes for the first time all day. “When I told you to explore things with Teddy, I didn’t realize you would end up ditching me for your fuck buddy.”

I gaped at her. “That is definitely not what—”

“Then what is it?”

“I. . . It’s been. . .” I fumbled for an excuse, but without telling her the truth about what had been going on—hunting down a killer was depleting my energy and giving me brain fog—I came up short.

“Really, Quinn?” Mara’s face was disappointed, but not surprised. “Then I have nothing to say to you.” With a final spritz of setting spray, she left. Left standing alone and dejected, I stared up at the tree that would be the centerpiece of the next scene.

It was a mammoth thing, its trunk several feet thick with gargantuan branches reaching up and into the sky. It was the centerpiece of the next shot, which was a dramatic one: Teddy and I would try various methods to destroy the tree, which we’d learned was the source of the witch’s powers. I’d end up falling when the branches cracked, but Teddy would make it to the top—where the witch would use her magic to secure a vine around his neck before pushing him off and hanging him.

RIP Teddy’s character.

The camera crew would shoot a variety of shots to get the effect of me falling and edit them together. I’d be wearing a harness, of course, which could be edited out in post-production.

“. . . shots of Quinn standing on the branch as it breaks first,” Natasha was explaining as we caught up with the group. “The harness will drop her just a few feet.”

Ah, the harness. I’d worn one on the set of a different film and was not eager to relive the experience. I looked sympathetically at Teddy, who surely had it worse than me in that department. He only grimaced in response.

“Are you sure those branches are secure?” I stared up into the tangled limbs of the tree. Most of them looked thick and sturdy, but what if I stepped on the wrong spot?

“Of course.” Natasha reached for one of the ropes attached to the thick branch I’d be climbing. “Look.”

She gave it a hard tug. I expected the rope to catch sharply, for there to be no give as she yanked on the branch.

What I was not expecting was an ear-shattering crack, followed by screams and people diving out of the way. Confused about what was happening, I tilted my head up. The gigantic limb wasn’t just bending, it was in total free fall. At least a foot thick and probably ten feet long, it was hurtling toward the ground at a rapid speed. It felt like an eternity, but it was likely just a millisecond before someone grabbed me and yanked me out of the way, just in time to miss it crashing to the ground.

Teddy, of course.

He pulled me to his chest as we both toppled onto the ground. I was so busy staring at the massive branch that had narrowly missed smashing me into bits that it took me a few seconds to understand he was saying “Are you ok?” over and over again as he ran his hands over my head and down my back, apparently looking for some hidden critical injury.

“I’m ok,” I said, my voice shaky.

Audrey, however, did not appear to be.

While she had also avoided the bulk of the giant limb, one of its smaller offshoots had struck her ankle as she dove out of the way. She clutched it, howling in pain as everyone else stared in shock. Finally, it was Mara who leapt into action, calling an ambulance before kneeling down to examine the injured joint.

---