Page 113 of Out of the Gold

“Chase? No, he’s fine. Must be last shoot jitters.” I’ve never heard of such a thing, but it’s the best I could do as I may be walking next to the man who deep-sixed my career. Well, almost. Not if I have anything to say about it. But why would he embarrass Charles? Is he jealous?

When we get to the shoot, Sophia leaves to take up her position at the camera. I nod to Thomas and sit next to Judith, never letting him out of my sight. The actors are huddled off to the side.

Judith asks, “Is everything all right with the costume today?”

“Yes. I triple-checked everything. Thank God this is the last day.”

Helene takes the seat on the other side of Judith. “Has Noble made a decision about his next movie? Have you gotten the job?”

Our boss shakes her head. “Haven’t heard yet. Although, given the mishaps on the set, I’m not too confident.”

Guilt races through me. “I really hope they don’t reflect on you, Judith. Your designs were amazing. And the problems were fixed quickly.”

Helene leans back. “You’ll get it. I’m sure.” She pauses. “All you’ll have to do is decide on your successor onLadies of the Abbey.”

Which better be me, I finish the thought in my head.

The actors break up and take their places. Quiet is called and silence descends.

Hours later, they break for lunch. During the entire shoot, I’ve been mentally replaying the video Sophia showed us. If only there was better lighting. The clothes he wore were dark and ill-fitting, as if he was trying to hide every last piece of himself. Skull cap included.

Wanting to be alone with my thoughts, I find a quiet corner to eat my very last Kraft services focaccia sandwich. I willnotmiss the same old boring food on set, that’s for sure. At least HBO switches the menu up. Although, the dinners in Italy do rock.

I eat what I originally deemed the most delicious sandwich ever without tasting it. Charles sits with the cast across the way, laughing at something Mark said. Why would Thomas do this? What’s he hoping to gain?

Sophia’s tray lands next to mine. “I want to watch the tape again, Mel. That’s all I’ve been able to focus on today, despite the high action we’re filming.”

“Yeah, me too. We could go back to Charles’s trailer when you’re done and see if we can pick up any more clues.”

She bites her sandwich. “Yeah, I’d like that. I can’t believe Thomas did this. Why would he?”

“I was thinking the very same thing.”

She tosses the remainder of her sandwich onto the plate and stands. “Come on, let’s go. We need to get to the bottom of this.”

Without a word, I trail her as we skirt around the boisterous group and head to Charles’s trailer. Inside, we boot up the monitor again and watch what we saw before, still without any further clarity. This time, however, we let the tape roll a little longer, hoping to catch another glimpse of the intruder.

Our patience is rewarded five minutes later.

The dark figure reemerges underneath another light in the background. I point. “There! There he is again!”

“Ahead of you, girlfriend,” she replies as she presses a bunch of buttons.

The figure is now much closer, the foreground cut out. We watch as he takes the hat off his head and a shock of short, red hair comes into focus. Our gasps ring out.

Turning to each other, we both say in unison, “Helene.”

My hand flies to my mouth. “I can’t believe it!”

Sophia packs up her equipment. “I can. She wants the lead costume designer job on HBO when Judith gets named to do Noble’s new movies. She’d stoop to nothing to get it. She knows her work isn’t up to your standards, so she decided to make you look bad.” She zips up the case. “Only she didn’t. She didn’t count on you to have had the first bodysuit cleaned. And she didn’t count onmeto rat her out.”

I give her a huge hug. “And that means Thomas is innocent.”

“It does.” She passes me a camera bag and we leave the trailer, desperate to get back to set and expose the saboteur.

When we arrive, I catch Charles’s eye and he excuses himself from the table. To my shock, Mark joins him as he approaches us. Sophia turns her attention to putting her equipment down on the table, taking the bag I was carrying from me.

My boyfriend comes right to the point. “Did you find something?”

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