Page 10 of Vain
“You’re touching me.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.” He pulls his hand away, but I grab it, surprising us both.
“No, it didn’t…I mean, it helped…I?—”
My mouth snaps closed, cutting off the gibberish I’m spouting, but Aiden takes the hint. His warm hand slides over my knee and rests just above it. The heat sears me through my jeans, giving me something to focus on and tethering me here. I let my eyes drift closed, hoping it’s enough to stop me from falling back into the past.
Taking a chance, knowing it could make things worse, I slip my hand over his. “Don’t let go?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he answers immediately, and I believe him. I brace myself and start talking.
“It started with Post-it notes. I didn’t think anything of it at first. I figured it was one of the crew trying to cheer me up because the director I was working with at the time was known for being a tyrannical asshole.”
“What was on the Post-its?”
“Smiley faces. Always the same. The only difference was the color of the paper used. At first, I kept them. They made me smile, so why not?”
“But something changed?”
I nod. “After a while, the faces stopped, and a stupid joke would be on there. Something silly, like something you’d find in a kid’s joke book. Once those ran their course, the compliments started. Little things like, you look so pretty today, or you should smile more. And I don’t know, I felt like it was crossing a line in my head that I just wasn’t comfortable with anymore.”
“You knew, even if only unconsciously, that their behavior was escalating.”
“Perhaps. I still tried to shrug it off as an overreaction. I take every criticism given to me on board, but I’m awful at accepting compliments.”
He huffs out a laugh. “I think all women are like that.” He pauses for a moment, scrunching up his nose. “Well, most women.”
“I sense a story there.”
“One for later, maybe. What happened next?”
“I stopped collecting the notes.” I swallow. “I figured that would be the end of it. Instead, the notes started taking on a more hostile vibe. Telling me I was being rude and ungrateful. I started ignoring them completely, and eventually, they stopped coming. I thought that was it. Then, things started going missing from my trailer, and my costumes were destroyed. It was still more an annoyance than anything else, at least to everyone else. But I was getting freaked out.”
“What did the studio do?”
“The hired security. Verified ID badges to keep everyone out except those who were supposed to be there.”
I tighten my grip on his hand and let him center me.
“We were shooting late. We’d been up since dawn, but it was coming to an end, and we didn’t want anything to throw us off schedule. One of the stunt scenes I was originally supposed to be doing myself needed to be shot simultaneously with another scene I was doing, thanks to some last-minute issue, so my stunt double shot it. The rig that suspended her off a bridge snapped, and she ended up in the hospital with two broken legs and a punctured lung.
“Did they shut the production down?”
I look up at him and shake my head. “They should have, would have under normal circumstances. But we didn’t get the news that they’d been in an incident until much later because they were filming off-site where cell reception was spotty. We were wrapping up filming on our end. I had back-to-back scenes, then an hour break while they set up for the last shot. I made the most of the break and napped. I didn’t notice anything was wrong until I sat down in hair and makeup, and Amy, the stylist, made a choking sound.”
I swallow, remembering the disbelief when she pointed to the mirror. “Someone had cut off my hair to my jaw while I’d been sleeping.”
“What the fuck?”
He leans closer, both hands on my legs now as they slide higher.
My breath hitches, but I push on. “It was a complete hack job. Thankfully, Amy was able to fix it up, but I felt so fucking violated. Someone had snuck into my trailer while I was sleeping and cut off my freaking hair, and I didn’t even stir.”
I reach up and swipe across my face, catching a stray tear that slips out. “I just wanted the whole thing to be over. The director was pissed and ready to burn the whole studio down on my behalf. Eventually, we agreed the damage was done, and it was only hair. Amy found a wig for me, and as the final shot wasdone with me sitting on a motorcycle, we added a helmet. It’s one of those full-face ones that has a visor that opens. It was the director’s.”
I feel myself start to shake, which has Aiden cursing. He takes my hands in his and smooths his thumb down the back of them. “Take your time, Tilly. There’s no rush.”
Except there is. If I don’t get it out now, I’m not sure I ever will.
