Page 115 of Christmas at the Movies
Linking arms, Pam, Vi and Olwyn stepped forward as well.
‘Come on, everybody!’ shouted Geraldine, turning to the rest of the onlookers. ‘Are you going to let this Hollywood big shot push us around?’
‘Let’s go!’ said Nick, pulling the twins onto the set.
Iris and Sam downed their glasses of mulled wine and crossed the barrier too.
‘Get those idiots out of here!’ Noa shrieked at his crew.
‘That’s youraudience,’ said James. ‘Or have you forgotten who you make movies for?’
‘I don’t make movies!’ said Noa. ‘I make ART.’
‘Well, you’re going to have to make art elsewhere,’ said James. Then he walked over to the generator and pulled out the plug. Suddenly, all the lights on the film set went out.
Noa let out a bellow of fury. ‘I’m going to kill you!’ He charged at James, his perfect white teeth bared in a furious grimace.
‘Dad!’ shouted Holly.
‘James!’ he heard Sarah cry.
Out of the corner of his eye, James could see his son running towards him. ‘No, Nick!’ he called out. He didn’t want his son to get hurt.
Noa drew back his arm to punch James, but before he could land a blow the director suddenly pitched forward and face-planted onto the pavement, right at James’s feet.
‘Oops,’ said Nick, holding up the end of the cable he’d just tripped Noa up with.
‘I told him those were a trip hazard,’ said James, winking at his son.
Noa staggered to his feet, blood streaming from his nose. One of his front teeth had chipped in the fall. His perfect smile was gone.
‘Get my car brought round!’ he screamed at Aaron.
‘Get it yourself,’ Aaron fired back. ‘Holly is no wannabe – she’s going to be a star.’
Noa sneered. ‘You ingrate. If you’d played your cards right, I might have hired you one day.’
‘I don’t want to work for you,’ said Aaron. ‘You’re a bully. I’m going to tell the whole world how badly you treat your cast and crew.’
‘You wouldn’t dare,’ said Noa, wiping blood off his face with the back of his hand. ‘I will destroy you.’
‘It would be worth it,’ replied Aaron, coming over to stand by James.
Mia Winslow stepped forward. ‘I’ll speak out too,’ she said. ‘I’ll tell people how you forced me to take my top off at my audition. And how you’ve been harassing me ever since we started filming all because I refused to sleep with you.’
Mateo went over to his co-star. ‘I’m sorry, Mia. I had no idea that was going on.’ He looked at the director with contempt. ‘People like you give this industry a bad name.’
‘Might I remind you that every single person on this set has signed an NDA,’ said Noa. ‘I have a team of lawyers on retainer and will sue anyone who speaks out.’
‘I didn’t sign anything,’ said Pam. ‘And silly old me – I seem to have been accidentally filming this the whole time.’ She held up her phone. ‘Now, as you saw earlier, I’m not very good with technology, but James is. I’m sure he can show me how to send my little movie to journalists who might be interested in how you treat your cast and crew.’
Noa went to grab the phone, but Pam’s friends formed a protective circle around her.
The director spun around to glare at his leading actors. ‘I’ll be in touch with your agents – don’t think you’re going to get away with this.’
‘Pari will look forward your call,’ said Mateo.
James knew Pari, more than most, would relish taking down a bully. She’d certainly encountered plenty of them during her comedy career.
