Page 81 of Best Served Hot
‘Yes. In that distant type of way. Where we don’t talk. Ever.’ Alex groaned. ‘I guess I do owe her.’
‘And she’s sick of being a runner. She wants to be an assistant producer.’
Alex rolled her eyes. ‘OK. But she better not piss me off. Or I’ll choke her with a Dorito.’
Nicole giggled, surprised. ‘Oh? So we’re laughing about that now?’
Alex smiled thinly. ‘Starting to.’
‘I was so happy to find out you were directing Kendall’s movie. I can’t wait to see it,’ Nicole said, overjoyed.
‘If the stress doesn’t kill me before we get to the shoot. We’ve got the tiniest budget. And I’ve got to somehow find a way to build a CGI bear on practically no money. That or I dress up in fur and stand on a milk crate. It’s a total grind. I’m working nights, weekends, the lot.’
‘You’re loving it, aren’t you?’ Nicole noted.
‘I love itsomuch,’ Alex said, satisfied. But then she had a thought that made her smile slip. ‘What about that video? The confession. He still has it.’
‘Let him release it if he cares enough to go back to where he hid the USB stick. But my guess is that all he had time to get was his passport and maybe a change of underpants,’ Nicole noted.
‘You think he fled?’ Alex asked. ‘Just like that?’
‘It looked like it from where I was standing. That paperwork was enough to undermine every lie he’d painstakingly set up to screw you. He knew he was fucked.’
‘I wish I’d seen him shitting himself,’ Alex said. ‘So… Do you think it’s OK? I’m not in trouble?’
Nicole squeezed her tighter. ‘I’m not saying you won’t have to have a conversation with the authorities, but Lena said she’ll tell them everything she overheard. On its own, it would be his word against hers. But with the company license, the channel turning against him? He’s done.’
Alex sighed. Her eyes suddenly lit up. ‘You know what I just realised? He doesn’t even have his stolen money. He put it in my name. That means he can’t access it, right?’
‘I didn’t even think of that,’ Nicole exclaimed. ‘Good luck out there, Ethan. Broke and on the lam.’ She shook her head. ‘Anyway. Let’s not talk about that anymore. I want to know everything you’ve been up to for the last few months.’
‘Everything?’
‘Every last second of your life. Tell me more about the movie.’
Alex snuggled deeper into Nicole, happy to talk shop. ‘Well, turns out Kendall, who was such a chill actress? Bit of a control freak as a producer.’
‘Who’d have thought?’ Nicole said. ‘Maybe it’s because she cares about the project.’
‘That’s astute. She keeps hinting around the fact thatFoundationssucks arse and that she was embarrassed to keep working there those last few years,’ Alex told her.
‘That’s less surprising,’ Nicole said, running her fingertips down Alex’s torso, from shoulder to thigh. ‘What do you think will happen to the show now?’ Nicole asked.
‘Hard to say,’ Alex said contemplatively. ‘I hope, for the sake of the cast and crew, that it keeps going. But for the sake of TV in general? It wouldn’t be theworstthing if it went down in the scandal,’ Alex said, feeling a shiver run down her spine at the contact.
She could never get enough of Nicole’s touch, and now she hoped that she’d have an unending supply. Because Nicole had done as Alex had hoped all those weeks when she’d been weeping on her couch. She’d found a way back to her.
‘Could make room for better TV to soak up that cast and crew, anyway. There was a lot of talent there,’ Nicole said a little sleepily.
‘Maybe you could fill the void? Get a deal making a big prestige-type show, something befitting your talents,’ Alex mused.
‘You never know,’ Nicole said, closing her eyes. She suddenly snapped awake, turning to face Alex. ‘Sorry, I just realised… You told me you were up to your eyes with preproduction. Am I taking you away from that?’
‘Nothing that can’t wait,’ Alex said. ‘I know it’s my dream job, but priorities are priorities. I haven’t seen you in months.’ She had a thought. ‘Actually, maybe I could text Lena. She’s on the team now. And have I got some jobs for her.’
Nicole laughed. ‘Maybe I could help out, too. Take some of the load. Be your AD?’
‘You’d do that?’ Alex asked, touched.
