Page 7 of Wicked Shadows
“I should hit wardrobe, too,” Jax replied.
Elle narrowed her eyes at him and gritted her teeth. She opened her mouth to reply, but Vince beat her to it.
“You can wait on changing clothes. You have other things to do first. Besides, with all the set changes the grips are working on for the next scene, the wardrobe room is the only quiet place left for Elle to get into character. You stay away from that room as long as she’s in it, or you’ll deal with me, Jax Hart.”
After she changed, Elle made herself comfortable on the small sofa in the back of the room, closed her eyes, and transported herself to another place and time. She drew on the memories she kept locked inside her, the ones she both wanted to forget and wanted to relive every day. Emotions welled up inside her chest when she released the first scene and allowed every second, every feeling, and every sensation to flood her mind. Once she started reminiscing, she couldn’t stop the onslaught of sorrow that followed.
When she reached the point of no return, she rose from the couch and walked directly to the stage. For Elle, the emotional scenes were the rare times she wouldn’t speak to anyone who wasn’t written into the script. To remain in character and give the best performance she could muster, she immersed herself in the role and became the character. The character’s pain and hers became a singular state of mind, and she poured her broken heart and soul into her performance.
When the final take was finished, and she’d recited her lines a dozen times with more heartrending emotion each time, Vince yelled “Cut.” Elle blinked repeatedly, seemingly waking from a trance, and her gaze swung around the room. The familiar sound of sniffles floated on the air as others rubbed their eyes while discreetly whisking away the moisture gathered in them.
“You’re done for the day, Elle,” Vince said softly. “You can go ahead and change.”
Elle nodded and briskly walked back to the wardrobe room. Getting into character was fairly easy, but leaving it behind was another matter in itself. She was unable to speak to anyone with her pent-up feelings still entirely too raw and barely under control. She was thankful that scene was the last shot of the day. She’d need the rest of the night to put the beast back in its cage so she’d be ready to work again the following day.
On the way back to their apartment, she stared silently out the window while Beth drove. Her thoughts took her thousands of miles away, a year into the past, and reminded her of how carefree she’d once felt.
“You’ve had a pretty rough day. Are you all right?” Beth asked, her voice soft but full of concern.
“I miss him, Beth. I can’t keep living like this. It’s been a year. Either I have to contact him, or I have to let him go.” Saying those words out loud marked the first time she’d admitted to her best friend what had been weighing heavily on her heart.
“Have you tried calling and talking to him about it, Elle? I really think you should before you make any decisions. You’ve held on to him for a long time.”
“I’ve thought about calling him more times than I can count, Beth. But I come to the same conclusion every time. If I meant as much to him as he does to me, I’d already know it. I wouldn’t have to ask or wonder. So, I’m sure as hell not calling him to hear him confirm it.”
Beth stretched her arm out and squeezed Elle’s hand, offering what little support and solace she could. Elle’s gaze stayed trained on the window, not seeing anything in the blur rushing by outside. The tears she shed on the set were real, but they were for her character’s situation. The tears sliding down her cheeks in the darkness of the car were all for herself. For what she wanted more than anything. For what she’d never have.
Beth’s ringing cell phone pulled her attention away from Elle. After a quick glance at the screen, Beth’s eyebrows drew downward and an ominous feeling settled in her chest. “It’s Analise, one of the makeup artists on the lot,” she told Elle before accepting the call through the car’s Bluetooth.
“Hey, Analise, you’re on speaker.”
“Beth?” came the tearful reply.
“What’s wrong?” Beth asked, gripping the steering wheel.
“Katrina is missing. They think they can explain this away and make me shut up, but I know better than the lies they’re spreading about her.”
“Analise, I have no idea what you’re talking about. What do you mean she’s missing? What lies? Who’s trying to shut you up?” Beth asked.
“She didn’t make it home last night, and she didn’t show up for work today. The studio executive assigned to our movie released a statement to our crew. It was more like a gag order, really. His statement said Katrina was going through a rough patch with her husband and had to leave town so she can pull herself together. The movie has been put on hold until she regains her composure because it would cost too much to redo all her scenes. He also said if we told anyone about this, we’d never work on a movie lot again,” Analise explained.
Beth and Elle exchanged concerned glances.
“From a financial standpoint, that would make sense, Analise. From what I’ve heard, Katrina was in more scenes than not. If the movie’s almost wrapped, that would be a lot of wasted money.” Beth tried to calm Analise’s fears with rational reasons why a production hiatus would make sense.
“That’s true, Beth,” Analise agreed. “Except, Kat wasn’t having marital problems. They’re crazy in love with each other. They’re even actively trying to get pregnant. I talked to her husband Jay late last night and several times today. We’ve been looking for Kat everywhere. Now I can’t reach Jay.”
“Analise,” Beth faltered. “I don’t even know what to say. I didn’t know you were so close to her.”
“We’ve been close for many years. I don’t advertise it because it just invites more trouble than it’s worth. But Kat is one of my best friends, and our husbands even hang out together a lot. Beth, I know we’re being fed lies. I know something bad has happened to her and now maybe to Jay. She would’ve called me by now. I’m scared, Beth, for her, for Jay, and now for my husband and myself.”
“Are you working tomorrow, Analise?” Beth asked.
“No, the first assistant director told the entire crew to stay home for the time being. The executive and the director have a meeting with the investors to explain what’s happening. I’m going out to look for Kat and Jay everywhere I can think to look.”
“Don’t do that,” Beth warned. “I don’t know what’s going on with Kat and Jay, but I can tell you’re honestly terrified. If you believe something bad happened to them, you have to stay as far away from it as possible. Go to your mother’s house and stay in Oregon until they call you back to work or you hear from Katrina.”
“But, Kat—”
