05 Take Two - My Sister the Vampire (8 page)

Lillian stood back and then frowned. ‘Hold up! We’re missing one. Where did that blonde go?’

The door to the Meat & Greet flew open and everyone turned to look. Ivy and Sophia gasped but no one else paid any attention. Charlotte Brown, wearing an outrageous blue feathered dress, clicked her way over to Lillian in super-high heels. She looked like she was going to prom.

‘She must be freezing,’ Sophia commented.

‘Sorry I’m late. The costume department couldn’t find anything that was right, so I had to do some emergency shopping.’ She did a twirl, not noticing the disdain on Lillian’s face.

Lillian crossed her arms. ‘Don’t you think that’s a bit over the top for a diner, missy?’

‘Oh, I wear this sort of thing all the time.’ Charlotte waved her hand, but almost slipped out of her strappy heel.

Ivy sensed trouble brewing. Charlotte had obviously figured out that the Meat and Greet was not closed down because of a sewer problem and, once she spotted Ivy, there would be retaliation.
How did she manage to get on set so quickly?
Ivy wondered as she slunk down in her seat and let her hair fall over her face.

Lillian stuck Charlotte next to a guy wearing a beanie and cargo pants, almost as far from the camera as she could. Ivy sat up a little; Charlotte couldn’t see her from where she was sitting.

‘Non, non, non!
’ shouted a small man with a goatee and a heavy French accent. ‘The colours, the colours!’

‘Sorry, Philippe,’ Lillian said. ‘I could –’

But he waved his hand in her face. He strode
over and started yanking people up from their tables and rearranging them. Ivy realised he was the director and perhaps needed a good six months at a yoga retreat to find some inner peace. Philippe was like a grumpy fly, buzzing at everyone.

He marched over to Charlotte’s table. ‘You, in that blue!’

‘Moi?
’ Charlotte sounded like she thought he was going to give her the starring role.

‘Take it off!’

‘Wh-what?’ Charlotte spluttered.

Ivy and Sophia – along with several other extras – leaned over to see what was happening.

‘Non, non.
You will distract the eye.’ He snapped his fingers and pointed at a grey jacket on the back of his director’s chair. The man with the headphones scurried over with it and
Philippe tossed the jacket at Charlotte. ‘Put this on and come with me.’

A miserable Charlotte did as she was told and scooted out of the booth. He grabbed her hand and dragged her to a different table, as she stumbled and tried to keep up.

Ivy looked away but not in time. Charlotte caught sight of her and shot a death stare that Ivy would have been proud of . . . if she hadn’t been on the receiving end of it.

‘Uh oh,’ Sophia said. ‘Busted.’

‘She can’t do anything now,’ Ivy whispered back. ‘She wouldn’t risk it.’

Once Charlotte was installed at the next table over, grey and drab, the director clapped his hands. ‘Where are my actors? Where?
Where?
’ He threw himself into his chair and covered his eyes with his hands.

The diner door opened again and Jackson
strolled in right on cue, script in hand. There was no sign of Olivia; Ivy wondered what that meant. Maybe their private tour had been awful and Olivia decided she wasn’t interested after all. That would bring a swift end to Ivy’s matchmaking disaster.
I hope she’s OK
, Ivy thought.

Philippe leapt from his chair, gesticulating at Jackson. ‘This! I do not believe this. Don’t you know your lines?’

Jackson slapped the papers into Philippe’s flailing hand. ‘Like a warlock knows his spells. I’m completely off-script.’

‘That’s vamp slang,’ Ivy hissed.

‘I’d call that wizard slang, really,’ Sophia whispered back.

‘But he was so calm,’ Ivy argued. He was keeping his cool, just like a vampire.

‘He must be used to all kinds of crazy directors,’ Sophie countered.

Jackson noticed them staring and gave a little wave to her and Sophia.
What if he heard us talking about him with his super vamp hearing?
Ivy thought.
Hmm. I could test him.

‘Sophia,’ Ivy whispered as quietly as she could, keeping a close eye on Jackson. ‘I heard Jackson gets manicures.’ She was making it up, but she thought it might get a reaction if he overheard.

‘What are you talking about?’ Sophia asked, but Ivy was watching Jackson.

Did he flinch?
Ivy couldn’t be sure. But he kept his cool with the director, maybe he was using his acting skills to remain straight-faced?

He continued to run through some lines with a stand-in. Ivy cursed the fact that vampires could blend in so easily – she couldn’t tell if he was or wasn’t just by looking at him. And she could hardly trail him until he went to the BloodMart –
with his legions of fans, he would have iron-clad avoidance tactics.

Sophia pushed a napkin over, with a little cartoon scribbled on it. There was an angry-looking man with a goatee shouting at a group of frightened stick figures. Ivy snorted when she saw an eager-looking stick person wearing a feathered dress.

For the third time, the door swung open and a collective hush fell over the set. A girl a little older than Ivy paused in the doorway, looking every inch a movie star in dark jeans, an off-the-shoulder top and a large moon-shaped pendant necklace. An entourage of people with make-up, refreshments and cell phones waited nervously until she had finished surveying the room and stepped inside. Ivy saw two of the entourage breathe a sigh of relief, almost as if they’d been expecting something bad to happen.

‘So far so good,’ one of them whispered as they passed Ivy and Sophia’s table.

‘Jessica Phelps!’ Sophia whispered.

People didn’t get more famous than Jessica and Jackson. They were at the tippy top of the A-list.

‘You know what this means,’ Sophia whispered. ‘We’re not just extras . . . we’re extras on the biggest movie of the year!’

Jessica stepped in like she owned the room – and she probably could if she wanted to. She ignored everyone except for Philippe and Jackson, air-kissing them on both cheeks.

‘Your hair looks nice,’ Jackson said politely.

Jessica smiled. ‘Thanks!’ She snuggled up to him like he was a teddy bear. Ivy thought she must be trying to stir up some chemistry for the camera, but Jackson just nodded and stepped away slightly.

At least he doesn’t respond to every starlet that throws herself at him
, Ivy thought approvingly.

‘Please, I would like you two to do a run-through before the cameras roll,’ Philippe instructed.

‘I was just going to suggest that,’ Jessica replied.

Jackson and Jessica sat at the fake booth and began to do their lines.

Sophia showed Ivy another napkin. This one had the goateed stick figure and a female stick figure with swirly hair wrestling to control a camera, while a third stick figure lounged back on a chair and watched. The figure with the long hair had Jessica’s necklace and the figure lounging in a chair had an ‘I Heart Olivia’ tattoo on his bicep. Ivy couldn’t help it; she burst out laughing in the middle of the rehearsal.

Everyone stopped and stared.

Jessica gasped.

Philippe turned a bright pink. ‘What is this?’
he demanded, pointing at them. ‘Lillian! What has happened to my silent background artists? These are not silent!’

Lillian came over, caught sight of Sophia’s cartoon, stifled a smile and crumpled it behind her back. ‘I’m so sorry, Philippe. I hadn’t cued them that you were rehearsing.’ Ivy felt awful for getting Lillian in trouble.

‘No more of that,
merci
!’ Philippe said. ‘We work!’

Lillian nodded seriously but then turned away and rolled her eyes. She gave Sophia a wink to show she wasn’t mad.

Jessica shot an annoyed glance right at Ivy. ‘No, we do not work.’

‘Pardon?
’ said Philippe. Behind him, two of the film crew exchanged a glance, as if to say:
Here we go again!

Jessica sniffed. ‘I can’t work under these
conditions. I have been dragged to this dump of a town where it’s cold and I can’t get a decent cup of coffee. Then, I suffer through three terrible hairdressers. And you can’t even afford good extras. Well, you can now, because I quit!’

Everyone gasped and Jackson looked shocked.

‘You c-c-cannot,’ Philippe spluttered.

‘Clause 38, subsection C: unreasonable conditions,’ Jessica retorted.

‘Because of coffee?’ Philippe shouted, turning even pinker. ‘I will sue!’

Jessica turned on her shiny Heather Carter heel. ‘My lawyers are much more expensive than yours.’

Her entourage scurried after her and a deathly silence filled the diner.

Charlotte hissed from the next booth over, ‘Great job at wrecking everything.’

Ivy felt her mouth turn dry.

Had she and Sophia just ruined the entire film?

Chapter Six

‘W
hat do you mean, shut down?’ Olivia asked Ivy. Her sister was coming down the steps from the diner into the parking lot, pulling on a warm coat.

‘I mean shut down – no female lead equals no filming,’ Ivy replied.

Sophia nodded and shivered. Or shivered and nodded. It was so cold out that Olivia couldn’t tell which.

It had barely been half an hour since she’d had the fruit cup with Jackson. Since she hadn’t found Ivy, she had decided to make her way to
the diner to watch some scenes. But when she’d arrived, everyone was hurrying away.

‘What happened?’ Olivia asked. The girls stood off to the side as other crew members and actors milled around.

‘Jessica quit the movie,’ Ivy said.

‘Never to return,’ Sophia added.

Olivia sneaked a peek through the diner windows and saw Jackson listening to his manager, who was shouting at someone sitting in a chair labelled ‘Director'. Jackson looked really annoyed.

‘Does this mean the movie is over?’ Olivia wondered. ‘Will Ja– everyone be leaving town?’

‘It might be for the best . . .’ Ivy said. Something across the parking lot had caught her attention. She craned her neck for a better look and then hurried over to the barriers.

Olivia looked over and realised she was
heading towards Brendan and his seven-year-old sister Bethany, who were waving at them from outside the barriers.

As the girls approached, Bethany blurted out, ‘Did you get to meet Jackson?’ She looked adorable in her black puffy jacket and denim skirt with black leggings.

‘Hey, Brendan,’ Ivy said. ‘Hi, Bethany. Isn’t Jackson a bit bunny for you?’

‘Duh, Jackson is above all labels,’ Bethany replied, flipping her long black hair. ‘So did you meet him? Did you?’

Olivia smiled. ‘I got to have lunch with him.’

‘Eeee!’ Bethany squealed, causing several people to jump. ‘Are you two going to be on TV together?’ she asked more quietly.

Olivia laughed. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘What was he like?’ Bethany wanted to know.

‘Pretty normal,’ Olivia said, remembering
their Count Vira conversation.

‘Sounds like you’ve been having fun,’ Brendan said. ‘But what about breakfast?’

Right on cue, Ivy’s stomach let out a gurgle that a bog monster would envy. ‘I completely forgot. You went to the Juice Bar!’

‘And came right back here, waiting all day for my beautiful girlfriend with a now gravely cold Breakfast Bun.’ Brendan tried to look hurt, but his face was twitching into a smile, even as Ivy was apologising.

‘I’m just kidding.’ Brendan took a squashed wrapped sandwich from his bag and waggled it in the air. ‘When I couldn’t find you in the crowd, I went home to get Bethany and may have enjoyed the latest episode of
Night of the Deadly Dead
in the warm.’

Ivy was almost drooling over the sandwich. Olivia laughed as Ivy leaned over the barrier,
planted a quick kiss on Brendan’s cheek and grabbed the packet from his hand. She devoured the bun in three big bites.

Sophia raised one eyebrow. ‘Thanks for sharing.’

‘Oops,’ Ivy said, her mouth full of bacon and red sauce.

‘You can have my Count Cocoa Chew.’ Bethany held out a candy bar to Sophia, but pulled it away as soon as Sophia reached for it. ‘If you get me inside.’

Olivia felt bad. ‘But the movie has . . . uh . . . paused for a minute. They’ve asked everyone to leave.’

‘OK, then,’ Bethany said. ‘Just promise to try to get me something that Jackson has touched.’

‘I promise,’ Sophia replied, ‘to get Olivia to do it for me.’

Bethany narrowed her eyes, looking from
Sophia to Olivia. ‘OK, deal.’ She handed it over to Sophia.

‘How about we –’ Brendan began.

‘Now,’ Bethany interrupted. ‘Tell me everything!’

As Ivy explained all about the set, with Sophia butting in and correcting her on the details, Olivia saw Brendan’s face falter a little. She hoped he wasn’t feeling left out with all the movie excitement. Maybe there would be a way to get him on set tomorrow – that is, if the set was still there tomorrow.