Real Love Page 14

  ‘What?’ Alexa replied, shocked. ‘I didn’t break up with her. She broke up with me.’

  Isabella shrugged. ‘Well, anyway, it’s over. So how’s about it? I know you’ve missed me.’

  Alexa opened the door of the trailer. The gentle approach wasn’t working. It was time to be firm.

  ‘It’s over. Accept it.’

  Isabella sniffed. ‘Fine. But when you come crawling back to me, and you will, maybe I won’t say yes.’

  ‘I wouldn’t worry too much about that scenario.’

  Isabella’s mouth went tight with rage. ‘We’ll see’ she said and swept out grandly.

  Alexa closed the door behind her, glad to be rid of Isabella without the destruction of property. But after she’d gone, something remained. It was the remark she’d made, about Alexa dumping Daisy. Had she made it up? Alexa wouldn’t put it past her. She wasn’t exactly living on the same plane of reality as everyone else. She tended to fantasise. But what would be the point of this lie? It wouldn’t get her anything she wanted.

  In fact, Alexa still couldn’t understand how she would have known about the break-up. Her only possible source was indeed Daisy. Isabella did work on Daisy, that was a verified fact. So could it be true? Had Daisy really said that Alexa had broken up with her? And why would she say that? It wasn’t for self-pity. That wasn’t Daisy’s style. Not at all.

  Replaying that last conversation, Alexa realised that Daisy hadn’t said it was over as such. Alexa had assumed she was about to. And that’s why she’d tried to beat Daisy to the punch, to act like she didn’t care.

  But looking at it from a different angle, what if Daisy had thought the same as she had? That the attitude she’d given her was her shitty way of ending things? She’d been a bitch and then Daisy had said ‘If that’s what you think, then I don’t know what more there is to be said here.’ And Alexa had thought that was her subtle way of breaking it off.

  In fact, now Alexa thought about it, it was glaring. She had ended it! She hadn’t known that’s what she was doing but the way she’d been to Daisy, she could now see how it looked.

  Sitting in her trailer, turning it all over, she marvelled at how she’d managed to get this whole thing so twisted up with her own insecurities. She’d seen the mirror image of what had happened. Essentially the same. But backwards.

  And then something else occurred to her. If Daisy thought she’d been broken up with and was upset about it, did that mean that Alexa could still fix this? Maybe she didn’t have to lose Daisy after all.

  Alexa stood, a decision made. She would find Daisy, she would explain everything, she would make it right. She wouldn’t give up. It was possible she’d blown it but if there was a chance left, she had to try.

  She threw open the door, ready to run out.

  ‘Oh, good, you’re ready. Jane says you’re up’ Aaron said, lowering his knocking arm.

  ‘Actually, I need ten minutes.’

  Aaron sucked in a passive aggressive little breath. ‘Don’t think we can do it, we’re really up against it. What with Daisy going off sick and Reece’s little… Well, you know. You’ve got to reshoot that scene with him.’

  Alexa gritted her teeth. ‘Fine.’

  So be it. She’d get the shooting out of the way and find Daisy afterwards.

  She hadn’t seen Reece since the incident yesterday. She’d been meaning to find him, to have the talk with him that he clearly needed but then everything that had been happening with Daisy, it had gotten pushed to the back of her mind.

  ‘Hi Reece’ she said as she sat down opposite him at the table, a beer in front of him, a martini for her.

  ‘Hi,’ he said, an odd shyness in his tone.

  Jane called action and the scene began. It wasn’t like yesterday. Reece was less brash, less cocky. He was a guy pleading, very quietly, not to be left. And Alexa played it equally quietly. She explained that it was hard and that she cared about him. It was nothing like the explosions of before. It was sadder and better for it.

  And then they were done. Alexa knew she needed to find Daisy but before she did, she had to say something to Reece.

  As they stood, she leaned into him, out of the earshot of the crew, who were now resetting for another scene with Robyn and Will. ‘Reece, I need to tell you… I’m sorry. I’ve been treating you badly, not taking your feelings seriously. I should have listened properly.’

  Reece turned away, embarrassed. ‘It’s alright. You told me how it was but I didn’t want to hear it. So I’m sorry too.’

  Alexa squeezed his shoulder, giving him a forgiving smile. There was hope for him yet.

  And now Reece was squared away, she needed to catch Daisy. She was finished shooting but she might still be around. She went straight to Aaron. She hated to ask him, especially after how he’d been yesterday. But he was the man who knew things. ‘Daisy?’

  ‘Wardrobe’ he sighed, as though waiting to be asked.

  Alexa ran past him to the wardrobe trailer where Daisy would be clambering out of her costume and back into civilian wear. Alexa knocked on the door and after a moment, a guy with a pompadour haircut poked his head out. ‘Hiya, Lex.’

  ‘Rob, have you got Daisy in there?’

  ‘Just missed her.’

  ‘Shit. OK, cheers’ she said and she ran to find her, scanning the horizon, trying to spot Daisy’s blonde hair. As she got beyond the trailers stacked around the carpark, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye and turned, just in time to see Daisy drive away from the set.

  Alexa got out her phone and went to call her but she really didn’t want to do this by phone. It was too big.

  As she watched the car drive away, she thought about what she could do next. She could try and get Daisy’s address from Aaron. Could work?

  And then something occurred to her. It was a very silly thought indeed. But the more she considered it, the harder it took root in her mind. It was a crazy, stupid, mad idea. And it might just be the answer to all Alexa’s problems.

  The phone was still in Alexa’s hand and she knew who she needed to speak to. She dialled a number.

  ‘Charlie! I need to run something by you.’

  ‘If it’s about Russian Twists, can it wait till tomorrow?’

  ‘It’s not about Russian Twists. I need your advice.’

  ‘Hold on’ Charlie said. ‘Can I put you on speaker? I’m having a bath with Amy.’

  ‘Oh, shit. I’m sorry’ Alexa cried.

  But the phone was already on speaker and another voice came down the line. ‘Hi Alexa, it’s Amy. Do you mind if I sit in on this advice session?’

  ‘Hi, Amy, nice to meet you finally. Actually, it would be great if you could weigh in on this.’

  And then Alexa explained it. When she’d finished, Charlie and Amy began to speak at once, excited.

  ‘Slow down guys’ Alexa requested, unable to catch a single word.

  ‘Alexa, you have to do it!’ Charlie cried.

  ‘I agree’ said Amy. ‘Do it.’

  Twenty-One

  Daisy put the boiled egg and soldiers down on the table in front of Jake. He didn’t look up from his phone. ‘I wanted cereal.’

  Daisy put a hand on her hip. ‘Well, I’ve boiled this little sucker now so you’ll eat it or I’m taking the phone.’

  Jake gave a noisy sigh of the thoroughly put upon and then picked up a spoon, tapping the shell with excessive force. Daisy watched his little performance, trying not to let it get to her.

  ‘What’s up with you, anyway?’

  Jake shrugged insolently.

  ‘You’re acting like I’ve done something wrong. And you’re the one that was keeping a secret’ Daisy reminded him.

  ‘I was going to tell you. But I wanted to do it myself.’

  ‘Oh,’ Daisy said, ‘Is that what’s pissing you off? You lost the chance to tell me your big news yourself?’

  ‘Swear jar’ Kathy said, shuffling in in her slippers.

  ‘Or ho
w about this instead? I’m an adult and I’ll use the language I see fit.’

  Kathy began to boil the kettle. ‘God, what’s up with everyone at the minute? Have you both been eating angry flakes?’

  ‘I did want cereal but I’ve got an egg instead’ Jake replied, not getting the joke.

  As Daisy pulled into the carpark that night, for her last day on the set of Laid in Medford, she couldn’t wait for the moment she was sitting back in her car, ready to drive away from this madness and never look back.

  Luckily, she wasn’t in for long. She’d gotten all but one scene shot and once it was done, so was she. Unfortunately, the scene involved Alexa, whom she had managed to avoid since they’d had their little chat in the trailer.

  Just before she’d gone home, she’d popped her head back into the set, for reasons she couldn’t fathom, to watch Alexa reshoot her scene with Reece. In hindsight, perhaps she’d been trying to see if she could spot a glimmer of sadness in Alexa, a flicker of the crushing disappointment that she herself was feeling about everything that had happened.

  But after Alexa had finished shooting, Daisy had watched her talking to Reece in a very friendly fashion and it was nothing but Alexa cool. Daisy thought she knew exactly what she was looking at, even if she couldn’t hear them. Alexa was making nice with Reece because they had another series to shoot together next year. She was feathering her working nest. Daisy felt it was yet another nail in her heart. Alexa’s stride was unbroken.

  Well, if that was the way it was, Daisy could do her best to simply come in today and be nothing but a working actress. Because (and she was surprised how long it had taken her to notice this), Laid in Medford had proven to have just as much drama off the set as it had on it. And that was not the kind of career Daisy wanted. She wanted to do her job, go home to her family and be as good a parent and daughter as she could manage. Romance was off the menu indefinitely.

  ‘Daisy, my darling!’ came the slick tones of Ryan as she stepped onto the set. He looked tired, though. It had clearly been a long year. ‘Ready for your final scene?’

  ‘Very much so’ Daisy replied with a matching fake grin.

  ‘Great. So, as you know, this is it. The big finale. And we really want to push for high drama. We’re going to get you all together on the roof, there’s a patio up there. Everyone’s got their notes for how to play it, but I’m speaking to you all individually, so you won’t exactly know what anyone else will be doing, just to make sure we catch a few real reactions from you all.’

  ‘But nothing essentially different than before.’

  ‘No, nothing different in the grand scheme.’

  ‘Let’s have it, then. What do you want me to do?’

  Hair was fine. Wardrobe was fine. Makeup was tense but essentially conflict-free. And then it was time to go up to the roof and finish this thing.

  The lighting was in place, camera ready. Jane was there, talking to Reece. And of course, Alexa was present. Daisy tried to keep her eyes off Alexa, at least until it was time to shoot. She’d be safe in the scene.

  ‘Daisy, perfect timing. We’re gonna go in about two minutes’ Jane said, striding over to greet her. ‘Got your notes from Ryan?’

  ‘Yeah. By the way, Jane, since this is my last day, I want you to know it’s been nice to work with you.’

  Jane smiled. ‘You too, Daisy. You’re a real pro.’

  ‘Thanks, that means a lot.’

  ‘Camera set, Jane’ yelled the cameraman.

  Daisy was placed in her first position, behind the door, ready to make a ‘surprise’ entrance on Alexa and Reece. She waited and listened as the crew went through the checklist on the other side of the door.

  ‘Quiet on set. Stand by’ said Jane. ‘Turn over.’

  ‘Camera rolling’ replied the cameraman.

  ‘Action!’

  Daisy opened the door, busting up the moment that Reece had been trying to have with Alexa. He looked at her irritably. ‘No, not you! Go downstairs!’

  ‘I’m not here to talk to you. I want a minute with Alexa.’

  It was only then that Daisy looked at Alexa and it wasn’t what she had expected. She didn’t know what the expression was, it was inscrutable. But whatever it was in Alexa’s eyes, it was somehow more than Daisy would have thought she’d see. It broke Daisy’s focus.

  But luckily, Reece was still doing Reece in the way that only he could. ‘No chance. Fuck off. I think Will’s downstairs, why don’t you make do with him instead?’

  ‘Reece, stop it’ Alexa said, putting a hand on his huge arm. ‘Don’t be like that.’

  ‘But I’ve had enough. You need to tell her to leave you alone and I want to be here when you do it. Or-’

  ‘Or what?’ Alexa demanded.

  ‘Or it’s over’ Reece blurted.

  Daisy knew that was her cue.

  ‘Alexa’ she began, walking over to the woman of the hour. She got within inches of her and she felt her heart starting to beat too fast. She’d been so certain she’d be protected once the cameras rolled, that Laid in Medford Daisy wouldn’t feel so shaken to be near Alexa. But the protection was gone. She was just Daisy. She had nothing else. ‘I came up here because I don’t know how clear I made myself downstairs.’

  Alexa turned to her, her voice soft, her eyes gentle. ‘You made yourself pretty clear.’

  ‘I didn’t. Because I forgot to tell you something. Something important. I forgot to say I’m in love with you’ Daisy felt her stomach flip over as she said the words to Alexa that she’d never quite managed off camera, as instructed by Ryan. She felt naked. Because they were true words. Robyn had that right, at least. Sometimes, only sometimes, reality TV captures something real.

  Alexa’s eyes widened. Daisy couldn’t tell if it was because she didn’t know that Daisy was going to say that, or if it just made her uncomfortable because of their recent history. But before she could say anything to Daisy’s declaration of love, Reece was suddenly going down on one knee, fumbling in his pocket for what could only be one thing. An engagement ring. So this was the big surprise that Ryan had up his sleeve, Daisy realised. This wasn’t just Alexa’s choice. There was a proposal. The viewers were going to go fucking nuts.

  ‘Alexa, I love you. Will you marry me?’ Reece asked, trying to get comfortable on his knee.

  Alexa looked from Reece to Daisy and Daisy took the smallest step back. It was involuntary, just the instinct of an actor who knows she needs to get the hell out of the shot. She thought that Alexa might say something to her, a small gesture, the goodbye that would indicate Daisy’s final moments on the show. And Alexa did indeed turn to her. But she didn’t say anything. She just looked at her, as though unsure of what to do next. Daisy knew she was good, but the performance she was giving right now was even convincing Daisy.

  Daisy wasn’t sure what to do with this moment. She was supposed to be graciously stepping aside so that Alexa and Reece could ride off into the hetero sunset. But she couldn’t seem to look away, hypnotised by Alexa’s doe eyes. At last, Alexa spoke.

  ‘I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you in my trailer.’

  Daisy blinked.

  ‘I was frightened. I thought you were about to finish things so I guess I tried to beat you to it’ Alexa continued. ‘But I want you to give me another chance.’

  A voice from the corner of the set suddenly spoke up. ‘Err, haha, I think you’ve strayed a bit from the brief there, Alexa, my love. Jane, shall we cut there?’ Ryan said, confused.

  But before the yell of cut could come, Alexa said over her shoulder, never taking her eyes off Daisy, ‘I’m quitting the show, Ryan. And this is the only version of the end that I’ll shoot. I’m choosing Daisy. Off and on the show’ she added with a nervous look to Daisy. But Daisy couldn’t speak. She’d gone into shock. The lines were blurring again. Was this real?

  Ryan gave a loud sigh. ‘Alexa, if you want to renegotiate your contract, this is not the way to do it.’

  �
��It’s not a tactic. I’m finished. And if you run with the ending I want, my parting gift will be the kind of ratings you’ve never seen. You’ll be able to pretty much write your ticket with the channel and they’ll let you take the show wherever you want to go with it, minus me. And this ending will also mean something to a lot of people, but I don’t expect you to care about that.’

  Ryan bit his cheek, calculating. If Alexa really was going, did she have a point? Should he go ahead with a Daisy ending?

  Meanwhile, Alexa was still waiting on Daisy’s response. ‘What do you think? Can you forgive me?’

  ‘But… What does this mean?’

  ‘That I want to be with you. If you want to be with me.’

  ‘What about everything else? My son?’

  Reece, who’d decided it was probably a good time to get up off his stiff knee said, ‘She’s got a son?’

  Alexa turned to him. ’Yes. His name’s Jake, he’s twelve, he’s easily embarrassed and he loves shooting zombies. Oh, and he likes it when I throw wine at people.’

  Daisy smiled. ‘That’s everything I’ve ever told you about him.’

  Alexa bit her lip, uncertainly. ‘I was waiting to be introduced to him. I thought I might need to keep some facts in mind, so he wouldn’t think I was a rubbish adult.’

  And that was when Daisy knew what was real. Alexa wanted her and everything that went with her. Her smile widened into a full beam. ‘Then I think we should set that meeting up as soon as possible.’

  Alexa grabbed Daisy’s hands excitedly but that wasn’t enough for Daisy. She leaned in and kissed Alexa, in full view of everyone and on camera to boot. But she didn’t care.

  Nor did Alexa. Daisy was letting her in. Everything else in her life was a mystery, it could go either way. But she had this.

  ‘This is all well and good, girls, but can you save all that till we’ve finished shooting?’ Ryan interjected.

  But the kiss didn’t stop. Ryan would just have to wait.

  Twenty-Two

  ‘Swear jar’ Kathy shouted. But this time, it wasn’t at Daisy, it was at Jake. Because he’d just yelled ‘Bloody hell!’, a reaction to a gift. It was a collection of around twelve zombie-killing games, pretty much every title containing the shooting of the undead that had come out in the last three years. ‘Sorry, Gran. But have you seen all these?’