Action

“Are you going to help me out of here now?” he said grumpily.

Davina grinned widely at everyone who was watching. Marianne made a thumbs-up sign to tell her the movie she was shooting was a good one. At last Davina turned back to Jack.

“Marianne is going to put this film in a safe place. Right, Mar?” she said. Marianne nodded. “And if you break your promise, we’re going to email it to Brighton Police Department.”

His dark eyes narrowed.

“That’s blackmail.”

She could narrow her eyes too.

“That’s common sense,” she told him.

He growled and wiggled about. She took that as an agreement to her terms.

“Okay.” She stood and dusted herself off. “Help the idiot get out of the chair.”

Her students ran at Jack with glee. Davina and Marianne stood giggling as they tried to free him. He was well and truly stuck. At last they decided that it would be better to topple him. That way they could pull him and the chair at the same time.

“Topple?!” Jack howled before he crashed on his side.

“On reflection, you could have lowered him down slowly,” Davina told them.

The group blushed.

“Sorry, Davina,” they said.

“Why the hell are you apologising to her?” Jack shouted. “I’m the one with concussion.”

After that it didn’t take long to yank him from the chair. While the group exchanged high fives, Jack lay in the foetal position for a while. Davina crouched down beside him.

“Don’t forget about my car,” she told him.

He glared at her before pulling himself, awkwardly, to his feet. He grabbed his keys and staggered to his car. Leaving a trail of giggles in his wake.

CHAPTER NINE

STILL 7 LONG DAYS TO make a movie...

HIS DAY MESSING WITH Davina hadn’t gone as planned, so for the life of him Jack could not figure out what he was doing back at her house. He rang the doorbell anyway.

“What do you want?” Davina sounded bone weary. “It’s only been two hours since I saw you last, Jack. It isn’t long enough.”

Jack felt the same twinge of guilt that had forced him into action.

“I brought a peace offering.”

He held up two extra-large pizza boxes and a six pack of Budweiser.

“You brought me pizza and beer?”

He looked at the beer.

“No, the pizza is to share, the beer is for me.”

She sighed heavily.

“And this is supposed to make up for trashing my car?”