“I’ll get everything back today,” Davina told her. “I’m sorry you got roped into this.”
“So am I,” Patricia said. “You were a good assistant. You’ll be missed.”
“Yeah,” Davina said.
They both knew that there were plenty of people who could do her job at the studio. Heck, there were stray dogs that could do her job. It didn’t exactly call for a high-level skill set. As they were speaking, her college students turned up.
“What’s going on?” one of them asked as they walked up to the front door. He pointed to the car emblazoned with Brighton Buzz, sitting in her driveway.
Davina felt tears prick her eyes. Now she had the humiliating experience of telling them that she was a thief and a liar and because of that, the movie was over.
“Go get some coffee,” she said. “I’ll be in in a minute.”
Confused, and clearly curious, they did as they were told.
“Thanks for not calling the police,” Davina told Patricia.
Patricia just shook her head sadly before going off to join the scowling Derek.
Davina closed the door quietly behind them. For a minute she stood holding the paperwork as the sound of blood rushing through her veins filled her head.
She felt Marianne’s hand on her shoulder.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “Let me know what you want me to do.”
Davina struggled to smile.
“Can you deal with everyone? I need a minute.”
“Sure,” Marianne said before heading to the kitchen.
Davina looked down at the paperwork. It burned her skin and she wanted to drop it on the floor and never look at it again.
This was it. She always feared it would happen. This was the end. Not just the movie, although that was definitely over, but it was everything else. This was the end of her dream. Of her life. All her hopes, everything she had worked for and relentlessly pursued since she was a child, everything had died. Everything she’d longed for in the face of countless rejections was now out of reach forever. Her last chance had blown up in her face. She had run out of ideas. She had failed at being an actress and she didn’t know who she was anymore. To make matters even worse, not only did she have to return stolen goods and come clean to the people in the kitchen, she also had to deal with Jack.
As she turned to climb the stairs, she stopped dead.
Jack sat on the top step, dressed in her pink satin robe. Davina could feel the blood drain from her face.
“I...” She cast around for something to say. Nothing came to mind. Her mouth felt dry.
“I left my clothes down here last night.” He pointed to the heap by the door.
Davina’s mind raced. How much had he heard?
“You okay?” he said.
It was disconcerting seeing him there, so serious in a pink frilly robe.
“I...”
Nope. Still nothing.
“Look, Davy, I know about the equipment. That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier. I’ve known for a while. Don’t worry about it. It’s okay.”
Davina took a step backwards. Jack smiled. She assumed he meant it to be comforting.
“Look on the bright side,” he said. “Your movie may be over, but at least this will give you time to write a better script.”