Sugar Baby Beautiful(47)

Alexander giggled as if he were twelve but quit immediately when my eyes drifted to him. “And you… the fact that I can’t remember your full name proves you have not made it far enough to be acting like such a diva.”

“Told you,” Deborah muttered under her breath.

“Your options are simple: grow up and figure out how to work with each other, or not only will we replace you both, regardless of your contracts, but we’ll make sure to sue, forcing you to pay for every last wasted day of production. We will also publicly cite our reasons, and I’m sure there are more than enough people here willing to vouch for how horrible you’ve made this experience. I don’t give a damn about who you people are. This is supposed to be your work! In real life, millions of people wake up every day and work with someone they hate because they have to. I know people working in diners who would kill for this moment. Not only are you both unprofessional but a disgrace to every person who dreams of being in front of a camera. Get over yourselves or go away.”

I was sure my face was red, I was so angry at them.

Deborah coughed as she sat up. “I’ll talk to my agent—”

“You do that because I’m sure they won’t be your agent for long once we put out to every entertainment company and agency that you are impossible to work with. Hollywood isn’t as big as it seems. Besides, Deborah, aren’t you getting a little up there? Sad fact is it becomes much harder to be an older actress unless you are Meryl Streep or Helen Mirren.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she thought about it for a moment before she looked at Alexander, who had his hands clasped together and was staring at the floor.

“And me?” he asked.

“I told you I don’t even know your full name. You would just disappear from the limelight. It happens all the time.”

“Fine,” she said. “We will do our best.”

“Yeah. We’ll try.” He nodded.

“Great. I’ll stick around for a few scenes, but do know if anything happens, I will be back and then you should have your agents and your lawyers present.” I headed out to the front of the house. Everyone was crowded around the monitors in the corner, but when they saw me, they jumped up and pretended to be working.

I moved toward Mr. Hamilton, who rose from a chair and smiled at me.

“What was going on out here?”

“We may have forgotten to turn off the audio inside the house,” he said innocently, giving me causal shrug.

“Well, hopefully they start acting a little better now.”

“Yeah, but when did Mr. Darcy change his plan?”

“What?”

He pulled out a phone. “He texted me he would speak with Deborah and look for a replacement for Alexander at the end of the week.”

Shit.

“Director, they said they’re ready!” someone yelled from the door.

“Be right there,” he called back. “Thanks, really. You even shocked a few of us back to our senses. I’ll have them put out a chair for you.”

I waved him off, hoping I hadn’t screwed up Theo’s plans.





Theo


“She what?” I sat up in bed, cell phone pressed to my ear.

“She didn’t want to go into town. Instead she claimed to be your personal assistant and gave both actors a tongue-lashing the likes of which I’ve never seen, then swore that Darcy Entertainment would sue them for the cost of disrupting the fill schedule,” Nolan said.

If my throat hadn’t hurt so much, I would have laughed. Only she would be bold enough to yell at a two-time Oscar-winning actress.

“How did they take it?”

“Filming has gone on smoothly, and she’s sitting in the corner like a hawk. A few of the staff are even afraid of her.”

Felicity was one of a kind. It seemed like even when she wasn’t working, she still gave herself something to do.

“Thank you, Nolan. Keep me informed if anything changes.”

“Of course, sir.”

Hanging up, I thought of calling her but instead dialed Deborah Day’s agent. Technically Felicity had been wrong. We couldn’t sue Deborah Day personally. And due to her contract, we couldn’t just kick her off the movie. But it seemed she hadn’t read her contract in detail, and I wasn’t about to tell her that.

“Your assistant yelled at my actress,” her agent said when he answered the phone.

“She did, and you should be thankful. This won’t be the third movie Deborah would have been taken off for personal reasons. It’s been six years since her last film. She needs a hit. People are forgetting her name.”

He sighed. “I never said I wasn’t thankful. I told her to do her job. But why are you so involved in this, Mr. Darcy? It isn’t even your movie.”