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“Cut!” Joe said. “Hold for five. Beaumont’s on his waydown.”
Maddie groaned. Beaumont only came to the set if he was really ticked-off. Just what she needed—to be the source of his ticked-offedness. He’d already ended any chances of her being a director in Hollywood. Would he now blacklist her as a camera assistant aswell?
When Beaumont arrived he marched directly up to Adam and Maddie. “What is the goddamned problem?”
It wasn’t her place to talk to the director about actor issues so she swallowed the response she wanted to give and let Adam speak.
“Micah’s been missing his mark,” he answered, a lot more patiently than Maddie wouldhave.
Beaumont called the actor over. “Hey, the crew says you’re having trouble hitting yourmark.”
Micah’s eye twitched. “I’m not. I’ve hit it everytime.”
Weeks of sexual frustration fed her work frustration and Maddie’s anger spiraled out of control. “You have not! You keep walking right pastit!”
“Maddie,” Adam warned. The crew did not address actors. That was the director’sjob.
Micah narrowed his eyes, but didn’t look at Maddie. “Look, run it again. It will be perfect. Like it’s been the last twenty times. You can see for yourself.”
Beaumont considered. Then he turned to Adam. “You run focus, I’ll shoot.”
Adam took Maddie’s place while Beaumont climbed behind the camera. They ran the scene again. Just like Micah said it would be, the scene was perfect. Maddie fumed. They ran the scene two more times with the same results. Finally, Beaumont called it awrap.
Maddie watched as the crew began to clean up, frozen in her anger and humiliation and guilt. Adam—wonderful Adam who stood behind her and mentored her for years—pulled down to do her job because Micah Preston decided to be a dick. At least, that’s the only logical conclusion she could thinkof.
She turned to the cameraman. “Adam,” she said, holding back angry tears. “He didn’t hit his marks when I was on focus, I don’t knowwhy—”
“You know what, Maddie?” Adam interrupted, his voice low and rough. “I don’t care what the problem is or was or the why, but I’m telling you right now it better be fixed by the time you return to this set. I will not stand for that shit when I’m on camera, not even with you. You hearme?”
Adam had never spoken so harshly to her before. And the reason he was angry wasn’t even her fault.
“Now, get off my set. I don’t want to see you until call tomorrow.”
Dismissed from set. She had to set Micah straight. She spun around searching and spotted him walking towards the trailers.
“Micah?” She ran after him. She caught up with him as he approached his trailer from the back. “Micah?”
He turned to face her, an impatient expression on hisface.
“What the hell was that?” she asked.
“What the hell waswhat?”
“Don’t play dumb with me. You missed your mark, and what’s more, I think you did it on purpose.”
“I didnot.”
“You did! And when Beaumont took over you got it perfect. Which made me look like shit. What I don’t get iswhy.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I did the scene the same each time. If you’re feeling insecure about your work, that’s fine, but to blame it on me is reallow.”
“Fuck you, Micah.”
“Whatever, Maddie.” He turned to walkaway.
Her fury escalated. “Wait, I’m notdone.”
He pivoted back on her. “By all means, Maddie, go ahead.”
