“I am not looking to be a star. I’m just doing this to stay close to our client,” Poppy insisted.
Iris eyed her skeptically. “What if you are nominated for an Oscar? What if someone like Antonio Banderas wants to be your date for the awards ceremony? What if Paul McCartney’s daughter wants to design your dress? Will you say no to all that?”
“That is your fantasy, Iris, not mine,” Poppy snapped.
“Poppy? Do you need more time?” Trent asked from behind the monitor.
“No, all set to go!” Poppy cried, waving Iris and Violet away.
“Do not worry, Poppy, I will keep Violet out of your eye line!” Iris promised before hauling Violet away by the arm.
Poppy closed her eyes, slowly breathed in and out, mentally preparing herself to try the scene again. When she opened her eyes, she spotted Danika in the corner with a broad-shouldered, scruffy, impossibly handsome man in his late twenties. She recognized him as Chase Ehrens, the male lead, playing the role inhabited by teen idol Troy Donahue in the original. She had yet to meet him. Poppy instantly sensed something was wrong. Danika was backing away from him as he advanced upon her, his hands all over her, apparently coming on way too strong.
Matt stood nearby, not sure what to do, not wanting to intervene if he was not wanted.
But Poppy could tell Danika was unhappy about Chase aggressively coming on to her, and finally, she physically pushed him away, hissing something under her breath. Although Poppy couldn’t hear her exact words, she was certain that, in effect, Danika was spurning Chase’s advances.
Chase, red-faced and humiliated, spun around and started to stalk away when Timothy scurried up to him with some revised script pages. Chase ripped them out of Timothy’s hand and snapped at him, pushing him away, telling him to get out of his face and leave him alone. Timothy, whose sole mission seemed to be wanting to make a good impression on everyone, wilted.
Poppy felt sorry for the poor kid. There was no excuse for Chase to treat him like that, or anyone else on set for that matter.
Poppy watched the brooding actor storm off, and her opinion of him was official.
She did not like Chase Ehrens one bit.
Chapter 6
Poppy finished her first big scene with little fanfare much to her relief, and Trent seemed happy with the footage and her performance. She had quickly made a beeline for Matt, who stood over in the corner of the pool area, near the unmanned bar, eyes downcast. She didn’t have to ask what he was upset about because it was obvious.
“Matt, I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to speak to you earlier when I first got here—”
He held a hand up in front of her. “It’s cool. I’m fine with it.”
But she could tell he wasn’t.
Matt was a good actor and was trying to keep on a brave, stoic face, pretending the fact that his girlfriend had unceremoniously dumped him, by text no less, was not really weighing on his mind.
“I don’t understand why she would do it that way. That’s not the kind of behavior I taught her when she was growing up.”
“Well, sure, she could’ve been classier about it and done it in person, but the result would have been the same, Poppy. Heather doesn’t want me anymore.”
Poppy gave him a motherly hug. “I know how hard you tried to make the relationship work. After all the troubles Heather’s gone through these last few years, you’ve stood by her, all this time. . . .”
“Heather’s a good person, who deserves a fresh start and to be happy. And if I’m not a part of that plan, I just have to accept it,” Matt said, forcing a smile.
Poppy was certainly rooting for her daughter. She understood that Heather was desperate to put this rocky period in her life squarely behind her, and that Matt may have been a constant reminder of the past few painful years. Even though as a mother, she had to stand by Heather and respect her decisions, that did not mean she was expected to abandon Matt, her business partner, her friend, and she wanted to make sure he knew that.
“Well, you will always have me, Iris, and Violet,” Poppy promised.
“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Matt said.
Poppy noticed Timothy carrying a bright pink gift box with a giant red bow tied around it in his hands, as he passed by them.
“Anybody seen Danika?” Timothy asked. “A fan dropped this off for her.”
Poppy and Matt sprang to attention, suddenly on guard.
“A fan?” Matt asked nervously.
“Yeah, real creepy guy. I have no idea how he got on set. I figured he conned his way past the guard by saying he was a deliveryman. He tried convincing me that he had to make sure Danika signed for this personally, but I told him no one gets near Ms. Delgado that’s not personally connected to the production.”
Poppy swiveled around, trying to find any unfamiliar faces in the pool area. “Where is he? Did he leave?”
“Yeah, once I told him meeting Danika was not going to happen, he left. At least, I think he did.”
Poppy’s heart sank as she spotted the group of young actors Danika was chatting with just a few moments earlier. “Where is she? She was right over there a minute ago.”
“They just called lunch. Maybe she’s at craft services or eating in her room,” Timothy suggested.
“Everyone can relax,” Matt assured them. “I’ve memorized her schedule. She’s got a session in the gym with her personal trainer scheduled for now. And I’m reasonably confident that her trainer, who’s two hundred and fifty pounds of pure muscle and goes by the name of Thor, can keep her safe.”
The blood seemed to drain from Timothy’s face. “Um, Thor cancelled today . . .”
“What?” Poppy gasped.
“I was with Danika when he called earlier just before we shot your scene, Ms. Harmon. Thor came out of
