Chapter Eighteen
“Tell me again, what happened?” Billy asked when he met me in my trailer after Tony and Vince had left with Cal.
I explained to him, for a second time, what had happened and what Cal had threatened me with.
“How did he even get in here?” he asked, looking around the trailer for signs of forced entry.
“I don’t know, but if he says anything about the Michelleti brothers, they will tear him limb from limb.”
“Without question,” Billy agreed.
There was suddenly a loud knock on the closed trailer door. Without waiting for a response, the door opened and Elena entered.
“Please, come in,” I sarcastically told her.
“My movie, my trailer,” she responded.
She was such a bitch.
“Actually, it’s my movie,” Billy interjected.
“I don’t recall you writing any checks,” Elena retorted in a snarky tone.
Clearly if they had any kind of relationship between them, it was now over.
“What do you want, Elena?” I asked.
“Your personal life is interfering with the making of this movie,” she directed to me.
“How so?” Once again, I was being blamed for something.
“I got a call from Antonio saying that he wanted to film in the casino today but can’t as a ton of media people are there because of you.” She pointed an accusatory finger at me.
“Cal and I broke up. I can’t be blamed for the press wanting information.”
“If you had kept your private life private then perhaps we wouldn’t have this issue today.”
“Every day seems to be an issue for Antonio,” I shot back.
“Only when you’re on set.”
“Okay, enough,” Billy cut in, and stood between us. “Elena, she didn’t announce their breakup, Cal did. If you want to place any blame, then I suggest you talk to him. He’s around here somewhere apparently.”
“He may have announced it, but she took it a step further and made sure everyone knew he cheated on her. Now, we are surrounded by the press.”
“We were surrounded before when Cal first made the announcement,” I shot back. I was really starting to lose my patience.
“Not as badly as we are now. You are slowing down production,” she said calmly, which irritated me even more. “Deal with the media to get rid of them and don’t start anymore drama.” She turned to leave, but before she went out the door, she turned back to me. “In the future, it would behoove you to keep your personal life out of the media.”
“Behoove me?” I mimicked after she had left. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means she’s a bitch,” Billy answered.
***
“Unfortunately,” Antonio addressed some of the cast and crew that had been called to an impromptu meeting on set, “we are unable to film today in the casino. We will do the scenes we need to complete here on set today, but then we are at a standstill until the casino can be cleared.”
Murmurs erupted among the twenty or so people that were present.
“I know, it’s an issue,” Antonio continued. “You all came prepared, but unfortunately for us, we have had some personal life garbage spill over. Now it has begun to interfere with our production.” He focused directly on me.
“Tell me, Antonio.” Billy piped up. He had been quiet ever since Elena had left my trailer. “How can our production be halted when the owners of the hotel had scheduled the casino to be completely shut down to the public for us and our crew today?” He did not sound happy.
Antonio went silent. I assumed he didn’t have an answer for Billy’s question.
“As far as I know,” Billy continued without waiting for a response, “the casino is still completely ours from ten this morning until three this afternoon.” Billy read from his production schedule. “That should give us plenty of time to complete the scene we need to do.”
“That’s not what I was told,” the fearless director responded.
“Well, you were told wrong. We have a contract with the casino and if they don’t allow us full access, as per the agreement, then we can sue them.” Billy was in full producer mode. “So, explain again why can’t we film in there today?”
Once again, Antonio didn’t say a word. It was obvious to me that Elena had made the decision to halt production and to blame me for it. Sadly, Elena wasn’t there to back up Antonio when true facts were thrown at him and therefore he didn’t know how to respond.
“As far as our contract states, we are still filming inside at ten.” Billy once again continued without waiting for a response from the director. “I expect to see everyone and the equipment in there.” He then turned and walked away. I presumed he was headed to speak with Sonny to make sure nothing had changed and the casino was ready for us.
Once Billy had left, everyone began to disperse. I was about to go back to my trailer, as I didn’t have any scenes until we were inside the casino.
“Elizabeth, can I speak with you for a moment, please?” Antonio nicely asked, making me cautious.
“Yes, Antonio, what would you like?” I mirrored his fake tone.
“I’d like to speak to you privately in your trailer.”
Oh, this was going to be good. He had never wanted to be completely alone with me.
“I’m getting pretty tired of dealing with your personal crap and having Billy undermine my authority on set,” he began as soon as we were inside my trailer.
“First, Billy is the producer. He is the big boss and what he says goes,” I went back at him. “Secondly, this is the first time I’ve had any personal issues and it hasn’t impeded this movie at all.”
“What about all the press hanging around?”
“The press always hangs around movie sets, it’s their job.” I was done arguing with him. “Why did you really want to speak to me?”
“Clearly, we don’t like one another and we especially don’t like working together, correct?” he asked.
“Agreed,” I answered honestly.
“I think you should do the honorable thing and quit.”
“You want me to leave?” I asked, shocked he was requesting something so incredulous.
“Yes.”
“Why should I leave?”
“You don’t need the money or anymore fame. You could use this breakup as your excuse for leaving.”
“I don’t think so.” I took a deep breath to calm myself down. “Now, I suggest you get out before I do or say something I may or may not regret.”
“You aren’t going to quit?” he asked in a threatening manner.
I stared at him but didn’t respond.
“Fine,” he spat as he moved towards the door. “Expect me to make your life very uncomfortable on the set from now on.”
“How will that change from any other day?” I laughed. “You’ve been a complete asshole towards me the entire shoot so far. How would that be different?”
“It’s going to get worse. One way or another, I will make you leave,” he continued to threaten. “You had me fired from the last movie. This time it’s your turn.”
“Is that so?” I asked, imitating his aggressive tone. It was clear to me then that he had a vendetta against me for having him fired and he had every intention on seeking revenge.
“Don’t take it personally, princess,” he smirked. “It’s just business.” He slammed the door on his way out.
“It’s just business.” I mocked, his tone. “Good God, is today threaten Elizabeth day?” I asked the empty trailer.