Chapter Fourteen
“Reset!” Antonio shouted from the outdoor set. “Elizabeth, once again, you are off the mark.”
“I’m standing right on the sticker, Antonio,” I retorted.
We were two weeks into filming, and I was surprised that neither Billy nor I had killed Antonio yet.
“Stop bitching, Elizabeth. Do it again.”
I felt like I had been in this situation before.
“Where do you want me to stand if this marker is not the one you want?”
Antonio was speaking with his first assistant director and ignored me. He was really trying my patience and all Billy did lately was laugh and tell me that it could’ve been dealt with long ago. I had had enough.
I walked off the set.
“Where are you going?”
“I have your attention now, do I?” I shot back. “It’s a hundred and ten degrees out here, I’m tired, and there are enough shots you can work with. I’m going for lunch.”
“We’re not done here.”
“I am.”
“You’re quitting?” Antonio asked, a little too enthusiastically.
“For today I am. See you tomorrow.” I continued to walk away. I knew I would get into trouble with Billy when he got back from a production meeting, but I didn’t care.
I had my driver take me back to the hotel. I went straight to the restaurant inside the lobby and ordered spaghetti with meatballs.
“Where’s your boyfriend?” Sonny asked as he sat down next to me.
“Miami.”
“Not that boyfriend,” Benny Micheletti said as he sat on the other side of me.
“Billy is at a meeting, what do you two want?” I asked, in a snarky tone. I was exhausted from the tension on the set and all I wanted to do was wait for my meal in silence.
“We need to speak to Billy and thought you would know where he is,” Sonny said.
“Like you talked to him the night before the hit on Trassari?”
Both men stared at me without saying a word.
“Leave him out of shit like that,” I demanded.
“Mind your own business,” Sonny threatened.
The waitress came over with my meal. I ignored Sonny’s threat and dove into my meal.
“Is there anything else I can help you guys with?” I asked. “If not, I’d like to eat in peace.”
“Hard day on set?” Benny asked as he went to take a meatball off my plate of spaghetti.
I smacked him hard on the hand with my fork.
“Ow,” he yelled.
“All those meatballs are spoken for, get your own, and yes every day is a hard day on set with Antonio Suarez.”
“Need us to take care of anything?” Sonny asked, becoming serious.
“No, but thank you for the offer.” I sarcastically answered.
“Well isn’t this rich.” Elena materialized at the table. “I came to drag you back to the set and here you are with your friends.” She practically spit out the word friends.
“Who is this stunning vision of beauty?” Sonny stood up from the table, taking Elena’s hand in his and kissing it.
I gagged on a mouthful of food.
“I’m the studio head in charge of the film Elizabeth is supposed to be working on right now.” She blushed as he kissed her hand again.
“Well, bella, you are quite the sight,” Sonny continued to fawn. “But I’ve never heard of a studio head on set.”
“Unfortunately, the director is having a hell of a time with his lead actress.” She glared at me. “So, I have to stick around and babysit.”
“Do you mean Elizabeth?” Sonny asked, as if he was truly concerned.
“Yes, Elizabeth and the director, Antonio, don’t get along.” Elena answered, in a softer tone, no doubt falling for Sonny’s charm.
“Perhaps, bella, then you need a new director because Elizabeth here is the best in the business.”
Elena ripped her hand out of his grip as I gave her a smug smile with a mouthful of food.
“Yeah, Elena, why don’t we get a new director?” I asked sarcastically.
“My brother Benny and I could help with that if you want?” Sonny propositioned Elena.
She blanched at his words.
“Sonny,” I blurted out. “Seriously?” I couldn’t believe he had offered his services.
“The offer is on the table. Let’s go, Benny.”
“Sorry about that, they’re idiots,” I apologized to Elena after the two men had left.
“Yet you were having lunch with that sort of people. I should’ve known.”
I glared at her in response.
“I expect you back on the set in thirty minutes,” she demanded as she haughtily turned and walked out of the restaurant.
***
“I hear you walked off the set today and didn’t go back even though Elena chased you down.” Billy recapped when I opened my suite door to him later that evening.
“Did she also tell you that I had Sonny and Benny at my table and Sonny offered to take care of Antonio for her?” I asked as I led him to the table on the balcony.
“It was mentioned.”
“Don’t ever leave me alone on set with these people again,” I ordered.
“Deal.”
“I need to get out of here for a while,” I started. “I don’t have to film any scenes again until Monday, so I’m going to fly out to Miami in the morning. I’ll be back Sunday afternoon.”
“Might be a good idea. You’re a little uptight right now.”
“It’s just that it’s too stressful around here,” I continued to explain.
“Elizabeth, I get it. You need to get laid.”
“Don’t be a pig,”
Billy stared at me.
“Yeah, okay, you’re right.” I admitted.
“You know I could—”
“No.” I cut him off, knowing exactly where he was going with that.
***
The next morning, I was on a private flight to Miami. Due to the travel time and time change, I would only have a short time with Cal, but that’s all I needed.
“There you are,” Cal called as I descended the plane’s stairs. He was standing beside his car, on the tarmac, with the drivers side door open. “I’m starving, I want to eat.”
“Hello to you too,” I said sarcastically as I met him at the car and gave him a kiss. “I’m starving too. Let’s go back to your hotel,” I seductively suggested.
“No way, I want food then we have to be at a party. We have to go now.” He went over to the driver’s side door and let himself into the car.
“Wait, what?” I asked, standing outside of the car holding my bag.
“Come on, baby, I want to go.” He sat in the car and closed the driver side door as I stood beside it.
I walked around to the passenger side and got into the car, dumbfounded. He had made plans for us that involved us wearing clothes? It was the complete opposite to what I had in mind. I was hurt and the niggling thoughts about our relationship came flooding back, but I was determined to try to keep it going. Even if he was a tool.
***
The short time I had with Cal sped past rather quickly and not one minute of it had been spent alone unless we were sleeping, and only sleeping.
I woke up late Sunday morning to a snoring Cal. I knew I had to be back at the airport by nine, which gave me a forty-five-minute window. I got out of bed and began packing my bag. I went to the washroom and grabbed all my toiletries.
“What are you doing?” Cal asked from the bed.
“Getting ready to go.”
“Not yet,” he whined. “Come back to bed, there’s something we haven’t had the chance to do yet.”
“Whose fault is that?” I teased, putting my stuff down on the bathroom counter, and went back into the bedroom.
“Come here, baby,” he said in his irresistible bedroom voice.
I crawled back into bed beside him. He began to passionately kiss me on the lips. Then without warning, he became more aggressive than passionate. He rolled on top of me and pinned both my hands to the bed.
“Cal, I don’t like this,” I complained as I tried to pull my hands free. “I’m too claustrophobic to have both my arms held down.”
“But, baby,” he murmured as he began kissing my neck. “I know how much you love to be controlled.”
Between the weight of him on top of me and not being able to move my arms, I was quickly becoming frantic.
“No. I don’t like to be controlled and I really need you to let go of my hands.” I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“No.” He moved his hands to my wrists and pinned me down with more force than before. I couldn’t fight him off. His kisses became more like bites and he was getting rather rough.
I did not like it at all and I was becoming more and more panicked.
“Cal, get off me,” I yelled, but he ignored me and continued.
“Baby, are you ready for the ride of your life?” he asked gruffly as he poised himself above me.
My hysteria got the better of me and I head butted him in the nose.
“Jesus Christ, Elizabeth. What the fuck was that for?” He rolled off me, to his side of the bed, holding his bloodied nose.
“I warned you three times that I’d had enough.” I got up, grabbed my clothes, and locked myself in the bathroom.
“Baby, I’m sorry,” Cal called. “Come back to bed.”
I looked at myself in the mirror. What the hell was I doing with this guy?
My cell phone, next to the bed, began to ring.
“It’s your pilot,” Cal said after he rudely answered my phone.
I opened the bathroom door and took my phone from him.
“Hi, Patrick. Yes, I’ll be there in ten minutes, thanks.” I hung up the phone.
“I’m sorry, baby, don’t go.” His sweet demeanor was no longer working for me.
“I don’t have a choice. I have to be on set early tomorrow morning,” I said coldly while I gathered my bag and made sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. “Are you going to drive me to the airport or do I have to catch a cab?”
“I’ll drive you.” His attitude abruptly changed to being angry and he aggressively began to get dressed.
“I’ll wait for you in the hall,” I left him in the suite and waited for him at the elevators. The only thoughts running through my mind at the time were how to get away from him faster.
“You know, I never got any.” Cal finally broke the silence as we pulled onto the tarmac next to the waiting private plane.
I glared at him. He was such a selfish, arrogant bastard. How had I not seen this before?
“You could blow me now before you leave.” He began to undo his pants. “Maybe then I could forgive you for head butting me.”
I physically recoiled at the thought of touching him.
“Goodbye, Cal.” I got out of the car.
“Wait, Beth.”
I leaned back down into the open door of the car to look at him.
“You’re just going to leave me like this?” He motioned to his undone zipper.
“Pretty much.” I closed the car door and climbed the stairs of the plane.
Patrick, my pilot, his co-pilot, and the flight attendant were waiting for me.
Outside on the tarmac, I could hear tires screeching like Cal was taking off in a hurry. I assumed because he now had a date with his hand.