Page 4 of Let’s Make a Scene

“They want to make it now?” I’m trying to keep up.

“In two months, when you were due to start working on Iron Maiden.” Gayle is brisk.

“That is insane,” I say flatly. “There’s no way.”

“It’s not as wild as it sounds,” Gayle jumps in. “Like I say, the script’s been doing the rounds for a while. They want to use most of the original cast and crew—that’s part of the draw, so there’s no messing around convincing producers that this guy or that gal is the right choice. The scheduling has fallen into place like you wouldn’t believe. The original locations in the UK are available, and they’ll shoot the rest on the same lot in the studio outside London. I swear, it’s like the universe is behind this movie. Even Logan is on board.”

“Logan?” I frown. “I thought he was doing the next Marvel movie?”

Logan Gallow is Jasmine Gallow’s twin brother. A Lady of Quality was the first and last film they ever directed together and the experience was… interesting. Logan went on to direct a bunch of action blockbusters, while Jasmine’s sporadic output has been much more arthouse.

“Wait.” The final piece of the puzzle slips into place. I blame my muddled brain for the fact it’s taken this long. I look at Hannah, and she gazes innocently off to the side, careful not to meet my eye. “What about Jack?”

Saying his name makes my stomach hurt again.

If I hadn’t been looking for it, I don’t think I would have noticed Gayle’s infinitesimal hesitation. “That’s the best part. He’s just wrapped the latest series on his show,” she says brightly. “If you’re in, he’s in.”

I absolutely cannot make a film with Jack Turner-Jones. I can’t even be in the same room with Jack Turner-Jones.

Thirteen years ago we swore we’d never see each other again. It’s a promise we’ve managed to keep.

I close my eyes.

Apparently, that’s about to change.

Chapter 2 CYNTHIE

“There’s more,” Gayle says.

“Of course there is,” I murmur, rubbing my temples, a tension headache brewing. Because naturally it can’t end there, with the reappearance of my mortal enemy. Obviously, there has to be some further catch—a scene where I have to roll around in jam before being chased by a swarm of angry bees, perhaps.

That actually sounds preferable to working with Jack again.

“The funding for the film comes with a couple of… stipulations.” The way Gayle breezes over the words has me on high alert.

“What sort of stipulations?”

“Nothing too daunting.” Gayle sips demurely at her latte. “In fact, everything should work in our favor.”

“Just tell me.”

Gayle runs her finger around the rim of the china coffee cup, suddenly coy. “Alongside the film, the producers are interested in pursuing another project: a documentary.”

“A documentary?” I’m going to have to stop parroting everything she says back to her, but the situation just keeps getting more and more bizarre. Perhaps this is all a hallucination, and back in the real world I’m still lying on my exercise mat, Petra cackling gleefully over the unconscious, dehydrated husk of my body.

“An all-access, behind-the-scenes look at the filming process. The whole cast and crew back together after thirteen years to make a second-chance romance, you and Jack reuniting on-screen after all this time, reminiscing about the original Lady, the movie that launched your careers. And the whole production is being driven by a wave of new, young fan interest… It’s a great angle,” Gayle continues, and there’s excitement in her words. She’s fired up about this. “You know how much content people consume now; the studios simply can’t keep up. This is a two-for-one for them, double the exposure for us. Win-win.”

I narrow my eyes, suspicious. “The film is a second-chance romance?”

Gayle waves an airy hand. “I mean, the first movie ended happily, so the conflict in the sequel obviously comes from the fact that events have separated the young lovers in the interim. This film is about them reuniting: older, wiser, a little more jaded. It’s called A Woman of Fire, and it’s gorgeous stuff, Cyn. Gorgeous! Think Persuasion meets The Notebook. A total swoon!”

My suspicions are not allayed. In fact, I can almost hear warning sirens wailing in the distance. “So… the film is about a second chance between the characters,” I say carefully.

Gayle doesn’t blink but Hannah looks increasingly shifty. She’s always been a shit poker player.

“Well,”—Gayle leans forward, places her coffee cup down with a decisive clink—“now we come on to the other stipulation. Naturally, the angle of the movie did get the folks at the studio thinking. Former lovers reuniting… a second chance at romance… young love rekindled…” She trails off suggestively.

My stomach drops as I see exactly where this has been heading all along. “If you’re talking about me and Jack then I’ll remind you that there was never any romance the first time around. It was all a publicity setup. In fact”—my breath is coming quicker now—“I can’t believe you’re even bringing this up when you know how bad things were between the two of us.”