‘It’s certainly different to anything I’ve watched before.’ He wasn’t sure whether to add something that had occurred to him or not.
‘What is it?’ She laughed. ‘I can tell there’s something on your mind.’
‘Just that they seem to take a long time doing the same thing over and over again.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘They don’t usually do that when filming something like this. There might be a few takes, but with so much to get through most actors know their characters quite well, especially this far into filming.’
‘So what’s different this time?’
She lowered her voice further. ‘Riley is struggling a bit, despite us repeatedly going over his lines yesterday.’
‘Maybe something is worrying him.’ He looked over at the actor wagging his finger in front of some poor young chap’s face. ‘He doesn’t appear to be very happy right now.’
She stared at Riley for a moment. ‘Hmm, you’re right. I’d better get over there and see what’s wrong. We don’t have time for one of his tantrums.’ She went to walk off, then stopped. ‘I meant to say I’ve seen Erin. She seems happy, thankfully. It was good of her to step in at the last minute.’
Callum nodded. ‘I think she was delighted to be able to help.’
‘Still, it was kind of her and I, for one, am very grateful.’ He saw Tasha look in Riley’s direction. ‘I wonder if knowing Erin’s on set might encourage Riley to behave a little better. I know he wants to impress her.’
‘If he does then she won’t think much of him berating that bloke over there.’
‘Good point. I’ll go over there now and let it slip to Riley that I’ve seen Erin and hope that cheers him up a bit.’
‘Good luck.’
31
TASHA
Tasha could tell by the expression on Riley’s face and his waving hands as he leant close to the production assistant that he was giving him a difficult time. Furious, she walked over to him, determined to take his attention from the poor man who was the focus of Riley’s latest rant.
‘Hi, sorry to interrupt,’ she said, smiling at the man who appeared to be clenching his teeth. She didn’t blame him for being annoyed; Riley’s behaviour was unacceptable.
He looked at her and his jaw relaxed slightly. ‘That’s fine, Tasha,’ he said. ‘We were about done here anyway.’ He looked at Riley. ‘Weren’t we?’
‘Well, actually…’
Tasha sensed it wouldn’t take much for the man to lose his temper with Riley. She wouldn’t blame him either but knew they could not afford any further delays if filming was to be completed by the end of the week.
‘What did you do that for?’ Riley waved after the assistant as the man marched off.
Tasha kept her voice low, reminding herself she was speaking to her boss, however much she might wish to lose her temper with him at that moment. ‘I thought you might want to know something sooner rather than later, that’s all.’
Riley finally focused on Tasha. ‘What is it?’
Now she had his attention she hoped Riley would forget all about whatever the poor assistant might have done to irritate him.
‘It’s about Erin Preston.’
‘Erin? Nothing else has happened, has it?’
She presumed he might be concerned that Dale had been up to his old tricks again. Or maybe Brooke.
‘She’s fine. I only thought you might want to know she’s here.’
His interest piqued, he leant forward. ‘What, now?’
Tasha nodded. ‘Yes. She was asked to step in and cover for the hairdresser.’
