Modern English, page 3
She sighed. There it was, suddenly, the moment of when the change had occurred shone crystal clear, though the events around that moment felt fractured. Perhaps crystal shards offered a more fitting allusion to that particular memory, both precious and sharp.
“Vic?” her father asked.
“Yes?”
“You’ve managed to sigh twice in the moment it took me to walk into the next room.” His voice was gentle as always, and she experienced a new wave of guilt for what she was about to do. Summer offered their only prolonged chance to connect these days, but he more than anyone in the world would understand the responsibility weighing on her shoulders.
“We’ve had a mix-up with the filming crew for Emma Volant’s movie.”
“What sort of a mix-up?”
Vic told him about the paperwork, the furniture removal, and James’s annoyance, leaving out only the part where a beautiful woman disarmed her in both the literal and figurative sense. She couldn’t let her mind wander back to Sophia LeBlanc’s imposing physical presence and cold indifference, or she’d never be able to maintain her focus.
“What do you think?” he asked, when she finished relaying the details.
She knew what she wanted to do, but she didn’t want to overplay her hand and show her bias, so she first laid out the key arguments for sending the film crew back to Hollywood empty-handed. “This is our busiest time. We have our summer schedule set. Many families have already planned visits to the area, and local business owners who depend on the tourism traffic would bear an undue burden if we suffered unexpected closures.”
“Certainly.”
“And yet those same businesses would likely benefit a great deal from the influx accompanying a large film crew. Many of them were scheduled to stay at B&Bs around the castle, and surely they would eat and shop at local businesses. The studio also promised to hire locals for things like lights and carpentry, not to mention the extras for the film. Those things would undoubtedly benefit both the economy and community morale.”
He made a slight noise of agreement.
“Additionally, we did sign the contract,” she said with a little bit of chagrin. “I maintain they should’ve given thought as to how their filming locations would format dates, but seeing as how no one on our staff gave any consideration to where the contract originated, I’m not sure we have a much higher moral stand here, and our family name should stand for something when it appears on a legal document.”
“Indeed.”
She could picture him nodding.
“The contract was entered into in good faith, and intent should be upheld whenever possible. Our name is only as good as the honour behind it, but I suspect you’d already come to that conclusion?”
“Because I’m transparent?”
“No, because you’re thoughtful. I suspect you didn’t need my input here, but I believe that if a mix-up can be attributed to both staffs, then the burden for making amends should fall in the middle as well. What do you propose?”
“What makes you think I’ve formulated a grand plan?”
“You’ve had grand plans since you were old enough to talk.”
Some of the tension in her shoulders loosened at the humour in his voice. “I think I’ll have to stay here and walk the tightrope between keeping the main tourism spaces as open as possible and protecting the sanctity of the family spaces from the invasion.”
“That was our primary concern when you first broached the idea, if I remember correctly. Along with the standards of propriety the family must maintain.”
“I intend to keep my word to you and mother as well,” she said quickly, remembering the initial argument to grant access to the film crew at all. The family never allowed any other business interests into their private sanctuary, and even the formal tours operated under the strictest protocol for complex and varied reasons, ranging from basic safety to her mother’s almost obsessive aversion to anything common enough to excite public perceptions. Her mother placed an exacting emphasis on timelessness, tradition, and transcendence. Vic, for her part, had often fallen short of her expectations in those areas, usually inspiring disappointment more than outright disagreement, but the former had stifled her enough over the last few weeks not to want to bear the brunt of them any further this summer.
“So, where will they film the movie if not in the public spaces or the family spaces?”
“That,” she said emphatically, “is what I’ve got to navigate.”
“Your mother won’t like the vagueness of your new job description.”
“Then perhaps it’s best for her to remain in Scotland. Someone should convince her there’s no need to disrupt her plans only to rush back into a stressful situation.”
“Well thought,” he said. “Then I suppose we both have our assignments. You’re about to get much more involved in the movie business, and I’m to keep the rest of the family far from it.”
She smiled at his summation. “Want to switch jobs?”
He chuckled softly. “No, we both know this setup plays to each of our strengths. Please phone me if anything changes.”
She agreed and hung up with a wash of gratitude for his faith in her, but even with that vote of confidence and his offer to run interference on her behalf, she wasn’t at all sure she was as up to her task as he was to his.
••••
Sophia did her best not to roll her eyes at Brian Dawes as he sat on the small table inside her trailer. What was with these hipster guys’ inability to use chairs like regular people? Or was the pose something he had seen in a movie about directors at some point? She never could quite shake the feeling that he wasn’t so much a director as a little boy playing at one the way some children play soldier or house. To prove her point, he shook a few strands of golden curls from his forehead and held up his hands to mimic a camera lens.
“We could shoot from some obscure angles to make it look like we’re inside the castle walls, when really we’re outside them. Can’t be any worse than the sound stages I grew up on.”
“Yes, but not too obscure, because I was thinking I could look at the camera directly sometimes,” her co-star, Tommy Malone, said from the front of the trailer where he was checking his own reflection in a makeup mirror.
“Yeah, yeah,” Brian said dismissively, “like extreme close-ups.”
“Close-ups work for me,” Tommy said.
This time, Sophia didn’t manage to keep from rolling her eyes. Thankfully the men were too self-absorbed to notice, but she caught Talia smiling at her.
They’d all reported to talk about their current quandary, but there wasn’t much to say until they got their verdict from the lady of the house, so the last two hours had been spent trying to tame her annoyance amid the men’s grandstanding and random visits from costumers or makeup artists.
“Have either of you even been outside the castle walls?” Talia asked. “Aside from your rooms at the B&B?”
“I went to a pub last night,” Tommy said, in his authentic Scottish accent. “Good ales, better company.”
Brian smiled lecherously. “Company, eh? Maybe that’s what I’ll do tonight. I was too jet-lagged yesterday.”
Apparently, jet lag presented itself as hung over from the complimentary booze on his first-class flight the night before. Or maybe the complimentary Bloody Marys on his train down from Edinburgh, since Sophia and Talia had shared the same travel itinerary without similar effects. Then again, she’d nearly gotten into a sword fight with the owner of a castle, so perhaps she should try the jet lag excuse as well.
“Come on.” Talia extended her hand to Sophia. “Let’s get some fresh air.”
She allowed herself to be pulled outside.
“Sorry,” Talia said as soon as the door closed behind them. “The level of self-absorption in there was aggravating my allergies.”
“You’re allergic to rich, talentless, self-absorbed men?”
“Of course. Aren’t you?”
“Come to think of it, that character trait does tend to carry rash-like symptoms for me. And not just in men.”
“Right. I’ve gotten the same sort of under-my-skin itch around a starlet or two, but I’ve found it more common in the men of this business.”
“I’m afraid our hostess is about to provide a counterpoint,” she said. She recognised the form of Victoria Von Rich-and-Pretty striding toward them across the courtyard.
“Ah,” Talia followed her gaze. “Here comes the judge and jury to deliver our verdict.”
“Aren’t you worried?”
“Only mildly.”
“Because you called your mutual friend to exert her influence last night?” Sophia asked. No matter what she thought of Lady Victoria, she clearly had a soft spot for this Emma woman.
“I actually didn’t feel the need to play that card.” Talia’s eyes never left Vic as she drew closer to them, stopping a time or two to greet staff members.
“Please don’t tell me you left the entirety of this project up to that woman’s better angels.”
“I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt before I pull in the big guns.”
“I’d have thought she already had all the benefits a person could ever want handed to her at birth. Sometimes a bit of strong-arming is exactly what a woman like her needs.”
Talia didn’t disagree but said, “I’ve never been a firm hand when it comes to women. If we get to that point, I’ll let you take the lead, but I’d like to go on record and say this one might surprise you.”
Sophia was about to say it had been a long time since any human surprised her, but the comment died on her lips as Lady Victoria spotted them and raised a hand in greeting.
Talia returned the little gesture in a poor approximation of a royal wave, and mumbled, “Be nice.”
“Good morning,” Lady Victoria called as she crossed the cobblestones to meet them.
“Good morning.” Talia made an awkward little half-bow; half-curtsey move that caused Vic to tilt her head to the side before turning to Sophia.
“Ms. LeBlanc.”
“Have you come to hand down our verdict?” She cut right to the chase.
“I’d not quite thought of my visit that way,” Vic said, with a polite smile.
“Of course not,” Talia cut back in and banged on the door to the trailer. “We’d love to chat with you. Please, won’t you join us inside?”
“I’d be delighted.”
“You might want to reserve judgement on that one until you meet the others.” Sophia’s comment earned a sharp elbow to her ribs as Talia swung open the door and made quick introductions. Brian at least had the good sense to stand up, and Tommy offered a much smoother bow than Talia had pulled off.
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Ladyship,” he said. “Could I get you a cup of tea? We’ve not got anything too posh, mind you.”
“Not at all, please, have a seat, and tell me if that’s a hint of Glaswegian I hear in your accent.”
“Aye, well done.”
“My family has an estate in Lanarkshire,” Victoria said to the rest of the group as if that offered them any sort of meaningful explanation. “They’re actually there for the summer, which leads me right into the main purpose of my visit. My family vacates this house during the summer months to allow tourist operations to run more smoothly. The income our summer guests bring is a major economic force, not for my own family, but for the area surrounding the castle and village. Any interruption to that schedule could have dire consequences for our local economy, so if we are to move forward with the filming schedule, there will need to be considerable concessions made.”
Talia’s eyes grew big. “For clarification, you’re not here for the breakup talk, you’re here for the ‘let’s work this out’ talk?”
Victoria smiled brightly. “What a nice way to put it. Yes, and I do have faith that with a little compromise on both our parts, we’ll find a middle path that does, in fact, work.”
Half the room exhaled in a collective whoosh of relief, only it wasn’t Sophia’s half. Neither she nor Brian seemed to have been holding their breath in the first place. She felt a little twinge of annoyance to have even mentally aligned herself with that asshole, but she still didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Of course, she wanted to make the film. She’d worked and prepped and compromised some of the standards around who she’d willingly accept direction from, all because she wanted to play the role so badly, which was all the more reason not to like the words concessions and compromise coming from some noblewoman who’d likely never worked a day in her life. She couldn’t resist the opportunity to say so.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but if it’s going to be such an ordeal for you, are we sure this is the right place for us? Aren’t there a thousand other castles in England and Scotland?”
“There are a great many,” Vic admitted.
“But none of the others have you in charge of them,” Talia cut back in, “which is one of several reasons we’d very much like to stay here.”
Sophia couldn’t argue. This woman was a looker, and she’d mastered a commanding affability they must teach rich women at prep school. Certainly, other castles would come with other rich, entitled owners who weren’t nearly as easy on the eyes in skinny jeans and soft, snug sweaters.
“If that’s the case, we’ll have to come to terms on a few new caveats.”
Talia grabbed a nearby iPad and tapped the screen. “Lay them on me.”
“Any filming done in tourist areas of the house will be done after 4 p.m., and the equipment used will need to be moved by ten o’clock the next morning.”
Talia pressed her lips together, no doubt thinking of all the extra hours this would require for the crew.
“You can shoot outdoors any time of day or night, so long as it doesn’t impede tourist traffic around the grounds.”
“Wait, people will still be, like, hanging around in the background?” Brian finally engaged. “That’ll wreck our sound all to shit.”
Talia cleared her throat. “What he means to ask is, if we encourage people to watch us film, might we ask them to observe a few moments of quiet during the actual takes?”
“I’m sure some people would find it interesting to be part of that,” Victoria agreed. “And we’ll make reasonable accommodations to cordon off various parts of the grounds as needed. You can also shoot on the walkways atop the battlements as well as atop the outward towers.”
“What about the big tower, in the middle?” Brian asked.
“Sadly, that’s not feasible this time of year,” Victoria said quickly, “both due to tourist traffic and the way large equipment like cameras and lights would alter the skyline of not only the castle, but also the village.”
“Surely the village could handle a little bit of a blocked view for a few days,” Brian pushed, and once again Sophia felt a bit peeved to find herself agreeing with him.
“I understand why you’d think so.” Victoria maintained her politely firm tone. “But we actually have substantial photo tourism in the town, and a great many people book wedding shoots a full year in advance to try to get images with the castle in the background.”
“Haven’t they ever heard of photoshop?” Brian grumbled.
“I’m afraid this point is firm. I’ve already agreed to extra work for my people, extra inconvenience for our visitors, and extra hours for our security staff. Alienating photographers and brides alike would put a strain on our relationship with too many locals and tourists.”
Victoria laid out her case in such a calm, measured, and amiable way Sophia almost caught herself agreeing with her. Certainly, when she framed the conversation the way she wanted, Lady Victoria came off as quite reasonable, even generous, but Sophia had yet to see her actually make any grand gestures. The woman owned a castle, for crying out loud. Surely it wouldn’t be a hardship for her to lose a few tourist dollars. Then again, a woman from umpteen generations of history ruling over common folks probably wouldn’t care about fleecing a few Hollywood producers either.
To be fair, Sophia didn’t feel any sort of sadness for the poor movie moguls’ dollars either. She did care a great deal about getting the shots she needed to make this movie a success, though, and some of her pivotal scenes were slated to be shot atop a high central tower with wide dramatic angles and sweeping cinematography.
“I can rework a couple scenes to reflect the use of a lower tower,” Talia offered as she made a few notes.
A little muscle in Sophia’s jaw twitched at the visual, but she bit her tongue waiting to see how the rest of the chips fell.
“Fine. Whatever.” Brian slouched back in his seat again, as if the minuscule amount of artistic integrity he’d mustered, and then surrendered, had exhausted him.
“Would it be possible,” Talia continued, “for us to make surface adaptations to places like the stables so long as they are in keeping with historical accuracy?”
Victoria tilted her head to the side as if considering the point. “I’m open to the idea. However, it would require considerable coordination to make sure your animals were cared for without damaging our facilities. We haven’t kept horses on the castle grounds since the Second World War, as we do our own riding near our Blackstone Abbey preserve.”
Sophia didn’t manage to completely suppress her eye roll. This woman had multiple horse-storing facilities and also, apparently, an abbey, but she balked about space on set?
“Perhaps we could check out those facilities?” Talia asked.
“A visit could be arranged, and filming near the abbey would certainly give you more freedom, as it doesn’t see as much tourism, but I need to stress every detail will have to be seen to with utmost care. Your staff will have to work closely with ours on that project.”
“Of course,” Talia agreed quickly.
“That’s actually a salient point in most situations,” Vic added. “I’m asking you to respect that this is our home. If one of my people asks you to desist from doing something or going somewhere, I need your word that you will.”
