Take Two (A psychological thriller)

A cable trailed from the boom across the floor to where Dougie McLean, the sound man, sat on a folding chair with a set of bulbous headphones on.  One of Dougie’s female assistants walked over to Carolyn, smiled, and began to attach a radio mic, concealing it under her dress and feeding a wire through to the transmitter that she clipped to the back of Carolyn’s dress.  When she’d finished, the assistant flashed Dougie a thumbs-up. ‘Give me a level, darling,’ Dougie called over to Carolyn.

‘Mary had a little lamb, it’s fleece as white as snow, and everywhere that Mary went the lamb went as well, because unlike men lambs are loyal…’

‘That’s fine,’ said Dougie.

Harrington walked over and stood to the left of the camera, holding a set of pale green script sheets.

‘Everything okay, Frank?’ Harrington asked.

‘Ready when you are,’ said Frank, staring at the viewfinder.

They spent the next hour filming Carolyn’s close-ups, then Harry put on a bathrobe and sat slightly in front of the camera so his shoulder was in the shot and they did all the lines again.

When they’d finished, Harrington looked at his watch. ‘If everyone’s okay, I’d like to get straight on to the gun.’

‘Fine by me,’ said Dougie, nodding.

‘Full steam ahead,’ agreed Frank.

‘Excellent,’ said Harrington. He stood up, removed his headset and went over to Carolyn. ‘Do you need another practice session with the gun?’ he asked.

‘I’ll be fine,’ she said. ‘Point and pull the trigger.’

‘And try not to flinch,’ said Harrington. ‘We’ll be on you from the waist up for the first shot so we’ll see your face. Then we’ll do a cutaway on just the gun. But for the first one, a sly smile would be good. And try not to blink.’

‘I know, the Michael Caine school of acting. Never blink.’

‘Yeah, that and talking in a dull monotone always did the trick for him.’ He waved Danny Brett over.

The armourer brought his metal case with him and placed it on the floor in front of Carolyn before kneeling down and opening it. He took out the gun, keeping the barrel pointed to the floor, and placed it in her hand. ‘All right?’ he said.

‘Perfect,’ she said. ‘I don’t suppose you could get me one that fires real bullets?’

Danny grinned. ‘I think you could probably get one for five hundred in most pubs in South London,’ he said. ‘You got people you want to shoot?’

‘Just the one,’ said Carolyn.

Danny winked at her and stepped out of the shot.

Harrington was back in his seat with his headphones on.  The microphone boom swept over her head and then stabilized. ‘Sound okay?’ he shouted.

‘Rolling,’ called back Dougie.

‘Okay,’ said Harrington. ‘And action!’

Andrea was already in character, wide-eyed and scared on the bed. Seb was still grinning over at one of the grips but as soon as Harrington shouted he grabbed the duvet as he had done last time they had shot the scene.

Andrea hesitated for two beats, then started to speak, her voice shaking. ‘Please, Diana, I just want to go home.’

‘Of course you do, babe. Just let me shoot my lying, scheming bastard husband and then you can be on your way.’  A mobile phone burst into life somewhere behind her. A Lady Gaga song.

‘For fuck’s sake, who’s left their bloody mobile on?’ screamed Dougie.

‘Cut!’ shouted Harrington.

‘Sorry, sorry, sorry,’ said a red-faced man with shoulder-length hair who was standing at the far side of the set by the refreshments table. He fumbled in his leather jacket and pulled out his phone.

‘I might have known,’ shouted Dougie. ‘A fucking writer. Why do we allow them on set?’

‘Really, I thought I’d switched it off,’ said the writer. His name was Jeff Thompson and he was a recent addition to the writing staff, a veteran of Coronation Street and Holby City. Carolyn had chatted to him during the last read-through and he was a nice enough guy, though he had a habit of looking down at her breasts which she found a little disconcerting.

Harrington stood up. ‘Well, make sure it’s off now,’ he said. ‘Okay, everyone, let’s start again. And if anyone else has a phone, for God’s sake make sure it’s off.’ He sat down again. ‘Ready. Action!”

Andrea stared at Carolyn, steadied herself, and launched into her line. ‘Please, Diana, I just want to go home.’

‘Of course you do, babe. Just let me shoot my lying, scheming bastard husband and then you can be on your way.’ Carolyn swung the gun towards Seb who did a great job of registering surprise even though the camera wasn’t on him. Carolyn tightened her eyes, braced herself for the explosion, forced a smile, and pulled the trigger.

Seb pulled out his tongue and crossed his eyes but Carolyn blocked out his antics and focused her attention on delivering her line.  ‘Happy now, darling?’

Seb stuck his finger in his ear and wiggled it in and out.  Carolyn waited a few beats, still focused on Seb even though she knew the moment would be cut in the edit and it would be Seb’s reaction on screen.  Then she wagged the gun and delivered the last line of the scene.