10/29/14
Lauren gazed at the movie poster hanging on the wall and her face darkened.
“That damn movie. It caused everything. If only they had cast someone else to play opposite me.”
The producers had cast as leading man the latest young idol Spike Hart. The movie was about undying love between a ghost boy and a living girl. Being a story of young love they wanted the day’s two hottest stars.
They hadn’t yet settled on a title and were still testing potential names at the time shooting began. “Time to Time”, “Ghostly Love”, and “Together Forever” had already been tried and discarded. As a result new versions of the publicity poster came out every other week.
It was a test poster that alerted Lauren there was an issue with her positioning. She had requested top billing since she knew herself to be the hotter of the two personalities. But the other performer was being listed above her. Upon questioning she was told the investors wanted the boy first since their audience would be primarily female.
Not long afterwards it seemed fate sought to intervene on her behalf. As soon as shooting began a tragedy struck the leading man. Hair remover somehow got into his shampoo bottle. He not only lost most of his hair, he also suffered chemical burns to his eyes and scarring on his scalp. He looked horrible. Adding to the tension, the police never identified a suspect.
Lauren expected the producers would just cast another actor and continue with the shoot. But instead they decided to wait on Spike Hart to recover since they’d already invested so much on pre-release publicity of his name. They also felt that public sympathy and curiosity would increase his drawing power.
During the delay they negotiated with him until they reached an agreement. He would continue in the role, but he wanted to keep his face hidden. So they rewrote the script to have him wear a shroud. Besides, this fit well with his ghost character. They then re-shot the publicity poster and released it with his new look. Afterwards reviews skyrocketed.
Lauren took the opportunity to point out that since the leading man was now completely hidden, he could be replaced with someone lesser known; someone who would work cheaper and who wouldn’t have the limitations of this injured guy. But they said Hart now had great name recognition.
She tried again to convince them she was the one carrying the show, and it would be her performance which would induce the audience to feel sorry for the boy. But nothing convinced them. Just what would it take to make them see the light?
A few months later production began again and several scenes were already “in the can” when another accident occurred. Unfortunately this time the leading man was actually killed. Lauren kindly offered to push herself to continue, if they would cast another actor. After all, the saying is, “the show must go on.” Unfortunately they no longer wanted to fund what seemed to be a cursed project, so they cancelled the entire production.
Once everything had been shut down and the books audited, the investors were angry over the amount of money they’d lost. The producer then looked for a scapegoat and blamed the actress for the negative karma that jinxed the project. She was soon blacklisted and couldn’t get so much as a commercial.
“I don’t know why they insist on blaming me,” Lauren said aloud to the poster. “It’s not like they ever found any evidence of what killed him. But now no one is calling me. And it’s all his fault!” She hit the framed poster hard enough to break the glass and felt a tinge of satisfaction.
Warm stickiness on her fingers made her look at her hand. Would a simple bandage be enough? Or should she go to the hospital and get it stitched? She didn’t need a scar to add to her troubles.
A loud crashing noise behind her caused her to jump and turn quickly. Several policemen had broken through her door and were rushing toward her. Once two uniformed officers had her arms firmly in their grasp, a plainclothes detective sauntered through the door.
“What is the meaning of this?” Lauren demanded. “Don’t you know who I am?”
“Good evening, miss. Yes, I know who you are. I’m Detective Joe Harmon, by the way. I’m here to serve an arrest warrant on you.”
“Arrest? For what?”
“For causing great bodily harm or loss of life to Mr. Spike Hart.”
“For what? That’s ridiculous. I did no such thing.”
“After his accident, the first one that is, we gathered quite a bit of evidence from Mr. Hart’s dressing room. We found your fingerprints on his shampoo bottle.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. I’ve showered in his room before. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“We also found an empty bottle of chemical depilatory in the trashcan outside your dressing room.”
“Again, that doesn’t prove anything. I use products like that for myself. I like to wear Brazilian style. Do you wish to check?”
“No, ma’am. Then after the second accident we ran forensic testing on the device which killed him.”
“Oh? What was it? The news never said.”
“I’m sorry. We’re not at liberty to divulge that just yet. There were also reports from many people that you were jealous over top billing. You’ve said to nearly everyone that you were the bigger name.”
“But it’s true. I should have been listed first. I was the big star of this show. That little toad was just a flash in the pan. Nothing more than a pretty boy who is here today and gone tomorrow. I’m the one who has the real staying power.”
“Yes, he is gone. Thanks to that second accident. But not before someone did a number on his face. Mr. Hart wasn’t a pretty boy anymore, was he?”
“Mr. Hart. Hmph! How did he come up with that? With a name like that he deserved to have his heart skewered. Spike Hart, indeed!”
“Gotcha! That was the device used to kill him. And only the murderer could have known it. What you’ve just said will serve as an admission of guilt.”
“But, but …”
“You have the right to remain silent. …”
“You can’t arrest me. I’m famous.”
“I’ll tell you what. We’ll hang a big star with your name on it on the front of your cell door. Let’s go.”
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED
