Page 57 of Holly Jolly July

Ellie

“Cut!” Yueyi yells.

I slump against the wall, taking a moment to close my eyes and breathe. What a long, exhausting day. The final days of filming

always are—there’s so much pressure to perform since there’s very little room for error. Hopefully this is it, and we can

call this a wrap and be done. Tomorrow is our final day of filming, my most important scenes, and I’m pre-emptively tired

just thinking about it.

Then, it’s over. Another movie in the bag. My sense of pride for completing another film is met with a twinge of sadness.

I always get the blues when Christmas comes to an end, even if the Christmas has thirty-degree heat and fake snow. I’m already

looking forward to my next opportunity, but I don’t have anything lined up yet and am not sure when that will happen. I’ll

have to call my agent.

Leaving my off-stage spot, I walk back into the main room of the café.

Julia smiles her perfect smile. “You did great, Ellie!”

Oscar puts an arm around me. “I could feel the emotion pouring out of you. It made my own delivery so much better.”

“Great job, Ellie,” Yueyi agrees, stepping in front of the blinding lights. “Why don’t you all head over to the restaurant?

First drinks are on me.”

Oscar laughs. “They’re all on you. It’s a wrap party.”

We make our way back to hair and makeup and Mariah is there waiting for me. She looks up from her phone and a smile lights

her face. Oof, that smile. I once had to work so hard for it, and now she gives it to me freely. What a privilege.

I try to push my way toward her, but Oscar and Julia guide me to the other side of the room to their station. They pass around makeup wipes and we each take one, rubbing our faces to rid ourselves of the layers caked onto our skin.

“Seriously, that was the best performance of the whole film,” Oscar continues, wiping under his eyes. “No offence, Julia.”

“None taken!” She pauses to blot her lips. “I was going to say the same thing. I’d tell you to stop outshining me, but the

way you delivered your lines made me deliver mine even better. I’m still so new at this, but having such a strong supporting

actress on my team is an incredible help. I feel like I’ve learned so much.”

I balk at her words. “Wow, thank you.” For once, I’m not sure what else to say.

“I’m heading home right after filming tomorrow,” Oscar says. “So it’s our last night together as a crew.”

“Same, I have a flight to catch back to Calgary,” Julia agrees. “Can’t believe it’s already over.”

“Guess we’ll have to drink double to make up for tomorrow,” Oscar jokes.

“Not too much,” Yueyi warns, coming up from behind. “I don’t want anyone hungover tomorrow. Everyone has to look cheery and

rosy.”

Oscar winks. “That’s what makeup is for.”

Yueyi tsks. “You troublemaker.” Then she wraps her arms around all three of us for a group hug.

I’ve never felt as included with the team as I do right now. Part of me is wondering if I slipped as I exited my scene and

am actually on set right now, unconscious on the floor and hallucinating all of this.

I pull away from the hug. “I’m not sure if I can come out tonight.”

“What! No, you have to come.” Julia grabs my hand, looking slightly hilarious with half her face still painted with makeup.

“It’s basically a requirement,” Oscar states.

Yueyi places her hands on her hips. “Are you a team player, Ellie?”

“Of course I am!” I practically shout.

“You haven’t joined us for any post-film meals. You come to set, you film, and you leave. Does that seem like team playing

to you?” Yueyi’s eyes narrow.

“Yes. I mean no. No, it doesn’t, and yes, I’m a team player. Of course I’ll be there tonight.” My heart pounds in my chest.

The last thing I want is an unfriendly and anti-team reputation in this industry. The cozy movie community is a small one,

and there’s a giant pool of talent trying to break their way in. As much as I want to give Matt his final lesson, and then

hold Mariah in my arms and cuddle up under the blankets with her for what might be the last time, I can’t lose future opportunities.

“I’ll be there,” I state with finality.

“Great!” Yueyi purses her lips into a smile. Oscar slaps me on the back. Julia gives me her best toothpaste-commercial smile.

Is being the centre of attention with my co-stars and directorial team a dream of mine? Yes. Do I want to spend my last night

in Chilliwack with them? No.

“Excuse me.” I back away before turning and hustling to the other side of the room.

“What was all that about?” Mariah uses another makeup wipe to remove what I’d missed.

“I have to go out with the crew tonight,” I say without enthusiasm.

She pauses. “I thought we had plans to get back at Jax.”

“We do. We did. But I can’t miss this.”

Mariah hesitates a bit longer. “I was hoping we could... talk.”

“Yes,” I say, eagerly. “I want to talk, too.”

“But tomorrow is the last day.”

“Yeah. And my rental is finished tomorrow. I have to have everything packed and cleaned up by eleven.”

Mariah’s face clouds like a storm rolling in. “Oh. So... tonight is our last night together?”

I nod, once again not quite sure what to say.

“And you’ll be spending it with them?” She juts her chin once toward the crew.

“I have to, Mariah. This is my career, and I can’t let anything...” I trail off.

Mariah’s face darkens further. “Can’t let anything get in the way of that.”

“Trust me,” I say, taking a step closer. “I’d rather be finishing what we started with Matt, and then curling up in bed with

you.”

Mariah glances around, apparently nervous someone will overhear.

“Come with me,” I ask.

She perks up. “What?”

“Tonight, to the wrap party.”

She deflates. “Oh.”

“I’m sure other crew members will be there, too.”

Mariah hesitates, thinking.

“It will be fun...” I singsong the last word, then poke her in the ribs. She fights a smile, and I know I have her.

“Fine. Okay.”

“But—” I raise a finger “—we’ll duck out early. Between takes, I came up with an excellent plan to get back at Matt so we

can get our unfinished business done and teach him his last lesson. It doesn’t feel right leaving Chilliwack knowing we’ve

left a blatant fuckboy unchecked to continue harming the female population.”

Mariah nods, brightening at the prospect. “Agreed.”

We join the rest of the crew at a pub a few blocks away downtown, and soon the table is filled with delicious greasy food and cheap drinks.

Mariah sits quietly, looking uncomfortable around everyone else.

They all ignore her, talking amongst themselves, and despite my best efforts to include her, none of them do.

I immediately regret bringing her here, even though having her thigh pressed against mine under the table is my favourite part of the entire evening—even more than the random bouts of praise.

“You know, Ellie,” Marlene, the producer, says as she leans across the table to talk over the din. “We have another film coming

up in two weeks’ time. Our lead actress has been a bit of a flake, and with recent press she may not be the best fit for the

role.”

Yueyi, sitting next to her, nods.

Marlene continues. “She’s technically in breach of her contract. Yueyi and I have been talking, and we’re very impressed by

your work as of late. Would you be interested in being the lead?”

My eyes widen into saucers.

“I know it’s short notice,” Marlene says, mistaking my stunned silence for hesitation. “But I have no doubt you could pull

it off. You’re a professional Christmas actress, after all.”

Somehow I manage to form words. “Yes! Of course, yes!”

Marlene smiles. “Great. I’ll get in touch with your agent and send the contract and script over right away. The filming will

be longer as it’s a skiing movie, which requires snow. We’ll do most of the filming in a few weeks and the rest once we have

decent snowfall. Will you need lessons?”

I find a way to nod.

“We’ll get that taken care of. Your co-star will be Jack Winstron.”

“Jack... Winstron ?” I feel faint.

Marlene and Yueyi share a knowing smile. “Yes. The Jack Winstron. He’s a method actor, too, isn’t he?”

I definitely fell and smacked my head at some point. Is this real life? Simply breathing the same air as this man would up my game immensely.

I want the job. I need it. “Yes. Please contact my agent. I’ll take a look.” Good. Yes. Play it cool.

Marlene purses her lips and raises a single eyebrow.

My acting doesn’t fool her; she knows I’m giddy AF.

The conversations drift away from me and I twist in my seat to face Mariah.

I grip her forearms and give her the tiniest shake, even though what I want to do is climb onto the seat and jump up and down like Tom Cruise.

“Mariah, you can come with me! You can do my makeup on set again! I’m sure Marlene and Yueyi will hire you even if you’re

not a local since you did such a great job here, and we can tell them we’ll bunk together to save on costs, and we can do

it all over again! We can have another Christmas together, but up in Whistler this time. We’ll be in the mountains with the

snow, oh my god, it will be amazing. Aren’t you excited?”

Mariah drops her gaze. Then, not even bothering to reply, she reaches for her drink and downs the whole thing.

“Mariah?” I try to pull her back to face me, but she refuses to look me in the eyes. I blink a few times, confused.

“You ready to go?” she asks, her voice low. “It’s getting late.”

I regard her for a moment, unsure of her sudden coldness. Is it something I did, or something else that’s bothering her? “Yeah.

Sure.” I turn back to the table and say goodbye to everyone, which is met with a heartwarming chorus of don’t go , and come on, we’re just getting started , which I didn’t expect.

My heart is being tugged in two different directions. I’ve worked on a lot of movies but I’ve never felt so part of a team

as this, and tonight is our last night together. Even though I’ll likely see Marlene and Yueyi and some of the other behind-the-scenes