Page 74 of The Summer of Christmas

“Nothing you can say is going to fix this. I don’t have time to settle this Christmas Karaoke drama between you, Amari, and your old boyfriend.”

“Five minutes. I can do a lot of groveling in five minutes,” Ivy pleaded.

“Not happening. You’re banned from the set. I need Amari more than I need you right now.”

“But I’m the writer!”

Vera chuckled. “Like I said, I don’t need you here upsetting my actress. Go.”

Ivy was crushed. Banned from the set of the movie she wrote. She was emotionally drained. She’d thought she felt at her worst waking up with a hangover yesterday, but this was ten times worse. She felt sick to her stomach, trying to catch her breath.

“Are you going to throw up?” It was Drew. Ivy went to greet him with a hug. He turned away.

“Drew, can you help me?”

“You didn’t need my help this weekend, did you?”

“I need it now. I messed up.”

“Where were you, Ivy? I called and texted you all day yesterday, and you ghosted me.”

Ivy had purposely ignored Drew because, as she said, “I was in no condition to talk.”

“Because you were with him,” Drew stated. “Rick.”

“You mean Nick,” Ivy foolishly corrected.

“You know who I mean! I saw the video. I saw him carrying you away in his arms. I would kick his ass, but I am going to be professional, unlike you.”

First of all,Ivy thought,there is no way Drew could kick Nick’s ass.She decided not to say anything about that, steering the conversation to “I thought all publicity was good publicity.”

“Grow up, Ivy. You were supposed to be a professional.”

“It was Karaoke. At a bar. It was fun.” Ivy was desperate. Trying to find any footing she could.

“Fun? Fun? Vera and I had to fly back to deal with this. We spent the day calming Amari down enough to finish filming the movie. You insulted her. You embarrassed me and the movie. TheCaptain Midnightpeople thought this was amateur hour when we had to leave the meeting to go back and deal with the crazy writer and the lead actress.”

“Just let me talk with Amari,” Ivy beseeched Drew.

“No, Ivy, my loyalty is to the movie. Nothing else. Now leave. Or do you need me to call your old boyfriend and have him come and carry you away?”

Ivy had never seen Drew this angry. She lowered her head, gathered her things, and walked off the set of her own movie. She was crushed. Shame! Shame! Shame! Filling her mind as she walked home, went to her bedroom, locked the door, and sobbed. Her phone rang around 11:00 a.m. She thought maybe they’d changed their minds. It was Charlotte.

“What the hell did you do?” Charlotte roared.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I got reporters calling me. Your video is everywhere. Amari’s people are calling for your head. The next job you had lined up just pulled out. This is really bad.”

“It just got a little out of hand.”

“A little out of hand? Fuck me. You were at the gates of Oz, and you pissed off Dorothy.”

Ivy was having trouble following the metaphor. But she knew her career was in trouble. She tried to explain that maybe she still had feelings for her boyfriend, and Amari flirting with Nick and trying to seduce him made her jealous. “This is what this is all about, an old boyfriend?” her agent asked.

Ivy felt a smidgen of empathy from Charlotte. “Maybe…”

“I told you, Ivy, if Amari wants to go reverse cowgirl on your old boyfriend with you filming the conjugal connection, you will film it and not say a word. Do you understand me?”

She sobbed a yes. “Is there any way I can fix this?”

“Maybe. Deep down Amari is an actress. So, you need to do what they love most: kiss her ass.”

“I can do that,” Ivy said.

“I mean really kiss her ass. Get your lips up to the stinky part and beg for forgiveness.”

“I got it,” she said. “I might approach the kissing ass part in a different manner, but I’ll get it done.”