SIXTEEN

M oon Manor bustled with activity as the set decorator fixed a detail thing in one room, set builders altered the appearance of another, and lighting technicians found ingenious ways of lighting complicated rooms.

Scenes with Wickham were completed as the actor had another project to tend to. All of the scenes with Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were also completed as they were committed to a play in London.

“Just about every scene left involves Barnaby,” Keely whispered to me one morning. “Get ready for a final and difficult week.”

“I’m ready.”

“I’m particularly concerned with the proposal scene. I just know he’s going to want a change.”

Indeed, he did.

“I think the scene would be far more effective if Mr. Darcy made a grand gesture. You know, just a little pizzazz. Some excitement.”

With Rhonda at his side, egging him on, I knew it would be an uphill battle.

“This is not an ‘exciting’ scene, Barnaby,” I said. “Is a solemn and romantic one, filled with subtle emotions that take over both characters.”

“Let me just do my thing,” Barn insisted. “You’ll see how good it is.”

Keely shrugged, prepared to give in. “Okay. Have it your way.” She glanced at the crew. “We’ll take a shot his way, then we’ll try mine.” She glared at Barn who smiled and turned to take his mark.

“Action!”

I stood beside Keely as Barn went over the top with gestures and facial expressions that didn’t work at all.

“Don’t worry,” Keely whispered. “All of this is going to end up on the cutting room floor.”

Such a waste, I thought, but there was no point arguing with him. We all wanted it to be over with.

And finally, the day came. The last scene was shot with little incident and the crew let out a sigh of relief.

“That’s a wrap!” Keely called out with glee.

“I think we should try that last scene again,” Barn said.

The entire room groaned their disapproval and Keely simply looked at him.

“Okay. Okay,” he conceded. “Whatever.”

Stop playing the diva, I wanted to tell him. The shoot is over. We’re done.

The cast and crew strolled over to the ballroom where snacks and drinks were out in abundance.

“You guys have done a great job,” Keely called out as she held a glass of punch up. “Thank you all and I do hope to have the privilege of working with you again sometime soon.”

Everyone nodded their agreement as they, too, filled their glasses with punch or beer or wine and enjoyed the wrap party.

“I think we might have broken a record,” I said as I looked at Keely. “What has it been now? Thirty-two days?”

“Thirty-four,” Keely corrected. “But I still think we’re up there in quick shoots; thanks to everyone here.” Once again, she raised her glass to the crew.

“And thanks to you, Keely. Your leadership and resourcefulness got us here. You showed patience, ingenuity, creativity and a vision that we could all get behind.”

“I’ll second that,” a crew member called out.

The entire cast and crew cheered. Even Jai joined in the appreciation of Keely’s immense talent.

“It’s been a pleasure having you take over Moon Manor,” Jai said. “And should you ever need it again, it would be a pleasure having you.” With a flourish, he backed away and left us.

The only sourpuss was Barn who stood pouting, his arms angrily crossed over his chest.

As the cheering wound down, Barn came to my side, a strange smile on his face. Right there, in front of everyone including Keely and Rhonda, he put his arms around me and pulled me in for a wet kiss.

“Let it be known,” he shouted. “Let it be known by all that I, Mr. Darcy, am officially courting the lovely and delectable Miss Ayra.”

“Courting?” a young tech aid said.

“Dating,” Barn clarified or the young man. “We are dating, and have been for a while now, and it’s about time everyone knew about it.”

Everyone stared at us, some gaping, others uninterested.

“I am so proud to call this fine lady mine. She, in case some of you don’t know, saved this movie when the threat of closing it down arose due to a shortage of funds. She saved all our jobs... yours and mine.

“I want to thank you all for you dedication to this project.” He then looked out at the crowd. “I want to thank hair and make-up for making me look good. I want to thank lighting for shining that light on me. And I want to thank the sound technicians for making me sound good.”

“What is this?” a crew member muttered. “His Oscar speech?”

“And, above all, I want to thank my girl.” He squeezed me to him. “Producer and investor. She believed in me when others didn’t.” He shot a scathing glance at Keely.

Without a single word of thanks to her, just that ungrateful glance, he then turns to kiss me passionately.

I clung to him with one hand while the other hung limp at my side. What had just happened? He’d announced our secret to everyone.

I was thrilled. I was ecstatic. And his kiss; so warm and passionate.

Yet... his way with Keely. The sudden change in his attitude towards me...

“Sorry about the past few days,” he whispered into my ear. “I had to play it cool. Rhonda was growing suspicious. She’d started asking too many questions. I had no choice but to turn my attention to her to throw her off.”

I smiled, delighted that he had simply done what had to be done to conceal our relationship... until now.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Keely looking at us, her eyes wide with disbelief, but I kept my focus on Barn.

He brought his nose close to mine. “You know that you’re my girl, right? You’ve been my girl since the very beginning. I just wanted to protect you... to protect us.”

I nodded.

“Come with me.”

“Where?” I asked. I looked around the room and again noticed Keely’s disapproving gaze.

“I have a surprise for you. Come on.” He grabbed my hand and tugged at me. “Please. You won’t be disappointed.” He looked at me, his beautiful eyes pleading with me.

I hesitated for just a split second then gleefully followed him. My eyes were on him as we headed out to the garden. I simply couldn’t believe that he wasn’t the jerk who’d deliberately left me stranded in London. He was simply a man who adored me and would do anything to maintain our relationship.