When she got back to her office, the phone rang. It was Lexi. "Noelle hi!" she said.
"Hey Lexi! How are you?" Noelle said. She was still upset with her colleague, as she never gave her a heads up that she would assist that special someone.
"I'm still at the production company, still waiting for the papers to be signed. And I just received a call from the set..." Lexi said and paused. Noelle felt that this definitely wasn't heading in the right direction.
"Listen, I know you said you have to write, but you really need to get there. Noah has his phone shut, I am on the other side of the city, and you… you can get there the fastest..." Lexi continued.
"Why? Why do I have to go to the set?" Noelle asked, alarmed.
Lexi sighed. It was a genuine sigh. "Well... he lost his mind apparently. He said he's not filming anymore," she explained.
Noelle was taken aback. "What? Why?" she asked. She couldn't find any reason why Luca West would suddenly stop filming.
"He said something about... standards? Professionalism and actors' rights?" Lexi said, but it sounded more like a question that even she couldn't understand herself.
Noelle understood that this was serious trouble. She mentally calculated the cost of the delay he was causing. "That's strange. I didn't know he was a member of a union," she said.
"He isn't. He doesn't pick up the phone, and the producers aren't giving me any details. I don't know what happened or what he is... fighting for?" Lexi said, adding a big question mark at the end.
Noelle was intrigued by the mystery. Still... "I think I'll just make it worse if I go," she said.
"You'll do great. I told again and again. He is changing, he is accepting you. Just go there and find out what happened. I'm getting in a cab in five minutes. Call me when you know more, and I'll guide you through. You know—every minute counts. And I'm counting on you," Lexi said, sounding commanding and supportive at the same time.
Noelle was flattered. She was their only hope. She just had to find out what was going on. She could do that.
"Ok. I'm going," she said, and within a couple of minutes she was in a taxi heading to the park where Luca West had apparently launched a one-man strike.
She arrived pretty fast. No heavy traffic that day. She headed straight to the base camp.
Everybody was upset. The production team looked furious, the hair and makeup crew distressed, the camera and sound crews clearly pissed.
After scanning all those vexed faces—none of which belonged to Lucafer—she approached Tom, who had always been very nice to her and eager to help over the past few days.
"Hello. I came here to check what happened," Noelle told him.
He looked at her for a second, then chuckled derisively. "You? They sent... you? They sent Christmas, the intern, to check? Do they think we're a joke?" he spat out.
He was so mean. He had no reason to be offensive. Noelle tried to excuse him, even though she felt uneasy. Maybe his bad temper was the reason for his insults. She was about to explain herself, to calm him down, to make him see how unfair his behaviour was. "I'm only here to—" she began, but he cut her off.
"Listen, little girl, be of some use and go fetch your boss some champagne to cool him down," he told her.
Was he the same guy who two days ago had helped her find a copy of the script with a big smile on his face? There were only a few possible explanations for this change in behaviour: a) he had multiple personalities, b) there was a virus spreading that altered people's minds, or c) Lucafer had really pissed him off. She was not going to tolerate this.
"Excuse me, but I will pretend I haven't heard any of what you just said. Please tell me what's going on," Noelle said, trying to bring him to his senses.
Another senior crew member, Lisa Miller, approached and took her aside. "Noelle, you chose the wrong person to inquire. Tom is the reason why Luca is pissed. He commented on the tattoos of one of the actors and how long it took to cover them. The kid didn't say anything, but Luca thought the comment was unprofessional and bullying, so be started arguing with Tom. We intervened, but things got tense and Luca decided to retreat to his trailer. We're trying to get him out and start filming again. Can you help?" Lisa explained.
"I'm not sure, but I can try," Noelle said.
It was a long shot. A very long shot.
She picked up her phone and, for the first time ever, looked up his contact. His number had been saved on her phone from day one, along with other important company contacts.
She never had to call him. She never wanted to call him. Even as his assistant, she had never dialled his number. Neither had he. But the time had come.
The phone rang. Once. Twice. Thrice. It kept ringing, but there was no response. As expected. She hung up and decided it was time to go to his trailer and knock on the door. "He's not picking up. I'll go look for him," she said to Lisa.
"No need to. There he comes," she replied.
Noelle turned around and indeed saw Lucafer approaching. He was ready for work. All dressed up, makeup done, wig perfectly placed. His expression matched exactly his character; the fierce and strong warrior Rohart. That was the pissed-off face of Luca West. Eyes narrowed, eyebrows clouded, his lips a single line. He was ready to burn down a castle.
It was time to take action. She had no idea what exactly to do, so she just walked quickly toward his direction, hoping to speak to him before reaching the base camp.
As she approached, she noticed that his gaze was fixed on the people under the pavilion. Hadn't he seen her? Or was he just ignoring her?
This will turn out just lovely…
When she was four or five steps away, she stopped right in front of him. It was now or never.
"Mr. West, Lexi sent me," she said in a steady, clear voice. She believed those key words would grab his attention—and they did.
He stopped and looked down at her. "Welcome, Your Majesty," he said with an awful smirk.
"Mr. West, nobody could reach you on the phone, and I was the one who could get here the fastest. I came to tell you to resume work," Noelle said.
Those weren't exactly her orders, but he had just called her Your Majesty. She didn't handle mockery well.
"Where is the royal decree you need to provide me with in order for me to obey? Without that, I'm afraid your order lacks legitimacy," he said.
That pissed her off even more. "I would appreciate it if you could deal with this situation with maturity," she demanded.
"Oh, I'm mature enough. Follow me and you'll see," he said and continued toward the base camp.
Noelle walked fast right behind him. "Mr. West, what happened? You need to resume working immediately."
"Incompetent people need to go," he proclaimed.
"You are being one of them now. You're causing problems for everyone…"
She wasn't sure he heard her until he stopped and looked at her firmly. With an unexpectedly lower, calm, and decisive voice, he said: "You should be with me, not against me. Keep quiet."
Noelle blinked and caught her breath. She hadn't seen that kind of behaviour from him before. Now she was to obey, without understanding the reason why.
They continued walking to base camp, and when they got there, he turned to face the crowd. "Is he still here? I told you, I'm not working with him around," Luca yelled.
Nobody could contain him. She felt that talking to him again wouldn't make any difference. She dialled Lexi's number.
"Lexi, where are you? Hurry up! He's out of control!" Noelle said.
"I'm coming! Tell me more."
Noelle quickly filled her in. "And right now, they're still fighting..." Noelle informed her.
"Tom Vega...?" Lexi's voice trembled. "That's not good... Gosh... Hold on. I'm calling Chloe. I'll call you back." She hung up before Noelle could respond.
Noelle turned to the scene. Vega was staring angrily at the trees, muttering things like "I should have become an actor! At least I'd know when I should be working" and "How easy it is for wealthy people to disregard other people's work..."
On the other hand, Luca was saying, "It's easy to disrespect the arts. Most people find it easy!" and "Some people think their work is more important than others."
The situation was getting worse, and she wasn't sure Lexi could find Chloe in time.
The production guy turned around and came closer to Luca, who was ready to rumble.
"Mr. West, can you please go back to the set to shoot the scene? You've wasted a lot of valuable time for all of us," Tom Vega said.
"As long as you remain on this set, I refuse to do anything," Luca replied.
Noelle thought it would be wise if she could persuade him to go back to his trailer, away from production, so everyone could calm down. She took a step toward him, but at the same time Vega stood opposite Lucafer, ready to escalate the fight.
"I dare you to say that one more time," Vega shouted.
Luca West was ready to attack him. Noelle knew they'd reached a point where things would only get worse.
She reacted on instinct.
She threw herself between the two men, facing Luca West. She raised her hands, placing them firmly on his chest to hold him back.
His chest was hard as stone, and she could feel the frantic beating of his heart under her palms. The heat radiating from him was intense.
"Enough!"