C2 Chapter 1: Well Devised Scheme

Clara Simpson

24 hours earlier

"Denise, please bring me my latte. My head is bursting with all this tension." I called my sweet and caring assistant to bring me my favourite coffee while reading the script of the upcoming film for which I signed the contract.

The bloody hell with the script!

"What is all this nonsense!" I turned the page to continue reading this nonsense. The upcoming scene was intimate, and the instructions vividly showed that I would be practically naked in front of all my audience.

I'm an artist, and I respect my profession. I have done multiple projects, but I always rejected the theme of erotica work. The problem is my comfort level. I am capable of performing a sensual scene without being naked. Yet another ridiculous demand is in front of me.

I know the reason for this kind of rubbish.

And I shouted.

"Harry, call Mr Thompson for me, please. tell him I want to have a good word with him before we proceed further." I threw the script on the dressing table, took my bag, and walked out of the set like the queen I was.

Pack up for today.

Denise was bringing my coffee. I stopped and took the coffee from her hand. "Follow me, Den. We are going home."

She followed me out of the set, although she gave me a confused look.

"What happened, Clara?" she asked me while keeping pace with my heck of a speed.

"They wanted to indulge me in an intimate scene naked. No clothes on. that hell of John will remove every last piece of my clothes." I cursed that bloody male lead of this movie who always saw me as an open invitation for all his dirty tactics.

There were many times when I ignored him and even warned him. Clara Simpson is off-limit for a pervert like him.

"Oh," she said softly, understanding my insecurities and comfort level. "But when we first read the script, there was no nude scene there." she continued.

"Exactly!... that snake of a man changed the script at the last minute" I get myself settled in the car. In the meantime, Harry also joined us. Harry is my manager and a sincere person.

"I asked him for the meeting. It's like he was expecting this already," he said when he also settled inside the car. "He is in the Imperial Hotel. He is asking you to meet him there."

"Where exactly are we going now?" Den asked, looking at her tablet. Certainly looking at my schedule and arranging it all together again because I ditched my shoot.

"Imperial Hotel then", I announced. The driver started the car, and I waited to reach the destination while mentally preparing myself for the battle I must fight.

As the car pulled to the hotel entrance, I removed my shades and cap.

"We are here." Denise eventually lifted her eyes from her tablet to look at the hotel's grand entrance.

"Let's go." I exited the car and strode straight through the entrance.

"To VIP Room no. 14", Harry proclaimed, following me along with Denise. "He would be expecting you already," Harry said.

"This is the least I can expect from him since I know that there is much more that he would have cooked up for me. Bloody bastard!" I hit the elevator button and waited for it to be opened.

"I already knew that something was wrong with this man. He is notorious for destroying actors by his tactics, yet your mother had gone crazy when she heard of the amount he offered." Harry worriedly elaborated on the information I already knew when the three of us boarded the elevator.

Denise pressed the button, and the elevator door closed. "You know what? I comprehended his schemes when he approached my mother instead of me. He is the man who knows how to play with greed." I said while looking at Denise, who was tense because of what was coming our way.

"Don't worry, Den, I'll find a way out of it," I assured her, but honestly, I don't know what is yet to happen.

"I hope!" she adjusted her glasses.

I hope too.

DING!

The elevator opened, and we walked through the hallway to reach the room. In no time, we stood in front of the room, which reads VIP. 13. A guard opened the door for me. I entered the room, but he stopped Harry and Denise.

I looked at the baldie, I mean Mr Thompson, and said, "Let them enter, or I'll be going." this snake of a man already knew my attitude, so he gestured his guard to let them enter.

In the entertainment industry, I learned two things:

Never go alone anywhere.

Never trust anyone in the entertainment industry.

And don't be a soft-spoken person in the industry.

Brushing off all the thoughts from my brain, I got the nearest seat and settled comfortably, crossing my legs.

I probed my surroundings and found the significant investors staring at me with such intensity that I felt naked in front of them, even when I was decently dressed.

I greeted with a little bow of my head, only for courtesy.

"You wanted to say something about script Clara?" Mr Thompson said with all familiarity as I had known him for centuries.

"It's Miss Simpson for you, Mr Thompson. I don't think we were close enough to be on first name bases." I kept a straight face.

"And I thought we were. Didn't I pay you to double the market value for this project?" He said with a wild creepy smile that could give anyone goosebumps. I maintained my posture, although I was getting irritated with every minute.

"Your amount was decent to par with my acting skills, and to answer your first question, yes, I am here to discuss the script," I said, looking straight into his eyes.

"Please go on," he said with such sophistication that I suddenly felt disgusted.

"Mr Thompson, I cleared before signing the contract that I'll not do any explicit scene in this movie," I said, controlling my anger. "Yet, the script includes an explicit scene."

His facial expression didn't change much. He continued, "Look, Miss Simpson, the entertainment industry is evolving every minute. Spicy scenes only appeal to our young audience. My Films only make an exceptional profit by adding these scenes."

Nonsense!

"Yet, all my movies turned out to be a big hit without these scenes." I elaborated to him.

"Yet, this is what investors want", He mocked my pronunciation. Disgusted man!

I looked at the equally disgusting creatures whom this man called Investors, sneering in my direction.

"Mr Thompson, I cannot act in any explicit scene. Erotica is not my thing." I spoke firmly, informing all the investors who had been watching the show till now.

"You have to act according to the script, miss Simpson or?" one of them said.

And here was the condition after which all this drama was being played for me.

"Or?" I asked, looking at another middle-aged man with prominent greying hair on his head.

"Or we'll take it as contract breach, and you have to compensate for it," he said with a disgusted tone that made me want to strangle him.

Yet I restrained.

"What? How can it be now? ....... The film is halfway to completion, and compensation is not a small amount." I said intently, looking at them.

God, I don't even know their names.

A laugh echoed in the room from another so-called investor. "There is another way, miss Simpson if you want to avoid this", he said, leaning forward. "You will have to attend a private meeting with each investor, and you will be released from acting in explicit scenes. In addition, our BIF Entertainment will hire you for another five years with double the amount that we are paying now." A laugh echoed in the room, "There is another way, miss Simpson if you want to avoid this", he said, leaning forward.

I felt shivers down my spine for their despicable behaviour.

"I don't appreciate this idea and will not act in any explicit scene. Mr..." I said in aggressive behaviour.

"Hilton." he said and then continued "And you have to go with one of our condition or else we know how to turn gold into coal. I hope you choose wisely since world knows how BIF destroyed actors who go against it."

He bombarded me with this threat.

By this time I knew that I was in deep shit.