In reply to Margaret Waithe (msg # 79):

Phyllis smiled, surprised at having her accent placed.

"Close. Middlesex. Next county over."

She glanced at Mark.

"Sounds like your films going better than mine at the moment."

After listening for a while to the cross talk, Clyde says “All films have their ups and downs. You just have to shine through downs. ”

Mark nods at Clyde and remarks.

These fine ladies will shine thru anything they should encounter. And the gentlemen here seem capable.

Everly looped her arm through Charlotte's, and strolled off, heading for a corner. There, Everly turned to her friend, and asked,"You said something was bothering you?"

In reply to Everly Edington. (msg # 87):

Charlotte nodded. "Yes, oh, Everly, I'm just worried!" She glanced around, and clasped her friend's hands in hers.

In reply to Mark Hawke (msg # 86):

Phyllis laughed.

"I hope so. I'd better get back and see if they've gone from wringing their hands to wringing out the set."

Mark nods and tips his hat to Phyllis

Certainly ma'am.  Hopefully they have made some progress in that line. Perhaps we will meet again after the shooting today.

Ray slips over to the coffee urn and gets two mugs, dropping cream in one, sugar in the other. He slowly approaches Everly and Charlotte, trying to get close enough to hear what they are saying before he pauses.

Ray Ammon rolled 40 for Listen 25%.

Peggy wonders aloud as the two young women go off alone.  "I do hope nothing's gone wrong.  I would hate to have to go job hunting again after just getting this one!" she says, tentatively nibbling at her pastry and sipping her coffee.

In reply to Charlotte Valise. (msg # 88):

"What could possibly be bothering the most cheerful girl I know?" Everly asked gently. She had thought that there was something wrong with Charlotte lately. She'd been so jumpy.

In reply to Everly Edington. (msg # 93):

Charlotte sniffled a tiny bit, and pulled a tissue from her pocket to blow her nose. "Well, Evie, I've been seeing things. Odd things. I feel there's something up with the tape recorders and a few days ago I heard someone screaming."

"Oh, Charlotte, I'm sure it's just your imagination. You don't have to worry."Everly consoled her friend, who was shivering slightly now.

"Are you quite well, my dear?"

A man stepped forward from the small crowd that always seemed to assemble to watch the magic of film making. He pulled a large, snowy white handkerchief from an inside pocket of his suit jacket and offered it to Charlotte in place of the tissue.

"I am a doctor, if you feel faint, or queasy." He held up his doctor's bag as if in proof of his credentials.

"I'm sure I have something in here to make you feel better. We all need a little something to cope with day, now and then, don't we?

"I'm McWatt, by the way, Dr. Mcwatt, but I insist that you call me Duncan. All my friends do, and I can tell already that we are going to be good friends, aren't we?"

He fished in his bag and brought out a small, folded paper envelope.

"This will get you feeling right as rain, if you'd like. It's like a bromo-seltzer with a bit of oomph. Settle your tummy and put a sparkle in your eye."

He grinned at her, an infectious, be-my-friend sort of grin as he proffered the package.

"Did you mention you heard screaming, by the way? Is someone else hurt?"

Ray edges away from the little group. He's heard a thing or two about Good Doctor McWatt. And they weren't reassuring.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:36, Mon 22 July 2019.

Hawk watched the doctor walk up to the lady and speak to them, then hand Charlotte a small envelope. He had a dislike for the man. Doctor he may be but not all of what he prescribed was legal or ethical.  Mark walked over to them.

Peddling your wares again Droctor?

Phyllis, oblivious to the doctor's reputation, and inclined by nature to trust doctors, assumed the medicine was nothing more than stomach powder.

"Are you sure it wasn't just someone playing a part?" she asked Charlotte.

"Giving them away, actually," grinned McWatt. "And they're not my wares. Made by a reputable pharmaceutical company, I can assure you. Just a little pick-me up as prescribed by the doctor."

He seemed un-phased by the tall man's hostility, and turned instead to Charlotte to hear her response to Phyllis's question.

"Did you hear screaming, my dear? Was somebody hurt? Or scared?"

In reply to Dr Duncan Mcwatt (msg # 95):

Charlotte smiled faintly, and took the handkerchief. "Thank you."

In reply to Phyllis Green (msg # 98):

Charlotte turned to Phyllis and said, "If it was someone practicing a part, it wasn't anyone I know."

In reply to Dr Duncan Mcwatt (msg # 99):

Charlotte seemed hesitant to tell, so Everly said to her, "Go on, Charlie. Maybe it'll be better to talk about it to someone."

Charlotte smiled at Everly, and told the doctor "I did hear screaming. But I couldn't see who it was. It seemed to be coming from a tape, a recording. If there was someone actually there, I couldn't see them. The door was locked and I couldn't open it."
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:56, Thu 25 July 2019.

There always seems to be strange sights and sounds backstage.  It was more so in the days of plays and the backstage but it occurs on the backstage of movies also.

Phyllis couldn't decide whether Charlotte was overreacting, or there were dirty tricks involved. There was always a lot of gossip about things done to get an actor or actress off a movie so someone else could take their place. Most could be put down to assuming every accident was an 'accident', but not all.

"When was this?"

Peggy was wondering at all the commotion, and especially at the too-convenient timing of the overly-suave doctor.  She had been to many medical professionals herself, but less than she'd like, considering how badly the Spanish Flu had ravaged her years before.  But being unable to work as hard and long hours as she used to had limited her income and her options.  Quacks were common when you couldn't afford to be choosy.

But when people started mentioning screaming, Peggy got herself out of her chair and slowly walked over to Charlotte and Everly.  "Well, if there is someone screaming, does someone have keys to the room so we can find out if it's merely a recording or someone in trouble?  We want to make sure everyone is safe, surely!"

She was still dabbing at her face with a napkin as she stepped into the area, she had heard some mention of something odd going on. Her pale hair falling over her shoulders and pooling around her waist, still teased by who ever had done her hair. She moved to where the older actress was since she seemed to trust the older dames, on the set given how much of a young bird she was.

"Are you sure it wasn't me ?" she asked the small gathered group she touched Margaret's sleeve . "We are filming a horror movie. Though I haven't done any screaming today, I did a day or so ago." she greeted them. "Oh, I'm Annalise Lovelace." she introduced herself, though she had been in this game for a few years, she never simply assumed anyone knew who she was. That was a certain level of arrogance, that she didn't possess away from the camera. "Did something happen ?" she asked softly.

She also stirred clear of anyone who was blatantly over the top such as the good doctor.

From the edge of the group, Ray asks Charlotte: "Charlotte dear, when was this? And where were you?"

And he greets the new arrival, having worked on her make-up a time or two: "Hi, Annalise! What are you working on?"

In reply to Phyllis Green (msg # 98):

Ooc: Yes, that's true.