CHAPTER 10
Later that evening, Brittany was in the bathroom of her hotel room, getting ready to go and watch Rachel's show. Sam knocked on the door.
"Brittany. Marley's at the door. She wants to talk to you." he called thorugh the closed door.
"Okay. I'll be there in a minute." Brittany put down the hair curler she was using and opened the door. Sam was standing nearby, fixing his tie in the mirror. Marley was leaning against the doorjamb, examining a fingernail.
"Hey Marley. What's up?"
"Hey. Oh, I just wanted to ask your opinion on which dress I should wear tonight." She picked up the small bag by her feet. Brittany led her into the bathroom.
After shutting the door, Marley stripped off her t-shirt and shorts. Brittany gasped.
"Marley! Who did this to you?" Brittany cried. Marley's chest, stomach and back were covered in dark purple bruises. Marley looked at Brittany and burst into tears.
"M-my producer hit m-me." Marley managed to get out in between sobs. Brittany was shocked. She had never met him but he had always seemed like such a nice guy. She hugged her friend.
"I'm just going to call Sam, okay? We'll help you." Brittany whispered. She felt Marley nod against her shoulder.
"Sam! Come in here!" Brittany's sudden shout caused Sam to drop the box he was carrying. He quickly picked it up again and put it on the bed before going over to the bathroom door.
"Is everything okay? What's wrong?" he asked, opening the door. The first thing he saw was Brittany kneeling on the floor, her hair half curled, hugging Marley who was almost lying on the floor and wearing very little.
"I'm fine, Sam. But look at Marley." Brittany gestured to the bruises. Sam gaped.
"Who did that? I'll kill them, I swear!" Brittany smiled at Sam's protectiveness of Marley. She had become like his little sister after Brittany had had a major meltdown, days before regionals and broken up with him. She had left and gone to MIT but returned a month or so later, claiming that the work was too hard and her professors had decided she wasn't actually a genius.
"Her producer did it. I don't know why or when." Brittany said, still holding Marley who jerked at the sound of Jake's name.
"It w-was last Friday. I d-don't know why. He just g-got really angry b-because I had been g-getting my lines wrong a f-fair bit recently." Suddenly there was a loud thud on the door to the suite. Marley jumped and began sobbing again.
"Marley! What are you doing in there for so long? Come out!" Jake yelled through the door.
"Don't let him in!" Marley cried as Sam made to go to the door. Brittany frowned.
"Why not?" she asked.
"He doesn't know. And if he finds out he won't let me go back to work." Marley explained. Brittany sighed. She knew how Marley felt.
"Okay. Sam distract Jake for a bit while I help Marley get dressed." she said, standing up. Sam nodded and went to the door and made small talk with Jake. Brittany pulled Marley up off the floor and looked at the two dresses Marley had brought.
"I think this one's better for tonight." Brittany held up a pretty purple strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline. It had a full skirt that ended just on her knees and the hem of the bottom was silver. Marley nodded, quickly slipped on the dress and wiped her eyes.
"Do I look okay?" she asked. Brittany looked at her.
"Yep. Just a bit of make-up and get your hair done and you'll be fine." Marley hugged her friend and went out to Jake.
"Let's go Marley. I've got a surprise for you before we go to the theatre." he said, pulling her down the hall. Brittany looked at Sam and shook her head. The two of them went back into their room and finished getting ready and then caught a cab to a restaurant near the theatre. It was supposed to be a quiet private dinner but someone recognised Sam from one of his movies and they spent the rest of their dinner trying to ignore the fans.