Page 20 of A Raging Merry Christmas
“I’m taking a two-month break. They’ve had my character in a car accident and in a coma. I have worked solidly without a break since two thousand and fifteen. That’s seven years. The producer and director weren’t too happy, but enough is enough. Everyone else takes at least a month off through the year, and I’ve not. They owed me this.”
“Damn, has it been that long, Jodie?” I asked, surprised.
“Shocking, isn’t it?” she replied, and I nodded.
“And now you’re a household name. The famous Jodie Michaelson,” Cody teased, and Jodie threw a piece of bread at him.
“Not as famous as Serenity. That bikini shoot shot her straight to the top,” she retorted, and we all winced and looked for Drake.
Drake still couldn’t come to terms. His daughter was a model. And worse, she’d done several swimwear shoots. But Serenity was famous for her lingerie pictures, and it drove Drake insane.
“She’s been modelling seven years as well,” Jodie informed us, and we slowly nodded.
“Drake freaked the fuck out at Serenity’s first cover image,” Gauntlet said with a dark chuckle.
“I missed that. I joined Rage just after,” I remembered.
“Yeah, trust me, you were lucky, too.” Jodie laughed. “Dad was so traumatised. I thought he was going to poke everyone’s eyes out.”
We were all laughing when a scream came from what sounded like the front of the house. It was followed by more screams. We all dropped our spoons and rushed towards wherethe commotion was coming from. I heard Jodie moving the kids to safety with Mrs Ames.
Cody, Christian, and Harley were first through the drawing-room door with weapons drawn, and the rest of us weren’t far behind them.
“Shut the door!” Phoe screamed from where she was standing on a sofa. Clinging to her and shrieking was Penny. On an opposite armchair was Carly, who had her own gun out and was aiming at the huge Christmas tree.
To my amusement, and clearly Klutz’s woman’s, Aurora Victoria was sitting in an armchair, calmly sipping a cup of tea as she watched the mayhem.
“What the hell’s going on?” Gauntlet yelled just as Sin, Jemma, and Dana all let out matching shrieks and danced on the sofas they were standing on.
“Kill it!” Jemma shrieked as we looked around for the threat.
“What?” Klutz replied.
Something scurried across the floor, and I reeled back as eight screams deafened me. On turning, I saw Lindsey and Willow. Willow was standing on a table while Lindsey was on a wooden chair.
“That!” Willow yelled as she pulled her gun and aimed.
“Don’t shoot my rug!” Phoe screeched. The critter ran at Phoe, and she changed her tune. “Shoot it! Don’t let it get me!”
“What the hell?” Harley demanded, finally catching sight of the creature running about.
“There’s two of them, we’re being invaded. They hissed at us!” Carly cried.
“They’re chipmunks,” Harley announced, putting his gun away. “Jesus, calm the fuck down. You’re scaring them more.”
“Cute critters,” Grey said, bending down as he cornered one. He reached out slowly, and the little shit leapt at Grey and bit histhumb. Grey let out a howl, which set all the women off, and they screamed with him.
“Motherfucker,” Grey muttered, eyeing the sofa the chipmunk had run under.
“How did they get in?” Christian demanded as Cody and Harley appeared with two cages.
“That fuckin’ tree! It’s the bane of my life!” Phoe shrieked.
“Stop being a drama queen,” Christian said, and everyone drew in a sharp breath.
Phoe’s eyes fixed on her son, and he shrugged.
“Seriously, Mum, screaming and making such a commotion is scaring them. You need to shut up and calm down,” Christian continued as he searched for the chipmunks.