Jackson’s face broke into a huge grin.
‘We’ll deal with it, if and when it happens,’ she finished.
Amy did not look happy. She stared at Olivia, but Olivia refused to back down. She stared right back. The sounds of the hubbub going on in the supermarket around them faded away.
Amy opened her mouth, about to speak, when the shrill of her phone made Olivia flinch. It made Amy jump too, her arm jerked up and the lid of the coffee cup slipped off.
Then several things happened at once.
The froth of the coffee sloshed towards Olivia.
She tried to step away and stumbled.
Jackson started to pull her backwards.
But it was too late. With scalding heat, the coffee splashed right down the delicately layered folds of Olivia’s dress.
‘Oh, my goodness,’ Amy gushed. ‘I’m so sorry!’
Olivia looked down at the brown mess that was spreading in a stain across the beautiful pink chiffon. Her gorgeous dress; the biggest night of her life! And now it was ruined. She tried to hold back her tears.
‘How could you do that?’ Jackson demanded, grabbing the paper napkin out of Amy’s hand and dabbing at Olivia’s ruined skirt.
‘It was an accident,’ Amy insisted, holding up her hands. ‘I didn’t mean to.’
Olivia knew it was the truth but it still stung that Amy had got her way.
‘There’s no way I can walk down the red carpet like this,’ Olivia said. ‘It’s over.’
Just then, a young man with a goatee and a clipboard rushed over. ‘We are go. We are go. Jessica has arrived. Jackson, you’re up now.’
‘We have to get moving,’ Amy said to Jackson and Olivia wished she could disappear.
‘Wait –’ protested Jackson. His blue eyes looked pained.
‘No, go,’ Olivia said. ‘You can’t miss your moment.’
‘I don’t want to go without you,’ he insisted.
‘You have to,’ she whispered.
‘Are you sure?’
Olivia didn’t trust herself to speak again, so she nodded.
She watched Jackson being escorted away down the aisle with a horrified, apologetic look on his face.
My fairy tale has shattered, she thought miserably.
Ivy stepped around a display bin of multi-coloured sponges.
Wham! Someone ran straight into her – a person-sized flamingo-coloured blur.
‘Hey,’ Ivy started. ‘Watch where you’re . . . Olivia?’
The pink blur was her twin sister. And she was crying.
Ivy grabbed her by both shoulders, forcing her to stop. ‘What happened?’
‘My dress!’ Olivia spread out her dress to reveal a big upside-down u-shaped brown stain.
‘Oh no!’ Ivy gasped. While pastels weren’t her thing, her sister’s outfit was amazing. Or had been amazing.
‘And Jackson’s been summoned to walk the carpet.’ Olivia sniffled. ‘Alone.’
Ivy didn’t say another word and just wrapped her arms around her sister in a hug.
‘Thanks,’ Olivia said, pulling back. ‘I’m going to see if I can wash it off or something, so that I don’t miss the whole premiere.’
‘Do you want me to come?’ Ivy offered, knowing how upset Olivia must be about missing her chance to go public with Jackson.
‘No, don’t worry,’ Olivia said. ‘You go find our dad and make sure he’s not lost in the pet food aisle, wondering what’s happening.’
Ivy nodded. ‘See you inside?’ Even though Ivy wasn’t going to do the grand entrance, she and Olivia had arranged to sit together in the cinema. Olivia wanted Ivy there for moral support.
As Olivia nodded and hurried away, Ivy started marching up and down the supermarket aisles, looking for her dad. Just in front of the rows of checkouts, she spotted Jackson and Amy, hovering by the door, with a crew member peering at his watch.
Jackson waved her over. ‘Have you seen your sister?’ He tried to step towards Ivy but Amy was blocking his path back into the store.
‘I saw her; she’s a little upset,’ Ivy admitted.
‘I should go . . .’ he started but Amy cut him off.
‘Jackson, she’ll be fine.’ Amy kept looking through the big glass doors. ‘We need to go any second now.’
Just then, the Shaggy Guy from the soda aisle strolled up with two young men in ties following him.
Amy’s face broke into a big smile and she nudged the guy in the blue tie out of the way to approach Shaggy Guy. ‘Helloooooo, Jacob. So lovely to see you!’ They air-kissed.
Why does Amy care about some paparazzi man who is chasing Jessica around? Ivy wondered.
‘Hey,’ she said, when he glanced her way.
Amy gasped and Jackson’s jaw dropped.
‘Hey?’ Amy said. ‘Mr Harker is the head of the studio. You don’t just “Hey” the person who made this movie!’
Whoops! Ivy thought. How can this guy be the head of a studio? He looks like he needs help getting dressed in the morning. Ivy tried to smile without looking too awkward. ‘Uh . . .’
‘Amy, don’t be so establishment,’ he scoffed, whipping out a smart phone and starting to type on it. The young man that Amy pushed out of the way rolled his eyes.
Uh oh, Ivy thought. An anti-establishment man of Hollywood? I’m not even sure if that’s possible. Everything was just getting weirder and weirder.
‘I’ve already met this young star, and I like her attitude.’ His shaggy hair flopped around as he nodded enthusiastically.
Ivy blinked. Star?