Chapter 95 The Evil Clown Strikes Again
The next day was the premiere of the clown movie, Deadly Drollery. Emily got an unexpected call from Byron at 11 pm. He sounded highly excited, but he aske how she was doing first.
“I passed my learners’ test,” she said, “Now we can go riding together!”
“That’s awesome!”
“So, how was the film?” Emily asked.
“This movie is a masterpiece,” he said. “I just got back from the viewing, and everyone was crazy about it. I thought it might be all right, but it was more like a triumph. You’ve got to see it!”
“Well, okay,” Emily said. She wasn’t very keen on watching another triumph of Nova Summers.
“You’re really going to like it.”
Hearing Byron’s voice reminded her of the connection between them, and her jealousy was instantly laid to rest.
They already had a copy of the film, but they had always been afraid to watch it in case it turned out badly. It would have been a disappointment after the success of Chipfairies 2.
Now Emily was kind of curious to see it, even if it had Nova Summers in the lead role. She decided to invite Pam over for moral support in case Nova was amazing in this role too.
“It’s probably going to be boring,” Emily said, bringing a tray with popcorn and juice over from the kitchen as Pam sat on the couch, ready for the show. “But I still need to see it.”
“Of course,” Pam said. “You should take an interest in your partner’s work.”
“I’ll bet Nova looks hideous with all that clown makeup on,” Emily added.
“You just want to watch this to make fun of her, don’t you?” Pam asked.
“Basically, yeah.”
“Well, I’m in.”
Half an hour later, they were both glued to the screen, forgetting to make cutting remarks about the actress. The gripping story left no time for talk. It had comedy, tragedy, horror, and everything in between. And although Emily hated to admit it, Nova Summers played the part so well.
The cursed clown whose jokes made people die of laughter was a woman who got rejected by the man she loved, and therefore she swore revenge on all mankind. Nova was both funny and extremely touching as the deadly clown.
By the time the film ended, tears were rolling down Emily’s face.
The evil clown who had killed countless victims couldn’t bring herself to kill the man she loved. So, to save him from certain death, she laughed at her own joke, thereby killing herself.
Pam should have been crying too, considering she was pregnant and hormonal, but her eyes were perfectly dry, and Emily felt completely embarrassed.
“You always cry at movies,” Pam remarked, “although I can’t blame you this time. It was really good.”
“That clown just wanted to be loved,” Emily said, unable to recover from the emotional impact.
Now she felt even worse about wanting to mock Nova Summers.
“She’s such a gifted actress,” Emily added, crying even harder.
“She really is,” Pam agreed, “but you’ve got to calm down. Here, have some of this juice.”
Emily took a breath and a gulp of the sweet drink.
“Now, the fact that she’s talented doesn’t mean anything,” Pam said soothingly. “She left Byron, remember? I don’t think he’ll want to revisit that emotional pain again, even for a very talented actress.”
Now that she had her learners’ license, Emily couldn’t resist stopping by a motorcycle shop to get a pair of gloves. She dedicated all her time spent not working to her new hobby, which had become almost an obsession.
Just as she approached the counter with her purchase, an athletic man with long, shiny brown hair came towards her. She recognized him at once. It was Carter Jacks, a guy she knew from her home town. Objectively, he was kind of a loser, but Emily once had a crush on him due to his bad boy vibe.
“Emily!” he said, “I heard you were out on the coast. Fancy meeting you here in this shop. You ride?”
“Yeah,” she replied, “I’m getting into it. I just got my learners’. What are you doing here?”
“Had a bit of a wipeout, so just getting a new helmet,” he said. He didn’t seem to have changed at all. Wiping out on his bike seemed like such a Carter thing, and yet he still made it sound cool.
“I mean in Vancouver?” Emily asked, admiring his blue eyes and tanned face. She possibly still had a crush on him, but nothing too serious.
“Scoping out the place. You guys have some crazy slopes, I have to hand it to you.”
“I know,” Emily said, always enthusiastic about her newfound home, “Once you see this place, you won’t want to go back east.”
“I’m here for at least a week,” he replied, “Maybe I will stay longer if things work out. We should go riding together sometime.”
“Well...” Emily hesitated. Now that she was with Byron, she had no interest in any other man. On the other hand, she had always liked Carter, and they could still be friends. And she had no one to ride with when Byron was away. “My fiance is out of town, and I usually ride with him. But if you want to go this weekend...”
“Fiance’s out of town, even better,” Carter said with a sly grin.
“Hey, it’s not like that,” Emily said, “Don’t get cheeky. We’re just going on a friendly motorcycle ride.”
“Okay, I get it,” Carter said, raising the helmet he was holding defensively. “Just a friendly ride.”
“And nothing too difficult,” Emily added. “We’re not going off any crazy jumps. I’m still learning.”
“All right, you called it.”
In the past, riding a motorcycle with Carter Jacks would have been like a dream come true. Now that she was a little more grown up, Emily thought it might still be fun, and she could do it to complete her teenage fantasy.
