‘Congratulations!’ Lillian said, clapping.
Sophia turned to the dog-eared pages in each of the magazines. There were three other shots of Olivia, all snapped by Sophia.
‘OK,’ Ivy said to Sophia.
Sophia looked serious for a moment. ‘OK what?’
‘OK, I will forgive you – just this once – for the bouncing.’ Ivy grinned and gave her best friend a hug.
Mr Vega came in, balancing six plates on his arms: burgers with fresh avocado salad and French fries, which he’d stacked up in a little tower like they were at a fancy restaurant. Ivy helped him put the plates on the table and saw that while the five vampires had pretty much rare steak, Olivia had a homemade veggie burger.
‘This looks great!’ Brendan said. ‘I should come over for meals more often.’
‘Thanks for fitting me in,’ Sophia said, crunching on a pickle.
‘Ketchup?’ Ivy and Olivia asked at the same time.
‘As if I could forget,’ Mr Vega said, reaching around the door for a little tray of condiments.
Ivy covered her hunk of meat in ketchup, and Olivia dotted some delicately around her fries. Brendan dug in, but Mr Vega was still watching Lillian.
There is something going on here, Ivy thought. Dad is acting very weird. Good weird, but definitely weird.
She tried to catch Olivia’s eye, but Olivia was still looking at the magazines. Mr Vega cleared his throat and Ivy thought he was going to say something, but then he just started eating.
Is he nervous? Ivy wondered. There was an awkward silence, so Ivy decided to fill it. ‘What kind of movie are you working on next?’
‘I wanted to risk doing something small on my own,’ Lillian replied. ‘A little independent film where I get to be full director for the first time.’
‘What’s it about?’ Brendan asked, with his mouth full.
Lillian smiled. ‘It’s a documentary-drama about a dancer who was executed during World War I for being a spy.’
‘Ooh,’ replied Ivy. ‘Sounds cool.’
‘I know about her,’ Mr Vega finally broke his silence. ‘Mata Hari, right? She turned out to be innocent, in the end.’
‘That’s right,’ Lillian said, clearly impressed. ‘The script has gone through so many revisions, making sure we get all the history correct.’
‘It sounds amazing,’ Olivia said.
‘Thanks!’ Lillian said.
‘I’m quite familiar with that time period – having lived through it myself. Perhaps I could help by reading the script?’ Mr Vega offered.
Lillian laughed. ‘I’m not going to reveal my age, but I’d be grateful for the advice.’
Ivy watched the two adults smile at each other. When Lillian jumped up to help Mr Vega clear the plates, Ivy whispered to Olivia, ‘Did you see that?’
‘What?’ asked Olivia.
‘Them,’ Ivy said.
Olivia tilted her head to one side. ‘Them what?’
‘Dad is acting all weird,’ Ivy said.
‘Because he wants to read the script?’ Brendan asked, spinning around the UFO-shaped salt cellar.