Days on set were long. We had to film an entire movie in a matter of months. It may sound like a lot of time, after all a movie is only around two hours long, but a lot of work gets put into it. Take after take has to be done. It’s rarer to have a perfect take in one go than having to redo it over and over again. Even if the first take was used, the director often decided to take a few more just in case. So, that led to my days frequently starting at five in the morning and only ending at ten in the evening. Being a main character meant busy days, not just a few scenes.

The only thing that pulls you through countless of those days is the company and sneaking in a nap whenever you can. Even a five-minute power nap felt like a holy grail. Honestly, I spent most of my lunch break sleeping instead of eating. It was way easier to take bites of food in between scenes than it was to get in those naps. Of course, I did always eat something before I look that afternoon nap. I wasn’t going to hurt myself by not eating, even though my character was a drug addict and I had had lost a lot of weight for the role already.

The day Jack decided to come take a look, I was afraid I was going to miss my power naps, but he was only able to make it when I actually had to be in front of the camera. For the specific scene I was working on when he arrived, I still had the pale skin and baggy eyes, but my hair wasn’t as much of a mess and my clothes didn’t consist of mainly rags stitched together. Although everything was in chronological order in a movie, or at least in the order the script wanted it to be, it definitely wasn’t filmed that way. If a similar location had to be used, we’d often shoot as many scenes as possible, the same went for if an actor only had to be there for a few scenes so they didn’t have to come for multiple short shifts. It was all just a lot easier.

Jack was brought in by an intern while I was getting retouched in the makeup chair. The bags underneath my eyes and my cheekbones had to be overdramatically accentuated so the camera would pick it up. Every once in a while, they had to be touched up. I could have accidentally smudged something, or just the sheer fact of having to act could make you sweat off your makeup.

“This is, like, a proper movie set!” Jack gasped as his greeting, appearing from behind me.

“That’s because it is a proper movie set,” I laughed while the makeup artist briefly took a few steps back to get some other makeup.

Jack quickly swooped in to kiss me and said ‘hi’ before taking a step to the side again so the makeup artist could continue her work.

“You look terrible,” he commented.

“Good,” I winked back, “compliments to the makeup artist Laura.”

“Well, Laura,” Jack turned to her as she grabbed something from the items on the table in front of us before coming back to me, “good job on making her look really sick.”

“Thank you,” she softly smiled, looking very pleased with herself now that she had gotten a compliment.

She made her finishing touches, making sure that everything painted on my face was dramatic enough to be picked up by the camera, and set it all together with a spray. As soon as she announced that I was all done, I got up from the chair and took a look at myself in the mirror surrounded by lights. Occasionally, I would have suggestions, which the makeup artists would either agree or disagree with. If they agreed, I would go back to the chair and get a touchup. If they disagreed, they’d explain why and I’d see what they meant. This time, however, I had no further comments for Laura.

I grabbed Jack’s hand as I tried to figure out where to go next, pulling him behind me. There were literally people everywhere walking around to do their job. Nobody was calling me over and I didn’t know what else to do either. I had my costume on, my makeup was done, and nothing was being currently filmed. All I needed was somebody to tell me I had to go up. But it seemed like they weren’t ready for that yet. The director was still discussing camera angles with the camera crew.

There was just one other thing I could do.

“Okay, I have no clue where I left my script,” I confessed as I led Jack and myself back to a calmer place.

Although those director chairs were very cliche, we did have a place for us actors to wait out in between scenes if there was nothing else for us to do. It did indeed include those chairs, but it wasn’t like we had a chair just for ourselves. Well, a laminated piece of paper with our names on it was pinned to the back, but that was for a reason. It wasn’t as an ego boost. It was just a method for the other people who worked on set to know who was who. Although I was recognized a lot on street, it did not mean everybody here knew so too. It was actually the opposite of an ego boost.

“We can just hang out here,” I told Jack, glancing at the high table to see if at least somebody’s script was there. But there was only an empty used mug. “If you want, you can sit on my chair for now, but nobody here really cares if you sit on another. I just really need to get my hands on a script.”

“Isn’t there somebody you can ask?” he questioned and happily bounced over to my chair, sitting down in it and secretly grinning at the experience.

“It’s not like I have some personal assistant, Jack.” I rolled my eyes. “I actually have to do thing mys--”

A young girl with a headset came to my right. Her hands with full, one holding a clipboard loaded with a pile of paper that didn’t even fit under the clip and the other holding a paper cup of coffee. “Mrs. King-- Miss. Barrett-- What do I call you?”

“Well, preferably not the first one, but you can call me ‘bitch’ and I will listen,” I joked, but sensed that it didn’t make the situation any easier for her. I didn’t answer her question and she was most definitely not going to call me ‘bitch’. So, I quickly added, “just call me Stevie, it’s the most neutral.”

“Okay, Stevie,” she double checked if I was okay with her calling me by my first name and continued talking in a very fast pace, like she was super nervous, “I have an updated script for you. They made a few minor changes, but they need you to read over it and remember them.” She picked up the top layer of the pile of paper she handed and handed it to me. “And I also have coffee for you.”

As she gave me the paper cup, I asked, “wait… did I ask for coffee? Cause I do not remember.”

“Oh, well, no,” the girl quickly shook her head, now also seeming a little afraid, “but I went on a coffee run for the others and assumed you also would want something. Was I wrong to assume? I can take it back and throw it away if you’d like.”

“Oh, no, don’t worry about some coffee.” I shook my head. “It’s a nice gesture. Did you get something for yourself as well?”

“No, I don’t think that would be allowed.”

“That sucks.” I frowned and handed the coffee back to her. “Here, take mine. I think you need it more than me. And if anybody gets mad at you for having coffee, just send them over to me.”

“Are you sure?” She made sure.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Thank you!” She smiled timidly before scurrying away into the mass of people again.

Jack laughed a little, also watching her disappear. “She was so afraid of you.”

“I know,” I pouted although glad I now had a script again. “I feel so bad.”

“Why? You were nice to her, you handled it really well,” he ensured me.

“No, I feel bad that people feel like they need to be afraid of me,” I corrected him with a frown as I opened up the script to the scene I was in. “It either means somebody else scared them or I fucked up and scared somebody before.”

“I wouldn’t take it personally. When I meet fans, some are also so scared. It’s not because they are actually afraid of me, but because they have this expectation. Like, they’ve been listening to our music for so long, and now they see that we are also real people. I think it’s mainly being so excited and not wanting to be a disappointment. Little do they know we would never be disappointed.”

Although his speech was great and all, and would have really helped if the issue was still the thing controlling my mind. I had read something in the script that was a little more concerning considering the situation.

“Right…” I nodded to acknowledge what he said while keeping my eyes on the paper in my hands. “Unrelated… but how do you feel about me making out with somebody else?”

“What?” he chuckled as if expecting that I was joking. “Like a threesome?”

“No, just another guy without you related in any way.”

“Like cheating?” He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Cause that’s not cool.”

“No, of course not!” I scoffed and shook my head, looking up at him. “I mean, you chose the right day to visit. I’ve gotta go make out with some people on camera today. But I wouldn’t really call it proper kissing. It’s all part of the job.”

“Oh, for the movie!” He nodded a thought for a few seconds, looking into the distance. “Yeah, okay.”

“Okay, good. Because if you had a problem with that, we shouldn’t be dating.”

“Yeah, no, of course. It’s like you not getting jealous because I’m surrounded by fangirls who want me in every single way whenever I’m on tour.”

“Exactly.” I smiled softly, happy that he understood where I was coming from.

I had always been lucky so have been with Travis who was also an actor. Although you might think that kissing other people on set back when we were in love might have annoyed us because it was what kick-started our relationship, we understood what it actually was. We shared the same profession and were able to otherwise keep business and love separate. Neither of us ever felt threatened if the other had to do some ‘sexual act’ for the silver screen.

I was glad that Jack understood as well. Although I really liked him, I wasn’t going to ruin my career for him. Now I got to have both without any trouble.

Just a few moments later, I was stood in front of a camera, in the kitchen specifically designed for this movie. Many other scenes in the ‘house’ were actually filmed in a real house. The kitchen in that house, however, wasn’t ideal for the scene imagined. Hence us now being in something that resembled a warehouse with a random room in it instead of an actual kitchen.

Nat and I shared a few last encouraging words after the director had walked us through the scene again, including the camera angles for the camera crew. We had already practically filmed the first part of the scene. It was centered around a heated argument between our characters. For the sake of making it easier, I’ll use my name and Nat’s instead of the characters’ in the following explanation. Nat figured out that I have been using his father and uses it for his own selfish reasons. At first, he tries to scare me away but attacking the fact that I’m a drug addict (who’s recovering after some character development, but still needs to pay off all the money I owe). Although I don’t feel anything for his father, I argue that I love him, that he knows it, and that he accepts me, that Nat should also do so for him and get over himself. Eventually, it leads to him revealing he knows everything and threatens to contact authorities. However, he isn’t doing this for his father. He actually secretly has a thing for me, and I happen to know. While that had already been filmed, we still overlapped the script a little for a flawless transition.

“So, do it,” I urge, glaring at Nat who was at the opposite end of the kitchen island. He just stared back at me, making me repeat myself as I ripped the phone out of my pocket and stretched my arm out for him to grab it. “Come on, do it! I said do it!”

He was meant to slap the phone out of my hand, however, his fingertips barely grazed it, causing it to fall lamely out of my hand and his hand hit the counter very loudly. I could literally heard how painful it was. He immediately broke character and grabbed his throbbing hand with the other one as if it would ease the pain.

“Oh, fff--” he groaned and turned around before shaking his hand.

Although it obviously really did hurt, I couldn’t help but burst out in laughter. It was just so comedic to me that he already did this during the first take. Somehow, every single time we did a scene with just us two together, at least one of us got hurt during one take. Luckily, though, it never was all too serious. This time, they were afraid he broke his hand, but it turned out to be okay and we were back saying our lines again.

This time we made it through the entire end of the fight and got to the part where we were just a foot apart, staring at each other. Nat was breathing heavily while I looked back at him with a knowing smirk--one that he couldn’t identify--before he built up the courage from his rush of adrenaline and slammed his lips against mine. The scene required us to go straight for it, skipping all the ‘pleasantries’. Immediately, I was pressed up against the fridge, causing me to push him back, our lips still interlocked, and remove his zip-up hoodie in the process. There was a continuous battle of dominance until I got him up on the island and lying down, me on all fours hovering over him while kissing him deeply. As soon as the director called ‘cut’ we broke apart and casually jumped down from the counter.

However, just having one take wasn’t enough. There are always more things to improve and change or try out. So, the scene repeated over and over again. One time, a different camera angle was used, another time Nat and I got instructions on how to do something different, and occasionally something did mess up.

During the fifth take, however, Jack sneezed very loudly just before Nat and I were going to have to lock lips yet again. He looked super guilty and was frozen in place, glancing around to see if anybody was going to get mad at him. Although it definitely did disrupt the scene, people could only laugh a little. And it didn’t matter all too much. Since Nat and I didn’t change our position, we could just keep rolling and continue like nothing had happened.

Mysteriously, Jack disappeared after that.

I only found him after we were done shooting the scene. He was back sitting on my chair in the rest area, scrolling through his phone.

“Hey, where did you run off to?” I asked, catching his attention.

He locked his phone and looked up at me. “Oh, I had to pee, but I kinda got lost. This place is a maze.”

“And that took you a whole hour?” I raised my eyebrows, feeling like I was catching him in a lie.

“Well, I didn’t want to risk going back and sneezing again or interrupting loudly in another way. That was probably one of those most terrifying moments in my life,” he replied and stuffed his phone into his back pocket.

“I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t have happened,” I assured him.

“I don’t know about that…” he sighed, looking in the distance towards the set, and shook his head.

I frowned and took a good look at him, making him look back in slight discomfort. “Are you getting a cold then?”

“Eh, maybe.” He shrugged before standing up. “Anyway, I’ve got to get going again.”

“Well, I’m done as well. I’ve just got to get changed and contact Dave. He’ll probably be here in a few hours considering traffic. It’s too bad we didn’t get to spend too much time together,” I pouted.

“Is that your way to ask me to drive you home?” He asked with one eyebrow raised.

“Yes, please.” I grinned sheepishly and quickly pecked his lips.

He rolled his eyes playfully, but his smile gave him away. “Ugh, fine.”

I got changed in my changing room and took Jack with me to the makeup station to grab a makeup wipe before we left. Although the artist did a great job making me look sick, I wasn’t planning on looking like this outside of work. I could take off most of it just fine in the car. But, we happened to bump into somebody in the makeup chair.

“Ste-vie!” Travis hollered with his hands cupped around his mouth for a megaphone effect.

I laughed softly and pulled Jack with me to go say hi to him. “What are you in for?”

“I get to beat up and interrogate your rich sugar daddy today,” he smirked evilly, rubbing his hands together. “Are you going home already?”

“Yeah, I’ve been here since five am. I’m just lucky enough not to have to stay until ten pm today.”

“Awe, man, I was looking forward to having you see this dark side of me,” he sighed overdramatically before reaching over and grabbing a paper bag. “Anyway, take my leftover sandwich, I know you must be starving.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” I shook my head to decline with a chuckle. “You cherish your sandwiches.”

“And you always get hangry, and I won’t do that to my friend Jack.” He forced the bag into my hands.

“Okay, fine. You’re right, I am hungry.” I accepted it before saying goodbye and kissing him on the cheek like always.

As Jack and I started leaving the building, I began eating whatever Travis had bought or made. It was pretty good even though I had no idea what I was eating.

“You want a bite?” I asked Jack, holding up the sandwich in front of him as we were walking.

“No, I’m fine,” he answered coldly, focused on the exit.

Notes

FINALLY!!!!!!!! I WROTE AGAIN!!!!

Jack is acting a little fishy, isn't he?

I have one week left before I move. When I move I won't write for a while because:
a) Introduction week
b) I won't have a laptop
c) I'll need to set everything up again once I do get a laptop.
I need to get a whole new expensive laptop for the course at university I'm starting. It needs a shitload of expensive specifications. And I really do not have the money for that at all. So that's great. I will figure it out, though! My current laptop will not handle the programs, so I'm going to leave it at home. But I will come back, okay?