The scene finishes and the crew breaks again to get ready for the last bit of shooting before the end of the day. I go to review the film and cross-reference it to the script like I’m supposed to when something catches my eyes.
It’s Jackson and Holly. They’re both leaning against a prop support beam, and Holly is laughing about something. She tosses her hair and touches Jackson’s arm, which makes him smile. She leans closer and whispers something in his ear, and he laughs loudly.
I’m staring at them and I don’t even realize it until Lionel barks at me. “Script girl, get to work.”
“Sorry,” I stumble, and look back at the monitor, but I can’t help but keep seeing that moment.
Holly’s gorgeous lips next to Jackson’s ear. The way she whispers. The way he laughs. It seemed so… intimate.
I have to get myself together. I’m not some jealous little girl. They’re professionals acting in a film. They’re trying to be friendly together, because it’s easier to be friends with your coworkers than it is to be awkward or whatever else. I’ve seen it a hundred times. Stars become best friends during a film and then they drift apart and never speak again.
That’s what’ll happen with Jackson and Holly. I’m sure of it. I don’t care if they have a friendship.
And yet I keep seeing him in a towel. And I keep seeing her laughing, tossing her hair. Clearly flirting with him.
I need to get it together. This is my job and nothing more. Jackson can do whatever he wants.
We have a truce and nothing more.
7
Jackson
I’m sweating slightly, my breath coming faster as my body works to normalize itself. We just spent the last hour shooting the same ten-second fight sequence over and over again, and although I’m worn out, I’m still exhilarated.
There’s nothing like a real fight to get your blood jumping, though this is pretty decent. I’ll never feel like I did back with the SEALs when I was doing real deadly work. Back then, the fights weren’t scripted, and my life was genuinely in danger.
A film set is fun and it’s a nice workout, but I’m not in any real danger. And I’m not taking real lives. Out there on the battlefield, I killed America’s enemies, because that was my job.
Here though, I don’t have to worry about that. It feels good and it feels strange to be free of the constant nagging fear that my next mission might be my last.
“How was that last flip?” I ask her as we watch the playback on the monitor. Lionel is already off talking with the lighting guys, and so it’s just me and Tara watching the footage.
“It looks good,” she says without turning around. “I think it’ll fit right.”
I nod and lean in closer. “They really sell it, don’t they?” I ask her.
She glances back at me. “Huh?” she asks.
“The stunt guys,” I say, nodding at the extras that I was fighting with. “They’re really impressive.”
“Oh. Yeah, definitely.”
“I mean, I’m the star or whatever, but I’d be nothing without guys that could do that. I mean seriously, watch him take this punch. It looks so…” I trail off as on screen, I punch a guy in the face and he collapses in a realistic way.
“It looks real,” she finishes for me. “Yeah, I can’t argue with that.” As the footage ends, she turns and looks at me, a strange curiosity on her face.
“What?” I ask her.
“It’s just, I’ve worked on more than a few big budget movies like this, and I’ve never had a lead talk about the crew like you do.”
I blink at her, surprised. “What should I talk about?”
“Well, normally it’s about how you look.”
I grin at her. “I’m not that kind of guy. Besides, I know I look good.”
She rolls her eyes and starts walking. I fall in beside her as we head across the set.
“Fact is, I’m new to all this,” I say to her. “I don’t really know what I’m doing.”
“You seem pretty confident to me,” she says.
“It’s easy to fake. I mean, two years ago, I was fighting on a battlefield in Syria, risking my damn life. And now I’m here, in front of cameras all day long.”
She hesitates for a second. “That must be weird for you.”
“Very weird,” I say. “Bizarre, actually. I was hoping…” I trail off a little bit as we walk though a group of stunt guys coordinating the next scene.
“You were hoping what?” she asks, stopping and facing me.
“I was hoping you could help me. You know this business better than I do.”