Chapter Three
Dina
I yawned widely, and did my best to cover my gaping mouth as I made my way across the lot and towards the costume and make-up department. I was exhausted, and it was only the first day.
Then, it was always like this the first day of shooting. You had to get used to being back in the game, getting back into the groove of wildly irregular hours and working whenever the boss needed you. It had been about a month since my last project and I had grown accustomed to my ability to stay in bed all day and not bring down the wrath of my employers as a result. I needed a coffee, and I needed one now.
Craning my neck, I spotted a food truck sitting at the other side of the lot. I could smell the bitter, rich scent of the fresh-ground beans and my mouth was practically watering at the thought of a pastry of some kind. Something buttery and sugary and –
“Oh, shit, sorry,” I mumbled as I bumped into someone making their way across to the lot in the same direction I was headed.
“Don’t worry about it,” He replied, and my head snapped up. Holy shit. It was him. It was Will Derry.
“Hey, you’re Dina, right?” He remarked, furrowing his brow like he was trying to place me. “Where do I know you from?”
“Uh…” I struggled to find the words to get out anything that wasn’t complete nonsense. Here I was, standing in the presence of the guy I’d had a crush on for at least a decade, and I couldn’t find a word to say. Come the fuck on! I had no idea if I would ever get another chance to talk to him like this. One-on-one, just the two of us. I wanted to make a good impression. Needed to. He looked down at me patiently, glancing across at the coffee stand as though he was wondering when it would be polite for him to duck out and get his hit of caffeine.
“I’m the make-up artist?” I finally managed. “I…I worked on Palatial. That’s where you saw my…my, uh, work.”
“Oh, yeah!” He nodded, sounding enthusiastic. Now that I managed to relax, I could actually enjoy his presence for a hot second; I was used to seeing him on the back page of gossip rags, all dressed up and rakishly handsome in various tuxedos and perfectly-cut suits. But this morning, he was in jeans and a black t-shirt that showed off his perfectly lean body as though it’d had been made to be looked at. He was about a foot taller than me, with thick, messy hair and a smattering of dark stubble that told me that he’d just rolled out of bed and on to set, same as me.
I ran my fingers through my own hair, glad I had at least bothered with a full face this morning so I could make a good impression. But I was wearing a slouchy sweater and my lucky jeans, and I wasn’t exactly dressed to meet the biggest star in the country.
“I loved your work on that,” he nodded, cocking his head to the side. I had won a handful of awards for Palatial, but I was still surprised that he had any idea who I actually was.
“Thanks,” I flushed, and he leaned up against a truck that was sitting just behind us.
“You were working with Thomas Krasinski on that shoot, right?” He leaned in conspiratorially, as though he didn’t want anyone else to hear what we were saying. I nodded.
“Tell me,” he cocked an eyebrow. “Was he as much as an asshole then as he was when I worked with him?”
I spluttered with laughter, glad I wasn’t going to have to pretend that working with that pretentious old ass had been anything but a nightmare.
“Yeah, he was a jack-off,” I agreed. “He treated the crew like shit the whole time. I’m surprised there wasn’t a revolution and everyone didn’t walk out on him.”
“Sounds like the guy I worked with,” he shook his head. “You know, I don’t know anyone who worked with him twice. He’s such a piece of shit.”
“I thought that, too,” I shrugged. “But then, I got nominated for awards working with him so…”
“You’d have been nominated if you were working on someone’s shitty high school film thesis,” he waved his hand, dismissing me as though I was being ridiculous. I scuffed my foot along the ground, flattered and surprised that he’d paid that much attention to my work.
“That’s sweet of you to say,” I mumbled.
“You know, when I was working with him, he wanted me to stay in character even when I was off-camera?” He leaned in again, and I stared up at him, mouth slightly open.
“Weren’t you playing a serial killer in that movie?”
“Yup,” he nodded, and then shook his head at the ridiculousness of it. “I wasn’t sure whether he wanted me to pick off the cast and crew to stay in character, but he’d have been first on the fucking list.”
I laughed. He was easier to talk to than I’d expected, funnier and more charming. But then, all actors – at least the good ones – had to have this way with words around them if they wanted to get anywhere.
“So, you already live in Devina, or…?”
“No, I moved a couple of days ago,” I admitted. “From Hollywood. Nice to be somewhere a little more…”
“Authentic?” He finished off for me as I groped for the word, and I nodded.
“I was hoping that someone here would be able to tell me the best places to drink in this town,” he grinned. “If there’s one thing you can say for LA, the nightlife is good.”
“I don’t know, I like the quiet life,” I replied, forgetting for a second who I was talking to. “Or at least, I do now.”
“Oh?” He leaned forward slightly, running his hand over his stubble. “Sounds like you’ve got a few interesting stories.”
“Maybe I’ll even tell them to you one day,” I shot back, and he grinned.
“Maybe when I’ve got some coffee in me,” he gestured to the cart. The guy behind the counter was staring at the two of us, trying his hardest to keep his cool and not doing a great job in the process.
“I’m fucking exhausted,” he yawned. “I’m used to just rolling up and doing what I need to and then heading home, you know?”
“I wouldn’t,” I teased, finding myself beginning to relax. “I actually have to stay all day, not like you acting types.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, you get to watch me suffer through getting used to sixteen-hour days,” he sighed. “Good thing I don’t know anything about the nightlife here. At least I won’t know what I’m missing out on.”
“I’ll report back,” I suggested, and he ordered himself a drink, then turned to me.
“What are you having?” he asked, and I noticed his eyes flickering up and down my body. I shifted my weight from one hip to the other, not sure how to stand to best show off my assets. I opened my mouth to reply to him, and then my eyes fell on a cluster of extras making their way past the stand. Two of them were peering over at me, and the rest were talking animatedly amongst themselves. I realized that I had already become a point of interest just by virtue of standing there, talking to Will. I tore my eyes away from the crowd who were observing us, and forced my attention back to Will.
“Uh, it’s cool,” I waved a hand. “I’ll get something later. I’m not sure I could stomach anything this early in the morning anyway.”
“You sure?” he asked, turning to the barista and brushing his arm against mine as he did so. “It’s just a coffee.”
“I’m good,” I waved over my shoulder as I turned to head down to the make-up department. Even though the little touch we’d shared had sent a line of shivers up my arm like someone had injected me with something, I knew I couldn’t stick around too much longer for fear of someone assuming that I had only picked up this job because we were hooking up or something. I had worked hard to get where I was that day and I wasn’t about to have it undermined by some movie star with a dazzling smile and just the right amount of sharpness to his jaw. No way. Not a chance.
Besides, I’d dated enough actors back in LA to know that hooking up with the stars never ended well. At first, it was kind of exciting to hook up with the talent, to see them in front of camera and then take them home at the end of the day, but it wasn’t worth the hassle. Either their egos were so big they had trouble fitting them through doors, or they were so wracked with insecurities that I spent most of the time that we were together convincing them that they really were talented and that they deserved to have the jobs they did. That left very little room for any of my own feelings on the matter, and eventually I swore off dating all actors as a matter of course. Not that I imagined Will would be interesting in dating, judging by what I’d heard about him over the years.
I shot a look over my shoulder as I stepped into the make-up trailer, and found that he had turned his head to look at me before I vanished from sight completely. I grinned to myself as I shut the door behind me. Yeah, it might have been nothing more than a pipe dream, but damn if it wasn’t a nice one. I just had to keep reminding myself that, no matter how strong my crush was on Will Derry, he was just like any other actor I’d worked with. Charming, but best kept firmly at arm’s length.