Studio B

Universal City, California

 

“Does that sound a little off to you, Ricky?”

“Sounds great to me, Kat.”

Kat stood up from the keyboard, tugging at the cape that was tied up behind her. It kept wanting to catch on everything as she moved around the stage, trying to get the instruments ready for this little performance.

This wasn’t supposed to happen for another month, but Colt Murphy’s panic attack over the death threats he’d been receiving had forced the production team to have to search for something to keep the staff—the production assistants, the camera men, the costume ladies and makeup artists, and (probably most important) the director—busy. It was decided that they’d begin filming parts of the music video that would, in essence, be an advertisement for the movie.

The song she’d just played on the keyboard was one of her old ones. The one they were about to do was a new song, one that no one was supposed to hear for another six months. This song was supposed to make its world debut when the film was nearing its release date. That was part of Kat’s deal with the studio. They gave her musical control over the film, and she’d wait until the end of the year to release her new album, the one that had all the songs being featured in the film on it.

Starring in the thing was another perk, supposedly. Acting was never something Kat had aspired to, but her former manager thought it was a logical next step, and the deal with Jackson Chamberlain was signed, sealed, and delivered before Kat had even known it was made.

Kat would much rather be vacationing on her ranch in Oklahoma, but a contract was a contract.

She crossed the stage to where the director, Sergio Carrington, was talking to Ricky, her bass player.

“We’re just about ready,” Ricky was saying as she walked up. “We just need to warm up a bit.”

“What exactly is it you’re going to want us to do?” she asked.

Sergio glanced at her, with this look on his face that said she should have already known. All these people thought she was something of an idiot because she didn’t automatically understand what it was like to be on a movie set. The thing was, she’d never been on a movie set before. Her videos were most often filmed on the pastures of her ranch, the wholesome dirt and old barns of her home state in the background. This was all a new experience for her.

“We just want you to stand there and sing,” he announced. “We’ll film the song two or three times, then cut it with scenes from the movie later on in the editing room. Very simple.”

“All right. Then I think we’re about ready.”

She stepped back, gesturing for Ricky to take his place. Sergio sighed, but he walked off the small stage as her band moved into position. She had a fairly small band compared to some modern artists. Besides Ricky, there was Tommy on the electric guitar, Angela on drums, and Shelley on keyboards. Tommy and Shelley handled most of the back up vocals. That was it.

The lady from costumes came up as Kat approached the mic, tugging at the strings that held the cape rolled up against her hips. She glanced back and watched it fall around her legs, the thing like a bride’s veil or something. She was uncomfortable with the whole thing, the dark pant suit with the contrasting white cape flowing around her, but she’d been told it would make a spectacular vision on camera. It was symbolic, they said, of the character she played in the movie. She had no idea what this black and white bullshit had to do with a woman trapped in a scientific lab, but whatever. It wasn’t hers to understand.

She tugged the wireless mic from its stand and handed the stand itself down to the production assistant waiting at the base of the stage. Then she nodded to Ricky. As music began to flow from his bass guitar, she focused on the people gathered at the foot of the stage, just far enough back from the cameras to keep from getting in the way of the shot. It wasn’t like performing at a large venue. She could see these people, could see their faces and read their expressions. It was more like performing in a nightclub, or some other intimate venue. She liked that.

Her eyes slid closed as she began to sing the first few lines of the new song. New song. It was actually one she’d written several years ago, but she had never felt right about putting it on an album. She chose it now because it actually felt like it fit the plot of this movie. And because it was better than telling everyone she was having a bit of writer’s block.

Who could be creative when their life was spiraling out of control?

But then again, that was exactly what this song was about, so maybe this was the perfect time to sing it.

When she opened her eyes, she was slowly building her way to the chorus. As the words flowed almost effortlessly from her lips, she found herself staring at this man she’d never seen before, this man who was watching her with the most profound gratitude on his face. She didn’t think gratitude was quite the right word, but it was the only word that came to mind as she looked at him.

He was a big man, one of those guys who probably spent twelve hours a day at the gym. He had wide shoulders that seemed to quiver with power. Thick arms that were barely concealed in the long-sleeved Oxford shirt he’d managed to shove them into. He had thick hips that were still somewhat narrowed from those wide shoulders, but heavy enough to carry the tree trunks he had for legs. His dark hair was short, tending toward thick curls on top where it was longest. He had green eyes that seemed to see everything all at once, and a scruff on his chin that seemed to undermine the professionalism of his dress.

Handsome didn’t begin to describe this man. He was clearly military, if the way he stood, the way he held himself, said anything about him. What he was doing on a movie set surrounded by a bunch of liberals who’d do just about anything to get out of serving their country in any form, she had no idea. But she was finding it difficult to pull her eyes away from him.

Time is a joke.

Love is a game.

If I’d known where this life was taking me, I never would have gotten on the ride.

It was his turn to close his eyes as she sang the refrain of the song. Was it the words that were touching him, or her voice? Once upon a time, it wouldn’t have mattered much to her which it was. But there was something about this guy…she really wanted to know.

They came to the end of the song, and Sergio was suddenly climbing up onto the stage in front of her.

“We need you to look at the camera from time to time. I know I told you that you should pretend the camera isn’t there, but this is one of those moments when you should ignore everything I told you before. Okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s run through it again.”

When the music began to play the second time, the stranger was gone. She felt an instant loss at that realization, like a friend had walked away from her in a crowd. It was stupid, but it threw her off for a second, long enough to cause Ricky to stop the song and force them all to begin again.

Stupid. She was too old to believe in karma, wasn’t she?

But there was something about that guy…