Page 56 of You. Me. Us.

The set was bathed in an ethereal glow, the artificial moonlight casting long shadows across the spaceship’s control room. Hillary stood at the console, her fingers hovering over the buttons as she waited for her cue.

Ethan stepped into the frame, his space suit glinting in the low light. “Princess,” he said, his voice tinged with urgency, “we’ve lost contact with home. We’re on our own out here.”

Hillary took a deep breath, channeling her character’s determination. “Then we’ll just have to find a way back ourselves. We do everything together, this shouldn’t be any different.”

As the scene progressed, Hillary found herself drawn into the moment, the lines flowing effortlessly. She and Ethan worked in perfect sync, their characters’ bond growing stronger with each passing second.

And then, the moment arrived. Ethan’s character, overwhelmed with emotion, leaned in close. Hillary’s heart raced as their lips met, the kiss soft and tender.

But even as they broke apart, Hillary felt a strange sense of detachment. The kiss had been a performance, nothing more. She searched her heart for any stirring of real emotion, but found only a cool professionalism.

Fascinating, she thought to herself. To be able to share such an intimate moment with someone and feel nothing at all.

With a word from Vera, Hillary stepped back, her mind already moving on to the next scene. She glanced over at Julius, who was watching from the sidelines, his expression unreadable.

She moved to go after him, but he was gone, vanished back into the shadows somehow.

It was too good to be true, wasn’t it?

The next day, they filmed the second most climactic scene of the movie. Hillary’s character was desperately trying to save the entire planet by not crashing a ship carrying explosives into itssurface, while Julius and Ethan’s characters fought to protect her from the invading army who’d snuck on board.

The stakes were high, the tension palpable among the actors and the characters they played as in this scene, Ethan’s character was well aware of the growing attraction between the other two.

Ethan and Julius moved in perfect unison, their characters’ chemistry crackling like electricity. She had trouble focusing on her lines and blocking, falling into awe of the men.

As Ethan took a stray blast to the chest, he collapsed into Hillary’s arms just as her character turned to watch him take the hit. She cradled him close, tears streaming down her face.

“Don’t leave me,” she whispered, her voice raw with emotion. “I can’t do this without you.”

Ethan’s eyes closed, his breath growing shallow, a trick he’d learned from a director supposedly. And in that moment, a wave of genuine grief washed over her. The tears that fell were real, born of a connection she hadn’t even realized was there.

As the scene ended and the crew began to reset for the next take, Hillary wiped her eyes, trying to compose herself. She looked up to find Julius watching her, a soft smile on his face.

“That was incredible,” he said, his voice low. “You’re an amazing actress, Hillary.”

She smiled back, feeling a warmth bloom in her chest. “I had an amazing teacher,” she looped her arms around his neck. “One who has been odd the last few weeks.”

His lips found hers, and their kiss was passionate and hot as ever. Her body began to buzz with need just as she pulled away.

“You can’t do that,” she whispered playfully.

“I can, you just don’t want me to do it here.”

The sound of a phone ringing jolted her out of her reverie.

“Yours,” a PA passed it to her with a glare, tossing it to her from the table. They weren’t supposed to bring them to set, but she needed to take photos for her articles.

She extracted herself from Julius and stepped off to the side after grabbing the phone. She glanced at the screen, seeing Olivia’s name flash across it. With a smile, she answered, “Olivia, hi!” Walking toward one of the break rooms, she tugged the door shut to take the call in private. Everyone knew about her articles, but she tried not to create a fuss with them.

Keeping both jobs wasn’t as stressful as she’d imagined, though she was still far more nervous each time she hit send on her emails to Olivia. She enjoyed acting, but it didn’t bring the same intense terror as facing Olivia.

“Just finished reading part three of your series,” Olivia said, her voice filled with excitement. “The way you described filming in those zero-gravity harnesses, it was like I was right there with you. You’ve come quite a long way, Miss Mitchell. Seems like sticking it out was the right choice.”

Hillary grinned, the praise never seeming to mean any less than the very first time Olivia gave her a compliment. “I’m so glad you liked it. It was an incredible experience, but also more challenging than anything you’ve assigned me yet.”

As she delved into the details, recounting the long hours spent suspended in the air, the aches and pains that followed, and the exhilaration of finally nailing a scene, Hillary felt a sense of pride. She was doing what she loved, and people were responding to it.

Olivia chimed in with praise and questions, and the two fell into an easy back-and-forth. Hillary was so engrossed in the conversation that she didn’t hear the soft knock at her door.

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