Page 39 of One Life to Loathe

“Gladly,” Leo said as he turned away from me and faced the cleavage queen. “Let’s get this over with. We still have two more scenes to shoot and the second is endless chains of dialogue. It’s going to take forever.”

“Get ready,” Miles called out. “When I say action, you have to start working through the crowd, Sam. Don’t speak to anybody. I want your first words to be to Leo. You can smile and nod, though. Just don’t do too much of it.”

They were the sort of instructions I’d gotten a hundred times. I merely nodded. “I’ve got this. Let’s roll.”

“Here we go. Quiet on the set.” Miles looked thrilled to be in control and be able to admonish everybody. “Places. And … action.”

IT ONLY TOOK US FOUR TIMES TO GETthrough the opening scene. Miles was actually in love with our first take, which gave me pause. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Miles—he had a reputation for being a talented up-and-comer—but no director was ever happy with the first take. Miles was positively giddy, though.

Despite that, he made us film it three more times just to be sure. Then we moved on to the next scene.

“Okay, you guys are in the corner here in the circular booth,” Miles said. “Leo offered to buy you a drink. You said yes, but you’re still clearly nervous, Sam. You’re a powerful witch who has never had any trouble protecting herself, but there’s something about this man that worries you. There’s an energy brewing between you that you can’t ignore.”

I swear, it was as if he was talking to Sam and Leo instead of our onscreen counterparts. Right when he was saying “there’s an energy brewing between you that you can’t ignore” I snagged gazes with Leo, who was back to being cold as a popsicle, and found him in an unguarded moment. He was giving me the same look I was giving him.

Then he snapped out of it quickly and focused on Miles. I had no choice but to do the same.

“Just talk regularly for a second,” Miles ordered when the cameraman said something to him I couldn’t quite make out over the fans. The warehouse should’ve been drafty and frigid. It was starting to heat up, though. “We need to readjust the lighting.”

I offered up my blandest smile for Leo’s benefit. “Are you having fun yet?” I had no idea why I was poking the bear, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

“Yes, it’s a laugh riot,” Leo agreed. “There’s nothing better than sitting in an unnaturally lit warehouse for hours on end.” He leaned back on the uncomfortable booth seat. Sets were meant to look good, not necessarily function outside of the aesthetic.

“You’re falling in love with me already,” I said. “I can feel it.”

He didn’t bother to hide his eye roll. “Have you ever considered what crap it is that a creature that has been alive for centuries would actually want to hang out with a twenty-something woman?”

The question rankled…even though I’d often wondered it myself. “I happen to think that my character has a lot of wisdom for her age. She was raised by witches. It’s not as if she spent all of her time going to dances and mooning over boys.”

“And yet your entire character arc in the first episode is mooning over a vampire.”

“Technically, I’m not supposed to realize you’re a vampire until the fifth episode. That’s the cliffhanger.”

His glare was withering. “I know. That doesn’t change the fact that I’m a vampire and your character basically falls for my looks.”

“Um … right back at you. It’s not as if my character has shown any substance yet.” I made a sniffing noise. “It’s coming, though. I’ve read all the scripts. I have a great arc. You just sit around and brood.”

“I can brood better than most people.”

“I think you were born to brood,” I agreed. “That seems to be your go-to move.”

“Is this because I said it was just a vampire show? I already apologized for that.”

I was being petulant. I recognized it. He did things to me that I couldn’t explain, though. He made me uncomfortable in my own skin. Sure, I wasn’t the prettiest actress in the world—that slope was a daunting one to climb—but it wasn’t my looks holding me back. It wasn’t my talent either. I knew I was talented. This was the sort of business where you had to be at the exact right place at the exact right time, though. Even Brad Pitt had to be in the right place to get discovered. It just hadn’t happened to me yet, though. It might never happen. I was resigned to that.

Despite all that, despite never looking in the mirror and hating what I saw, whenever Leo looked at me, I was self-conscious to the point of distraction. He acted as if he was doing me a favor whenever he deigned to talk to me.

“I just don’t need your attitude,” I complained. “You’re constantly looking down your nose at this production. It’s ridiculous … and unnecessary … and you’re a total donkey.”

To my utter surprise—we were in the middle of a verbal spat after all—his lips quirked. He didn’t look as if he was upset by the statement in the least. “Why do you say ‘donkey’ instead of ‘ass’?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s something my mother always said when I was growing up.”

“I’m guessing you weren’t allowed to curse in your house.”

“Definitely not,” I agreed. “I once said the S-word when talking about my grandmother’s tuna noodle casserole, and I was grounded for a week.”

“As in it tasted like shit?”

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