Page 35 of And They Had a Great Fall

The car pulled up to the gates, an intimidating security guard came out, looking like he expected an argument. He leaned into the open window on the driver’s side and when he saw Savannah, his demeanor changed and a smile spread across his face. He waved them in and returned to his post. She realized why Jake had sent Savannah to escort her. She pictured herself, alone with a driver, at 9:30 p.m., trying to convince the guard that Jake had really asked for her come to set. It would’ve sounded like every woman’s fan fiction, as he laughed her right back to the city center.

Savannah walked her to Jake’s trailer to drop off her bag before heading to where they were shooting scenes that evening. “I’ll need your phone,” she said as they walked out of his trailer. “No phones allowed anywhere we’re actively filming.”

Kat hesitated. Of course, she couldn’t use her phone while watching them shoot, but she also didn’t want to miss anything important from work, again.

Noticing her hesitation, Savannah jumped in. “Oh, Jake told me that you need to be reachable. I monitor his phone and let him know if anyone is texting or calling him. I’ll do the same for you. I’ll be back at his trailer but will come get you if I see anything.”

Kat surrendered her phone and watched as Savannah silenced it and dropped it into a pouch at her hip, presumably alongside Jake’s phone. She wondered how many text messages she had sent to Jake that Savannah had read—or even replied to.

She slipped a badge over Kat’s head and spoke into her walkie-talkie to determine where they were filming with Jake. “Okay,” she said as she started walking. “We’re heading over; it’llbe a small walk. Be very quiet as we approach, and I’ll find you a spot to sit between takes.”

Kat nodded and took it all in. There was constant motion—people bustling everywhere. Every person seemed to know where they were going, but to the uninitiated, it seemed like well-choreographed chaos. Her eyes darted around, and she tried to immortalize every image into her memory as they walked.

“Have you ever seen him work on a scene before?” Savannah whispered as they walked through the set, toward the areas that were lit up as bright as daytime.

Kat shook her head and whispered, “I’ve run lines with him. But I’ve never seen him on an actual set.”

Savannah beamed. “You’re in for a treat. He’s amazing to watch.” The pride on Savannah’s face matched the pride in her voice.

When they got closer, Savannah slowed down and motioned for her to wait while they finished the active scene. Once they heard “Cut and reset,” Savannah started walking faster, and Kat nearly had to jog to stay behind her. Savannah pulled her to the side of where the crew was working and grabbed her a chair to ensure Kat would be out of the way. Without hesitation, she took her seat so she wouldn’t disrupt any of the intense activity swirling around her.

From her vantage point, she had full line of sight to Jake. He was in deep discussion with Garren Christiansen, and she felt her excitement grow as she realized she would get the privilege of watching an award-winning director command a scene.

With all the commotion around her, Kat couldn’t hear what they were saying. She could only see Garren’s hand motions indicating how the camera would move during the scene and what he expected. Jake took a few steps and demonstrated his body movement, and Garren nodded his approval as he practiced the motion. She didn’t know if Jake had realized she’d arrived, andpart of her didn’t want him to. She was content to watch him from afar and observe him in his element. Even with hundreds of crew members milling around, his presence was palpable.

Kat glanced around to see if there were other actors that she recognized. He’d mentioned that the other principal actors had just arrived, but she’d failed to ask him about the rest of the cast. To her left was a man in costume. She’d seen him before in something, but she couldn’t place his name. Next to him was Sloan Stevens. It would be impossible not to recognize her—she was gorgeous. Kat thought she might have seen thatPeoplemagazine named her the most talented actress under twenty-five. She tried not to stare, focusing on watching Jake.

Garren called Sloan over to the scene and went over the same blocking with her. Jake and Sloan rehearsed a few times, and then nodded that they were ready. They went to different marks and waited for the director’s cue. Once he shouted action, they ran toward each other as if they were being chased, fell into each other’s arms, nearly fell to the ground, and then started running again.

As they ran toward each other, Kat could see the fear on their faces shift to relief when they fell into each other’s arms, but their expressions once again turned into fear when they realized they were still not safe. It was perfectly choreographed with every step, every glance, and every emotion directed and timed out. They were flawless each time, both hitting their marks and emotions at the right moments. Garren walked over and gave them direction before resetting to shoot the scene again. They did the take six more times. It was a meticulous process, and Kat focused on watching the precise way the scene was executed each time it was shot.

On the seventh take, Garren said, “We got it, set up for the kiss, scene ninety-seven.” Jake looked over to the crew, and his eyes landed on Kat. She gave him a little wave. His face broke out in a grin, and he jogged over to where she was sitting.

“You’re here,” he said, extending his hand to pull her up outof her chair. He gave her a quick but soft kiss on the lips and wrapped his arms around her. “I missed you,” he whispered.

“I’m here,” she whispered back and relaxed into his embrace. They hadn’t seen each other for a year, but he missed her after just a few hours—her brain and body tingled as she squeezed him tighter. Kat was apprehensive about the crew milling around, but she trusted him in his environment.

As they broke apart from their embrace, Savannah rushed over with a bottle of water for Jake, and another crew member appeared with a makeup pallet to give him a touch-up before the next scene. Savannah thrust an iPad in Kat’s hands and said, “Electronic NDA, everyone on set signs one. Sorry, I forgot to bring it with me in the car. Don’t tell anyone, I should have had you do it right when we got here. Normal non-disclosure stuff, nothing out of the ordinary.”

Kat, having signed many NDAs, scrolled through it once and then signed with the stylus. She handed it back to Savannah and said, “Your secret is safe with me.” Savannah nodded and submitted the document. She took the water bottle back from Jake, asked him if he needed anything and, when he shook his head, she took a call and set off in the opposite direction.

Once makeup was finished with the touch-ups, they were finally alone—relatively alone, since there were still over a hundred people standing in the vicinity.

“I am afraid to touch you and mess up your wardrobe and makeup,” Kat said reaching over and hooking her index finger in his.

“Wardrobe and makeup can be fixed,” he said winking at her. “We have entire departments for that.” He threaded his fingers through hers and kissed her hand. “Hey, I should tell you. The next scene—”

“It’s a kissing scene,” she interrupted. “I heard. It’s okay. Do your job.”

Before he could reply, Garren called out, “Jake, we’re ready.”

He squeezed her hand, turned around, and jogged back to his place. She was struck by the joy in his face and the energy she could feel radiating off him. He was right. This was where he fit in the world.

The assistant director announced that the next scene was set and ready. Jake had told her before that shooting a love scene was about as unsexy as it could be, and she watched firsthand how boring an on-screen kiss is to film. The first thing she noticed is how the crew micromanaged every second of the scene. As a viewer, she believed there was some passion between the actors kissing, even just for a moment.They had to enjoy it a little bit, right?

Watching Jake and Sloan’s kiss being filmed confirmed how unpassionate the act really is when performed on camera. Viewing it right in front of her, without swelling music or sweeping camera angles, she was watching two paid actors following predetermined blocking, kissing methodically and silently, while bored crew members checked their watches, eager to be done for the night. It wasn’t just unsexy—it was a remarkable mix of boring and awkward.

She watched them execute the kiss about five times while they filmed it from different angles and tried slightly different blocking. Sloan and Jake made a gorgeous couple, and she could imagine their beauty and chemistry were heightened by the camera lens. She crossed her arms and tried to ignore the twinge of jealousy seeping into her chest. She was no stranger to seeing Jake kiss actresses on screen …or on Instagram, she thought wryly. Jake would never fully be hers, her mind mused. She would always share him with costars, his adoring fans, the press, his team, and everyone else who wanted a piece of him. She asked herself if she was a strong enough person to share him so completely. She didn’t know if she was.

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