Page 10 of Out of the Gold

Judith arrives on set, holding the new gloves out for Noble’s inspection. Melody and Helene trail behind her. I open and close my fist, watching as they examine the new addition to my wardrobe.

“Looks like they got a replacement,” Mark notes.

“Yeah.” I stand. “I better make sure these fit and won’t get stuck in anyone else’s hair.”

“Good luck,” he calls as I stride over to the trio holding the last piece of my wardrobe.

“How’s it looking?”

Noble holds out one black glove to me. “Here, try this on.”

I take the silk and slide it on my right hand and up my forearm. “Fits like a glove.”

Noble smiles at my obvious pun, while Judith plays with the material. “Looks good,” she notes.

“Something’s missing,” Melody pipes up.

Of course she finds something wrong. Can’t she ever leave well enough alone?

Before I can even open my mouth, she grabs my right arm and twists so my palm is facing upward, then moves so it’s facing downward.

“You’re right,” Judith muses.

Melody snaps. “An eight!”

Noble joins the conversation. “Good catch. On the palm. CGI can make it glow gold when he’s performing his DNA transformations.”

A patch won’t be that effective unless . . . I rush in, “Two patches. Palm and top of my hand for both gloves. That way, everything can be captured easier on film.”

“I like the sound of that.” Noble pats my shoulder. “Good thinking. Yes. On both sides.” He looks at Judith. “Do you have any patches you can use?”

Helene responds, “I do. They’re sort of small, but they’ll be perfect.”

Judith whispers something to Helene, who scampers away.

I move all of my fingers, grudgingly impressed that Melody created the gloves in such a short time. Of course, if the design had been perfect from the beginning, none of this would’ve been necessary. My annoyance returns. I remove the glove, drop it on the table next to Judith, and return to my chair next to Mark.

“How’s it working out?”

“They’re making a few more adjustments.”

He nods and, using his coffee cup, points in the general direction of the camera crew. “Have you talked with that one?”

I search through the group, and my eyes land on the only woman. “Ah. Sophia.”

“Yeah.” He sips his coffee. “Know her? Care to introduce a guy?”

I’m surprised he’s asking about her, considering she’s not his usual blond-haired beauty. “Honestly, dude, I don’t really know her all that well. Joe Connelly introduced us at the beginning of the shoot, but she wasn’t on set during the last two movies.”

“Then we have something in common.” He crushes the cup and heads toward the garbage can across the way. Melody reappears with my bodysuit, a new undershirt, the gloves, and mask. She passes the new gloves to Judith. Together, they bring them to Noble. After a brief discussion, he motions me over.

“Here you go, Doctor Manipul8.” Noble winks at me. “Try these on.”

I take the scraps of material out of his hands and examine them. The eights do finish them perfectly. Not how they were portrayed in the graphic novels, or in our prior movies, but a good workaround. And they look good with the revised costume.Too bad this wasn’t thought through before filming started.

Melody plucks the material from me and slides them over my hands, making minor adjustments. The meticulous woman—her attention to detail too late in my book—checks out the gloves from every angle before holding them up for the others to see.

Noble examines every inch of the new gloves. “They look great. Good job, Judith.” He looks at the team surrounding him. “And Melody, Helene,” he adds, then claps. “All right, let’s get this shoot back on track. I’m glad I only scheduled this one scene today. Chase, get back into the top half of your costume.” Noble turns his back on us and yells for everyone to resume their places.

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