Page 23 of Shooting for his Heart
“But I don’t have to sit around and point fingers all day. Producers make stuff happen. I can have fun finding the best people for the part and making sure everyone is in place so Uncle Marty can boss them around.” He shrugged.
“Well… at least you’ve got it all figured out.” She smiled. “So, are you ladies going to be joining us today? Like Evan said, they’re going to be doing a lot of action scenes and blowing stuff up today. I got extra earplugs if you need them.”
“We might come down for a little bit. We don’t want to get in the way.” Gia’s answer mirrored my thoughts.
“I hope to see you down there. The boys, plus their uncle, is enough testosterone for me. Since he had to get a chair for me, he got extras for you two. These guys aren’t going to need chairs anyway. They’ll be on their feet, if not on Marshawn’s heels half the time.” She laughed.
“We’ve probably spent more than enough time getting in Marshawn’s way,” I commented.
Gia shot me a look before giving her own input. “I don’t know about that. If there’s going to be explosions, I may have to leave you behind.”
I nodded and confessed, “I’m actually excited to see some explosions myself, but?—”
“Well, it’s settled. I’ll have some company while the boys call themselvesworking.”
“See you there,” Gia returned.
Despite Gia’s declaration, I decided to stay in the back and work on touching up some makeup. I liked interacting with the cast aside from Clarissa. There was a comradery among the lesser-known actors and actresses that I loved. I had been running around for what seemed like forever, redoing makeup and helping the team do some repairs on outfits. You couldn’t tell by the way my dogs were hollering, but I was having the time of my life.
“Am I to assume you didn’t want to be bothered with us today?”
I jumped, startled by Marshawn’s voice from behind me. “Uh, not at all. I wanted to learn all I could from this position, so I decided to help out behind the scenes during set today.”
“I’m not going to lie. I miss your colorful commentary.”
“Really?” I asked way quicker than I intended to.
Were his words loaded? Did he mean he missed me or that he missed hearing what I had to say about the film?
It felt silly thinking so much into simple words. I would never reveal what a huge crush I had on Marshawn. It was natural to admire him after seeing his work firsthand. Anyone could see what a handsome man he was. I would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to have a crush on him. On the other hand, I would be a fool to think he saw me as anything other than a makeup and wardrobe designer.
“Sure. You give an unbiased perspective. I hope you’re not staying away because you don’t feel welcome.”
“I wanted to get back here and get my hands dirty today.” I only partially lied.
“OK. I can’t get mad at hard work. Are you going home next week?”
“Home?” I asked, confused as to why Marshawn thought I would be going home.
“Yeah. We’re at the halfway mark. I like to schedule an entire week off from filming so I can evaluate what needs to be done going forward.”
“So, you aren’t going?”
“No. That’s why I have the boys come to me. I try to stay on set until I’m done filming.”
“I wasn’t even aware of the week off…”
“Yeah, it gives everyone a chance to cool their heels and get a break from being under anasshole.”
I chuckled. “You’re not allthatbad.”
“You say that now, but you’re back here hiding out to keep from having to deal with me.”
“I am nothiding…”
“Yeah, right.” A couple of the actors came back around the corner from where they had been taking a smoke break. Noticing them, Marshawn’s demeanor shifted. “All right. Let me let you get back to work. My assistants will be looking for me any minute now.”
It had beentwo days since the boys had left, and as much as I missed their presence, I was relieved to work in peace again. So far, we had gotten some superb shots. I was proud of the work I had done making my first fantasy movie. I couldn’t wait to see the finished product. After forty-eight hours sitting in front of my computer screen, I was fiending for a break. I needed sustenance and a stiff drink.
