Page 17 of Shooting for his Heart
Not again.
I looked at Marshawn, who was slowly shaking his head. I don’t even know why I looked to him for a lifeline after he’d tried to fire me on my first day.
“You don’t have control over that. We’re too far into shooting to be changing things anyway,” Gia interjected.
“Oh, you think I don’t? I’ll have Larsen shut this little heifer down and send her packing in less than twenty minutes. You want to go with her?”
“Sit your ass down! This isn’t the Clarissa Sanders Show. We’re shooting a movie.” Marshawn sighed.
“And I’m the star!”
“Unfortunately and a major pain in my ass, might I add.”
“Are you screwing one of these little girls?” Clarissa asked, propping her hand on her hip.
“Clarissa, go get ready for your next scene or something. I suggest you go practice your lines because I’m not in the fucking mood to shoot a scene over and over just because you aren’t feeling it.”
“Marty?” she whined.
“Quiet on the set!” Marshawn yelled into his megaphone.
I let out a sigh of relief as Clarissa stomped off to wreak havoc elsewhere. I really couldn’t stand her.
“Thank you,” I mumbled.
“You’re welcome, Georgia. Now quiet,” he said, hiking his brows.
It was downrightgluttonous of me to continue to invite Georgia and Gia to join me during filming. Gia wasn’t too far off base when she said I liked space while watching a scene play out. For some reason, the pensive faces Georgia made when something was a little off with a scene was enough to get my wheels turning.
“What do you think?” I asked, giving her my full attention. I’d changed a few things after seeing how she screwed her face up during the scene that was playing out before us. I valued her opinion. The good thing about Vonnie was that she didn’t speak up unless asked.
“I liked it. I felt like that was really going to be the end of them.”
“Good.” I nodded as I stood to walk over to speak to the leader of the rebellion.
I didn’t know much about Vonnie, but for some reason, I wanted to impress her. I couldn’t let this challenging genre change be a flop.
“All right, guys… I’m out for the day,” I advised them after speaking to Miles.
We were three weeks into shooting, and as much as I hated to tear myself away from Vonnie, I’d just gotten confirmation that my three favorite people had made it to the airport. The assistant director had agreed to oversee the last couple of hours while I went to pick up my sister and the boys. I didn’t even look back at Vonnie and Gia since I’d told them I was leaving once the scene was completed.
I liked having the two of them around for a little perspective and comic relief between scenes. I’d found out that this was Vonnie’s first film, and for some reason, I wanted to make it special for her. Giving her a front-row seat to see her work before it hit the silver screen was about as special as I could imagine it would get short of a movie premiere. I avoided looking back because I knew if I fell into the magnetic pull of her smile, I would find a reason to gravitate back to her, and I couldn’t keep my boys waiting.
“Uncle Marty! I can’t believe you were scared of a baby gator.”
“I wasn’t afraid of it—I just didn’t want to touch it,” I said to my youngest nephew.
“You make all those scary movies, and you don’t like alligators.” Nick shook his head.
I shrugged. “To be fair, I don’t think anyone likes alligators.”
“I don’t know, big bro. Those people at that weird place seemed to love them,” Marshae declared, looking up from her task of cutting vegetables to make a salad.
“That’s because they’re psychopaths.”
“Can we get a gator, Uncle Marty?” Evan asked.
“I feel like you already know the answer to that.” I chuckled while shaking my head no.
