Page 28 of Touch in the Dark

“What the hell does he expect with all those lights shining on me. I’m not made of fucking plastic. Don’t see jerk face getting the same treatment, part of the sweat on me is from him.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll fix you right up.”

She gives me a narrow-eyed look then focuses back on her reflection. I don’t think she was actually talking to me. O-kay. I fix her up with more sweat resistant make-up and cover her face in powder before brushing away the excess.

“You should be good now.”

She doesn’t even thank me, just strolls back on set, tossing the robe aside. I blink but try not to be offended. For the most part, the people on this set have been pleasant, if somewhat resistant to my chatter. I adjusted, not everyone can be like Remi and the guys on the last movie.

“What a bitch,” Reggie mumbles.

“Reg, I love you, but keep those comments to yourself until we’ve left huh?”

“Can’t help it. It doesn’t hurt to say thank you. You’re so nice to everyone and they’re all so…” she waves her hand.

“Keep it professional,” I paint a smile on my face until she gets the idea and makes a zipping motion.

Reggie graduated from school in the summer and has been working with me full-time as an assistant ever since. I can’t have Reggie making comments, even innocuous ones, there are ears everywhere. And this particular actress has already made a few extras and the wardrobe girl cry. I’m thick skinned but I don’t think I can fight an actress who overhears my assistant calling her names.

“This is so weird,” Reggie stands up and leans in close to me, staring at the actors getting into position on the bed in front of us.

“It’s the closest thing I’ve come to sex in a while,” I chuckle. I hear someone else laugh quietly but when I glance over my shoulder, I can’t see who it was. Must have imagined it.

“What if that thing slips off. How does it even stay on? And he’s hard,” her eyes are wide.

“It’s a sex scene, he’s rubbing up against a naked woman. It’s biology.”

“I couldn’t do it.”

“Good job no one is asking you too, now hush.”

The set is closed to most of the crew, only a small amount of people are in here, including the intimacy coordinator, who is making sure everyone is comfortable and happy with what is happening in the scene. I’m only here for instances like the one that just occurred. I’d been called on earlier to cover a pimple on the actor’s ass. That was one for the books for sure. It was a nice ass though, I wouldn’t have even noticed the pimple, but I guess the zoom lens picked it up. He'd thanked me at least, like I’d just given him some change, not been up close and personal with his butt cheek.

We are three weeks in on this movie and I’m exhausted already. There is a lot of night shooting. Where Remi’s film was a rom com, this is an action movie and the kind of locations and scenes they need are often filmed at night, which is an adventure in and off itself. Filming at night in New York is an experience. One I’ve been enjoying immensely, even if it is tiring. Luckily, we’re only needed till two in the afternoon today, then we’re off for two days.

I have plans with the girls tonight which I am really looking forward to because the last three weeks of dating has been one disaster after another. It’s time to take a break or stop letting people set me up with random dudes they barely know. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve heard this guy is great, or my friend said he’s so nice. Five dates, five duds. I try to keep an open mind, I don’t want to be shallow or cruel but so far, no one has given me even the slightest flicker of a tingle. Nor really kept my interest if I’m being honest.

I’m starting to regret not getting with Chase. He had it all, hot, smart, funny and interesting and fully on board with Remi’s plan. But that isn’t my plan. Dating and finding a mate is supposed to be the plan. I snort laugh at that thought, the director yell’s ‘CUT’ at the top of his voice, then turns and asks who the hell made that noise on his silent set.

I duck my head. Shit.

“Sorry, that was me,” a guy says.

The director turns to the cameraman who just took the blame for me snorting. He yells at him about being quiet or get the fuck out, then makes them start the scene over. I cringe, as a camera guy looks over at me. I feel terrible, I try to convey that without saying anything, given I’ll get us into more trouble. He winks at me then goes back to controlling his camera on the writhing couple.

Luckily, we make it through the scene after two more takes with no further noise or makeup mishaps. No one mentions the noise or the director almost losing his shit. Reggie doesn’t appear to have realised it was me either, or that the camera guy saved my ass. She is wide eyed as we go back into the makeup room to pack up.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch a love scene in a movie and find it believable after that," she says, packing things away into one of the trolley’s we brought up here. They don’t have this apartment any longer, so we need to clear out properly.

“None of it’s real,” I point out, trying to move quickly. I want to get out of here, fast.

“Yeah but, you can suspend your disbelief in the moment, watching the movie. Now I’ve seen everything that goes behind it, that will be all I see. And I’ll definitely be trying to spot pimples on asses,” she adds with a chuckle.

“Tell me about it, that was a new one, even for me,” I join in laughing.

As much as I want to leave quickly, it takes us about a half hour to get cleared up and one of the guys helps us get everything out to the elevator. The actors and director are long gone, so I can breathe a little easier. It’s just crew and support workers left finishing up. A cleaning company are waiting for us all to leave so they can go through and clean the entire place. There are photographs on the walls of the people who live here, I can’t imagine the amount of money they’re clearing for loaning their place to a movie studio.

I’m struggling to keep my rucksack up on my shoulder and drag one of my cases, when the weight of the bag lifts slightly. I whirl around panicking that it’s going to fall and hit the floor but see the cameraman.

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