Smile for the Cameras
Summary: Lily Evans is a wealthy and famous actress. James Potter is a renowned actor and a heartthrob. What happens when they are both working on the same movie? Will romance blossom? Drama on and off set is guaranteed!
A/N – Hey! This is my second story on here, and I must say I prefer this one. This chapter is quite slow, but rest assured, it will get better. I promise.
Chapter 1: Peanut Butter Oreos
I rolled over in bed, slamming the snooze button on my alarm clock. Why the hell did it insist on waking me up on my day off? Because it's evil, that's why. After trying, and failing, to get back to sleep for the next five minutes, I give up and climb out of bed and stretch my arms out. It's only then I hear it. That annoying little beeping that is my phone ringing. Does nobody know it's my day off? You don't call Lily Evans on a day off. Ever. Not even if her house is on fire. But, alas, people seem to ignore this.
I root around for my phone and finally find it under a pile of clothes I must remember to hang up when I get the time. When it's not my day off. When my phone is not bloody beeping. I glance at the caller ID and grimace. Sara Matthews. My agent. I hesitate, then bring the phone to my ear.
"Hello?"
"LILY!" I pull the phone away and rub my ear.
"Jesus, Sara, what's up with you? You've bloody killed my ear!"
"Oops, sorry, hun, but you'll forgive me when you know what I've done!"
"And what would that be?" I sigh. It's way too early in the morning for this.
"You're going to love me, I'm an absolute genius. In fact –"
"SARA! Can you please, please, please just get to the point? I'm begging you." I rub my face, heading towards the doorway that leads to the landing.
"Ok, ok. Fine. Just building up the suspense, that's all. Don't kill me." She laughs and then continues, "I've only gone and got you the leading role on what is sure to be the biggest movie of the entire year!"
"When you say biggest –"
"I mean biggest. And that's not the best part."
"Oh? I would have thought having a lead role in the 'biggest movie of the entire year' would be the biggest thing."
"Well, yes, but…oh never mind. It's the male lead role. You'll never guess who it is!" She squealed, practically bursting with excitement.
"I can't guess. Who is it?"
"JAMES POTTER!" She screamed. I could almost imagine her jumping up and down in the middle of the street. I rolled my eyes.
"And?"
"And? AND! Are you joking? It's James Potter!"
"Sara, you know I don't get the appeal."
"Oh, fine, but you'll take it, right?"
"Will it get me an award?" I could almost hear the smirk in her voice in what she said next.
"Honey, I can assure you, it won't just be an award you get."
A month later, and I was pulling up outside a university campus, which just so happened to be the set for my new movie. A large crowd were already gathered by the roadside, waiting. I climbed out of my car and locked the door. A tall man with dark hair, carrying a clipboard and a cup of coffee, stepped through the crowd to meet me.
"Miss Evans?" He asked, opening the door for me.
"That's me!" I smile. I grab the script that had arrive a couple of weeks ago and wormed my way through the crowd, grinning and waving at the fans who had come to see me for just a minute.
"Nice to meet you." He shook my hand as we entered the main building.
"And you. So, this movie's pretty big, huh?" I looked around the reception area. He handed me the coffee (I noticed it was my favourite) and began walking again. I followed him.
"Yeah, it's massive. I mean, not only have we got you, we've got James Potter, Stella Peters and Christopher Smithson…It's insane, really." He turned right down a corridor. It was reasonably quiet here, with only a few members of the crew gathered round near us and two or three actors walking around visiting the other rooms, or rushing to get to the set where they were needed. He stopped near the end of the corridor and turned to me.
"This is you." I looked behind him to see a plain door with a sign on reading my name.
"Thanks." I smile, and step round him. The door opens to reveal a beautiful room. The walls are a duck egg blue, with a white dressing table against the far wall, with numerous wardrobes against the others. A sofa is placed on the opposite side to the dressing table, and a rug covers the floor. Tea lights are dotted around the room, wafting around the scent of vanilla.
"Wow. Not bad." I grin, turning to the member of crew. He grinned back and shrugged.
"Nothing but the best for the finest actors and actresses in the magical world, and possibly the Muggle one as well." He winked, turning around and walking back down the corridor.
Just then, the door opposite me was thrown open, and a woman about my age came storming out.
"WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE?" She screamed, looking around, her eyes blazing with anger. The crew member stepped towards her.
"I'm guessing that would be me. Is there a problem, Miss Peters?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Is there a problem? IS THERE A PROBLEM! Are you kidding me! Where are my rose petals? The champagne? And I specifically stated that I wanted a PINK colour scheme, and yet my dressing room colour scheme looks a lot like RED. I CAN'T STAND RED!" The crew member just smirked, then coughed a little.
"I'll make a note to ask for them to change it, Miss." And he turned on his heel once again and walked off casually down the corridor. 'Miss Peters', who I assumed was the Stella Peters he mentioned earlier, stared after him in disbelief, then glanced around at all the people in the corridor, who were staring.
"What?" She demanded. They all turned away and began acting like nothing had happened. She huffed and stalked back into her dressing room, the door slamming behind her.
"Aaannddd…action." The director called, after all the extras had got into their places. We were filming one of the first scenes, a party, in one of the campus apartments. The lights dimmed and the music started blaring. The camera whirled around to see a man walking through the crowd to where I was standing by the stereo. He grinned at me when he stood next to me, looking out over the crowd of dancing extras.
"Hey!" He yelled over the music.
"Hey." I replied, turning to him.
"I'm Jay, but I'm sure you know that. And you are?" He smirked, taking a sip of his drink. I smiled.
"Jessica."
"That's a nice name."
"Am I a nice girl?"
"That would depend on whether you think I'm a nice guy." He winked, the camera zooming in to get a close-up shot. I tilt my head to the side, as if thinking about it.
"You're alright." I smirk, turning on my heel and walking away, getting lost in the crowd.
"Annddd…cut!" The extras disperse and me and James, who plays 'Jay', are left on the set.
"Brilliant, guys, brilliant. We'll just need another take just to be safe, but that's great." He climbs of his seat as the bell sounded for lunch. He left the set, the other remaining crew members following him out, leaving me and James on our own.
"Hey, you're Lily Evans, right?" He asked, rooting around in the area behind the camera.
"Yep. You're James Potter?" He sits down on the sofa behind me, his lunch in his hand.
"Yeah. And before you ask, I like eating my own lunch. The canteen stuff is good, but they don't do peanut butter on Oreos."
"What?"
"Peanut butter on Oreos?" He looked up at my disgusted expression. "You've never tried peanut butter on Oreos!"
"No…should I have done?" He leapt up out of his seat, almost knocking his lunch over.
"Yes! For to have not eaten peanut butter on Oreos is to not have lived!" He clutched his chest dramatically and I raised an eyebrow, rummaging in my bag to find my lunch. When I lifted it out, it was his turn to raise his eyebrow.
"You like eating your own lunch too?"
"Yes, as it happens, I do." I smiled, sitting down next to him.
"Well, Miss Evans, if you're going to be staying here a while, then it would be my duty to let you try the nicest food known to man."
"Really? You've got chocolate cake in there, too?" He gasped.
"You offend the great Peanut Butter Oreo!"
"I'm sure it'll live." I try to hold back a smile, although the corners of my mouth twitch. He snorts.
"I wouldn't be so sure, it's very sensitive."
"Says the person eating it." I laugh.
"Alas, it is true, I have killed many a Peanut Butter Oreo in my time." He hung his head in mock shame.
"Your forgiven, don't worry." I smile, and his face lights up. I suddenly became aware of what I was doing and who I was talking too. I'd always thought James Potter was a spoilt celebrity, but here I was having a perfectly nice conversation with him. And, I reasoned with myself, my negative opinion had been built solely upon the bad articles I have read in the papers, and I knew as well as anyone not to trust what the papers say…
A/N – Yay! First chapter is finished! I hoped you guys like it. It wasn't one of my best, but I'm using it to introduce to you some of the characters and sub-plots. The next chapter should be up soon, but if you want it quicker, the only thing to do is REVIEW! Seriously guys, I need feedback. What's working, what's not…Oh, and Peanut Butter Oreos were introduced to me by one of my friends, you have her to thank for that little idea, and for the fact that they've already met!