Disclaimer: I own nothing or no one. Just my imagination.
The room was full of people. Everybody was chatting, laughing, teasing each other. To anyone else who'd walked in, it would look like they were having a huge party. Only it wasn't. Every single person here was working. Just one word would suffice to stop the ambiance and bring everyone's minds and hands back to the main reason why they were reunited here.
When in 2005, they made the first movie, they would have never believed that they'd do it again, for a third time. And Z knew each and everyone of them.
His eyes wandered on the set and he still couldn't believe how fortunate they were to have had so much success with the two first movies. And now everything was bigger, better and so much harder. There were many cardboard walls that separated different little rooms, each as different as the next. One that represented an airplane with two first class seats, an other with Hawaiian decorations, the next with a DJ's turn table like in a nightclub and the last one with two treadmills.
But the most curious one was probably the one with a huge dresser and mirror decorated with huge, pink light bulbs, a vase with pink flowers, and an antique phone. There was a chair in front of the dresser and on the side a huge yellow taxi. Not a real one. It was made of cardboard also and opened up like a huge alligator's mouth.
Leave it to Ken to come up with the strangest and weirdest set-ups. But Z had a strong and genuine respect for the man. Even though, it was their faces that were on the screens and it was their names that everybody was screaming all over the world, they all knew that most of the success of HSM1 and 2 was due to Ken genius's mind and just a little bit from him and his co-stars.
Speaking of his co-stars, he realized that he wasn't paying much attention to what they were saying. They've been shooting since sunrise and now, were enjoying their twenty minutes break. He just shot his scene for the number "I want it all" and wasn't really needed on the set anymore. And he couldn't wait to leave actually.
Not that he wasn't enjoying being there. He liked hanging around with these guys. They've known each other for quite some time now and were all like a big family. Even the new cast members felt at ease. Specially M. P., who followed him every where he went, asking him for advice, telling him how much he admired him. Pretty much like the character he played in the movie. And on a normal day, Z didn't really mind him.
But today he had a very bad headache that made his temples throb and kept him from enjoying his friends right now. The load of his job pressed heavily on his shoulders. He had just finished shooting two movies, travelling to different places, rushed to the rehearsals for HSM3 that had already started and had to work double time to catch up with two of the best dancers of the cast, and now they were full-on shooting from sunrise to dawn. And even all through the night if the scene asked for it.
He never dreamed of doing anything else, it's just that sometimes, he wished that he had the liberty to just leave and go home to surf. Actually, his parents house, but he still thought of it as his home. It was still one of the few places where he could go and surf quietly.
He already tried skateboarding all around the set, but it wasn't enough. He needed to feel the fresh air on his face, the salty water in his mouth and the rush that the waves provided. Or just lay on his girlfriend's chest while she'd sing him a lullaby. That was corny, but it worked. She always found a way to calm him down. And frankly, she was the only reason why he was still here.
V still had a scene left to shoot for the same number he did earlier. But where the hell was she? The last he saw her, she told him she had to rush to her dressing room to try on some new costume they just brought for her character. Why was it taking so long? Her part was just a few seconds long and her costume was probably some lame ass, dull, plain, flowery dress that would portray the sweet girl that her character was supposed to be. He was so happy that in real life, his girlfriend's style was so different from that. She had just been voted one of the sexiest women and he couldn't be prouder.
He brushed his hair with his hand and exhaled a long breath. Fuck! Once again, he tried to pay attention to what was being said around him.
"I swear man, it was full of jelly". What on earth was C talking about? He looked at the faces of the three people standing in front of him and wondered why they were laughing so hard. C and R were still wearing the black tuxedos, white shirts and red ties they did to shoot their scenes. Even the sunglasses were still there. They had that CIA agents vibe floating around them. M was wiping tears from his eyes from laughing.
He was about to ask them what was so funny when he saw the three guys froze. Shoot, wow and whoa, simultaneously shouted the three guys with their mouths opened. They were all looking at something behind Z. He turned his head and received the biggest shock of his life.
V was walking across the room with Ken by her side. She was wearing the most amazing costume he'd ever seen.
A maid's outfit! she was wearing a freaking maid's outfit. Not an ordinary one but the type you only see in these erotic movies he and his best friend used to watch, a long time ago when he was younger, hidden in his best friend's basement. The ones where the maid was hot as hell and that the husband couldn't resist to fuck in the kitchen or the laundry room.
Black with white laces at the bottom and around the deep cleavage that laid low on her shoulders, the dress was tight on her flattering her curves perfectly but wide at the bottom. Around her waist was attached a white little apron that fell just on top of the skirt that was just short of her ass. The same silky material was holding her hair on top of her head while leaving the back floating on her shoulders. She looked amazing. No. She looked so freaking hot and sexy.
Z immediately felt a jolt of desire running through his veins. He just couldn't take his eyes off of her. And apparently, so couldn't every guy in the room. Z looked around him and noticed that all eyes were on her. She had a very serious face on, concentrating on what Ken was telling her and clearly didn't realize that every straight guy in the room was drooling over her. Even these three morons standing behind him.
"Hey snap out of it", he shouted to his friends. "That's my girl you're looking at".
M dove his head in his chest, read as a tomato, R muttered an apologetic groan running his hand on the back of his neck. Only C was still watching, his bottom lip on the floor. Dude, I'm serious. Z gave him a little punch in the chest just to shake him a little.
"Listen", C answered, his hand massaging his chest, "you get to go home with her and touch but us, we get to look and drool. Deal with it".
"Oh yeah?! Well, take a good look at the extent of my priority to touch", he walked away with a cocky smile on his face.
"You're bluffing". He heard C shout but didn't bother to turn around to give him an answer.
Of course he was bluffing. Even though all the world, their family and friends always say that they're always all over each other, V was as much embarrassed as he was to dare more than a couple of subtle touches and glances when they were in public. With their pictures and articles written about them all over the place revealing so many other aspects of their lives to the public, their intimate moments were jealously kept for themselves. They were something that belonged to them and that they weren't sharing with anybody else.
Suddenly his headache had disappeared. He wanted to get the hell out more than ever, but for very different reasons.
V and some other cast members were attentively listening to Ken who was giving them directions on how he wanted the scene to be played out and trying to determine the position of the cameras for the right angles. Z stayed a few feet away, hands in his pockets, not wanting to disturb them, going from one foot to the other. Now that he was so close to her, he could feel his arousal go higher and was trying to hide the evident proof in his pants that was growing more and more. He had a very good view of the back of her legs and tilted his head on the side to see if he could get a glance of her ass underneath the short skirt.
"Ok everyone, rolling in 5", Ken shouted, heading to sit behind his camera. Everybody started moving. V turned around to pick up something on the dresser where the antique phone was and walked up to him as she saw him still standing there.
"Hey", she greeted him with a huge smile on her face. He wanted to kiss her but the big yellow cardboard cab was between them. So he just reached out for her hand. "Nice outfit", he said, his eyes shining with excitement.
"I know right". She didn't realize the effects she had on him, smiling, twirling to show him the dress. "I can't believe that they'd actually let me wear this", she continued giggly.
"What are you supposed to be?", his voice was deeper than he wanted it to be. Thank God nobody was paying attention to them.
She frowned and look at him, puzzled. "A maid. D'Uh! I thought that was evident. She lowered her head to look at herself, pouting her nose. Gabriella is Sharpay's maid in her fantasy. I thought it was a given".
"So… are you supposed to… clean… and…" he scratched his throat, "stuff?"
"In this case just answer her phone. O calls and I answer". She looked at him with her eyes mi-closed, "what's wrong with you? You know this script better than I do".
He gave her a cheesy smile and pointed to the pink feathery duster that she had picked up from the dresser a minute ago. "And why do you need this for, then?"
"I don't know, dust here and… there". She picked up the duster and ran its tip on his cheek then down his chin, smiling. "To make the character more believable I guess. I mean don't maids always carry one of those things? "
He tightened her fingers in his hand running his thumb on top of hers, "I wish you were my maid".
"What?", she almost shouted and Z swiftly looked around him again to make sure that no one could hear them.
"You know, calling me sir while you're dusting around the house, cooking, doing my dirty laundry".
The look on her face hadn't changed. She really couldn't understand where he was going with all this. "Why would you want me to do that?"
Damn it! Did he really need to dirty it down for her or was she just playing dumb? "Or… you could be wearing the outfit and I'd be doing the dusting… all over your sexy body".
She raised her eyebrows and deepen her voice. "You're not serious!".
He looked deep in her eyes and added, his voice lower than ever. "If you can manage to come to my hotel room dressed like that, I'll be happy to show what I mean".
She didn't answer, still looking in his eyes but Z could tell that now, she definitely got up to speed.
A loud ring went through the whole room followed by Ken's voice. "Places".
V bit her lower lips, hiding a smile. "See you in five", she freed her hand and walked away.
