We Are the Champions
Be thankful for all of those people who said no to you, it's because of them you're doing it yourself."
"We're not going to get through this" Sam grabbed Mercy's hand stressing "I don't know what I was thinking letting you drag me into this"
"Hey" she grabbed his face to steady him "We'll be fine, you've got this, we've got this"
"Promise?"
"Promise, just focus on me" she smiled "And I'll focus on you"
"This is just so big; we've never done anything this big before"
"We do this one and we'll be doing bigger, that's the goal right?"
"I guess so" he smiled closing his eyes to take the quick kiss she was offering
"Look how nervous he is?" she pointed at the guy on set singing a solo "At least we've got each other"
"We can do this" he nodded "I believe you"
"This has to be good" she held his face "Remember, we are the champions"
"No pressure" he rolled his eyes
"No charge" she smiled "You're there"
"Where?" he looked at her
"Where I need you to be, you always work better under pressure" she laughed
It had been a turbulent but not very long road they'd travelled to get to this point in their lives it was going to be the beginning or the end, but whichever way it was destined to go, this time they knew it was in their hands and they were going to determine it together
Flashback
Mercy's Point of View
"I'm Will" the middle aged man sat between two beautiful middle aged women smiling at me, pointing at himself "This is Emma and Roz" he pointed at the two women as he said their names
"You're auditioning for the advert right?" Emma asked, smiling at us both nodding
"Introduce yourselves" Roz snapped at us
"Hi, my name is Mercy Jones, I'm twenty Four" I looked at the strange guy stood beside me, he hadn't even bothers to do up his belt
"Matt"
"Matt is that it, no second name?" Roz asked, I could tell she was already irritated
"Yeah that's it, just Matt" he smiled "And I'm the man for the job" I raised an eyebrow at his attitude, that definitely wasn't the way in
"Okay Matt, man for the job and Mercy Jones, whenever you're ready" Will sat back in his chair smiling
"Okay" I rubbed my hands together this was it, make or break, I took a breath and started the lines "We're the most reliable car sales business in the nation"
"Yeah so we can relate, recover, re…" Matt looked at me for help, but I had nothing "Sorry" he clapped his hands together and started stuttering, I actually felt sorry for him
"Are you alright?" Will finally asked, while Roz and Emma looked on perplexed
"Sorry" was all Matt could find
"Okay" Will sat forward "Mercy you stay, Matt, you can go, thank you for your time"
"Could you send the next guy in please?" Emma asked the woman waiting in the wings
The guy walked into the room and stood next to me, our eyes met naturally, and there was an instant connection, we stood for an awkward second staring at each other before we smiled "Hello" a voice interrupted our moment
"Hi Sorry" he smiled at me before looking at the panel "My name's Sam Evans, I'm twenty six, and I'll be auditioning for the part of Adam the customer"
"Hello Sam" Roz's eyes widened at the obvious chemistry making me look at him again
"This is Mercy, you'll be auditioning with her; she's doing the part of the sales assistant" Emma told him
"Hi, nice to meet you" Sam smiled at me, his eyes looked as genuine as mine as he spoke
"Nice to meet you too" I grinned back "Is that a Texan accent I hear?"
"Yes it is"
"Which part?"
"Tennessee"
"I was there about three weeks ago, great place"
"It's alright" he smiled
"Okay can we get to the audition?" Roz asked grabbing our attention again, grinning at Will, who pointed at the camera and called "Action"
"We're the most reliable car sales business in the nation" I snapped, this was the fourth time and I was getting fed up of not passing the first line after my hours of script reading
"So, I can rely on you?" his tone was sexy as hell
"Yeah" I replied with a bit of a nervous giggle
"Okay, thank you" Emma smiled "We'll be in touch"
We walked out of that caravan optimistic, but nevertheless I was on my way to the next one, I had auditions back to back for the day. I threw my purse over my head and across my shoulder and walked off to grab myself a cab
"Hey" I heard turning to see Sam running towards me "Mercy"
"Are you alright?" I asked concerned at how red his face was
"Yeah" he stopped in front of me "I just wanted to say that was a really good audition"
"Thank you"
"I don't want to hold you up, I just needed to say good luck, and I'll see you around"
"I hope so" I grinned getting my flirt on, at that second I had no shame he was fine and cute, or was that cute and fine, I forget
"You hope so?" he looked at me shocked
"Bye Sam" I walked away, thinking maybe I should have given him even half a chance, but surely that would have been too easy
I was working at the bar to make ends meet, I'd only recently decided to get into the filming business, seeing as the music thing wasn't doing much for me at the minute, it was still my dream, but you know how it is, any which way you can and all that.
After the five auditions that seemed to get quicker as the day went on, I walked into the apartment to find Tina waiting patiently for the outcome
"Got your glass ready" she smiled tapping my waiting glass of wine
"Thank you" I grabbed it, I didn't know I was looking forward to it that much, but I more than halved it in one gulp
"How did it go?" she sat perched on the edge of the stool resting on the kitchen top
"It went alright, they didn't give anything away you know"
"No, I don't" Tina smiled
"So, what exactly did they say?"
"Nothing" I repeated
"Any of them?"
"The usual we'll get back to you rubbish" I shrugged my shoulders "But I did meet a guy"
"You met someone?"
"I say met, we auditioned together"
"Was he cute?" she asked excitedly
"Really cute" I could feel myself blushing
"Did you get a number?"
"We auditioned together and moved on, that was it"
"You know where I'm going with this" Tina warned "What was his name?"
"Sam Evans" Mercy grinned watching her friend tap into her socials
"Hell" Tina turned the phone for her to look at "Is that him?"
"No" Mercy giggled "That's some old dude, it's… this one" she pointed at his picture
"Damn" Tina enlarged the profile picture "And you didn't get a number?"
"No, I've got too much going on, I've got auditions, I'm starting my drama class in two weeks, my part time job" I waved my hands around "I don't have time for men"
"If you're interested you'll fit him in" she spent the next hour telling me why I needed a man in my life in comparison to her who had a man but never saw him because of his job.
The next day we just happened to meet at another auditions, if he was anything he was persistent, he talked, and I listened, eventually after a few days of us continuously crossing paths, he started to get cuter, I was weak, I gave in to his offer to go for a drink. We sat talking about, of all things, the business, trading stories of life on the battlefield, turns out he was as busy as me with studying, pizza deliveries and auditions, we'd both been in Los Angeles for less than a year trying to make it, like everyone else. but he promised himself he'd always found the time to have a laugh and a joke and on the fourth link up he promised he'd have a joke ready for me at the end of our day, whatever time that was.
Over the next few days, no was a word we'd grown to smile at as we watched other undeserving actors; for want of a more polite description, get parts we'd excelled in. Within the week we'd learned to cry, laugh, and shout with each other and eventually after nearly a week with no news, Sam got booked for that commercial we'd auditioned for. I was happy for him, even went to set to cheer him on his first day, but that also meant he was off radar for a few days while that happened, so of course Tina filled that time, to my regret
Mercy" Tina changed the conversion from her love life to mine as we stood making margaritas in my kitchen "What's happening with Sam nowadays"
"Nothing"
Come on you must have at least kissed him"
"It's not like that" I huffed "He holds a great conversation, he understands me, and I was just happy to be talking with someone who sees me, feels me you know, we connect"
"Come on girl, this guy is fine as hell cute, understanding, and I bet he has a huge dick" she laughed "When is he going to get it?"
"What?"
"It's been a while"
"A while?"
"I was being nice; you need to let go girl"
"When I'm good and ready, and not before"
It was on my mind after that, but not at the front of it, we weren't in that zone yet, it felt like something but, for me anyway, sex wasn't for the zone we were in, plus cautious Mercy felt he needed to stay in the friend zone until she was good and ready. It was only week three and I found myself mentioning him to my mom, she was all up for me meeting someone special, I don't think she really cared about the different culture thing, as long as I was happy. After that it was all go, I took him to meet Tina, and I met his friend Ryder, Tina was challenging being her usual overprotective self, but he understood, while Ryder seemed to be more threatened by me taking Sam away from him than anything else, we soon sorted that out in a darts game.
Week five and everything felt set for us to take things to the relationship mode, it just suddenly went from five to nine in a flash, we were sat in the local park talking about family, friends back home, school relationships, he'd said something cute and I don't know what came over me, but I asked, what I thought was a personal question "Do we like each other?" his eyes told me I'd just moved the relationship along, he grabbed my neck and pulled me in for the most sensual kiss, I was blown away "I'm taking that as a yes" I smiled sheepishly when he let my lips go.
We started doing a lot more together after that, even attending auditions for couple parts, after a few weeks Sam got a commercial gig, of course I was happy for him, but I was getting really tired of all these no's coming my way I was never what they were looking for. The last straw for me what when they had me stand in for some rude actress to get the frame right, then when she finally came on set she, didn't even say thank you, she just stuck her gum in the palm of my hand and shooed me off set, of course, I walked away, not away from set, I mean I walked away from the job
That night wasn't my finest, Sam came back to tell me he'd got a small part in a sitcom, and I want off on him, it didn't help that he hadn't called me after his audition earlier that day and my mom response to my rejection news had been reading me her usual 'you chose this life' crap, she seemed so happy to dish that out to me every time I spoke to her about this life I'd chosen, I heard him yelling from down the hall I opened the door to see what was happening
"Sam" I looked at him shocked, he'd obviously been drinking "What happened?" I was scared for him; this wasn't a Sam I'd met before
"Baby" He grinned "You will not believe who I got to work with on set today, I took a picture with her, and it got over three thousand hits on Instagram in less than half an hour, I've got over a thousand new followers, it was fantastic" his head and hands went up in the air for the excitement "Look" he shoved his phone in my face, I took it off him to see the picture of him and that Charlie woman he'd auditioned for weeks ago
"So why didn't you call to say you got the part" I gave his phone back to him
"She said Sam, you're funny, talented and very good looking, and I believe you'll go far in the business, if you keep that attitude" she grabbed my arms "Can you believe that?"
"I can, you are"
"What's wrong?" he must have heard the pissed off in my voice, I wasn't hiding it
"Nothing just forget it; we're celebrating you tonight" I smile tapping his chest before I reached up and pecked his lips
"Somethings wrong, what is it?" he seemed to sober up pretty fast with concern
"The fact that you can just forget about me in these moments hurts"
"I didn't forget about you, I just got sucked into the moment, it's a big deal for me"
"It is a big deal"
"So, why didn't you come to my set today after your audition?"
"I didn't feel like coming to your damn set today"
"Okay" he stepped away from me noting my attitude "I'm jumping in the shower, hopefully you'll be in a better mood when I get out"
He came out and sat on the couch raking his hand through his hair unsure what had happened, I walked back into the room looking sorrier than him because I was. "Babe" I sat down "I'm sorry I was just upset that my career isn't going anywhere, and well, I got another thank you for coming and I took it out on you, I wasn't being fair, and I'm sorry"
"Mercy you're beautiful and talented, that's a wicked combination, don't let anyone tell you different, if they say no it's their loss not yours, you're going to make it, I promise you"
"Promise?"
"I do" he smiled, hugging me to make everything feel better
Later that night we met up with his friends to celebrate his success, we hadn't quite stepped in the door before he got whisked off to get introduced to some pretty influential people, while I sat drinking champagne for the evening. Ryder's girlfriend seemed to be a might clingy, even though she knew who I was, I'm sure she was watching me too, so I took to watching Sam work the room, I went to sit on a bench on the patio. I was happy for him, proud even, but I still found myself not being happy again, I wasn't coping well with his sudden success, and I know he wasn't happy with the look on my face when he finally found me, what I do know is that we drove home in silence
A few days later we were having dinner with our friends, and their partners, something we'd decided to do mainly to announce the fact that we were moving in together. We were halfway thought the main course when he got the call and left the dinner table,, he came back announcing that he's got a main role in a B film he'd screened for just over a week earlier. Everyone was happy for him, and somewhere deep inside, I guess I was too, but I couldn't find it, I walked out the room as they toasted him, it took him a second to realise that I'd gone then he followed me into the bedroom
"How come you left the table?"
"I needed space to breathe" I huffed crossing my hands across my chest
"Did you hear what I said they liked my screening"
"Congratulations" I turned slightly to say, unsure if I meant it
"That sounded sincere"
"I'm sorry if…"
"You know what Mercy I'm sorry, I'm sorry my career's picking up faster than yours" he snapped at me, his eyes full of fire "Actually no I'm not, I have nothing to apologise for"
"The world doesn't revolve around you Sam Evans"
"No, it doesn't, but it doesn't spin around you either"
"What do you want from me, I said I'm genuinely happy for you"
"It doesn't feel like it, I'm looking into your eyes, and I don't see it, which says a lot about you lately"
"Like what?" I turned ready for him
"Like I'm fed up with this attitude I get from you every time something good happens for me, I thought we were a team, whoever does it, all I get is this jealousy, I thought we were doing it for each other, what happened to that, was it all a lie?"
"I've always supported you, whatever you wanted to do" I grit my teeth trying to keep my mouth shut, but it wouldn't allow me to stop, he'd activated a trigger and I was biting "I helped you get where you are you ungrateful… who's there teaching you your lines, reminding you to look at the camera, you're constantly forget your mark and I'm the one that reminds you to do all of that, then you stand there and call me jealous, telling me about my attitude?"
By this time all our friends were standing watching the show, but we'd already gone too far, it was too late to pull this back, and it seemed it had been a long time coming
"You do all that and then you come off with this, you're just as fake as those wigs you put on your damn head" everyone in the room gasped, even he knew he'd crossed a line "Do you know how much further along I'd be if I wasn't dragging your ass along"
"I need to go home" I was gasping for air at the depths of this man, I dragged my bag off the bed, walked past him, and left, I had some crying to do, and this wasn't the stage I needed to do that on
He called the next day, but I didn't answer, I went to stay in a motel for a while because I didn't want to see him, and after two days of sulking I know I needed to get my jealous ass back on the scene, I booked a few audition and started the rounds again. Days turned into a week since I'd spoken to Sam and to be honest things were starting to feel normal again, I'd never had a man in my life previously to think anything that deep about him anyway.
I'd auditioned for some indie movie that first day I'd managed to get back on the scene and it had taken eleven days, but they'd finally got back to me, it was like god knew I needed some sort of sign to say what Sam had said was crap, the man upstairs had seen me, my first instinct was to call Sam up and get him over just to spit in his eye, but I resisted.
Two weeks later I was sitting in hair and makeup wondering what the hell I was doing, I had the biggest smile on my face, but right now the only person I could think of to share the moment with was Sam. The feelings of release I'd felt two weeks ago were quickly filling with regret, contrary to what I'd been telling myself I loved him, only god knows when he crept in there and lodged himself in my heart, but he'd done it and emotionally I was finding it hard to cope with the loss. I called my mom, and we walked through the whole process of what was happening to me on set over the phone, she was excited taking the running commentary.
Then suddenly, without warning I was stuck in my dressing, all I could hear was the director shouting at me through the locked dressing room door to come out, or get sacked, I sat there too scared to move, just like that I gave up the job, breathing loud and heavy as I listened to him walk away
"Mercy" Sam's voice came through the door at me I didn't know if I was angry or relieved at that, but between him and my mom I opened the door and walked through the corridor and onto set with him following behind me begging for forgiveness
"I'm ready" I looked in the shocked director's face
"Mercy" Sam carried on walking towards me
"I'm on set" I told him calmly
"Who the hell is he, get him off my set" the director shouted, three men rushed towards Sam I was scared but not enough to help him, I stood watching them trying to get him out
"I'm not leaving until I speak to Mercy" he shouted at them pushing one man to the ground "Mercy" he shouted, the director stood in front of him, and he made to get through him too
"Hold on" the director held his hands up at Sam
"Listen, if I have to knock you down to get to her, I will"
"What is wrong with you man?" the director asked him
"I love her" the room went quiet "I love her" his voice much quieter the second time "If you'll just give me a minute, I just need to tell her that" Sam and the director stood staring at each other until he gave his men the nod and they let Sam go
"I'll give you five minutes" the director nodded "And then you'll leave?"
"Yeah, I'll leave" Sam agreed
He stood in front of me telling me he'd messed up with the show, the film, and most of all with me, how selfish he'd been, and wrong for the things he'd said, and how I was the best thing that had ever happened to him, I was gone at I'm not leaving, but he knelt in front of me, right there and then and asked me to marry him
"I'm not sure we're ever going to be working actors in the industry ever again, but.." I looked around at the crew smiling at his gesture "Yes, I'll marry you"
"Is this real?" the director asked interrupting our kiss
"Yes" Sam pulled away to reply
"You know what?" he looked at the man to his right "We have something coming up and I feel this would be the exact role for you two, do you sing?"
"Yes" I snapped before Sam had the chance to say anything to the contrary
End of Flashback
"Action" the director called
"Ready?" Sam asked
"Ready" Mercy smiled grabbing his hand to walk into the shot as the 'it can only happen on TV' choir appeared out the woodwork
Sam with Mercy: I'm so pressed off you, I get stuck in your eyes sometimes, under moon light I feel so high, I feel so high
I'm so pressed off you, arguing to pass the time, you said your love don't cost a thing, you showed me what it means to be high
My water sign, calm just like the wind at night, feisty like a fire sign, no I don't mind, I don't mind,
Water sign, kiss me till our soul touch skies, feelings free so take your time, I don't mind, I don't mind, my water sign
Mercy with Sam: Skin alkaline and your smile is as bright as the moon, as the moon
keep me close in your wings, keep you safe, that's what I'll, that's what I'll do,
Pray for the day that you notice I been here for you, fuck what they say, I don't give a damn, I want you oh my
My water sign, oh my calm just like the wind at night, feisty like a fire sign, no I don't mind, I don't mind, baby
water sign, kiss me till our soul touch skies, feelings free so take your time, I don't mind, I don't mind, my water sign
'Water Sign' by AUGUST 8 & Jhené Aiko
"Was there supposed to be a kiss there?" the director asked
"I don't…"
"Never mind leave it in" he turned to watch them still kissing "Cut" he held his hands up for them not listening "They're going to be the champions anyway" he told the crew getting up to leave them to it
"What?" Sam looked at him
"That knocked it out the park" he smiled