Next Steps
"Alright, people, that's a wrap! Congratulations, we've finished production!" Danny announced three weeks later. Applause erupted from the cast and crew of the movie. They'd done it. The shoot was finally over! And in only a few weeks' time too! Without Jennifer to complicate things with her ego, everyone was able to do their job. Eager even.
Tyr finished his liplock with Lizzy as soon as he got the word and went to find his woman. Lorraine was in his other co-star's trailer, tending his sprained ankle. Danny was no fool. Seeing the severity of the medical emergency that had befallen his lead, he hadn't hesitated to hire the woman on as a medical advisor. In the past three weeks, the mysterious woman had treated minor burns, scrapes, a couple of splinters, and now a sprained ankle. She was warm to the cast and crew, but not chatty about herself, preferring to talk to her patients about themselves and their problems. Most of his coworkers listed that as their only problem with her: you could talk to her for hours and not come away knowing any more about her than when you started. Like her boyfriend, she didn't drink or do mind-altering substances so there was no loss of control that might lead to more information on her life.
"...still, your girl is amazing. She all but diagnosed my genital warts sight unseen," Martha said in a low voice when Tyr asked her where Lorraine had gone. "I just wish your Leslie would trust us with her life story a little. We've all given her ours."
"I'm sure she has a reason for it," Tyr answered absently. His mind was on other things, namely, what was going to happen next now that the shoot was done. The two had yet to talk about their next steps now that they'd met in person and seen for themselves that the chemistry between them was still there. He was impressed with how his woman melted away from the cameras as reporters and YouTubers swarmed the set, desperate for more information about Tyr's hospital stay. In the last few weeks, he'd become quite popular thanks to his brush with death. He kept the details vague, not wanting to disgrace his dead co-star before the film was made. Now that the shoot was over and his rather condemning lawsuit was in progress, he wasn't sure how much of her shameful actions he would be able to downplay.
These troubling thoughts in his mind, he peeked in Rizzo's trailer and smiled at watching his lady work. He knew from experience that her hands could be quite gentle. She was wrapping up the man's sprained ankle from last night while giving him last-minute advice on how to take care of it over the next few days. A silly smile crossed his face as he watched her work: there was his competent angel. He would never dream of denying her this nursing life, but at the same time, she was an amazing actress. There had to be a way to let her have both worlds!
Then his pleasant thoughts were interrupted when Rizzo leaned over her kneeling form to kiss her. Raina looked up just as his lips were descending on her and immediately leaned away from him.
"What are you doing?" she gasped, looking genuinely afraid.
"Relax, baby. Let's just see where this takes us," the man said with a charming smile on his smug face. He was therefore completely unprepared for her to drop his foot painfully on the floor and stand abruptly. "Ow! What'd you do that for?"
"Ice it three times a day for fifteen minutes. You'll be fine. Bye." She glared at him furiously before turning on her heel and storming out of the trailer. Rizzo glared after the indignant woman, massaging his now throbbing ankle, then froze as a dark chuckle filled the space.
"You just couldn't resist, could you?" Tyr chuckled.
Rizzo, a hardcore player that was known to have hooked up with every female on set - with the notable exception of the lovely Ms. Pince - smirked unrepentantly at his rival. "You can't blame a guy for trying," he quipped. "That's one hell of a woman you've got there. I've never been so pointedly rejected before!"
"You couldn't handle her," Tyr smirked back, turning to go find his woman. He knew how Rizzo thought of women and trying to imagine that 'renewable resource' attitude against his girlfriend's disgustingly wholesome, old-fashioned lifestyle was almost comically disturbing.
"Oh, do tell," his co-star said slyly, obviously thinking of something else entirely. Not feeling the need to enlighten him, he scoffed.
"No," he said firmly, leaving the trailer altogether. The actor found his girlfriend walking back towards her own trailer. She looked visibly upset, but as usual, wouldn't talk about it with anyone. She avoided the celebrations breaking out around the set, including the lovely Lizzy's kiss with the detective that was worthy of a final reel all its own.
Tyr observed that interesting gait and what it was doing to her swaying hips before speeding up to catch her. He spun her around to see her beautiful brown eyes crowded with tears. When she registered who had interrupted her dark musings, she threw herself into his arms, the furious tears sliding down her smooth cheeks. She started babbling in a low, ashamed voice, confessing to her 'crime' of attracting a male to her. Tyr had to laugh at her earnestness; did she truly believe that she had any control over that?
"Relax, Sunshine," he soothed her, "You are a highly desirable woman. I'm not surprised that he tried to score with you. I'm proud of you for resisting his charms. I-"
"What 'charms'? The man is a pig! He's scored with every woman on set. I'd recommend him being tested for STDs if I weren't so disgusted by him." She shuddered and cuddled closer to her man. He only chuckled, gathering her close and wiping her tears away.
"I'm not mad, Sunshine," he reassured his woman quietly when the tears refused to stop.
"But... He hit on me! He hit on me even though he knew I had a boyfriend! I swear I did nothing to encourage him!" Tyr could only laugh at her overwhelming innocence, hugging her trembling body to soothe her.
"I know that you didn't, my good girl. Rizzo likes his conquests attached. It's not your fault. I saw the whole thing. You did nothing wrong. Please don't cry, sweetheart. You did nothing wrong." The girl in his arms finally settled down, snuggling against him to his absolute delight. She was so innocent! Even after all these years and drama. It still amazed him. Cleaning the rest of the tears and snot off of her face, he kissed her again. She melted into his embrace, the same way she did every time, and he could only stand in awe of his responsive miss. This woman was made for him.
"So, Sunshine, should we discuss our future together?" Tyr asked playfully. The girl giggled and nodded rapidly, causing him to chuckle again. He led her back to her trailer. The trailer itself was sparsely furnished. Lorraine wasn't one to hoard since her life had fallen apart all those years ago. But her books and the cross were very prominent. She finally stopped trembling and went to get her man a drink of juice, which he accepted gratefully. After locking the door, engaging the silencer in the room to keep curious onlookers away, having a sip of his juice, and settling himself on the couch, he got right down to business.
"I know that you don't want to talk about this. But we need to talk about this, Lorraine. I live in Colorado. You live in Alberta. What are we going to do?"
… …
Raina looked around the trailer, trying to control her panic. Grabbing a water bottle out of her fridge to buy herself some time, she really thought about the problem. Dating was hard enough in their field. The jealousy, the drama… All of that was amplified in such an emotionally-driven profession. Not to mention the rivalries, the ego-driven power struggles, the gender inequality, the stereotyping… This could turn out to be a huge mess. It was a game, a game that she hadn't played in five years, and she was desperately out of practice if the Rizzo incident just now was any indication. She must seem so unbelievably young and naive right now, crying just because a man tried to kiss her! Feeling very young compared to her suitor, she stared at the ground.
"I don't know if there's anything that can be done, Tyr. I mean, I like you, a lot. And these last two months aren't even over and they've been fantastic, baby. But we lead very different lives. Yours is very loud and mine is… I don't know. As much as we seem to fit together, maybe it's best if we just let this thing between us-" Before she could finish breaking up with the floor of her trailer, his wonderful tongue was in her mouth. Lorraine moaned quietly, wrapping herself around his hard body. She couldn't believe how good she felt at the moment. She was floating on a sea of sensation, and all he was doing was kissing her! She didn't want to give this up. It was like magic every time he kissed her. And she truly felt comfortable in his presence when they talked. She felt him tapering the kiss and whined in the back of her throat. He only chuckled against her lips and held her close.
"Come with me to Colorado, Sunshine. I want you to see how I live before you make up your mind. We could be very happy together." Raina shivered and smiled up at him winningly.
"Right now I've called out sick for a month. I have plenty of sick days banked since I've never taken a sick day, not even when I was sick. Eventually, I'm going to have to come clean with my boss, but I enjoy the anonymity of Leslie Pince. I'll go with you to Colorado for a while. It would be fun to hang out with you in the mountains." Tyr yelled out in triumph, kissing her senseless before grabbing his laptop to book their flights for tomorrow. He wanted to do it before she changed her mind. Afterward, he laid her on the couch and made out with her feverishly until the director interrupted them with an invitation to dinner.
"Alright, Daniel, we're coming out now," she called out, giggling as she pushed her boyfriend off of her. She fixed her clothes, using the mirror to make sure that the hickey on the back of her neck was covered by her long, thin dreads. She turned off the silencer in the trailer as she walked by her boyfriend and repeated herself since Danny wouldn't have heard anything the first time. Dinner was a boisterous affair full of thick steaks and expensive wine for everyone except the couple, who ordered sodas.
"God, this steak is so good! I've never had such a thick one that was so tender and juicy on the inside. I wonder how they do it?"
"What else haven't you experienced, Ms. Pince?" Rizzo asked lecherously, seeming to think that this was a good time for 'Q&A' with the resident nurse.
"Lots of things, Mr. Gordon. I'm but a humble nurse. I'm not exactly rolling in the dough," she said in a pirate's voice. Everyone laughed at the impression.
"Hey, that was pretty good, Leslie. Ever thought about voice acting?" Harold asked.
"Or regular acting," Evelyn put in. "You're like Lizzy. You look enough like that Rutherford chick that you could be her stunt double. Don't you want your name in lights?"
"My name will be in lights thanks to a medical staffing credit in the movie you all just finished. I'm not a greedy woman. May I have a glass of water and the dessert menu?" she asked the waitress as she passed by the table.
"Ah, I finally got it," Randy, the second grip operator, said out of the blue. Everyone turned to the usually quiet man and he blushed red. "Sorry, I've been attempting to place your accent for weeks, Leslie. Accents are a hobby of mine. I'm tracking you to the Tri-state area of America. You've traveled though - it's hard to place."
Raina blinked, doing her best not to let her panic show on her face. "That's amazing, Randy. You're right, I'm from Cherry Hill, New Jersey originally. Any other interesting accents detected?" This led to a rather animated discussion about everyone's origin cities, which Lorraine encouraged to smokescreen her own trepidation. By the time they'd finished laughing about where they all grew up, everyone had forgotten about the accent that started it all. Tyr was again impressed.
