A/N: I'm guessing everyone liked that last chapter, LOL.

Have a couple of long-term story ideas cooking at the moment, but I will hold off until things settle down. Two overlapping projects is more than enough for me! But I love how each story I've been tackling is as different as the last. I REALLY want to grow as a writer and give you all something new!

This week was going to be busy so I'm glad I was able to crank out the update for this and My Victorious Summer so soon.

Still no progress on the email thing! SHEESH! I check my messages daily, so it might take time to get back to you. The app is lousy at notifications regarding private messages.

;-)

Tori opened her eyes first, unable to ignore the bright morning sun illuminating the valley.

She was quickly aware of the snoozing girl nestled against her. They were both naked. Memories of the night before came flooding back as Tori relived when she had the honor of being this little minx's first time.

Jade was so refreshing after the failed relationships Tori endured.

The lady from the Garden State was a lot of fun, but that wasn't all she was about. Jade went so much deeper than that. She was hungry for genuine human connection. Someone to share a life with, however long this thing would last, but Tori would not be surprised that Jade was in for the long haul. She literally packed up her whole life and moved thousands of miles away for a job. Jade West was a woman who could commit.

Tori had her fun, sure. But the older she got, the more the frantic tumbles and shy goodbyes wore thin. She hated to admit it, but Beatrice was right. Tori craved something more meaningful, too. None of the Janes she paid who cuddled with her stayed until morning. Those encounters were very brief.

But here was Jade, clinging to her as she slept peacefully. Never had Tori felt so needed, so loved.

The stuntwoman kissed her on the head, trying to gently wake her up. She couldn't see what time it was but figured it's probably best to start getting ready for work.

"Hey, you" Tori cooed to her companion. "I think we need to get up."

Jade muttered something incoherent as she clung tighter to Tori, which flattered the woman.

"You are so cute when you are sleepy, but we should check the time."

The paler girl's eyes opened and glanced over to her company. She struggled with the urge to wake up because she thought last night was a dream. But the amazon in her bed proved otherwise.

"Morning," Jade grinned. "How'd you sleep?"

"Best I've slept in a long, long time" Tori smiled back.

Jade scooted a bit so she could roll over and check her phone.

"Oh, shit! 7:30! We need to hoof it!"

Tori nodded and they both sprang out of bed.

"We should have just enough time to make it to the studio," Jade huffed, picking up her clothes. "We're about six minutes from the freeway and even with traffic I can usually make it in twenty."

"You shower in the morning?" asked Tori.

Jade stopped in her tracks and her shoulders slumped.

"Yeah. I guess you do, too."

The Latina scooped up her bag of clean clothes.

"You know...we can do more than drive together to save time."

Jade didn't get it at first but those "fuck me" eyes awakened her brain.

"OH! Oh? I... guess we could be a few minutes late."

Tori wiggled her eyebrows as she strutted, still naked, to the bathroom.

(Sorry, Folgers. But you are NOT the best part of waking up.)

Steam enveloped the two standing bathing beauties.

Jade bit her lip, watching the water cascade down Tori's rippling arms as her powerful hands cupped her soft breasts. The tan woman moaned along with her lover, getting lost in their soapy bodies pressed together. Tori was surprised when the shorter girl reached around and grabbed her firm behind.

"It's all yours," she whispered into her ear.

"And so are these," Jade said in return.

Tori made the mental note to explore Jade's boobs more fully next time. She had never laid eyes, or hands, on such a perfect rack in her opinion. There were a ton of girls who had work done in this town, some good, some not so good. But fake boobs were a sticking point with Tori. They rarely impressed her, regardless of size. The opposite happened with genuine tits. Anyone fortunate enough to have a lady grant you access will tell you that plastic surgery doesn't compare.

They made out as they let the water rinse themselves off, Jade incapable of keeping her hands from wandering Tori's body. She was a muscle mommy and Jade was obsessed.

Jade thinks she might have won somebody over to the morning person camp.

"AH, JADE!" exclaimed Dorian Pierce.

"Sorry, guys! I was... there was an accident... um, I..."

"Whatever," sighed Tony. "You're here now!"

Jade put down her messenger bag and took out her notepad. One day she will have a laptop in that laptop pocket of her bag.

"Something wrong?" Jade asked.

Tony jostled his glasses attempting to rub his eyes.

"We are in trouble and I'm racking my brain for a solution."

"What?"

The man slid a printout to Jade, and she looked over the figures.

"What the...? How can this be?"

"That's what I like to know!" Pierce said, throwing up his hands. "How the hell did we blow through half of our budget already?"

Jade was perplexed. This made zero sense. They had a production budget of $90 million. They were less than a month into the shoot and they only have $40 million left?

"I mean... we knew the more complex scenes would be shot early on, right?"

"Yes, Jade" nodded Dorian. "But we were hoping shooting the actions bits back-to-back that we were going to save in the long run. You know, extras and stunt performers and special effects folk, shit like that!"

Tony leaned in.

"And we were supposed to have money left for editing, music licensing, visual effects..."

"Don't forget promotional material!" interrupted Pierce. "We don't exactly have tens of millions lying around for trailers and posters, etc. I suppose we could get some merchandising deals to hedge our bets. I'd much rather make profit from that, not just keep us in the black."

"Well, where's Malcolm?" asked Jade.

"He's...getting his teeth whitened," huffed Tony, scratching his head.

The brunette raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

Dorian checked his watch and sighed.

"Alright, we need to wrap this up if we're going to get any work done."

"If we're here..." pondered Jade. "Then what have you got everyone doing?"

"Setups and rehearsals," Tony explained. "Plus, Cat in continuity is doubling as the stills photographer. She's taking some behind-the-scenes shots and promo pics of the stars in costume."

"Gotta have something to post on social media," Pierce added. "That story of Shelby's double tackling that creeper on the bus sparked a little buzz for the movie."

"Tori."

Both men looked at Jade with puzzlement.

"Shelby's stunt double. Her name is Tori."

They looked at each other and nodded.

"Right," nodded Tony.

Tori nodded to Shelby Marx who was being photographed by Cat.

"What the heck, kitten?" she asked the redhead. "Haven't even started and we're already taking reference shots?"

Cat shook her head politely.

"No, Tori. I've been given the job of unit publicist. So, I'm taking pictures of our big star."

"That's me," Shelby whispered like a goober.

She noticed something about the stuntwoman.

"You seem more chipper this morning. What happened?"

Tori shrugged.

"Just had a fantastic evening and a wonderful night's sleep."

Shelby genuinely smiled.

"Everybody deserves that now and then."

"Don't mind me," Tori smirked as she backed toward the craft service table. "Gonna just get a bagel, or two. Missed breakfast."

The Latina felt her tummy rumble as she eyed the holey baked goods. They had been sitting there for some time, so they had since lost their warmth after being delivered. But that was okay, as she grabbed a paper plate and two cinnamon-raisin bagels. No cream cheese or lox in sight, so butter it would be.

Tori spread out her slices and buttered them up with a plastic disposable knife.

She didn't even taste that first bagel; she was so hungry. It vanished fairly quickly. When Tori was starving, she was a magician with food.

"Hey, Tori!"

The strong woman was halfway through her second bagel, which she quickly finished chewing and swallowing to respond.

"Yeah?"

Shelby rushed over and took Tori by the hand, the latter putting her food down to not lose it.

"I want a picture of us together. Shelby and her sister-from-another-mister, Tori!"

The pair stood shoulder-to-shoulder, selling off the resemblance. Cat snapped the pic and nodded in approval.

"That was nice, Shelby but you didn't have to."

"What do you mean?" the actress asked.

Tori sighed.

"It's an open secret that the movies use body doubles. Don't need to hit the audience over the head that it's not you in some scenes."

Shelby smiled and touched her arm.

"Tori, I am proud of what you're doing for the movie. You're very important."

The Latina couldn't help but smile at her sincerity.

"Besides, your ilk doesn't get recognized and that isn't fair. Where are the Oscars and Golden Globes for stunt work?"

Tori touched her chin.

"My guess was it would promote dangerous competition."

Shelby smirked and folded her arms.

"Be that as it may, my contract says I have the right to veto any advertisement or ancillary material that I don't like. So, if they make a behind-the-scenes piece about the movie, I will be there to say I couldn't have made it without Tori Vega."

Tori brushed back her hair, embarrassed.

"Thanks, Shelby."

"Let me ask you something."

"'Kay?"

Shelby pointed at Tori.

"I know that look. Somebody's in love."

Tori turned red and looked away.

"Uh-oh!" she teased. "You're blushing! Who is it?"

Tori looked around and dragged the movie star to where it was private.

"You know that production manager?"

Shelby looked disappointed.

"Tori, that isn't cool. He's married!"

"No, not him. The other one."

Her eyes widened.

"Oh, what's the name..." Shelby said, snapping her fingers. "Jamie...Jeri...Jen..."

"Jade," Tori sighed.

Shelby covered her mouth, hiding a grin.

"It's not weird...is it?" Tori asked.

"It's not that weird," she assured her. "So, you work with her, big deal!"

Tori was not expecting that reaction.

"You're okay, Marx."

The shot list wasn't particularly demanding today, so Jade walked through the bustling film set with confidence.

She was stopped on her travels, here and there, by demands from the crew for more supplies like tape and markers and shop towels. Jade jotted everything down and would forward these requests to have them handled. She was pretty effective, able to produce just about anything within 48 hours.

Jade's reputation grew to the point that if anybody needed anything, just find that pale angel with the clipboard. She will make it happen!

After weeks of working with these people, she began having their names stick. There was Cat and Andre and Robbie and Beck. She vibed with those few the strongest, seeing them nearly every day. Their interactions, while light and friendly, always stayed on task as they were there to do a job. It was like they were all friends, who just happened to have different jobs.

The only weird conversation was Beck asking Jade if she could masquerade as his girlfriend to try and make the makeup girl jealous. She sneered at the idea and said that her girlfriend might not like it. Beck blushed and apologized, asking not to get shit canned. Jade said she would forget everything if he never, ever, brought it up again.

Walking away from that, Jade felt a warmth in her chest.

(My girlfriend? That has a nice ring to it.)

"JADE!"

The brunette whipped around to see Tony coming up excitedly.

"Hey, Tony! You look happy."

"I came up with a solution that will save us about $15 million."

Jade's eyebrows sprang up.

"Really, what?"

He then showed a photo of a huge, dilapidated building fenced off with big warning signs.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Jade squinted at the picture. "But I would think twice about this investment."

Tony scoffed.

"No, no, I'm not buying it! We're going to wreck it!"

"Huh?"

"It's perfect. We'll have to dress it up a little, but this can suit our needs."

"I thought we were using the hotel," Jade said.

"Yeah, but a quick rewrite and we can set the finale right here at this place. Best part? It's going to be demolished anyway! We can trash the place all we want."

Jade let it simmer.

The cost of building sets only to demolish them was expensive enough. To stage an elaborate action climax at an established building that's being used would be even worse. Once they were finished, they would have to pay for whatever damage they made. And who knows what else they might inadvertently destroy in the process? While it would be spectacular to set the finale at this ritzy hotel, it would bankrupt the movie. It would have to make an insane amount of dough just to break even.

But to relocate it to this building marked for demolition would solve a lot of issues. No worries about smashing walls or windows or anything. They would have free reign and like Tony said, it would save the production a bundle.

"What did McGinley say?" asked Jade.

"He flipped when we showed him! Malcolm loved the fact that we were basically given permission to annihilate a building! The demo crew will even let us film the implosion when we're all done."

"YES!"

Malcolm put his arms around Tony and Jade, with a shiny, toothy grin.

"This is perfect! It's better than perfect! I can see it now; the whole building reduced to rubble and Jessica emerging from the debris, victorious! It'll be spectacular and nobody can bitch and moan that it was all Hollywood bullshit. Because it's all real, baby!"

He studied their faces and released them, marching forward like a general going to war.

"Rick? Hey, Rick! Maybe the demo guys can help us with the pyrotechnics! But you'll have to show them how to do explosions, not implosions!"

"For the last time, I am the stunt coordinator. Arthur is the special effects coordinator!"

McGinley laughed heartily.

"You guys crack me up!"

The numbers were flowing freely in her head, Jade seeing how this happenstance could potentially aid the movie in the long run. It would make setting up the camera, sound and lighting equipment less of a hassle since they wouldn't have to be as careful. People get really uppity when you show up at their home or business with tons of rigging and cables and sweaty guys in muddy boots.

Jade could hear the hotelier now:

"Watch the wallpaper!"

"Oh, please! That is imported Italian marble!"

"You're going to pay for that."

SMASH

"And that, too!"

Jade shook her head and looked up from the photo.

"This could work," she said to herself.

Tony had already walked off, discussing the following day with some of the crew.

As her eyes wandered, Tori walked by and smiled at her. She waved with a twiddle of the fingers. Jade responded in kind. It was amusing how someone with Tori's presence could give such a cutesy greeting from afar.

Jade bit her lip and she looked back down at the old, abandoned structure. The city wishes to swiftly take down such a structure and clear it out to take advantage of such real estate. Production would surely be set up there before the week is out.

Looking intently at the signs warning of danger made the pale one get a chill up her spine.

Her apprehension turned to resolve.

"It'll be fine. Tori will be fine. I'll make sure of it."

A/N: Jade getting close to Tori is making her think twice about the danger of her job. She knows her stuff but cannot help worrying anyhow.

Originally, I envisioned Shelby Marx as this insufferable diva who disrespected her co-stars and those beneath her. But that felt a bit predictable. I liked making her a genuinely sweet person who appreciates the life she has. Every once in a while, we come across a celebrity like that.

Just to make it clear to those that were curious...

Tori has a foot and a half over Jade in terms of height. The Latina, partly due to her muscle, hovers around 195-200 lbs. Jade is pretty close to Liz Gillies in real life, so around 130 lbs. reportedly. That makes the stuntwoman dwarf the production manager and its hardly any effort on Tori's part to pick her girlfriend up.

While I love writing JORI, I have a soft spot for pairings where there is physical contrast. This was a nice breakaway from the norm.