A/N: HOORAY! Looks like the emails are back on! They were backed up the last few days, but I'm getting alerts in real time again.
And no errors when I log on the website, too! FINALLY...
Also, hey...it's June so HAPPY PRIDE EVERYONE!
Jade was walking down the steps to the first floor of the abandoned warehouse that the crew have since dubbed "Xanadu" after the massive estate from Citizen Kane. Funny coincidence that the shopping mall Jade frequented back in East Rutherford, New Jersey was also called Meadowlands Xanadu for a number of years before being rebranded as American Dream. While the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota has the most stores; American Dream (formerly Xanadu) is still the largest mall in the country by size.
Had she owned one of those Apple watches, no doubt the production manager would have gotten her steps in and then some. Jade's job already had a lot of walking involved but this place introduced copious amounts of stairs. There was one freight elevator, but it's been out of order, much to the annoyance of the crew.
The familiar sound of Tori grunting during a staged fight was audible by the echo. Jade was confused by this because she had just come from a powwow with Malcolm McGinley and cameraman Andre Harris.
They needed a Steadicam for some of the tighter action scenes, like with staying on actors when they're running. Garrett Brown invented this device back in the 1970's as a means of following a character through environments that don't lend to dolly tracks while avoiding the jerkiness of handheld camerawork. Brown established this rig that the camera operator could wear which was well-balanced in that the operator could walk or even run freely while maintaining as smooth camera movement as if the camera was guided on tracks.
It was made famous with the iconic training montage from Rocky and the tricycle sequences from The Shining. Since then, the Steadicam had become an industry standard. However, the production had been having a hard time securing one. This led to Andre and his buddy Beck Oliver rigging up their own clunky version from scraps. It didn't look as comfortable as the actual Steadicam (and you could tell from Andre's face that it wasn't) but it seemed to do the job.
Malcolm wasn't a fan of the shaky cam craze in action movies and was more interested in sweeping shots that didn't give the audience motion sickness.
Jade rounded the corner and saw Tori sparring with Shelby Marx. The stuntwoman was holding a two-by-four while the actress wielded a pipe.
"Now, just remember..." Tori said. "Your first instinct is to defend. Wait for your opening to strike back."
Shelby was catching her breath.
"Whoa!" she remarked, being pinned against some boxes. "Oh yeah?"
Tori was taken by surprise when Shelby did a leg sweep, knocking the Latina off her feet. But being the professional, she knew how to take a fall and landed safely with her hands and bended knees.
"Took advantage of my weakened stance," she remarked. "Good job!"
"Am I interrupting?" smirked Jade.
Shelby lit up.
"Oh, hey Jade!"
Jade approached Tori to help her, but she had already gotten back up.
"Another exciting meeting?" Tori asked her girlfriend.
Jade huffed with hands on her hips.
"I think the meetings would be more interesting if we had weapons like you guys."
"Too bad they're not real," shrugged Tori brandishing her piece of lumber. "This is foam."
"And mine is rubber," Shelby demonstrated by bending the convincing lead pipe like she was Supergirl. "GRRRR!" she growled like the lovable dork she was.
The silly twins started pummeling each other with their props, laughing the whole time. While they weren't really hurting one another, they both avoiding the face to keep it nice. Don't want to hurt the moneymaker of the star, or her double for that matter.
"Stop it!" Jade laughed, holding her stomach. "You two are killing me."
Tori put down her "lumber" and sauntered over to Jade, giving the shorter girl a hug topped with a nibble of the ear.
"Babe!" she shout-whispered.
"It's okay," Tori grinned. "Shelby's down."
Marx threw her "pipe" to the side and nodded.
"I am an ally," she said proudly. "And you two are just the cutest thing I've ever seen!"
Jade blushed, burying her face in Tori's shirt with a groan.
"This one's shy...most of the time," Tori winked.
The girlfriend stared up at her bae, mortified.
Shelby chuckled nervously.
"I'm going to get a water. See you on set, guys!"
After the actress departed, Jade held onto her lover.
"Sorry if I embarrassed you. I'm just proud to have you as my girlfriend."
While Tori never explicitly "came out," she didn't exactly downplay her proclivities either. Even when she was dating guys, most were aware that she was bisexual. Years ago, a guy cheated on her and she got the best revenge. Tori slept with the other girl and showed her a much better time. Not only did she break things off with the sleazeball, but she ruined things for his little side piece. Now, he had no girl. Last time she heard that other girl's name, it was in the society page of the paper. She married a financial advisor and the two ladies moved to San Bernadino. Tori earnestly wished them the best.
Jade, on the other hand, got shit for even attempting to be out. But she made strides since moving to L.A., what with going to a gay bar and dating a woman who appreciates her. She's had plenty of firsts with Tori and they've all been fantastic. Tori was thrilled to be Jade's shining light at the end of a long tunnel. She deserved to be happy, and it made Tori smile that she had a hand in that (or two).
"I don't think I've heard you say it out loud before," the Latina added.
"Yes, I..." Jade paused as she gave it some thought. The word was screamed over and over in her brain, but did she ever say it?
Tori smiled warmly at her and helped turn her to face the side of a metal door. It was highly reflective, so they could see their somewhat distorted selves.
"Go ahead, try it out" Tori encouraged.
Jade took a deep breath and let it go.
"This is Tori. She's my girlfriend."
"And I can be your worst nightmare if you cross her!"
Tori giggled as she embraced a smiling Jade.
Outside "Xanadu," the crew were milling about the spacious parking lot. Tori noticed the hero car that featured prominently in the movie.
Terry, a stuntman, was talking with Andre and Geddy, the sound recordist.
"Where is Rick?" asked Tori.
"He wasn't feeling well, so we're trying to get through today without him" explained Terry.
"What's on the schedule?"
Terry grabbed a clipboard nearby.
"Nothing major, just some shots of you driving fast past the camera. It'll be on a tripod, so..."
"But the car won't be" Tori told him.
"Tori, look" Terry sighed. "I discussed this with Malcolm, and he agreed that it's fine. It's a very simple setup; we can get in and out. Easy."
The Latina shook her head in frustration.
"Easy? Easy..."
"It's not really dangerous. Planning it to the hilt would be a waste of time."
"Tell that to Dar Robinson!"
Terry let his arms drop, still holding the clipboard.
Any stunt performer worth their salt had heard of Dar Robinson, one of the greatest who ever lived. He had worked on several productions, not breaking so much as one bone. But on the set of Million Dollar Mystery, he had died during a high-speed run on a motorcycle that went terribly wrong. He was supposed to make a braking turn near a cliff but unfortunately, Robinson went over the edge. He might have been saved had they not broken protocol and sent the medical staff home before they were done shooting.
"He died on a routine maneuver," Tori pointed "Just a high-speed run past the camera. No big stunt, no pyrotechnics, just a high-speed run and something went wrong, and he died. Let's plan this right!"
The man sighed and nodded.
"You're right. We'll do this by the book."
Tori smacked him gently on the shoulder out of respect.
"Good. If we work together, we can be the stunt coordinator for a day."
The Latina then texted Jade to let Malcolm know they will need about fifteen minutes before they were ready.
(Good on you, Terry. No movie is worth someone getting hurt or killed.)
Jade called Tori back where she apologized before handing the phone over to Malcolm McGinley.
"Yes, Mr. DeMille?" she smirked.
"What is this about a delay, Tori?" the director groaned.
"Relax, me and Terry are just improvising since we are Rick-less today."
"Come on, Tori! We only have this place for one more day!"
Tori sighed, looking up at the sky.
"Malcolm, we need to do this. I don't want anyone getting hurt and I'm sure you don't want to be the next John Landis."
The other line went silent for a few seconds.
"Okay, okay, got it. We'll be down in fifteen. And we'd better be ready to roll then!"
"Will do, chief!" Tori said, sticking her tongue out sideways which amused Andre.
She hung up the phone and was stopped by the cameraman.
"Can I just say that was badass?"
"You may," Tori nodded.
Later that day, Jade was helping Tori with picking up her place.
"See? This isn't so bad!" the shorter girl cheerfully said. "With the two of us, we'll have it done in no time!"
Tori muttered something unintelligible. Jade detected her girlfriend out of her peripheral vision.
"We'd get done a lot faster if you stopped staring at my ass," she teased.
The stuntwoman cleared her throat after getting cold busted.
"You got me!" Tori admitted. "I can't help it; it's so cute."
Jade smacked her butt with a wry grin.
"Keep it up and you can kiss this ass!"
"Oh," Tori chuckled. "Don't you dare threaten me with a good time."
They've been going out for weeks now and it's been the best time of her life. Jade found each and every time Tori complimented her intoxicating. To be adored by another woman, especially one you yourself were attracted to. The funny thing was Tori and Jade were just as contented during more laid-back domestic days like this one. It didn't have to be exciting dates with a nightcap at Hijinx. Don't get it twisted; the ladies paint the town red sometimes, but they also enjoy quiet moments.
Some of their favorite times were just lying on the couch or in bed, saying nothing. They just appreciated each other's company.
Jade blushed.
(I might be feeling the "L" word.)
("Lesbian?")
(No, dummy! The OTHER word!)
The raven-haired girl started moving some boxes around. One fell and opened, letting its contents spill.
"Crap! Sorry!"
She carefully picked up the stuff and placed them nicely back into the brown box.
"What's this?" Jade muttered to herself when she found something that was rolled up and held shut by a rubber band.
"Let me see..."
She handed it to the Latina whose eyes widened.
"Oh!" she gasped. "Could it be...?"
Tori carefully slid off the rubber band and unfurled the paper.
"Is that a... poster?" asked Jade.
The stuntwoman shook her head.
"Not just any poster. A genuine reproduction of the one sheet for the John Ford classic Stagecoach!"
Jade remembered seeing that movie a while ago in one of her film history classes about great American filmmakers. She wasn't the biggest fan of westerns, but admitted the film was well-made. Right now, she adored the face Tori was making upon finding this treasure.
"See, my dad met the legendary Yakima Canutt once. He was one of his heroes."
Tori turned the poster, showing off the dramatic painting with bold colors indicative of movie posters from the 1930's. On the top was the tagline, "A Powerful Story of 9 Strange People." There was something in black ink toward the bottom, right below the title.
"And..." Tori grinned. "He had him sign it."
"Who did he play?" Jade queried.
"He doubled for John Wayne. Yep, Mr. Hollywood tough guy until he needed to be dragged by a horse!"
Jade chuckled.
"Your dad really admired him, huh?"
Tori nodded, "Impossible for me not to myself. This guy had a long career. He didn't just stand in for stars like Clark Gable. He trained more daring actors like Douglas Fairbanks and Charleton Heston. He's even been a featured actor and a director in his own right."
She looked lovingly at the poster and sighed.
"He died years before I was born but dad told me all about him and we watched his old movies together."
Jade noticed her girlfriend getting all misty-eyed.
"I... don't have very much left of my father, so I hold to what I can."
The pale girl stood up and hugged Tori.
"We'll find a good frame for this and the perfect spot on the wall to hang it."
Tori smiled and kissed her.
"I'm glad we did this."
While Tori was out getting some dinner, Jade was getting the trash taken care of.
She pulled huge black bag after huge black bag down to the dumpster outside.
Jade moseyed past the kitchen and the double backed.
"Oh! One more," she said to herself, noticing the bin.
She opened the lid and pulled out the tall bag inside, not paying much attention. It wasn't until Jade set it in the living room that she noticed something shiny inside. It was a 4x6 silver frame with a beautiful woman in it.
Tori came in through the door just in time to see Jade holding the picture frame.
"Hey," she sighed.
"Ah, um..." Tori's eyes darted nervously. "Forgot about that."
"Who is this?" Jade asked.
Tori huffed as she set the bag down.
"This is your mother, isn't it?"
"You're sharp, Jersey!"
A sadness overcame Jade's face.
"I understand that you and your mom didn't get along but isn't this a little extreme?"
"Personally, I think moving across the country to spite your daughters is a little extreme" Tori said. "Tossing the picture of someone who hurt you seems rather rational, no?"
Jade stared at the picture and set it on the coffee table.
"What are you doing?" Tori asked.
"I know what it's like to be hurt by someone; betrayed. Tori, babe, don't let it make you bitter."
Tori crossed her arms, guarded.
"I'm not bitter."
Her face softened and she kissed Jade on the head.
"Sweetie, I love your resilience. And from what you've told me, your parents sound cool. I had one good parent and he's gone now. Nothing will change that."
A single tear ran down the contour of Jade's cheek.
"I'm sorry," she sniffed. "I didn't mean to come off like I was interrogating you."
Jade licked her lips.
"It was just a little shocking for me. Seemed so...final."
She then took Tori's hand.
"But if you feel that strongly about it, I'll support your decision."
"Thanks," Tori sighed.
Jade walked over to the trash bag and held it open.
Tori then picked up the frame and hesitated before putting it back into the trash.
"How about a compromise?" Jade suggested.
"What?"
"Obviously, your mom burned her bridges and that's fair. But maybe...just maybe...we can open a new door for...Trina?"
"Do I have to?" she huffed.
Jade smirked.
"Just make the effort and in return...um..." she thought for a moment. "Say, what are your plans for Christmas?"
Tori scratched her head.
"It's months away but nothing I guess."
"If you go swallow your pride and really talk with your sister...I will invite you back home for Christmas where you can...meet my parents."
The stuntwoman gently took the trash bag and put it down beside them.
"You sure drive a hard bargain, West!" she grinned.
A/N: Tori has apprehension about extending an olive branch to her big sister. But Jade promised another family-related milestone. Introducing the girlfriend is a big deal.
Thanks to Quitting Time for that bit of stunt performing history.
I know people expected Malcolm to be a bad guy. He means well but can get carried away due to his larger-than-life personality.