Danielle had not expected to go hiking on this trip. Yet, there she was, somewhere up in the Scottish Highlands, where she and Chris had just been dropped off and informed that there was no way to go further by car. A man in his sixties or so was waiting there for them.
He told them he was a local – which had been obvious from his accent – and that he'd been hired as a guide so they wouldn't get lost. He also assured them that it was neither too far nor too challenging of a hike, and then they went on their way.
Of course, Danielle wished someone had informed her beforehand. Luckily, she had chosen to wear a pair of sneakers that day or she may have just turned around and gone back.
It took them just under half an hour to get to their destination. Naturally, Hunt was already there. A peek at his footwear told her all she needed to know. Hiking boots. He could have told her and had decided not to.
When had he gone back to this type of petty behaviour? Just what had she done wrong? She'd been a bit snappy after her water shoot, of course, but that didn't warrant this kind of response. She hadn't even been all that rude, let alone insulted him, that night! Just what was his problem?
She didn't intend to find out. At least not from him, anyway. Because, clearly, he had no interest in talking to her. At all. And so she didn't, either.
She was late. Thomas knew not to expect her to be perfectly on time, but it had been over an hour now, and that was unacceptable. Unless she got lost or hurt during the hike up here, there was no excuse for this. He turned to the nearest PA and asked him if he'd heard anything at all.
"Danielle Allen? She got here, like, an hour ago," he said, his brow furrowed. "She's in hair and make-up now, as far as I know."
Oh. Oh.
She was here. She'd been here, and she hadn't even bothered to say hello to him.
So this really was what she wanted – nothing at all to do with him. Well, then, he supposed, he would just have to accept that.
Unfortunately, it was mere moments later that Danielle emerged. A polite smile that didn't reach her eyes was on her lips when she came up to Thomas.
"What are we starting with today?" she asked him. A normal question. Just work.
Thomas didn't return her fake smile. "Maeve and Jack's journey through the mountains. We need a bunch of footage of you walking."
"Hm. Yeah, better to get that out of the way so we don't have to do it when we're too tired," she said, nodding her head. "All right."
With that, she walked over to Chris and began speaking to him. Thomas didn't care to listen. It was time to start filming, anyway.
They got some good shots in that morning. Both Danielle and Chris were good at what they did and, on top of that, had really great chemistry. He hated to admit as much, but it was all there on tape. Their friendship and budding romance was so believable, it almost hurt.
The morning, though, was just fine in retrospect. What happened after lunch was where it got worse.
After all the walking came the scenes in which Maeve and Jack get some time to rest and recharge. With that also came the time for them to bond and develop their relationship.
When Jack and Maeve had their first heart-to-heart conversation in which they both opened up a bit, Thomas almost didn't mind.
When they filmed a breakfast with lots of accidental touches and flirty exchanges, he found himself giving more notes than usual, but he was fine.
When they moved on to a scene that required some cuddling to keep warm, he looked away once or twice, but he told himself it was just because he knew they would do well even if he wasn't watching.
When the final scene of the day was taking place, however, Thomas damn near lost it.
Jack had confessed his attraction to Maeve and now he was holding her face in his hands. They were going to kiss in just a second, and Thomas did not want to see it. He watched them, anyway, when they did. A heated kiss, full of passion. His stomach turned.
Before he could stop his mouth from moving, he had yelled, "Cut!"
Everyone was staring at him, then. Most stares were just confused. Danielle's, though… her stare was angry. Livid. She was going to rip his head right off, he was sure of it.
"Everybody, take ten," he announced. "I need to talk to Danielle."
Luckily, he did genuinely have notes on the scene. Notes that would not make him feel better if she took them into consideration, granted, but, otherwise, he wasn't sure how he'd come up with a good excuse for why he had just done that.
Danielle was about to go off on Hunt about how he could have at least had them finish the scene, but he gave her a warning look and held up a hand.
"I've got some notes for you," he told her. "Will you hear me out."
She crossed her arms in front of her. "I mean, I know I did a good job, but you're the director so…"
"Maeve has been alone for a long time. And now, there is Jack, whom she is deeply attracted to. Mentally and physically," he explained and stepped closer towards her. She wasn't sure he even noticed.
Danielle nodded. "Yeah, I get that."
"There's so much built-up desire. You're already doing a decent job, I will admit, but… we need more."
She swallowed hard. He was standing right in front of her now and she was pretty sure she'd be doing a bang-up job of conveying just what Hunt wanted from her for this scene right about now.
"Have you ever desired someone so much, it was physically painful to restrain yourself at times?" he asked her. She was sure she could feel his breath on her face. "Have you ever wanted to kiss someone so desperately and then, finally, you got to do just that?"
Very much yes to the first question. The second question, though? No, she hadn't got to do that. Though she very much wanted to right now.
"I don't know," she said, realising she sounded just a tiny bit hoarse. "I think I get what you mean, though."
Hunt's eyes were still locked to her, never moving. They had darkened, too.
She'd had enough. Then and there. She could see it in the way he looked at her, the way he spoke to her. If she misread his actions, then so be it, but she couldn't not say anything. She'd just had enough.
"I swear to God, Hunt, if you don't fucking kiss me right now, I am going to kill you."