Page 4 of Keeping Zita

Sage held out his own hand to shake Logan’s. “It’s good to be here.”

“Hi. I’m Carmen,” the actress purred. She’d stood up, smiling flirtatiously at Sage as she sidled up to him and held out her hand.

To Sage’s credit, he didn’t sound any more or less welcoming as he shook her hand and said hello. His eyes didn’t stray to her chest, and even though it was obvious Carmen was in actress mode, putting her best…assets forward, Sage wasn’t reacting the way she was used to when men met her for the first time.

“Your suggestions on the script have been dead on,” Henry said, as he also stood.

“Thank you, sir.”

“I’m not a sir,” he said immediately. “It’s just Henry.”

“And I’m Obi-Wan,” Sage told the group.

“Let me guess…Star Wars fan?” Logan asked.

Sage smiled and nodded.

“Sweet. Hey, Henry tells me you’ve been through that evasion school thing, right?”

“SERE training. Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape, yes.”

“Cool! I have some questions about that, if you’ve got a minute at some point.”

“I’ll probably have more minutes than you,” he said, with a polite grin.

Zita was relieved the two men were getting along. She’d worked on one of Logan’s movies where he and his costar did not get along. It was painful for everyone because of the tension on the set. While Sage wasn’t one of the stars, he’d be around a lot for filming, and things could get very awkward if Logan decided he didn’t think any of Sage’s suggestions were helpful or needed.

“I’ve got some questions too,” Carmen said, leaning in and placing a hand on Sage’s arm.

“Sure,” Sage said diplomatically, turning toward Henry at the same time, smoothly dislodging her hand as he did so. “I have some suggestions for that scene, specifically the dialogue, where the hero’s hiding feet from where the bad guys are standing. The North Korean soldiers wouldn’t use the lingo that’s currently in the script. I have a few ideas on how to make it more authentic. More militaristic.”

“All right. Get with my script supervisor and she’ll make the changes, check with me on what was updated, and then the actors involved in the scene will get them.”

“Sounds good.”

“Right. It’s good to meet you. Now, we all need to get on set and get this show on the road,” Henry said in a no-nonsense tone.

Logan shook Sage’s hand once more and followed Henry out of the trailer.

Zita wasn’t surprised that Carmen hung back. She stared at Zita, as if waiting on her to leave too, but Zita had made a promise to Sage that she wasn’t leaving him alone with the woman, and she never broke a vow if she could help it.

She leaned against the counter, staring at the actress with more bravery than she would’ve thought possible. At thirty-five, Zita wasn’t an old-timer in the movie industry, but she had enough experience under her belt to know that even if the actors and actresses got irritated with her, there wasn’t much they could do about her presence on set. She had an ironclad contract with her union, and unless there was an egregious breach of protocol on her part, she couldn’t easily be fired.

Carmen’s eyes narrowed as she stared at Zita, but when it became clear she didn’t seem inclined to leave, the actress huffed out an annoyed breath before wiping all irritation from her expression and looking at Sage. At five-ten, Carmen was actually taller than him, her heels making her even more so, so as she crept up beside the man, she was looking down into his eyes as she spoke.

“This is your first time on a movie set, right?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“If you want, after my scenes are done this morning, I can show you around. Give you a tour. Show you the things that most people don’t have access to.”

Zita wanted to roll her eyes. There weren’t many places that were off-limits to her as the set medic. But it was obvious Carmen was trying to impress the man. It was likely the tactic had worked for her in the past…and she assumed Carmen was insinuating that she’d show him her personal trailer. Those spaces were off-limits to all but a handful of people on the set.

“I appreciate the offer, but Zita’s shown me all the places I need to see. Besides, I’ll be gone by the time you’re done with work for the day. I’ve got to get back to the naval base.”

“Oh,” Carmen said with a pretty pout. She ran a finger over the patch on his left shoulder. “I’d love to get a tour of a real-life naval base sometime. I’m sure it’s fascinating.”

Jeez. The woman wasn’t even trying to be subtle.