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Maye snorted with disbelief.

“I think everyone deserves a second chance. Don’t you, chat?” Chris scrolled through the comments on the live video. “And remember, the only other flying instructor on the island had recently passed away from an unexpected construction accident. So, they really needed someone.”

“Sounds a little suspicious to me,” Maye said.

“Wait, are you saying what I think you’re saying? You think my character murdered the flying instructor?”

“Honestly? I don’t hate the idea of the movie going that direction,” Maye joked. This earned a smile from Chris.

Maye glanced over to the side of the set where she noticed Tracy standing holding two enthusiastic thumbs up. In the background behind Tracy, Maye noticed a few new people in the room. She recognized them as members of the film crew from the previous day. Each had their phone in their hand and were giggling along, as they switched from watching the livestream to watching in person. Maye felt encouraged and almost comfortable as she bantered back and forth with Chris.

“I have one last question about the movie, and then we can move on,” Maye said and then she let the anticipation build for a moment. “Were you even in Tonga?”

Laughter swelled throughout the small audience in the room.

“Okay, funny story,” Chris said. “Unfortunately, Tonga was busy. We called. Tonga said you gotta Ton-go somewhere else.”

The room erupted with laughter and clapping. This went on as Maye and Chris talked about what in the movie gave them warm and fuzzy feelings, pointed out more silly and ridiculous details, and then wrapped up with any questions they still had. That was, until a familiar face popped in through the door, and Lars’s stern look let everyone know it was time to wrap it up. Chris thanked the live viewers and those in the room, and then signed off to end their first official episode. As light applause muttered across the room, Chris stood and hugged Maye.

“You did so good, Maye,” he said into her ear.

“Thanks,” Maye looked into his eyes. “I was just following your lead. You’re really good at this.”

They were still holding on to each other when Jayce announced that they were wrapped for the day.

- 21 -

Oot and Aboot

As the classroom cleared out, Jayce began disassembling the video equipment while Chris started unplugging cables.

“I’m going to help Jayce return these props and pack up this equipment,” he said as he wrapped cables into neat loops, “and then I have to film the rest of the day, but maybe we can hang out for a little bit tomorrow before you leave?”

“I think we were going to try to leave early tomorrow so we can get back and settle in before the weekend’s over,” Maye said.

“Ah, I see,” Chris said, sounding disappointed before he perked up again. “Or…what if…okay, hear me out. Tomorrow we are filming an outdoor playground scene. It’s supposed to be the kid’s recess, so we’ll need some extras in the background playing other teachers. What if you two came back tomorrow and played extras for the recess scene?”

Maye wasn’t able to squeak out a syllable before Tracy accepted the invitation on their behalf.

“Are you serious??” Tracy squealed. “Absolutely! We’ll be here!”

“I thought we wanted to get back before Sunday?” Maye asked.

“Oh, get real, Maye,” Tracy said. “You think I’m missing this? A chance to stroll around in the background of a Christmas movie? Make snowballs and throw them at kids?”

“Well,” Chris interrupted. “You can’t do that.”

Tracy tried again. “You think I’m gonna miss my chance to end up under some mistletoe with Alec Santos?”

“That’s not happening either,” Chris said.

“You think I’m…” Tracy paused. Apparently she had only thought of two scenarios for her background acting debut.

“It’s actually a lot of standing around and waiting,” Chris said. “You’ll have to do the same thing over and over when they say action, so there’s at least a chance at consistency between takes.”

“Darn it,” Tracy said, snapping a finger. “My next one was gonna be not wanting to miss out on repetition.”

“I guess we could just leave Sunday,” Maye said. “It might be fun to hang around the set a little longer.” It also crossed her mind that it meant more time around Chris, which sounded fun, too.