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‘Last chance, honey,’ he said and held out his hand.
I folded my arms across my chest. His eyes narrowed and then he stormed out. I flinched at the sound of the door slamming and then I started shaking, and crying and eventually, I sunk to the ground. I held the position.
‘Cut,’ Edgar Linton called. ‘Nice work, let’s do another take.’ He walked over to where I huddled on set, giving Connor, or rather actor Kyle, an encouraging pat on the back as he passed. He offered me his hand, I accepted and he pulled me up off the floor.
‘Nice one,’ he said, and gave me a wink. I smiled my thanks and reached for a tissue to wipe my face. One of the make-up girls ran on set to touch me up again. Edgar moved away and paced around the set for a moment adjusting a few things that weren’t to his satisfaction while the set manager rushed in to assist, a worried look on his face. I had a feeling that Edgar might be a bit of a perfectionist but too early to call that after just one film and a minor role at that. I hadn’t been able to watch or study the leads in action which was a real shame, because Edgar liked to clear the set; if you were not in a scene, he didn’t want you there. Sure, I could have called in a favour but I didn’t want to play the advantage card.
For the first time, I knew exactly what Heath had meant about doing scenes over and over again. I was so invested in that scene that for a moment I forgot I was acting. It emotionally drained me. Now I had to find that emotion and do it all over again. And again.Crap.In the theatre it would be one take a night that you would build up to delivering.
Ten minutes later, Kyle and I were back in position, I took a deep breath and we took it from the top again bringing out our Cooper and Portia. I think it was as intense, it was hard to tell. I don’t know if it was the same for everyone else, but every time I did a repeat scene, I lost something – the spontaneity, the genuine emotion, hard to call.
We did the scene again – three takes and then it was over. Done. I had completed my first feature film role and if I didn’t hit the cutting room floor during editing—which was highly unlikely as my character was so entwined with half a dozen other characters—then I would be attending a preview later this year. Unless Edgar gave me a heads-up down the track, I would have to wait about eight months to see which of the takes he finally used. How exciting!
Lunch was called and Edgar came over to congratulate Kyle and me. We were done.
When we were alone on set, he placed his hand on my back.
‘That was really powerful,’ he said.
I felt my face light up. High praise indeed. ‘Thank you,’ I said, ‘it means a lot that you said that. I have to confess, I felt it.’
‘It showed.’ He gave me a teasing smile and said, ‘You haven’t been a crack whore in real life, have you?’
I laughed. ‘Ah, exposed, bummer! I have to tell you, seeing my face after make-up, I almost convinced myself.’
We walked towards the canteen. I didn’t worry about washing my make-up off yet, there were all types of looks, characters and costumes in the canteen on set, and no one cared or blinked an eye.
‘I thought I might go home to Thrushcross Grange for the weekend,’ Edgar said. ‘Head off Friday evening and back late Sunday. I was hoping you might come with me.’
I clapped my hands together like a kid at Christmas. ‘I’d love to, thank you. I’d love to see your home, and I can drop into mine down the road and check it is okay too. Thanks!’
‘Done,’ he said and gave me one of his sexy smiles. ‘I wasn’t going to invite anyone else,’ he clarified. ‘I thought we could just chill out after this huge week, have a few drinks, walk in the gardens, I’ll show you the bedroom,’ he teased.
‘More etchings?’
‘Oh plenty,’ he assured me.
‘It’s a date,’ I agreed. ‘I look forward to it.’
He nodded, opened the canteen door for me and he left me there to mingle with a promise to talk before Friday.
How exciting, I was on top of the world, what a fantastic finish when I thought I was going to hit a wall today.
I stopped.This might be real this relationship.
*****
On Wednesday my agent—I’ll never tire of saying ‘my agent’—called me with an audition opportunity. Thank God. It had only been one day since I finished Edgar’s film but it felt like a hundred while I sat around searching online for opportunities. The audition was for a small film role but that was great, after all, my latest movie offering wasn’t released until next year so I didn’t have any runs on the board other than theatre reviews and getting the role in Edgar’s film. Although, now that I’ve been outed dating him occasionally, that’s lost a bit of cred too.
Wow, what a week, what mood swings. I’m on a high and this weekend I was going to stay at beautiful Thrushcross Grange. How many times had Heath and I passed that sprawling white mansion with its manicured gardens and I had yearned to go in but returned to my sprawling dark and wild Wuthering Heights; that was before Dad had it subdivided and we moved into a wing.
Thank God Lockwood was working at the same production company as Heath, so I could check with him if Heath was going to be on stage this weekend and not at home at Wuthering Heights. I know eventually Heath and I had to discuss selling or buying each other out but I wasn’t giving up my home and I suspect he felt the same.
Besides, I wasn’t ready yet to cut him out of my life. I’m not sure I would ever be – my stepbrother, my lover, my heart and soul, my ex.
Chapter 18– The review
Entertainment Weekly
