Page 78 of Love Scenes

“You guys are having a lot of fun dancing out there,” she comments straightaway.

Joe runs a hand through his hair to wipe sweat from his brow. “Oh yeah. This is a great time.”

“I’m a much better dancer than Elise is, though,” I joke.

Joe looks straight to camera. “All lies,” he deadpans.

The correspondent giggles. “What’s it been like here on set? I know this movie has had a bit of a bumpy road up until now.”

My nose wants to scrunch up. We’ve all been briefed that no one’s allowed to ask anything specific about Haven’s firing. Vaguely hinting at it will always be the name of the game, though.

“I’m quite sure everything’s worked out for the best,” Joe tells her. “Except my American accent. That might be a bit painful for the locals.”

“All lies.” I look straight to camera as he did moments ago.

The correspondent eats all of this up. “You two have worked together before. What’s it been like to come together again for this?”

“A dream come true,” Joe tells her right as I’m saying, “Pretty amazing.” He puts a hand on my forearm. “Sorry. You go.”

“It’s been incredible.” I amp up my enthusiasm now that Joe’s called it a dream come true. “Joe’s the best.”

“Watching you two today, you seem so comfortable with each other. How do you create that kind of trust?”

Joe gives her a wry smile. “Loads of rehearsal.”

“I bet. Sloane, tell me how this experience with Joe is different than your last?”

There’s a subtle shift in Joe’s posture, feet turning in toward me, shoulders rounding forward to get a bit closer to my level.

“For one, we know each other so much better now,” I say. “We didn’t come into this as strangers. We’re definitely better at communicating this time around. It’s easy. Acting with him doesn’t feel like work.”

The interviewer nods. “And Joe?”

“She really said it. But I’ll add that she’s brilliant at getting me out of my own head. Our first flick, I was in a bit of a personal hell, if I’m being honest. Life’s a little steadier now.” He places a hand back on my arm. “Sloane is my anchor.”

“Wow,” the correspondent mutters, surprised. “Can you—”

Tammy the AD interrupts. It’s time to wrap up and come back to filming. The correspondent is devastated, clearly hoping to follow this line of questioning as far as we will push it. Which, according to our answers, is pretty far, I realize with a dawning horror.

Later, as sunsetturns the outside sky a dreamy sherbet pink and orange, Joe and I let the camera crews follow us as we walk the back lot, running our lines. It’s a more interesting location than his trailer, we’ve been told. If we want to rehearse, we have to do it here. I keep fighting the urge to reach for his hand while we pace back and forth through brownstone facades and iconic stretches of street used in countless movies and shows.

Our last scene to shoot is the second kissing scene. It was Mom’s idea to move it to today. To my surprise Tyler agreed, no longer finding a closed set necessary for kissing. Our intimacy coordinator talked it over extensively with Joe and me, making sure we understood that we don’t have to be uncomfortable just because the team wants outside crews to see this. We assured her it was fine.

As production inches toward wrapping, mindsets are slowly shifting out of creative mode and into marketing mode already. Everything has a spin, and the tension of this sequence will buildgreat buzz among the industry people here to watch. We both understand that, and we trust each other enough to know we will get through it just fine.

This scene is Elise in her slip, after running down the street. She’s explaining her fears to Calvin. Why she’s pushed him away.

“I could never leave you,” he tells her, realizing for himself that it’s true. How did he ever think he could? “Why do you think I came back to this town? I was happy being your friend.”

Joe says the lines without feeling it, the both of us focused on getting the text right instead of nailing the emotion. The emotion will come when we shoot it.

“Can’t you see? I...” Elise balks, unable to say it.I love you.

They’re supposed to get closer. Calvin says if he touches Elise, he won’t be able to stop. So she kisses him everywhere but his mouth, not allowing him to touch her back, driving him mad.

Joe and I talk about this withblah blah we’re kissing herepracticality, eyes on our feet as we walk in sync.

Next, Stuart pounds on the door, looking for Elise. She begs Calvin to hide, saying she will handle it. Calvin says, “No. Trust me, you hide. I can fix this.” He tells Elise to go change while he takes care of Stuart.