Page 28 of Between Takes
Chapter Ten
“Do you want a coffee, Mona?” Shaun asked the next day.
The director had called time while they reset for the next scene. It was a crowded day on set and a huge contrast to the silence of the one before. I couldn’t get my bearings with this production. One day I’d see the same faces, and the next there would be fifty new ones and a trailer full of SAs.
Today was one of the full ones. I’d found a place out of the way to watch the action while keeping on top of Shaun’s emails. Prior to starting my job, I never had any idea the type of shit actors like him received daily. Only ten percent of it was viable communication. The rest was nothing but pages and pages of one girl or another offering herself up to him. Some of them included pictures. I’d almost thrown the tablet across the set when I’d first opened one of those images. Now it was like a game. Who could shock Mona into smashing a light? If I went down the production route, I’d be saved these visual scars at least.
My eyes flicked to the line of SAs crowding the craft table. Coffee sounded great, but fighting my way through that didn’t appeal to me.
“I’ll grab you one from your trailer,” I said, hopping down from my flight case.
I pushed past the crowd of girls waiting to fawn over Shaun. The smug bastard had joked that I’d give myself eyestrain if I kept rolling my eyes at them. I couldn’t help it. If they’d be less obvious, maybe I’d be able to resist.
I’d escaped through the studio doors when a hand landed on my shoulder, spinning me around. Off balance, I fell face first into a muscular chest. Shaun’s hand landed on my hip, steading me and stealing my breath.
“If you wanted a hug, you could have asked.” Shaun laughed, stepping away.
He isn’t serious. Is he?
He chuckled as I studied him, seemingly unaffected by the brief touch. His smile wasn’t right, though. There was something strained about it.
“I didn’t mean go fetch me coffee, Mona.”
Huh?
My eyes fixated on his mouth. The moisture on his lips and the way he kept dragging it between his teeth… I shook my head, struggling to clear the fog.
It seemed one touch from him and my common sense vanished.
With a finger beneath my chin, he tilted my head back until I met his amused gaze. It roamed my face, latching onto my lips and leaning forward. If I didn’t know better, I’d think there was interest in those green pools.
“How do I get a repeat of this? I think I could get used to you speechless.”
I shook my head, his words freeing me. I made a face at him, using attitude to pour cold water over the flames his big hands had fanned.
“You can let go of me now.”
“Are you sure?” He smirked. “You still feel a bit unstable to me.”
His fingers flexed against my hip, but with a reluctant nod, he released me. I put as much distance between us as would be considered normal – meaning, I scuttled six feet away and watched him through narrowed eyes. I could still feel his hands on me, sending electric waves across my skin.
I almost wished prickly Shaun would make a reappearance. I could protect myself from that version of him. This one was too much to handle.
“So, coffee?” Shaun asked, barely covering the quiver of amusement in his voice.
“Coffee. Yes, I think that would be a good idea.” I turned on my heel and marched towards the line of trailers.
“Mona?” Shaun called after me, his confusion audible.
“We’re ready for you, Mr Martin,” Leanne, the crowd second AD, called out to him.
With my back ramrod straight, I forced myself to walk away without a backwards glance, my neck itching like someone was watching me. Wondering whether it was him, I picked up my pace, power walking to the trailer before my restraint crumbled. I’d have coffee waiting for his next break. And in the meantime, I’d find my bloody cool and put out the fire he’d lit.
“Thank you,” Shaun said thirty minutes later as I handed him a tall mug of mocha. I froze, scanning his face as mild shock plastered mine. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “What?”
“You said thank you.”
He shrugged. “Thought I should make some new habits.”
