Page 6 of Hollywood Crush

I walked down the corridor to my room and opened the door. My own room was a mishmash of all the old shabby accessories from the hotel over the years. The bedding was the same that had been on most of the hotel’s beds up until renovation, an old fashioned floral print that had been part of the fabric of the hotel since Mam and my father had bought the it in the months before I was born.

The mattress was comfy and down filled, however old it was, and a day of constant prepping for the guests to arrive had left me exhausted. I stripped down to my boxers and fell into the comfortable bedding, pulling it up around me. Tomorrow was another day. Another day to get lost in those big brown eyes.

Chapter Three

Daniel

Awaking in a bed that wasn’t my own was almost always disorientating, but over years criss-crossing the globe I’d had to get used to it. The hotel bed was warm and comfortable though, and had been one of the better and quieter night stays of my life. That was good, as it meant less work for the make-up truck when it came to keeping me from looking tired and haggard. I seemed to have fallen asleep and dribbled onto the script I had started reading over before bed.

I checked the time on a watch that I definitely had overpaid for. It was just after 7, and I knew there was a car coming to pick me up at 7:30. I dragged myself out of bed and jumped in the shower. As I scrubbed, my mind wandered to the young and attractive hotel owner. Tudor was an enigma, and I wanted to know more. I had ben disappointed when something seemed to shift in him, and he closed down. He had tried to cover it up with a customer service veneer but decades of acting experience helped me to tell when someonewas faking it.

I showered quickly and wrapped a towel around my waist. I scrubbed and flossed my teeth to a shine — I wondered briefly if there were any decent dentists near to do my usual bi-monthly whitening.

As I was gargling mouthwash there came an urgent knock at the door. I crossed from the bathroom and opened it without thinking. On the other side of it stood Tudor, holding a brown cardboard package in both hands. We both took stock for a second, and I noticed his eyes quickly rove down my body and back up to my face again. I was used to getting stared at, but when Tudor looked it felt different. I wanted to grab the back of his head and pull him toward me, lock the door behind us and do whatever I wanted to him. Or let him do whatever he wanted to me, either or.

Tudor cleared his throat, and I realised he had been holding out the package to me without me even noticing. “This came for you,” he said. “There’s a note from aSandraon there that says…well, you can read.”

“Thanks,” I took the package from his hands. He nodded and walked from the room without another word. There was something up with him and I wanted to know what.

I grabbed my toiletry bag and slipped in my contacts quickly. It was rare to get to wear glasses in the film industry unless you were playing a nerd, so I always made sure to carry my contacts around.

I checked the little printed sticker on the outside of the box.Good luck on your first day shooting! You have a sponsorship deal with this company now, so pls sell it up. Keeps your (and my) rent paid - Sandra.

I rolled my eyes and opened up the packaging. It was a moisturiser I’d used before, so I didn’t feel too much like I was shilling snake oil. Still, it made me uncomfortable to be selling products to my followers. As Sandra said, it kept the bills paid. I checked the label for ingredients and its supposed benefits.

I pulled out my phone to start an Instagram story, making sure my wet hair and broad shoulders were in the field of view. Both men and women seemed to love when I posted just after getting out of the shower, like the implication I was naked helped to sell them the product. “Hey guys! Just started shootingThrones of Blood, which I know you’re all keen to see! But those early starts and windy location days are hell on my skin.” I held up the bottle of moisturiser to my face. “Which is why I use Soft Skin unisex moisturiser. It’s great for my complexion, stops shaving rash and smells absolutely lovely. Head over to their website if you want to get into the action!”

I posted the video to my 200,000 followers and made sure notifications were switched off. Sandra had a personal assistant who would go through my Direct Messages later and delete any unsolicited pictures or proposals. Poor girl was probablyscarred for life, the amount of penis and vagina she’d had to delete from my account.

I got dressed quickly in clothes I could pull on and off quickly and in some slip on shoes. Time in prosthetics, make up and costuming would be made all the easier if I wasn’t wearing clothes with complicated zippers and buttons.

I opened the curtains at last, and gasped aloud despite being alone. The window looked out directly over the sea, and when I took a step back it looked almost like the hotel was floating over the top of the sea. A step closer to the window revealed just how perched it was on the cliff. The early morning May sun shone through into the room and reflected off the verdant green hills to either side of the little bay. The yellow-sanded beach and blue ocean with fishing boats bobbing looked like they would be more at home in Greece than Wales. The little village and its surroundings really were beautiful. Perhaps this shoot wouldn’t be bad after all. As long as the sun shone.

The churning waves so far below were making me dizzy though so I turned away.

My phone’s 7:25 alarm went off to remind me that I should be getting ready. I sprayed some deodorant quickly, grabbed my room keys from the side table and locked the door behind me as I left the room. There was still no sign of crew inhabiting the corridor and keys hung from each locked door.

Main reception was quiet and I didn’t see Tudoror his mother. The main door was slightly ajar so I pushed it open and stepped into the sunlight. There wan’t a car waiting for me yet so I crossed the little road to look at the hotel anew. What had seemed depressing in the rain looked much better in sunlight. It still wasn’t perfect by any means, but the crooked porch and flaky paint looked characterful now instead of desolate.

The sea air helped too, and I breathed it in deeply. It was still very windy and not at all warm at the top of the cliffs, but I could see why they had chosen this place to film a high fantasy TV show. It had the air of a land of myth and legend. I heard the engine before the car came into view.

It was a big black Jeep, the driver behind the wheel serious and wearing sunglasses. It struck me just how high the budget for this TV series might be. I hadn’t asked many questions, just jumped in for my money.

I jumped into the Jeep and the driver wasted no time in gunning it, not back down the hill, but up a little side track that ran past the hotel, hugging the cliff face. I looked down at the script in my lap in order to avoid being sick.

It was about ten minutes before the car slowed and I risked looking up. We were on a grassy clifftop overlooking the sea and trailers had already been set up. “Thanks mate,” I said to the driver as I got out. The wind was even worse up here and I wished I’d brought a coat.

I walked toward the trailers, suddenly realising I had no idea where I was going. Always a good start. A man of about twenty five years old with big round glasses and flyaway hair stood off to one side with some kind of remote in his hands, but otherwise I could see no one else. They must have been sheltering from the cold and wind in their trailers.

“Hi,” I said as I approached. “Daniel Ellison.” I held out one hand for him to shake but he waved me away. He was staring at a spot above us and in the distance and on following his gaze I could see a black speck up in the sky.

“Getting some establishing drone shots,” he said to me. Finally he took one hand off the remote control and absentmindedly reached out to me for a handshake without looking away from it. “Live feed into the director’s trailer…Fucking wind.”

Even in the distance I could see that the drone was juddering and moving about. The young man slammed on one of the sticks on the controller and it made its way slowly over to us, becoming more and more visible even as it was jolted about in the wind.

“Come on…” the man muttered. It seemed as if he was going to get a safe landing when another gust of wind came so strong that even I stumbled, and the drone went careening into the grass where it lay still.

“Well, that’s us out ten grand,” he said with a wry smile and a shrug. Finally he turned to look at meproperly. “Will Salts, third AD and drone operator. Nice to meet you.”

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