Page 30 of The Actor: Harrison

“On the set in here,” I point to the building outside the trailer. “I got comfortable. I know it like the back of my hand because we filmed half the movie in there. But tomorrow is new. We’re in a house and not a set our people built, there are different spaces, you can’t bring down walls to fit a camera or anything like that. I feel trapped when I don’t have enough time to prepare myself.”

She grabs the piece of paper in front of me and points a finger at different lines, the floor plan for tomorrow.

“You should have told me you wanted to see the location. We went there the other day to scout it and decided where to put the camera and everything,” she points out and I shrug.

The truth is, I don’t know how far I can go with my demands when it comes to her. I’m someone who always finds a way to interact with the director even before we start filming, to get the pulse of the situation, get comfortable around them, try to get a clue about what I can ask and what pisses them off. The problem here is that everything pisses her off because we started a war that ruined our relationship from the beginning.

I blame myself partly for that. I could have stopped long before my emergency room visit, but I decided to be a child and fuel her anger instead to find a peaceful solution.

“I didn’t want to bother you.” I shrug.

She seems to want to point out something but then gives up and looks down at the paper.

“There will be cameras here, here and here.” She points and I get closer to take a good look.

“If I walk from here to here,” I point at the floor plan, “is this glass door open or do you have a problem with the reflection of the cameras? I’ll have papers to go through, but I can have them on the coffee table here instead of the kitchen counter on the other side of the room. So we can avoid moving the camera in front of the glass door.”

I get excited discussing these things with her. I can feel the anxiety slowing down and easing the grip on my stomach. I can finally relax a bit.

“We talked about that, and we think we should be fine with the right lighting and everything, keeping the door closed. It’s a cabin in the woods. We won’t have a problem with traffic noises, but the birds in that place are freaking loud.” She laughs for the first time since we’ve had some time alone and the sound is like magic.

“I know. They’re an inch high and sound like they have the lungs of an opera singer, right?” I grin as she laughs even more.

“Exactly.” She shakes her head.

“So what do you think? Do we keep the paper on the coffee table?”

She frowns and pouts and I want to bite and suck those lips. “I’m not sure. There will be three people in the living room. With the couch here and the TV here, I think it’s way too cramped if all three of you stay on this side of the room. I need you to walk over here and give me some breadth in the scene. We need the lake in the background anyway because we have to bring it to the audience’s attention, so don’t worry. Walk to the kitchen counter and leave the rest to me to worry about,” she reassures me and I definitely feel more comfortable.

I watch her raise her eyes to me and flicker her gaze briefly on my lips. Our hips are touching, our shoulders too. We were so focused on our brainstorming that I didn’t notice we got so close.

“Thank you,” I whisper, my voice barely audible.

She lowers her gaze to my lips again and hers part in response. She is attracted to me, I can tell, but I don’t know what she would do if I kissed her. There’s only one way to find out, and when I slowly close the distance between us her eyes widen and she stands up abruptly.

I flinch. I’m a freaking idiot. I shouldn’t have pushed my luck, especially because I risk messing up the fragile truce we built. My heart thunders in my chest and I can’t tell if it’s because I anticipated that kiss way too much or because I’m terrified I ruined everything. Both scenarios are equally stressing me out.

She looks uncomfortable and I feel guilty. I clear my throat and smile.

“Thank you. I really needed to hear this, you helped me out a lot.” I stumble a bit on my words. It’s awkward and I’m not used to this kind of tension with people. This is new for me and I’m not sure how to act.

She nods but stays silent.

“Did you already eat? Because I didn’t have dinner and we can grab something together, if you want,” I blurt out when the silence between us become a bit embarrassing.

The question seems to shake her out of the awkwardness we fell into. She stiffens her spine, schools her face into a neutral expression and looks me straight in the eye.

“I’m happy we figured out your doubt and addressed it, but I think we should keep our relationship strictly professional. I don’t think we should hang out outside the set,” she says firmly and I feel the defeat seeping into my chest.

I ruined the only step forward we made because I couldn’t resist kissing those lips. I’m an idiot and I should just be grateful she didn’t kick my ass for even trying, but I feel my heart sink instead.

“Yes, sure. No problem,” I say with a way-too-fake smile.

“You should go home. It’s late and tomorrow we have an early shoot,” she says, walking to the door and opening it.

“Give me five minutes and I’ll pack my things. Goodnight, Sienna.”

“Goodnight, Harrison.” She steps out of the trailer and closes the door behind her.

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