Page 50 of You Had Me at Hola
Victor’s armpits began to sweat.
The snake came closer.
Swallowing hard, Victor raised his arms, tensed all his muscles, and let them hand him the python.
The kids crowded around him. He smiled for the camera.
The snake shifted its weight. Victor’s arms trembled from the stress. And then...
His nose started to tickle.
“Three...” the photographer counted down. “Two...”
On “one,” Victor sneezed, nearly dropping Luther. Reflexively, his arms clenched, gathering the snake close to his chest. Luther—Lucy—whatever—slithered its head over his shoulder and around the back of his neck.
Victor froze.Fuck. This.
“Somebody take this snake!” he shouted.
“Cut!”
Chapter 21
Ashton’s eyes itched, his nose ran, and if he never heard “Somebody take this snake!” again in his life, it would be too soon. Worse, the director hadlovedit and decided to keep it for the final cut.
Between the children and the animals, Ashton’s sneezing, and everyone breaking character left and right, the animal charity event required the most takes of any scene they’d filmed yet. By the end, people were already talking about the blooper reel, and Ashton’s allergies were in full swing, but he had to admit, he was having fun. So when Jasmine told him the cast was going out for karaoke that night, he surprised them all by saying yes.
“I’m not sure how good my singing will be,” he warned, sniffling. “You might have noticed I’m having an allergy attack.”
Jasmine handed him a pack of tissues. “Was it the cats or the dogs?”
“The kittens,” he admitted. “Cute little things, but I’m severely allergic to them. Ya—you know what I mean?”
She simply nodded, not catching his slip, but his insidesturned to ice. He’d almost said Yadiel’s name—his son was always begging for a pet. Ashton’s cat allergies and Abuelita Bibi’s aversion to dogs made that impossible, but didn’t stop Yadiel from making pointed comments about the cuteness of every dog and cat he encountered.
Ashton was the last to arrive at the karaoke place in Midtown where Jasmine had booked a private room. Three bottles of wine and two pitchers of beer sat on the low table in the center of the room, and Miriam was in the middle of belting out a Selena song.
Jasmine sidled up and nudged him with her shoulder. “I didn’t think you were going to show.”
“I said I would.” It sounded curt, but he hadn’t meant it to. It was just that his mouth had gone bone-dry at the sight of her. She wore some lacy scrap of a shirt that left her shoulders and midriff bare and revealed an enticing curve of cleavage. He’d seen her in sexy outfits—Carmen went through a lot of wardrobe changes—but knowing Jasmine had picked this out herself made a difference. It was whimsical and sexy all at once. Just like her.
“Besides,” he added, trying to lighten his tone. “How could I miss this?”
At the moment, Miriam was bidi-bidi-bom-bomming her way across the room to whoops and wepas from the otherCarmen in Chargeactors.
Ashton clapped as the song came to an end, and in the silence before the next one began, he let loose a tremendous sneeze.
“¡Salud!” the group chorused.
Ashton’s face heated, but he raised his voice and said, “Gracias.”A second later, a Thalía song came on, and everyone turned back to the screen.
Jasmine patted his arm. “I have extra tissues for you in my purse.”
Despite this being Ashton’s first time socializing with the cast outside of work, everyone seemed happy to see him. He accepted a glass of wine from Lily and got into a deep discussion with Peter and Nino about the Yankees.
While he waited for his song to start, Ashton reflected on the diverse makeup of the cast. He was puertorriqueño, born on the island. Jasmine was second generation Puerto Rican and Filipina. Nino was first gen Dominican and Haitian. Lily was Mexican American. Peter was Dominican, but had lived in New York most of his life. And Miriam was Cuban American from Miami.
They were a mix of immigrants, first generation, and those whose heritage went further back. Lily’s family had lived in Arizona for multiple generations. And the rest of the cast and crew hailed from many other Latin American countries: Colombia, Panama, Brazil, Ecuador, and more.
