Page 21 of Love like the (Real) Reel Thing
“Cut!” shouted Doug from inside.
The AD opened the door and Jess slipped into the room, her eyes immediately drawn to the corner, which had been styled with a curved sofa, a low table, some lamps and a large, log-filled basket.
Lisa was holding her phone in both hands, her thumbs flying over the keys, when Jess weaved her way across the room to her.
“Hey.”
She didn’t bother to look up.
“Hi, Lisa. I was just wondering if I could reshare some of what you and the actors are sharing on their socials. We’ve a big following on our own accounts.”
Lisa shrugged. “Once it’s all super positive.”
Which meant she’d already seen Afric’s post. “Of course.”
“Places, everyone!” Doug ordered, crossing the set to stand behind one of the cameras.
Afric and Spencer took their places, standing at opposite ends of the sofa and waited.
“Quiet on set, please,” Doug said. “And, action!”
Spencer gave an audible sigh. “Here’s the thing, Freckles – if you’d wanted the best room in this mausoleum, you’d have got here first.”
“Are we back in camp?” Afric retorted, flicking her hair over her shoulder.
Spencer folded his arms. “At least I only had to deal with bullies and cry-babies there. You fell into the lattercampif I remember. But I never had to see any of those losers again after four weeks. If I have to see you every day for a year, I might have to revive my knife skills.”
“Cut!” Doug looked up from the camera. “The line is ‘I might have to revive myropeskills’. You sound like a serial killer.”
Jess flashed Lisa a quick glance, but Lisa had buried her head in her phone again and hardly seemed aware they’d stopped.
“Right, from your last line, Spencer!”
Spencer folded his arms and checked his stance on the set.
“Action!”
“But if I have to see you every day for a year, I might have to revive my rope skills.”
Afric smiled sweetly at him. “Ooh,promises!”
Jess watched as Spencer walked closer to Afric. “I wasn’t talking about those sort of rope skills, sweetheart, but that can be arranged.”
Afric poked him in the chest. “Not if you were the last man on earth, Spencer!”
“Cut!”
“Shit!” Afric flushed bright-red. “Sorry, I meant Gabe.”
Doug flashed her a smile. “Okay, don’t sweat it, we’ll take that again.”
Maybe they were just finding their way into the movie, Jess mused. She couldn’t imagine that every scene took so long to get right.
“Get the names right, please, Afric,” Mel said, sharply.
Doug shot Mel an impatient look. “From the top, boys and girls!”
Lisa looked up from her phone and rolled her eyes. Jess had a feeling it was going to be a long morning.
