by Reber, Tina
“Can I interest you in a glass of wine from one of our wineries?” I took them into the kitchen. His mother’s eyes lit up and a huge smile appeared on her face as she entered. I did have a cool kitchen.
“Taryn, this is magnificent! Bill, look at this stove. I want this stove,” she insisted.
I pulled out a new bottle of Chablis and uncorked it. I was in the mood for white wine. Just then I heard Ryan run up the steps.
Ryan dropped his keys off on the entry table by the door and he had a box under his arm when he came into the kitchen. He hugged his father first since he was still standing. His mom stood up from the table and gave her son a big squeeze and a kiss.
“Oh, it’s so good to see you,” His mother gushed, rocking him back and forth where he stood. It was such a heart-warming reunion.
As soon as she released him, Ryan came over to me and pulled me in for a nice, respectful hello kiss.
“Hi Honey. How’s everyone doing?” He looked around at all of us to make sure we were getting along. His mother told him about the nice restaurant where we had lunch and how she enjoyed the view of the ocean. I poured four glasses of wine and handed them out.
“Taryn, this is delicious,” his father commented, swirling the wine around in his glass.
“Here, check these out.” Ryan handed the box over to me. Inside were all different styles of sunglasses. “Some sunglass company wants me to wear their shades. They sent a whole box for me and my lady.”
I rolled my eyes at him.
“For real! Look at the letter. See! ‘Mr. Christensen, we are honored to provide you with our Fall collection of Sun Jammer Eyewear. We have provided you with styles to suit men as well as a selection of women’s eyewear for your favorite lady.’ See? Favorite lady right there in black type.” He poked me in the belly on his way to the pantry. Ryan opened the door and removed the bag of chocolate chip cookies.
“Oh no, you have her feeding your fix now?” Ellen scolded.
We took his parents on a tour of the apartment and we put our coats back on to visit the roof patio. Bill and Ellen appeared speechless – up until the point that Ellen stated she wanted to re-do their entire backyard to look like my roof.
I knew Ryan was starving; he was starting to pick at anything he could readily shove in his mouth when we returned to the kitchen. I turned the oven on and pulled out the ingredients I had set aside to make Chicken Cordon Bleu. I pounded the chicken breasts flat while Ryan took down a few layers of the sliced cheese. He was too hungry to be of any use.
“So what do you say, Son? Want to lose to your old man in a game of pool?” His father gave him a nudge.
While the men played downstairs, I prepared dinner. His mother watched over what I was doing.
“I never thought to put that in with the bread crumbs,” she stated. She helped coat the rolled chicken and was amazed by my deviations from the normal recipe. I liked to be creative when I cooked.
Later that evening, we gathered at the oval wooden dining table that was off to the side of my main living room. I hadn’t sat at that table for a meal in a very long time. It felt nice to eat as a family again.
“Taryn, this is fabulous,” Ellen complimented.
Ryan kicked his foot into mine under the table and winked at me. “I told you she was taking excellent care of me!” He grinned.
“So are you two going to tell us where we are going this weekend or are you going to keep your mother and me in suspense?”
Ryan looked at me and smirked. “Should we tell them or make them suffer like you made me suffer that day?”
I stabbed a few green beans on my plate. “I think we should tell them.”
“We are taking you to Taryn’s family cabin at the lake, where we are going fishing.” he motioned to his father with his fingers. “And you two ladies can go shopping till your feet fall off.”
Our evening with his parents slowly came to a close. Ryan had to be back on set early in the morning and his parents were tired from their flight.
I quickly slipped into my bedroom to get my pillow and carried it out to the living room.
Ryan looked at me in utter confusion. He picked my pillow up and started to carry it away.
“Honey, I thought we were going to bed?” He yawned.
“No,” I whispered. “Please leave it here. I’m going to sleep out here on the couch.”
“Why?” he asked, completely perplexed.
“Your parents,” I whispered again.
“What about my parents?”
“Out of respect!” I quietly stated the obvious.
“What are you talking about?” I wished he would keep his voice down.
“Ryan, I’m not going to sleep with you in front of them,” I whispered.
“Are you kidding me?” Just as he spoke his mother stepped up behind him.
“What are you two whispering about?” she asked.
“I’m not quite sure, Mom. For some reason Taryn thinks she has to sleep on the couch.”
I was thoroughly embarrassed now and had to explain myself.
“I don’t want to disrespect you, that’s all. It’s fine,” I politely informed. “I don’t mind sleeping out here.” I tried to yank my pillow out of Ryan’s hand but he wouldn’t let it go.
Ellen looked confused and then I saw the light of understanding turn on above her head.
“Oh, sweetie, that’s not necessary.” She walked over to me and gave me a big hug.
“I appreciate your consideration, but Bill and I are not that old-fashioned.” She gently laughed in my ear. “This is your home.”
Ellen touched Ryan’s cheek while she was rocking me. “You stay with Ryan in your room,” she said tenderly. “Oh how I would have loved to have met your parents!” She kissed me on the cheek.
“Why did you think you had to sleep out on the couch?” Ryan asked privately in our bedroom. He pulled our comforter up over my shoulder.
I shrugged, slightly self-conscious. “I just don’t want your parents to have the wrong impression of me, that’s all. I wasn’t raised that way.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that! You’ve already made a good impression on my parents today,” Ryan whispered, inching his way down the bed until our eyes were level.
“My dad talked my ear off when we played pool. He was rambling on about how intelligent you are and how I could learn a thing or two about money management from you.”
“I’m glad they like me; relieved actually. It’s very important that they approve.” I shifted to be closer to him, gently rubbing his neck while we talked.
“Oh, they approve all right! You’ve won them over, that’s for sure.” He brushed my hair back. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
“No,” I whispered, egging him on. “How much?”
“Let me show you,” he whispered. He softly kissed my lips, once, twice, before his wet mouth moved with mine.
I was up and out of bed before everyone else so I could spend some extra time showering and getting ready. I was already nervous and slightly jittery thinking about going on my first major motion picture movie set. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think about doing what I would be doing today.
“Are you excited?” Ryan asked, pulling my heart necklace out from behind my shirt while we waited by the back door.
“Nervous.” I half-smiled. My stomach was in knots.
It was still dark outside when our car arrived. It was too early for the paparazzi to be up. Ryan’s day usually started before the sun came up. I was relieved knowing that his parents would be with me throughout this experience.
We briefly paused at the security gate and then proceeded to drive further onto the lot. The limo wove through several rows of trailers and other trucks before stopping by a long, white trailer.
“Here, you’ll need these.” Ryan handed us badges on long cotton cords to identify that we were permitted on set.
He had his blue papers rolled up in h
is hand.
“I have to go to makeup and get my face done. Tar, come with me.” Ryan took me by the hand. “Mom, Dad… I’ll see you over there.” He pointed to the direction of where he’d be filming.
His bodyguard Mike and another man escorted us to a long trailer. Inside were several beautician chairs and a complete makeup counter with mirrors. The second we were through the door, several people started to attend to Ryan. He had barely a moment to introduce me to the special effects makeup team. The people I met were polite, but they had a job to do and little time to do it. Everyone was in a rush.
First Ryan had to change into his wardrobe; he had to wear dark pants and a white button down cotton shirt that was pre-speckled with what looked like blood. Then he was covered in a cotton shawl and several makeup artists went right to work on him.
He just sat there while they covered him in creams and pigments, using sponges and brushes and all sorts of items I had never seen before. The one makeup artist, an older Asian lady wearing red, thick-rimmed glasses with her long ebony hair pulled back into a ponytail, started brushing purple pigment below Ryan’s left eye. By the time they were done with him, he looked like he was on the losing end of a fistfight, down to the dried fake blood coming out of his nostril.
He smiled and winked at me. “I look pretty rough, huh?”
Even though I just watched them transform him into this bloodied mess, I almost wanted to cry seeing him looking so beat up. Instead, I smiled and nodded in agreement.
“Pete said he’d do this to my face if I ever broke your heart. Guess I better not do that then.”
I was glad to know that he was totally unaware of my eavesdropping during his conversation with Pete. I rolled my eyes at his comment, pretending to have heard it for the first time.
Another male assistant was chattering back and forth over a hand-held radio. “Ryan, they’re ready for you over on set nine.”
Moments later, we were whisked away on the back of an ordinary golf cart, his bodyguard Mike dutifully by his side. Once we stopped, Ryan quickly spoke into my ear.
“You’re going to see some stunts today and, at the end of this scene I have to… kiss…” His face twisted in disgust. “Her.”
We walked onto the set; I had to blink several times to realize that this ornate castle hall was actually built inside an ordinary warehouse.
“Jake, please send someone for my parents. I want them here with Taryn,” Ryan requested. “You should be okay here. No heckling!” He kissed my forehead before rushing away.
I was hiding off to the side of the one wall, trying to stay out of the way. Thick black electrical cords twisted and twined all over the floors. There were bright lights, scaffolding, and all kinds of gadgets everywhere. I was petrified that I might accidentally bump something expensive or someone important. People were hustling all around me. Some were wearing headphones or carrying a piece of technical equipment. Clipboards, cameras, lighting adjustments, it was like random chaos all around.
I felt a hand touch my back and realized that Ryan’s mom was next to me now.
“Overwhelming, isn’t it?” she asked. I was in a daze watching it all unfold around me.
A woman wearing headphones around her neck approached us. “Hi! Welcome! You may want to move over there to get a better view. Come with me.”
I looked around for Ryan; he was standing with several men and they were all moving their arms in the air, like they were discussing how Ryan should throw his punch. It appeared to be a rehearsal before they filmed the scene. An older man, who was short, almost bald, wearing headphones around his neck and carrying some device that looked like a small telescope stepped over to talk to Ryan.
“That’s the director,” his dad said.
Ryan spent a good amount of time nodding and discussing how he was supposed to move.
“I think that guy to Ryan’s left is the stunt coordinator.”
I was glad his father was standing behind me explaining things. I had no idea who any of these people were.
I heard someone yell “quiet on the set.” I tried not to breathe.
I watched a man hold the clapper board out in front of the camera.
Ryan took his position in the fake room. I could see his image on three small video screens near the director.
“Rolling,” someone else yelled.
“Action,” the director called out.
Ryan took a few steps and then was attacked by a man in a cloak. Ryan threw a right hook and a cord pulled the man he punched back onto a pile of foam.
Was that it? Everyone was mingling around on the set again. I looked at his father. “Did they just film that?”
Bill smiled at me. “I think so.”
Ryan had to get back into position and then he fought the same man again. It took them almost an hour to film this one particular scene. They shot it from so many different angles.
The only time I knew when they weren’t filming was when the makeup artist was touching up his face. I was constantly wondering how everyone knew what was going on. Either you had a job where you had to run around and scramble or your job was to stand around and look important.
“Hey girl! I heard you were here.” Kat gave me a hug.
“Hey Kat! Oh, it’s good to see you!” I was relieved to see another familiar face in this chaos.
“Hi Ellen, Bill! Here to see your boy in action, huh? What’s he doing now?” Kat looked around to see where Ryan was. “Oh, great. Make way for the queen.”
I saw Suzanne walk through another entrance. Of course she glanced over to see that I was standing there. Her eyes opened wider once she saw me.
“You’re going to be cool with this, right?” Kat bumped my arm. “He has to, um, kiss her now. Yuk! You don’t have to look if you think it might bother you.”
In reality I wanted to see this. I needed to have this experience of seeing him… act. “I’ll be all right,” I murmured.
Suzanne seemed unfazed that I was there; actually she seemed to be in a good mood. She was laughing and sort of carrying on with Ryan. He laughed too at whatever she said. It was a relief to know that their relationship wasn’t totally ruined because of me.
After what seemed to be an extraordinary long time they finally got into their positions to film the scene. Ryan’s eyes locked on mine for a moment; it was like he was trying to send me a message telepathically. I knew what was coming next.
I was too far away to hear the dialogue that they exchanged, but the scene involved Ryan to still appear bruised and bloodied. He grabbed the upper part of her arms and they seemed to fight each other. She wasn’t supposed to like the grip he had on her. She reached up to slap him in the face and he grabbed her by the wrist. I remembered when we played pool that very first day; how I tried to teasingly nudge him and he caught me the same way in mid air around my wrist.
With his other hand he grabbed her around the back of her neck and forcefully pulled her in for a kiss. After a brief second of her fighting it, she surrendered to his lips.
I took a deep breath through my nose while he kissed her. It was harder than I thought it would be to see the man I was in love with kiss another woman. I knew it was pretend but the burn of jealousy still pulsed through me. I unconsciously curled my fingers into fists by my sides; my fingernails dug into my palms. His mother placed her hand on my shoulder as reassurance that it was going to be all right.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, I looked down to the ground then turned my gaze to the opposite wall. Something struck me as odd – why is that man over there taking pictures of Ryan kissing Suzanne? He didn’t use a flash on his camera.
“How are you doing?” Kat whispered to me. I could hear the tension and concern in her tone.
Suzanne really played it up; my presence was encouraging her Oscar-worthy performance for sure.
“I want to peel her off of him and set her on fire, but I’ll get through it.”
The director yelled, “Cut.”
<
br /> Kat laughed, amused by my comment. “It will get easier with time. You at least have the satisfaction of knowing that he’s hating this part of his job.”
“Is he really?” I wasn’t so sure by the looks of it.
“See, Ellen! Taryn wants to crack Suzanne in half. This girl is definitely in love with your son.” Kat wistfully danced in place.
“I don’t want to crack anyone,” I quickly replied. I didn’t want his parents to think I was obsessive or controlling.
Their kissing scene had halted and the director was talking to both of them. They nodded at him as he gave his direction. Apparently they had to do it again. I watched as they ran through their dialogue again, he had her by the arms again, and once again he grabbed her by the back of the neck. This time she fought him a little longer before surrendering.
The second time wasn’t as bad as the first, although it still bothered me to see him kissing someone else. My mind scanned over all the various movies I had seen in my lifetime and all the kisses that were exchanged on film. All those kisses had to look believable to sell the feel of the movie. I thought about one of my favorite actors and how he had to kiss the actress in one of his movies. But yet at night he went home to his lovely wife and their children.
I can do this, I told myself. His lips belong to me – he even told me so. It’s just pretend; I’m his – he’s mine.
I was in mid discussion with Kat and his parents about some of the background story to this movie when Ryan slipped his hands around my waist. I wasn’t expecting it, so I jumped slightly from his touch.
“What did you think?” he whispered in my ear.
“I think you looked pretty tough fighting that guy. I thought you actually punched him! It looked real from this angle.” I giggled as he held his hands to my stomach.
“That’s movie magic!” he snickered.
“I think you have a cool job,” I murmured back to him.
“And what about the other part?” Ryan asked tentatively. He whispered his words on my neck.