Johnny’s plane was supposed to arrive around 10 o’clock that morning, and Stanley would pick him up at the airport, then bring him straight to the studio. They wouldn’t have much private time until after she was finished filming, but she was only scheduled to be in two scenes and hoped the day would go by quickly. She would finally be alone with Johnny after more than three months.
Charity was a little concerned about one of the scenes that was scheduled to be filmed that day. She and David were going to be reenacting Robert and Kelly’s first kiss. It was a touching scene, but so far, David and Charity had never had to kiss before, and that alone made her nervous. She had been dreading reenacting the kiss in front of the crew and now Johnny was going to be present too. That was going to make it even harder to concentrate and there was no telling how Johnny was going to react when he saw just how harsh Christopher could be towards her. Johnny was very protective of her and she worried that he might want to hit him or something.
Johnny was going to spend the day watching his wife kissing another man. Would he be a good sport, understanding, and supportive of her career? He had seen her kiss other guys in school plays before. With any luck, the day was going to go smoothly, and they would be able to enjoy a great night together later. Charity was in the makeup chair by five that morning. She couldn’t help but smile at Rhonda. The makeup artist was a large woman with short, dirty blond hair and a sunny personality.
As soon as Rhonda began applying makeup, she commented on Charity’s flushed appearance to everyone else in the room. “Would you look, Bobby? Charity’s husband is coming into town, and she’s all flushed with excitement! Girl, you should try and get together with that man more than every three months. Of course, my marriage might go better if my man only came around every three months. Reckon what I could do to get him to stay away that long?”
Bobby was busy working on David’s hair when he began snickering. “Well, all you would probably have to do is give that man twenty bucks and a bus ticket. He would probably appreciate all the peace and quiet. Heck. I would enjoy the peace and quiet. Why don’t I just give you the twenty bucks, Rhonda, and see if you would go away for three months?”
Rhonda put down her makeup sponge and threw a hair brush in Bobby’s direction.
Charity turned an even brighter shade of red. It seemed that everyone on the set knew everything there was to know about her.
David had to dodge the hairbrush that missed Bobby completely, but just laughed good-naturedly before winking at Charity. “Why don’t I give both of you twenty bucks and a couple of bus tickets? Maybe, we could find someone that could actually do my hair. Every day I go onto the set, three more people try to fix my hair after you get through with it, Bobby.”
Bobby put a hand on one hip, and waved his hair brush in David’s direction. “Maybe, it’s not my styling, but your hair? Did you ever think of that? You only have four cow licks back here. What am I supposed to do with that? You might have a beautiful face, but your hair is a pain in the butt.”
David grinned at him in the mirror. “There’s not a thing wrong with my hair. It never stood up before you began styling it every morning.”
Bobby grinned and rolled his eyes. “Oh now, the fight is on. I put my styling against your acting any day.”
Rhonda shouted over Charity’s head. “You better leave that man alone, Bobby. He’s twice your size, and he has twice the brains, too.”
Charity couldn’t stop from snickering but tried to keep a straight face when Bobby glared at her.
His salt and pepper hair was in its usual just-got-of-bed style and his white tee shirt was only half tucked in his ragged blue jeans. He always looked like a train wreck but his ever present smile made it all work somehow. “Oh, missy.” He tut-tuted and then pointed the hair brush in her direction. “I know you don’t want to get into this fight. You are five feet nothing, and maybe ninety pounds soaking wet. I’ve seen your hair when you come in here first thing every morning. You just wash it and poke it behind your ears. If it wasn’t for me, I would hate to see what you would look like on camera.” He rolled his eyes again for added emphasis.
Charity leaned forward and placed both hands on the arms of the chair. “If you want a fight, now you’re on! Talking about my hair? How is it you know how to fix my hair but don’t have a clue how to run a comb through your own?” She looked pointedly at his mop of hair before continuing. “You look as if a family of rats has subdivided yours out into apartments, and we’re not talking high class apartments either. It’s more like the slums and that’s badmouthing the slums.”
Rhonda jabbed her in the shoulder, and hooted with laughter. “I knew there was some fire underneath all of that red hair of yours! I couldn’t have said it better myself.” She stuck her tongue out at Bobby. “You better watch her, Bobby. This little girl has a sharp tongue.”
Bobby pouted, but the corners of his eyes were crinkled up from suppressed laughter.
Charity quietly chuckled. She enjoyed their constant trading of playful insults every morning but the fun was over once they were on the set. Christopher ran a tight ship, and everyone was too intimidated to do anything but what he demanded, much less be able to enjoy their work. Charity was relieved to discover the first kiss scene was scheduled first. With that out of the way, Johnny wouldn’t be subjected to spending a day of watching her kiss another man.
She wasn’t surprised when Christopher hated her performance. She had been hoping against all hope they would be able to get the scene done in one take, but just as David leaned in, and she stood on her tiptoes to meet his lips, Christopher’s voice rang out loud and clear. “Cut! Stop. Just stop.”
He rushed across the set toward them. David’s hand was still resting on Charity’s shoulder. He squeezed and mouthed, ‘it will be okay’. He dropped his hand and turned to face Christopher. He inhaled deeply before asking, “What’s wrong? I thought it went well.”
Christopher stopped just inches short of Charity and glared directly at her. He ignored David completely. “Have you ever kissed a man before? Where’s the passion? This is the most romantic scene in the entire movie, and I have a wooden statue on my set doing the scene. I need real life passion. Do you think you can dig up just the least little bit of emotion, somewhere, out of that stone face of yours?”
When she didn’t answer, David stepped in between her and Christopher. “I have an idea. Since Charity has never kissed on camera before maybe it would be better if I went over a few pointers with her first. Give me thirty minutes. We’ll have this take done in no time. I promise.”
One of the older guys called out from behind the camera he was operating. “Give me a few minutes off camera. I’ll teach her how to kiss.”
Charity’s face flushed hot from embarrassment when laughter erupted from every nook and cranny. Even though she was well past the point of mortification, she squared her shoulders. “If you would give David and me a minute, I feel certain I’ll be able to do the scene the way you want it done.”
Christopher huffed and scratched at the two day growth of gray whiskers on his rounded chin. After several grunts and groans he shoved a short stubby finger into David’s face. “You have thirty minutes and not one second more. If you can’t teach her how to kiss by then, I’ll do it myself.”
Charity could have gagged just thinking about Christopher’s lips coming anywhere near her but she remained stone-faced as if she was unconcerned. She breathed a sigh of relief when he finally turned to head back to his seat.
He stopped in mid-step, turned, and arched a gray bushy eyebrow at David. “See if you can teach her a little passion while you’re at it. I’ve seen more passion coming from my Aunt Doris. It’s a damn shame a girl so young and good looking has to be so cold natured.”
He turned on his heels and headed away from them. David glared holes into his back.
Charity placed her hand on his arm, because he looked as if he was going to say something they were both goin
g to regret. “Don’t worry about him. I’m not. Let’s use our thirty minutes wisely.”
As soon as they found a quiet corner in the middle of the extra rolls of electrical wiring, unused lights, and microphone booms, Maria came over to join them. “Do you want me to take a hit out on Christopher? I’m sure even in Dallas they have hit men.”
Charity laughed. “Thanks, but no. When I win my first best actress award on this movie that should be enough to give the old coot a heart attack.”
David laughed and suggested, “Maybe we should get this kiss right before you start winning awards. There’s no excuse for his behavior. One more rude remark like that last one and I’m going to knock him on his back side. That will shut him up”
Maria placed her hand on his arm and kissed him lightly on the lips. “Go get him, tiger. Now I’m going to leave the two of you alone. If David can’t teach you how to kiss on screen, no one can.”
David gave his wife a swift pat on her behind as she turned to leave. He then faced Charity. He took her by the shoulders and pulled her to him. Of course, the first thing she did was tense up.
“Now there’s your problem. You can’t make the audience believe you want to kiss me if you continue to stiffen up like an ironing board every time I touch you. We’re supposed to be madly in love.”
Charity laughed at his comical hurt expression, but then remembered Christopher was on the other side of the set just waiting for her to mess up again. She wanted more than anything to prove him wrong. “I’ll do whatever you tell me to do if it will get Christopher off of my back for once. I really want to do this right, but when you lean in, all I can think about is everyone is watching and it makes me too nervous to do what I know I need to do.”
David bit his bottom lip and looked thoughtful. He finally snapped his fingers and asked, “How do you make it through all your other scenes? Everyone’s watching then too.” Charity studied the front of his football jersey. It was smudged with dirt and grass. He was supposed to have just finished playing in a game against the Pittsburg Steelers. Even his face was smudged with fake blood and dirt and he was still too handsome for his own good.
It was tempting to wipe the fake dirt off the end of his nose but Charity resisted and concentrated on his question instead. “I don’t ever think about whose watching then.”
He swiped at the bottom of her earlobe and asked in a teasing tone, “So why are you thinking about them now? It’s the same thing. We aren’t really kissing. We’re actors and we’re doing what we do best, we’re acting. You have to start looking at this differently. The only thing that resembles a real kiss is that our lips are touching.”
Without warning he leaned in and spoke in the same tone Christopher usually used on her. “Now tilt your face up towards me.”
A giggle escaped before she could stop it but she immediately grew serious when he didn’t smile too.
He squeezed her shoulder and in spite of his instructions, she tensed up again. “Now get that deer in the head lights look off your face. Think about kissing Johnny. How do you feel the moment before he kisses you?”
That thought sent a shiver down her spine. Johnny was easy to kiss. Just thinking about it made Charity relax.
David grinned. “That’s it. Remember to use that look again when the camera’s on. You actually look like you want to be kissed.” He leaned in again and spoke in a low tone about each and every movement she should make in anticipation of his movements. The way he went over the scene, it made perfect sense to her. It was almost like choreographing a dance step by step.
David finally lifted her chin. “Now let’s do this exactly as we just went over it. I’m going to kiss you and you’re not going to tense up on me again. Okay?”
Charity drew in a deep breath and thought about Johnny as she leaned into David’s kiss.
When the kiss was over he let out a congratulatory, “Yes!” He nudged her shoulder with the palm of his hand. “See. That wasn’t so bad was it? I knew you could do it. It didn’t even take the entire thirty minutes. Let’s go show Christopher we can do this in one take.”
Charity couldn’t help but smile at David’s enthusiasm. She linked her arm through his. “Let’s go get this over with.”
David elbowed her in the side. “Hey. I have never had a woman less excited about kissing me before. I think my feelings might be hurt.”
They laughed and turned to head back onto the set. David had just helped her step over a roll of electrical wire when they saw Johnny, standing in the middle of a nearby circle of lights and sound equipment. Charity let go of David’s arm and made a step towards him but stopped when she saw his outraged expression.
His voice cracked from anger. “It looks as if I got here earlier than you planned.”
Charity tried to understand why he was so angry but none of his words made any sense. She glanced at her watch to check the time. “No. It’s a little after ten. That’s what time you were due.” She pulled David forward. “Johnny this is David Warren.”
Instead of Johnny smiling and taking David’s offered hand he turned on his heels and headed in the opposite direction. “I’ll see you later when you aren’t so busy.”
Before another word could be spoken, he was gone. Charity looked around at David. “I’m not sure what just happened.”
David’s face was crinkled from concentration, and then he looked as if he suddenly understood. “You don’t think?” He scratched his head. “No, surely not.”
Charity asked in exasperation. “Think what?”
“Maybe he thought we were really back here kissing instead of working on a scene. We are back here in the corner away from everyone else. There’s no lights, camera, or action, just two people kissing.”
Charity turned and looked at the empty spot where Johnny had been. “Surely he would have given me a chance to explain if that was it. But then he did look really angry.” She stomped her foot. “How am I supposed to explain what was going on if he runs off like that?”
David placed a hand on her shoulder. “Surely he didn’t fly all the way to Dallas just to fly back home in a huff. Maybe he’s heading to your hotel room. You can talk it over when we’re finished here.”
Charity met David’s eyes. “Johnny has never acted like that before. He never loses his temper. I can’t believe he would think we were over in the corner making out like teenagers or something. There are at least a hundred people on the set and one of them is my mom.”
She finally expelled a long frustrated sigh. “Let’s get this scene over with.”
David winced and covered his heart with his hand. “Gee, thanks. I mean at least you can try and act like you can’t wait to kiss me.”
Charity punched him in the side. “Maria’s right. You are a big buffoon. Do you think you could get Christopher to transfer some of his hostility to you instead of me? If you can do that for me, it would be wonderful.”
David lightly punched her back. “Dream on little girl. Christopher thinks I’m the best thing since whipped cream was invented. You on the other hand. You rank very low on his list.”
“Well, Mr. Big Star, let’s go see who he thinks is the best kisser. I bet ten bucks he thinks it’s me!”
David held his hand out to shake on the wager. “You are on, little girl. I’m the best screen kisser in Hollywood! You better have ten bucks, because I’m going to win this bet. Hands down.”
Charity shook his hand. “Well big guy, you’re not in Hollywood. In case you’ve forgotten this is Dallas, Texas, and I believe I’m about to be voted the best kisser in the beautiful Lone Star state. I don’t have ten bucks on me, but I’m not going to need it anyway. You, on the other hand, are going to need to be able to lay your hands on some cash.”
It was almost seven before Christopher was pleased by the day’s filming. “Every one, that’s a wrap! Be back here first thing tomorrow morning by six.”
Christopher walked towards Charity. She was anxious to get to the hotel and
hoped that whatever he wanted, it could be dealt with quickly. She smiled tentatively at him as he approached.
He was actually smiling from ear to ear. She almost fainted from the shock when he pulled her into a huge hug and squeezed. “Charity.”
Since her face was pressed into his chest, she tried to breathe through her mouth instead of her nose. Besides being totally grossed out from being forced into a sweaty hug from a man who was a hygienic nightmare, she also couldn’t believe she had to waste such precious time away from Johnny. She was so close to finally seeing him again but instead, she was in the arms of a cranky old toad.
He finally released her. “I’m beginning to think that we’re going to make an actress out of you yet. Once we get all the bugs worked out of your acting abilities, you just might be a halfway decent actress.” He turned and left before Charity could say anything.
Maria walked over and joined Charity and David. She grinned at the stunned look on Charity’s face. She leaned in and whispered. “It looks like you made quite an impression on him.”
David pulled his stained football jersey off, leaving him naked from the waist up. “You should really close your mouth, Charity. It’s quite unbecoming to just leave it hanging open like that.”
Charity smiled. “I believe you owe me ten bucks.”
David threw the jersey over his shoulder. “Well now. Let’s don’t let his little compliment go to your head. He said nothing about you doing the scene better than me. He just said that maybe, and that’s a big word, maybe, you might become a good actress. If I were you, I would remember he said that you might become a good actress.”
Maria chastised him. “David, leave her alone. After all, it is the first nice thing Christopher has said to her in three months. Why don’t you let her savor the moment for half of a second?”
He used the dirty shirt to make a swipe at his wife. “Because, my dear, she’s trying to swindle ten bucks from us.”
She grabbed the shirt when he swatted her arm with it again and playfully snatched it away from him. “Not us, dear, just you.”
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