by Ruby Forrest
“You say that like’s a bad thing,” the woman answered. “We’re still being paid the same, so what does it matter?”
Ashlyn’s eyes traveled over to the director who was giving orders and flapping his hands like a bird who was desperately trying to take flight. Maybe he really was trying to move things along. The director motioned toward the woman in charge of the extras.
Ashlyn shook her head and turned away as the extras started filing in. She felt a little sick to her stomach. Her luck had never been very good. When she was growing up, all she had wanted was to be an extra. She hadn’t even asked for a speaking part, and here were others receiving their places easily. Her luck never seemed to take her very far, but then, that was normal. She hadn’t been able to finish film school either for lack of money. She’d had to beef up her resume with a few lies before anyone would take her.
But, it seemed to have work well in the end. Here she was, almost ready to begin filming her first scene. Ashlyn walked back over to the camera that had been assigned to her, her camera, and began fidgeting with it again. She looked up and watched the director direct. The extras were being led over to a certain part of the forest, and Ashlyn wondered why they needed so many. It’s not as though they were filming in the city.
One of the extras was pulled aside, and Ashlyn found her stomach flipping over as she studied him. She had never been one of those girls desperate to have a man, but this man was very attractive. He drew Ashlyn’s eye immediately. Ashlyn studied him as he listened carefully to the director’s instructions.
He had dark skin that looked as smooth as an undisturbed cup of hot cocoa. His hair was cut short, and when he smiled at the director, Ashlyn felt her heart beat hard. He was very handsome. After a pause, where she seemed to be struggling for control over her body, Ashlyn pulled away and forced herself to focus on something else. She struck up a conversation with a cameraman who was standing nearby.
“So,” she said, “what’s the protocol for filming? Do you know if we’re going to start this year?”
The guy looked up from his phone as though surprised that someone was talking to him. “Oh, yeah. Soon. Sorry, my girlfriend is being needy.”
Ashlyn glanced at his phone. She didn’t know what to say. She’d never been great at conversing with others. She was more of an introvert.
“So, shouldn’t we go ahead and set up our cameras?” she asked, more out of something to say than really thinking he would know the answer.
The guy shrugged. “I don’t think so. Gary will tell us when we’re supposed to do something. Just stay quiet and out of his way until that happens.”
Ashlyn smiled. “Okay. I’m just so excited to start that I want to be ready.”
The guy smiled a crooked smile at her as if seeing her for the first time. “I remember being a newbie.” He slapped her arm as one friend would to another. “Enjoy it. Pretty soon, you get bogged down and life, and then sometimes, you forget how much you loved working with a camera in the first place.”
“I don’t think I could ever forget that,” Ashlyn said.
Gary came over a few minutes later and began shouting hurried directions. Ashlyn adjusted her camera and focused on the area she was assigned. Everyone was in place and ready to start the frame.
Ashlyn stood behind her camera and looked through the lens. Her stomach flipped over again as she looked at the dark-skinned extra. She had thought he would just be playing with the others, be there for a day then leave. Instead, he had been chosen to have a little bit of a bigger part. Ashlyn didn’t like the idea of him having a bigger part, but who was she to say anything? She simply focused her camera on her and tried to calm her stomach. She had never felt such instant attraction to someone.
As soon as she started recording, she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. The man who was stirring her insides was playing a small role named Travis. She decided that would be his name from now on since she didn’t know his real name. She slowly moved her camera forward on the dolly at the correct part, focusing in close on Travis. He looked right at the camera as he delivered one line, and Ashlyn felt like she might throw up. What was her problem?
“Alright, everyone has five minutes,” Gary said. “Five minutes, everyone.” Gary was pulled away to deal with a problem, and Ashlyn began reviewing the shots she had. They were pretty good.
Ashlyn looked up and saw that Travis was headed toward her. Did he find her as attractive as she found him? Ashlyn looked toward the bathroom trailer, desperately searching for an escape. It was too late. Travis laid a hand on her arm.
Chapter Two
“You’re working with the cameras,” he asked as Ashlyn slowly turned back to him and acknowledged that she would have to speak to him.
“Yeah,” she answered. “You’re an extra.” Wow, that was brilliant, Ashlyn. You really know how to draw them in, she thought.
“My name is Javon,” the man said, offering his hand. Ashlyn shook it.
“Ashlyn,” she replied.
“Your eyes really make you stand out,” Javon said. Ashlyn self-consciously looked at the ground. Everyone said the same thing. Her green eyes were one-of-a-kind, beautiful, unique, and memorable. She had heard it all before, but somehow, when Javon said it, it made her feel different, like his opinion mattered.
“Thank you,” she said, searching for something to complement back toward him.
“You should be in front of the camera, not me,” Javon continued. Ashlyn looked up and caught his eyes. When she did, she forgot everything she wanted to say. She felt like she was frozen. A strong urge rose up within her to kiss him, but she batted it away. Why was she so physically attracted to him?
“I guess we all have our place,” Ashlyn finally said. “I love working with cameras, so I much prefer to be with my camera than act.”
Javon shrugged. “It’s the loss of the viewers then.” He smiled directly into her eyes, and Ashlyn felt desperate to busy herself in some way. This man was going to distract her and make her unable to work when he was around. If she couldn’t think when he was looking at her, how would she be able to work?
“I’m going to get some water,” Ashlyn said. “I’ll talk to you later.” She took a step away and felt as though she were freeing herself from a trance, but Javon stepped forward again.
“I’ll get your water. You wait right here.”
Ashlyn didn’t like it, but she waited, watching Javon as he walked away. Her eyes dropped to his ass, and she half-smiled. He was certainly a very attractive man, and she didn’t mind looking at him. It was when she started to talk to him that he was a problem. If she was calling his attention as much as he was calling hers, then they would distract each other. They had to keep Gary, the director, happy or they could both lose their jobs. There was no dating among employees, even extras. If you were dating, you had to keep it a secret.
Ashlyn accept the bottled water right at the moment when they were called to return to their position. Ashlyn thanked Javon for the water hurriedly and turned toward her camera, but Javon grabbed onto her arm.
“I just want to say. . .”
“We need to get back to our positions,” Ashlyn said. “I can’t talk anymore.”
She pulled her arm gently from his grasp, her arm still tingling from where he had touched her. She hurried to her camera and pulled the shot into focus. Ashlyn wanted to take the time to evaluate what she was thinking and feeling, why Javon’s touch affected her so much, but she knew that her job had to come first. It had been hard to get this position, and if Ashlyn lost it, it would be even more difficult to get another. Ashlyn panned the scene below her then closed in on Javon’s face. He gave her a smile just before the scene started. Ashlyn was shaking her head, but she was also smiling. Maybe Javon did like her. It was kind of fun for someone to think her attractive.
Ashlyn threw herself into filming, and even when the actors received a short break, she used the time to review he
r shots. She wanted them to be perfect. She wanted to pick up her mistakes before someone else did and correct them so that she wouldn’t be at fault for needing extra filming.
The extras were let go at noon, and Ashlyn grabbed one of the half-sandwiches available at the table. She choked one down and returned to reviewing her shots. Javon approached her with a laden plate.
“Don’t you want to actually eat something?” he asked. He held the plate out to her. “I got some extra.”
Ashlyn let her eyes slide to the plate quickly before turning back to her camera. “I already had something to eat, so I’m not hungry. But thanks.”
“What do I do with the plate now?” Javon asked, causing Ashlyn to look up and meet his eyes.
“I guess you’ll have to eat it,” she shrugged. He was a big guy.
Javon shrugged. “I guess I will. So how long have you been filming with Gary?”
“Um, this is my first time,” Ashlyn answered, turning back to her camera.
“I thought so. I’m pretty sure that anyone who works with Gary for a long time already has grey hair.”
Ashlyn laughed, though she looked around to see if anyone else heard. “You’re just trying to make trouble. I am not about to get in trouble because of your jokes.”
“Hey, freedom of speech, right?”
“And Gary has the freedom to fire, so you should probably keep your free speech to a minimum,” Ashlyn recommended, once again burying her face in her camera. If she let herself be distracted by Javon, she knew that she would get hurt. It was better to focus on her first love, filming.
Gary started waving his arms, and people were moving before the words had even left his mouth. “We are working on scene three, folks. Let’s get moving!”
People scurried around, and Ashlyn hurried back to her camera. She was ready. She knew her place and didn’t need further direction. To her surprise, Javon followed her back to her camera.
“Shouldn’t you be going onset?” she asked, wanting to tell him what to do but not knowing his place.
Javon shook his head. “No, I’m not in this scene. I’m done for today.”
“Oh, then I guess I’ll see you later,” Ashlyn absentmindedly answered as she adjusted the lens.
“I thought I’d stay and watch you do your thing,” Javon said. “It’s not as though I have any other pressing appointments for today.”
Ashlyn turned and studied Javon for a minute. “I’d prefer you don’t do that,” she tried to say it as politely as she could.
Javon shrugged and bit his lower lip. “I would prefer to. Go ahead. Work. I won’t say anything.”
Ashlyn pursed her lips and turned back to her camera, frustration already building up. She didn’t feel comfortable knowing that he was behind her watching her. Ashlyn tried to focus solely on her camera, but her thoughts kept turning back to what Javon was thinking or doing or if he was looking at her.
After half an hour of silence from Javon, he decided he should start a conversation in the middle of filming. Maybe he really didn’t know what he was doing, but it seemed like he was trying to get her fired.
“Have you always been into film?” he asked.
Ashlyn waved her hand at him, trying to tell him to be quiet without saying anything herself. He was quiet for a few minutes. The actors had just started doing the scene again when Javon spoke again.
“Do you have a favorite movie?” Ashlyn turned and gave him a dirty look. He was going to ruin her shot!
Gary walked into the middle of the shot and looked over at the spread of cameras. “Five minutes’ break! Cameras, I hear someone talking during a shot. You better shut up or you’ll be fired. Absolutely no talking.”
Ashlyn turned on Gary. “Are you trying to get me fired? Shut up, will you? I’m not going to have my job ruined because you’re too stupid to know to shut your mouth on set.”
“Hey,” Javon said, standing up and using his tall frame against her. “You need to calm down.” He placed one hand on each of Ashlyn’s arms, but she wrestled herself free.
“No, I don’t! You need to leave! You don’t have a reason to be here anymore. Just go!”
Javon’s face showed that he was not going to put up with her yelling at him. “Ashlyn,” he spoke her name in a way that seemed to take command of the situation. “Don’t speak to me like that. If you don’t want me to talk, you need to say that.”
“Fine, don’t talk. Or better yet, leave! Please! This job is really important to me!” Ashlyn knew she was pleading, but she didn’t know what else to do. This job was the most important thing to her in the world. Her hands were in balls at her side, and she was scared that Javon would refuse.
“Calm down,” Javon said. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll leave you to work completely alone and quiet if you agree to go to dinner with me.”
Ashlyn’s fury seemed to melt in a moment. What was he trying to do? Did this count as manipulation? Whatever. If it meant that he would leave her alone, it was worth it. She didn’t even care if it would be good food or not, but looking at Javon, he probably always went to restaurants with good food.
“Fine, whatever,” Ashlyn said. “If you promise to always leave me alone. Just let me film.”
“Great, I’ll see you at the Red Lobster as seven o’clock tonight. Deal?”
“Yeah, sure,” Ashlyn said, turning away from Javon. Things were much quieter, and she saw that one of the other cameramen was staring at her. Ashlyn stared him down. He finally looked away sheepishly. Ashlyn turned back and saw that Javon was already halfway toward the parking lot. Good riddance. Now, she could focus on filming.
Chapter Three
Ashlyn finished her filming when the sun started coming in at the wrong side of the set, around four in the afternoon. Ashlyn was exhausted, and she rode with the crew back to their hotel. They had a block of rooms where they were staying for the ten days they were filming here. Ashlyn wanted to shower and fall into her bed. Going to bed at seven o’clock wasn’t too early, was it?
Ashlyn suddenly remembered her date with Javon. She backpedaled. It wasn’t a date. It was just a bribe. She was going to follow through on it, because she didn’t want Javon making trouble for her the next day. They had nine more jam packed days of filming, and she didn’t need to be distracted on any one of those. She would pay up now and receive the benefits of being able to work.
“Can I shower first?” Ashlyn asked her roommate Pamela.
“Go ahead,” Pamela said. “I may just watch TV or something.”
Ashlyn gathered up her clothes and took a super-fast shower, mainly washing her hair. She was glad that the hotel room provided hair dryers, and she went to work in the bathroom. It took forever to dry her hair, but she was finally ready. She was wearing jeans, short heels that barely counted, and a red, skin-tight V-neck. She looked nice but not overly done.
Ashlyn’s stomach grumbled, and she smiled. At least she was going to get some delicious dinner out of it. It had been a long time since she had eaten lobster, and she loved it. A restaurant named the Red Lobster had to have Lobster, right?
“Where are you going?” Pamela asked.
The rule about not dating between contracted employees flashed through her head. She didn’t know if Javon counted and figured it would probably be better to keep it a secret if everyone didn’t already know yet.
“I’m treating myself to dinner. I think I deserve it after surviving my first day on the job.”
“Fine,” Pamela said. “But don’t wake me up when you come in. I am exhausted, and I’ll probably be in bed before eight.”
“Yeah, I’ll be quiet,” Ashlyn said, grabbing her purse and stuffing a few needed items in. She was tired too, and she envied Pamela being able to sleep so early.
Ashlyn didn’t have any sort of vehicle, but their hotel was in the middle of things. Maybe she should have asked Javon for a ride, but she hadn’t been thinking that far ahead when s
he made the plans. She didn’t even have his phone number to text him and ask him. Oh well, there had to be someone who was willing to at least give her directions.
Ashlyn stopped in a store near their hotel and asked after the restaurant. She was directed to keep going about four blocks. Ashlyn sighed but started her little walk. She was mostly hoping that she wouldn’t get sweaty on her way. That was the last thing she wanted: to show up at a date with her face read and her hair wisps clinging to her face.
Ashlyn saw the restaurant coming up on her left, and she slowed her pace, giving herself a few slow steps to catch her breath. She didn’t think she was out of shape, but walking in heels was not the easiest. Ashlyn walked up to the door cautiously and stepped inside. She felt out of her element as she entered the fancy restaurant’s doors. Javon was waiting just inside, and seeing him immediately calmed Ashlyn. She realized then that she felt comfortable with him.
“Wow,” Javon said. He took an exaggerated moment to look at her, and Ashlyn tried to make her look condescending. It didn’t really work well, because she ended up blushing. “I knew I struck gold when we made that bargain this afternoon.”
“Yes, and I hope you’ll fulfill your end of it,” Ashlyn replied, raising one of her eyebrows.
“I will,” Javon said. “And, I’ll also give you an amazing date.” Javon turned and motioned to the waiter. “Could you lead us to a table for two please?”
“Would you prefer our patio seating or a place inside?”
Javon turned to Ashlyn as though passing the question on to her. “A booth is fine.”
For some reason, she felt as though the patio might be beautiful and romantic. She didn’t want that. She just had to finish this date and keep herself from becoming too distracted with Javon. Then she could get back to her real love: cameras.
“Right this way,” the waiter led them to a table. Javon placed his hand lightly on Ashlyn’s right hip as they walked side by side to the table the waiter had chosen for them. “Your server will be right with you,” he said.