Second Act (His Chance 1)

“Thanks. You, too.”

Lang came up to us and said, “Damn, Kandinsky, where’d that come from?”

“Was it okay?”

“Was it okay? Hell no,” he said. “It was perfection. I can’t believe you nailed it in one take.”

“We did?”

“You gave me exactly what I wanted. I always knew you were meant to play Alex, right from that very first audition, and damned if you didn’t just make me look like a genius. Now get dressed, because you know we’re not finished. We still have to shoot the closeups, and of course there’s all that dialog that comes before the kiss. After what just happened here, the bar has been raised, and I expect you to continue to bring it.”

Chapter 11

Two hours later, I burst into my trailer and startled my cat, who darted off the kitchen counter. Then I threw myself at Lorenzo, who’d been reading on the couch. He dropped the paperback and wrapped his arms around me as I exclaimed, “Even if I never make another movie after this one, the last ten years, all those sacrifices, and the hundreds of rejections were totally worth it.”

“That must mean it’s going well.”

“We just wrapped for the day. Can you believe it? We did the sex scene in one take! That’s especially shocking because Lang loves his retakes. He made Harper walk into the kitchen and say ‘hey’ seventeen times because he wasn’t ‘feeling it’. But we nailed that complicated, emotional sex scene on the first try!”

“That’s fantastic!”

He sat up and shifted me onto his lap, and I hugged him and said, “I can’t even tell you how good that felt. The crew actually applauded! That’s so rare. And I cried real tears, Lorie. It wasn’t even in the script, but I knew what Alex must have been feeling, and it just happened.”

“I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you for saying that. It means a lot.” He held me securely and stroked my hair, and after a few moments I said, “I hope Lang still likes what we did when he watches the dailies.”

“That’s where he reviews everything that was recorded that day, isn’t it?”

“Exactly. He already watched the playback on a monitor that’s right there on set, but it might read differently on a big screen.”

“If the director was satisfied with one take, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“I’m so glad he didn’t ask us to do it again. In that moment, it just really felt like Alex and Liam were in that kitchen, and I’m not sure we could have replicated it.”

He asked, “Did it feel strange taking your clothes off in front of the crew? I know you were worried about that.”

“I forgot they were there. That’s how deeply I got into this character. I mean, we were standing there in those ridiculous cock socks with a bunch of people staring at us, and it should have been the most embarrassing thing in the world. But as it was happening, all I could think about was Alex, and how he loved Liam with all his heart, but all he was ever going to get from him were those few stolen minutes. Liam didn’t even hold him afterwards. As soon as it was over, he felt guilty and just left Alex there, hurting and ashamed and alone. Is it weird that my heart totally broke for a fictional character?”

Lorenzo caressed my cheek and said, “Not at all. It just shows you have an extraordinary amount of empathy.”

“I love the way you always make me seem perfectly rational.” He grinned at that, and I said, “Let’s get out of here and enjoy this unexpected afternoon off.”

While the cat pretended to be boneless as I tried to load her back into her harness and leash, Lorenzo received a text, then sent one in return. When his phone beeped again, he glanced at the screen and grinned, and I asked, “What are you up to?”

“Nothing.”

“Uh huh. Whenever that Cheshire Cat smile appears, it means you’re about to throw me a surprise party, or something along those lines.”

“No comment.” He was still grinning.

We stepped outside, and I shifted the cat in my arms and locked the trailer. Phoenix was walking toward us while typing on his phone, and when Lorenzo received a text a second later, I said, “So, you’ve dragged my P.A. into your schemes.”

“If I was trying to pull off a surprise, you’d better believe I’d involve Phoenix. That guy’s a miracle worker. But I admit nothing.”

Phoenix also refused to tell me what they were planning, and I stopped pestering them long enough to take a shower when we got back to the rental. Once I’d washed off the makeup and shampooed the crunchy gel out of my hair, I got dressed in my version of casual, which was a white button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled back, pale gray jeans, and gray loafers. Then I took the time to straighten my hair, because I was sick to death of the curls. I would have loved to shave too, but as long as I was playing Alex, the stubble stayed.