Lovescenes

He stood, hands planted on his hips, staring at her, his indigo eyes fathomless, his lips set in a hard line.

Shannon felt as if she were replaying a scene from the past. Everything was as it had been that first day. He was dressed in leather and denim; his motorcycle boots were coated with a film of dust and for a crazy second she found herself wondering if he’d ridden his Harley here from California.

There was a knot of people clustered behind him, their eyes shiny with excitement, but it wasn’t Cade they were watching this time. They were watching her, trying to decide if she were to be the snake or the mongoose in what promised to be a far more in­teresting scene than any the writers of Tomorrows had ever created.

Say something, she told herself, say something nasty or say something clever, but say something.

Her throat worked, but nothing happened. Her mouth was dry, her brain numb. Even her feet felt rooted to the floor.

‘Hello, Shannon,’ Cade said, and the sound of that familiar voice seemed to set her free.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘Working,’ he said. ‘That is, if you can use me today, Jerry.’

The question was directed to the control booth, but Cade’s eyes never left hers.

‘I—I don’t know, Cade. I didn’t expect... Just let me get out there.’ The door swung open and Crawford pushed his way through the cluster of onlookers. ‘I hadn’t planned on shooting you two until next week,’ he said, looking from Cade to Shannon. ‘But we could do a rehearsal today.’ His glance went from one of them to the other again, and the faintest of smiles flitted across his face. ‘Why not? Have you got the script I sent you, Cade?’

‘The love scene? Yeah, I’ve got it. It’s all I thought about on the plane from L.A..’

There was a titter from the crowd. Crawford glared angrily and the noise subsided as quickly as it had begun.

‘Good. Shannon? You said you’d memorized your lines, right?’

‘Well, yes, but I didn’t think... ’ Panic welled up like water from a spring. ‘Jerry, you said Monday.’

‘Monday, Friday, what’s the difference?’ Crawford said pleasantly. He draped his arm around her and smiled brightly. ‘No problem, right?’

She nodded woodenly. ‘No problem, Jerry.’

‘Good. And you, Cade? Any questions about the love scene?’

‘Don’t worry about me,’ Cade said softly, his eyes still on Shannon. ‘I know every move I’m going to make.’

Someone giggled again and Cade’s head sprang up.

‘I want the set cleared,’ he said.

‘Well, I don’t know... ’

‘Clear it,’ Cade said, his voice cutting through the studio like a whip.

Crawford waved his hand and people scuttled from the sound stage. ‘OK,’ he said, turning to the techni­cians, ‘I want lights and sound on the bedroom set. Make-up, just dust some powder on their noses. Shannon, dear, what have you got on under that dress?’

Shannon glanced down at her costume. ‘I... this is a whole Alana Dunbar outfit from Wardrobe. A lace camisole and...’

‘Fine, fine. Rima, you can take the afternoon off.’.

‘Certainly,’ Rima said in a simpering whisper, but she only minced across the set and settled against a camera dolly.

Shannon felt the color rise to her cheeks. Rima wasn’t going to pass up a chance like this.

‘Jerry?’ Was that tiny voice hers, Shannon wondered. She ran her tongue across her lips and tried again. ‘Couldn’t we just do a reading?’

‘No readings,’ Cade said, rocking back on his heels. ‘Let’s get to it.’

He was right, Shannon told herself. Once they got past this, life could go back to normal. She could start looking for her next job and he could go back to Hollywood or Hell, whichever came first.