Lovescenes

Shannon nodded. ‘Yes, but I’ve played love scenes before, Claire. I know that you don’t have to have some­thing going between you and the actor for the scene to sizzle. Maybe it’s just that this particular scene is tougher. You know, me in that damned bodysuit, Tony with his bare chest, all that moaning and clutching and rolling around in that stupid bed... ’ She lifted her eyes to the other woman’s and shook her head. ‘The craziest things keep going through my head while we’re playing the scene. Today it was laundry...’

‘Laundry?’

Shannon nodded. ‘Yesterday, it was my Christmas card list. And the day before, it was. ’

Claire held up her hand and groaned. ‘Spare me, will you? Let me keep some of my illusions, at least. Next thing I know, you’ll be telling me that none of those sexy on-screen scenes are real.'

Claire’s look of absolute innocence made Shannon grin.

‘OK, you’ve made your point. The illusion is what counts—I know that, sure. And I thought, at first, Tony and I had created the illusion. But Crawford wants more. He wants...’

‘Sparks,’ the agent said, sitting back as their main courses were served. ‘Body Heat.’ She cut into her meat loaf and looked up at her client. ‘He gave me the same speech he gave you.’

‘Jerry? Well, at least he’s consistent.’ Shannon swal­lowed a small piece of steak and frowned. ‘Which re­minds me—you still haven’t told me why Jerry wants you to see this musician tonight. Does he want your opinion of the guy’s performance or something?’

Claire shrugged her shoulders. ‘Or something. Listen, tell me about this visit you people had today from Cade Morgan. I hear it was really something.’

The agent’s voice was casual, but there was a glint in her eyes that made Shannon uncomfortable. She must know what had happened, Shannon thought unhappily. She had to. After all, Claire had come on the set only an hour after the whole awful scene. And Shannon had violated one of her agent’s cardinal rules.

‘Don’t draw negative attention to yourself,’ she always said, and that was exactly what Shannon had done, in front of her di­rector, the cast and the entire crew.

Confess and get it over with, Shannon told herself. It could be worse. At least she was still employed.

‘Look, I don’t know what you heard,’ she said quickly. ‘I admit, it was a bit unpleasant for a while... ’

Claire raised her eyebrows. ‘That’s not quite the way it was described to me.’

‘All right, I behaved like a jerk. But the man infu­riated me.’ Shannon’s fork clattered against the plate and she leaned across the table. ‘Picture this,’ she said, her voice an irritated hiss. ‘I rehearsed my fourth scene with Rima the Prima... ’

‘Careful. Someday, you’re going to slip and call her that to her face.'

‘Four scenes,’ Shannon repeated through gritted teeth, ‘and at least that many rehearsals, and the woman still looks right through me and calls me “Miss I’m-sorry-I- can’t-remember-your name”. And then I spent an hour panting in Tony’s ear, only to have Crawford tell me he didn’t see any sparks, and then Morgan walked in. You can’t imagine what went on, Claire. Until that minute, Jerry had been reminding everybody that we had moun­tains of work to do and no time to do it in, but once Morgan showed up, well, we had all the time in the world. God, but I am sick to death of celebrities!’

‘Shannon, dear, I know how you feel about this,’ Claire said quickly. ‘And you’re right. You should have the part Rima has.’

‘I had it, until Rima turned up wanting a “career in the theatre”,’ Shannon said bitterly. ‘My God, the ce­lebrity system at work! A celebrity can become an actor overnight, but all the rest of us have to keep at it for a lifetime.’

‘This is a better part for you, Shannon. You know it is. It’s a showcase for your talent.’

‘They’ve written the role down for her, Claire. She may be a “star”, but she can’t act. She doesn’t have to. Cade Morgan’s another one. No talent, but who cares?'

‘Don’t be so quick to write him off, sweetie.’

‘All I’m saying is that it was so damned typical—there we were, working our tails off, and in walks this.. .this

over-aged rock star...’

‘Come on, Shannon, be fair! The man’s thirty-something. Hardly a candidate for an old-age pension. And he’s multi-talented. He plays rock and blues and ballads, and then there’s all that classical stuff...’

‘He didn’t look very classical, not in that motorcycle outfit he was wearing. I guess that was his macho look...’

‘The script girl said he looked sexy,’ Claire smirked.

‘If you like the type,’. Shannon said stiffly.

‘Who doesn’t? Those gorgeous eyes and that marvelous body and that face and that talent...’

‘Interesting that you put talent last on the list.’