Beginning of the end

Part 24 [February 16, 2022]

Blake could not put her finger on the problem, but she had decided that she would fix it. She'd made extra special dinners for Kiefer, regardless of the fact that he'd actually missed two out of five because he was busy with work or left to see some friends. She made sure that the loft was extra clean, and she initiated intimacy a lot. Her self-esteem and their conflicting schedules didn't lend themselves to a lot of private time, but they still made it a priority. Now she made it an extra priority, because she knew it was always a big deal for him. The fact he'd abstained at all when they were broken up was shocking to her. It was sweet, but very much against his pattern. She'd long since rewarded his dedication, but in the last six days it was especially true. It helped that she always felt closer when they were laying together. Blake felt secure feeling his warm skin against her cheek and his fingers through her hair.

Today was a particularly good day. They were starting the shoots for their upcoming single. The song was fully recorded and the music video was all planned out, but they needed to actually film it. Filming would be broken down into three sections primarily. Performance shots, storyline, and romance. Considering it was a video called "Chico" the subject should be obvious. A common word in Spanish, and Blake's pet name for her fiancé. It hadn't meant to become such a staple, but it obviously had, and Blake liked that. They were putting out their Nth studio album in a couple of months, and this would be the lead single. Hopefully it got on the radio, and then, if she was lucky, it would be playing on the radio in May. Their wedding month. Viv said that it would be "so cute" if the fans got it promoted at such a special time. Randi gushed and said that was the absolute most romantic idea ever. Jamie said it would hopefully get him laid, and Drew was just happy if any of their songs got promoted at any time. Carla was thinking logistics, as ever. Carla and Kaleb were due for a vacation that summer after Blake and Kiefer returned from their honeymoon. Everyone could use that time.

In the meantime, they had filming today. The romance. Blake had let her hair grow out with only natural color in anticipation of the upcoming wedding. Randi called them "nuptials" but Blake wasn't positive what that word meant, besides probably being a fancy word for "wedding." Why not just say wedding then? Blake pondered about having the video include wedding references, but they decided against that. It was a video about and for Kiefer, but it was also for Pink Slip's audience. They could relate more to the video without such a direct thing. Besides that, Blake wanted to keep her wedding private. The fans knew by now that they were engaged, but with gossip sites tearing at Blake's self-esteem, she was happy to keep her personal matters private. She didn't share engagement photos or pictures of her daughter on social media. Kiefer was an exception now.

They arrived on set after dropping Zelda off with Seraphim and went off to hair and makeup. Kiefer joked about getting dolled up until he was prettier than Blake, and Blake said that he was always the prettiest princess. She was jittery and excited. She'd been working on another song for him. Butterfly. It seemed obvious, but considering some of their first date discussions, it was less straight forward. Her butterfly would always be on her neck, and Kiefer would always be a flittering in her heart. Lucky her that today she got to make out with him for a camera!

Making out was probably a bit of an exaggeration. Their lips actually only touched three times in any of the scenes, but there was a lot of almost there just a bit more moments. Any moment when she got to have his fingers in her hair and her forehead against his, and not be shirking her job, that was a good one. He was rather enthusiastic, insisting on taking Blake and Zelda out for ice cream afterwards. Once the day wrapped, they did just that.

Ice cream and Zelda giggles made a lovely day sweeter. Kiefer didn't even seem as distracted by his phone that night. Although he did go back down to the shop after Zelda was in bed. Blake was asleep before he returned. She had more shoots of her own the next day.