SHE'S NOT THERE - daisy jones & the six

AURORA.

VIENNA: The week of the shoot [sigh] I mean, it was... something.

GRAHAM: It was... busy.

VIENNA: It seemed rocky. At the time i blamed Jonah, for y'know putting us all on edge. But... things were changing quick.

EDDIE: something was beginning to shift between us all.

JONAH: Every song on the album was like a coded message. From Billy to Daisy, to Daisy to Billy, 

EDDIE: [laughs] Coded? He actually said that?

KAREN: I mean, we all had things  going on.... without the stress of the album.

VIENNA: we were all too... caught up in our own shit to notice our band starting to crumble.

"what do you think?" Vienna asked, staring at the ceiling.

She laid on her bed, a thin sheet wrapped around her naked body.A cigarette loosely hung from her slightly chapped lips, Eddie propped up against the head board opposing her.

"I don't think it matters," he shrugged, lazily looking up from a magazine.

"I might ask Camila if i can borrow her suede boots," she said, aimlessly curling the ends of the sheets around her fingers. "she might be wearing them, though." she sighed.

"Camila's coming?" He was suddenly a lot more interested in the conversation. Vienna felt a pang in her chest. Her smile wavered before dissipating into nothing. She turned her head away from him.

VIENNA: I think i realised then, that maybe  my idea of what was going on between us, wasn't what was going on in Eddies head.

"Yeah, She's  bringing Julia."  She sat up, swinging her legs around the other side of him. She kept the sheet firmly around her body, finding her balance on her toes before standing up. "I'll just wait till Karen's home, i'll ask her."

She circled the bed, moving towards the door. He was quick to drop his magazine. He stopped her just as her hand brushed the handle, his hands wrapping around her waist. He pulled her into him, head dropping into the crook of her neck. He placed a gentle kiss, and then another travelling up her neck. His lips brushed against her ear. "Come on, Vi. We've still got a while before they get back." he tucked some hair behind her ear, revealing his blank canvas. Tenderly, he placed a kiss upon her shoulder blade. She leant into his touch, like a moth to a flame. He turned her around, hands on her hips. He backed up, till her back hit the smooth wood of the door.  When it came to him, she would surrender every time.

His nose brushed hers first, lips finding hers. It was gentle, ethereal. She smiled into the kiss, she felt his lips mould into one of his own. He pulled away. Her hands found the sides of his face.  He sank to his knees before her, her eyes following him. The material bunched around her waist, as she waited anticipating his next move.  He urged her to let go, she did. The linen sheet pooled around her ankles. She heard him laugh, softly. "It won't matter what you wear, sweetheart." He started, fingers brushing across one of her thighs. "you're the prettiest girl, i've ever laid eyes on." He pressed his lips just below her belly button. He lifted her leg, manoeuvring it to rest on his shoulder. A kiss to her knee, another to her thigh.  "pretty girl."

INTERVIEWER: So, you believed that he still loved Camila?

VIENNA: I knew he did, even if it were only a little bit. He didn't act the same towards me when she was around.

INTERVIEWER: Did that change the way you saw her?

VIENNA: [sigh] To a certain extent. It mostly changed how i saw myself. It was humiliating, y'know, that this self respect  that'd taken me years to work on. It just seemed to evaporate when it came to him. 

INTERVIEWER:  You said he didn't act the same, around her. Do you mind elaborating a little more on that?

VIENNA: He was just, colder. I mean, we had to be during recording. But that was fine because i knew it was all a ruse, that the second we were alone he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off of me but when Camila came around, I couldn't distinguish what was real and what wasn't. It was like he'd forget i was even in the room, or he'd brush me off. He spoke about her a lot too. Mostly about how awful of a match her and Billy were. I supposed it kept me grounded. Just when i felt like maybe it wasn't completely in my head, he'd send me plummeting back to the real world.

INTERVIEWER: So you think that's all it was? In your head?

VIENNA: I thought that at the time, definitely. Looking back on it now though, I believe it was real. Or i have to.

WARREN: I knew something was up. I just didn't know what and it's not like i could just go up and ask her. Vienna wasn't like that. She carried the weight of everyone's problems and refused to let anyone carry on of hers.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am," Vienna smiled, though anyone could see it was far from genuine. "why wouldn't i be?"

"Because, i don't know, you're acting strange?" He spoke. They were hidden away from the rest of the set, somewhere nestled in a bunch of rocks.

"I'm the one acting strange." She scoffed, looking off into the distance.

"What is your problem?" Eddie asked, brows furrowed.

Her back was leant against a rock, the cool wind raising goose bumps all along her arms, "What is my problem? Eddie, you've barely looked at me all day."

"What?" He shook his head, "Isn't that the whole point, Vienna?" He asked, finding a sharpness to his tone. "no one is supposed to know about us." He laughed as if it were simple.

"No one, or just not Camila?"  She spoke the words before they'd even registered in her head. Her eyes fell to her feet. The silence between them was deafening.

"What are you talking about, Vienna?" She hated the sound of her voice in that tone. "You sound ridiculous. This was your Idea remember, no mess just fun?"

Suddenly, She was fifteen again. Being belittled and scolded for being stupid enough to think anyone could love her without an ulterior motive.

She sighed, shaking her softly. She took a step closer to him. Looking him up and down, she reached out to fix his collar and then to tap his cheek. "i guess the funs over, sweetheart."  

ELAINE CHANG: Y'know, we always talk about Billy and Daisy when it comes to the Aurora cover. I mean it's so easily done when they're on the front. But when you flip it over and open it up, i'd say Vienna Kelly really steals the whole picture. On the back, she's sat in the middle between Billy and Karen. She's leaning forward, elbows on her knees. Her hairs big in the Bardot style it always is, the sunlight is hitting just so it has a golden hue. She's wearing these short denim shorts, a denim halter neck about the size of a bralette and these insane patchwork go go boots. What steals it for me though is her eyes. In the picture she's got these big sad eyes, y'know eyes that tell a thousand stories. I've always thought she had a face like a Hollywood starlet. Like Turkan Soray or someone. But the great thing is, just behind her. He's looking at her, almost begging for her to turn right round and look at him. But there's something in her eyes that tells us she won't.

WARREN: She was there [pause] but she wasn't.

CAMILA: i could feel a distance between us, i wasn't sure why. I had a feeling she wasn't ready to talk about it so i wouldn't push her. Maybe if i had [pause] things wouldn't have happened the way they did.

VIENNA: He found me afterwards, apologised. Told me everything i wanted to hear. Then, he invited me to a party.