metulji - jan peteh

Shoot gone wrong

Before long, it was time to head upstairs for the shoot. Gregor had appeared downstairs to tell us to gather our belongings and come up, giving me a warm welcome as I was introduced to him. He assisted us with loading everything into the elevator, before thanking us for our help and rushing back up the stairs.

The pair of us bundled into the lift together, Jan's guitar case and prop boxes taking up most of the room. However much I hated to admit it, I was terrified - I had seen one too many shows where these contraptions had stopped and forced people to be trapped inside with complete strangers. Yet, the idea of being stuck with Jan was strangely comforting.

'You excited?' I asked him, breaking the thin layer of ice that had formed as we'd gone silent to pack the items into the lift. His expression was unreadable, slightly distant.

'Excited to get it done.' he sighed. 'We've had a lot of shoots the last few days, it's been rough.'

'You don't have to explain yourself, don't worry.' I wished it was possible to close the gap between us, comfort him more, but it was almost as if Gregor had strategically placed the objects directly down the middle in order to keep us apart.

Before he had a chance to reply, we had hit the top floor - where we would spend the next few hours recording.

'I don't actually know where to go.' Jan laughed as the doors parted. Before us was a long corridor with blue wallpaper and tall, golden skirting boards wrapping around the edges. Covering the walls were old, black-and-white photos of different Liverpudlian buildings. The floor was a deep mahogany with a carpet which guided us along, with the boxes and instrument in tow.

Eventually, we reached an open door, where Bojan ran over to greet us and help us with the heavy baggage. He took one of the boxes from my arms and slung Jan's guitar over one shoulder, before waddling over to the sofa and practically dropping them there.

'Heard you've got a girl.' I said to him, now feeling comfortable enough to joke around. 'A fake one, of course.'

'My God, you're just like Jurček.' he laughed back; luckily a positive reaction. 'Yes, there's a girl for the shoot, but it's nothing too serious.'

'Of course, you make out with a different girl every day as it is.' I shot back, receiving a smile from him.

'I can see us getting along, Lilia.'

Once all of the boys had made it up the elevator and moved all of their props into the room, Gregor arrived to brief us quickly, speaking with haste and meaning.

'Nothing about this shoot is to be public until after the music video is released. Nobody must know anything - not even the name of the song.' Just as he said that, Kris cleared his throat guiltily, and it took everything in me not to snigger.

'Please, treat the girl nicely.' he finished, rubbing his hands together. 'Girls.' he corrected himself, looking quickly over to me.

That was it - everyone nodded, and he was gone again, welcoming the camera crew and directing them to place their equipment either along the corridor or in different rooms to the one we were in. Nobody said a word, just looked around at one another - the racket outside was too loud to compete with.

Then she walked in.

She was beautiful, more so than expected, with sea-blue eyes. Her aquamarine top framed her neckline perfectly, with coastal shells for earrings and bracelets.

Yes, I knew she had looked familiar.

Ocean.

My first instinct was to hide, leave, or just melt into the thin air and leave no trace behind that I was here. But then she saw me, and retreated back a step, biting her lip in anxiety.