I Will Always Come Home to You (Ally and Stevie)

6. That day I replaced her lady (Stevie said)

I arrived early at the location of the shoot. The prod team was already there and started setting up. I made sure everything was in place. I wanted everything to go smoothly for Ally. I was revising the story board when I got a text from her. "We will be there in five. Danny came with me because he says he IS my manager. See you!"

Then a call came in. It was Danny. "Hi Stevie! Since Ally's driving, she cannot do anything about what I will say now." I heard Ally complaining but Danny just continued. "She's been telling me she has been thinking about you a lot. She can't wait to see you today."

I stopped myself from laughing and said, "She could tell me herself when she gets here."

Shortly after, they arrived. Danny, acting like a real manager, introduced Ally to everyone. She was all smiles, just being her happy and adorable self. I realized I was staring too long so I went back to my laptop, pretending to be busy with something.

"Hi Stevie," Ally said. "Please do not mind what Danny said on the phone."

"Oh okay," I said half-heartedly.

"Not that they were untrue," she said as she handed me a yellow rose with red tips. "But you were also right that I could tell it to you myself... Well, I ..."

"Our leading lady is not coming!" the director screamed in panic, cutting what Ally wanted to say.

'Damn it, lady!' I thought to myself. That lady who stood us up ruined my moment with Ally and probably just put my job on the line.

"Relax, boss," I said to the director. "We are finding you another one." I called the office to check if we have on-call talents, or interns from a nearby acting school. They said they would get back to me immediately.

We already filmed Ally's solo scenes but there was no available replacement yet. The natural lighting was essential to the overall feel of the video so we were bound by time constraints. Also, rescheduling to another day was not even possible because of the deadline.  We desperately needed another lady.

"Stevie could do it," Danny suggested out of nowhere. My eyes widened. "She went to acting school and has acted several times for other Pab artists. Plus, she KNOWS the story board well."

"Why didn't you tell us earlier, Stevie? Please have your hair and makeup done A-S-A-P." the director commanded without even asking if I want it. I had to appraise myself that I just conceded.

Ally tried to chitchat before takes and during breaks. She was making me feel comfortable I supposed. Most of the scenes were awkwardly intimate enough--holdings hands and touching each other all over.

The last scene was a kiss. They recommended staged ones—either we do the finger trick where the "kisser" covers the lips of the "kissee" with fingers, or do the kiss-the-circle trick where the kisser targets an invisible circle closest to the kissee's lips. We decided to do the first option. I was hoping we could do it in one take.

She pulled me closer to her and touched my face. She closed her eyes and I did too as our faces come nearer and nearer. I felt her thumb slide on my lips just as we rehearsed. I could hear our hearts throbbing, quickly answering each other's beat. Her hand left my face that I almost panicked because it was not on the script. But I felt it tangled into mine instantly. She was holding me with certainty, assuring me it was okay. We had a real kiss and nothing else mattered, even the cheering of the crowd.