Romantic One Shots & Imagines

One Shot #41: On-Screen/Off-Screen

     It was her year and she knew it. Lucy Carmichael looked at herself in the mirror as she repeated her daily affirmations. "I see, I can, I will." The pink sticky note with her writing hangs from the top left corner but she chants from memory. A month ago, Lucy's agent called to tell her that the years of small commercial roles have finally paid off; she's been chosen to star in an upcoming rom-com. Lucy barely payed attention to the details, as she focused instead on not screaming her agent's ear off.

     A few days after the good news, she started to study her lines. Her script was the largest packet she had ever held. She was nervous, but it was a good nervous. All of the glamorous parts of movie making flashed through her mind: red carpets, interviews, award ceremonies. In a month's time, Lucy got to experience what all went into making a movie.

     It was her first official day and she was already lost. Her agent told her to go to some building, she couldn't remember the name. Lucy thanked God she left a half hour early as she screamed out for someone to hold the elevator. She noticed the doors about to close right after she realized that her meeting was on the 12th floor. Luckily for her, they slid back open as she made her way in. It was practically stuffed to capacity and she could hear the groans of the people behind her.

          "What floor?" A man asks her. He was suave and exuded sass simultaneously. He looked down at her through his sunglasses as he waited for an answer. With his hand out stretched to the key pad, she noticed that almost all the buttons were already pressed, including hers.

          "I suppose it doesn't matter much. The elevator is going to stop at every floor anyway." Lucy says, conversationally.

          The man laughs. "I guess you're right." He holds out the same hand. "I'm Martin."

          She shakes his hand. Her stomach growls loudly before she's able to reply. "I'm...hungry."

          They both laugh. "Well nice to meet you, hungry."

          "I didn't have time to eat breakfast this morning. I was rushing to leave the house." He nods at her story. "My name's Lucy by the way." They shake hands again. They continue making light conversation until the doors open on floor 12. Both of them step out at the same time, almost bumping into each other.

          "You're floor 12 too? I figured you for a HR lady on floor 18."

          She laughs. "No, no. I'm here to do a table reading for a movie I'm in."

          He shakes his head in disbelief. "You wouldn't believe this!" His seriousness confused her.

          "What?" She asks, nervous.

           He moves closer to her so she could hear his whisper. "I'm here for a table reading too!"

           She lets out a mixture of a long awaited breath and giggle. "I guess I dressed a little too formal?" She asks, looking Martin up and down in his faded jeans, white t-shirt and cardigan.

          "Is this your first movie?"

          "I've already blown it, haven't I?"

          "Blown it how?"

          "I'm obviously new! Nobody wants to be the new person."

          "Somebody's gotta be the new person. I always wanted to be an actor, and after hundreds of failed auditions and dead end theater gigs, I gave up. It wasn't until I was 35 when I got my big break. Then after that one role, scripts started to practically fall in my lap. Note the emphasis on 'practically'." They both laugh at his joke as they make their way to the meeting room.

     He holds the door open and helps her find the seat with her name in front of it. Almost all of the other main cast are in the room, either sitting or at the snack table. Her stomach growls again, but before she's able convince herself that it's ok to take a bagel, the director comes in and starts the meeting. He goes over introductions and summarizes the production process of their movie. During the introductions, Lucy noticed that Martin was sitting next to a woman with the same last name. She was a bit younger looking and they both had blonde hair but she couldn't tell if they were siblings...or something else.

     She only auditioned for a supporting role, so when she was told that she got a main role in the movie, she didn't realize that it was the leading love interest until she read the script. The character playing opposite her was named "John". Just across the table, sitting right next to Martin, one of the supporting actors, was her "John". She reads his name tag on the table as the director introduces him; Ben Ventham. Her name was announced before his, so he already knew who she was. Her eyes met his waiting ones as she looked up. He smiled and waved bashfully. She smiled as kindly as she could before focusing back on the director.

     After about 5 hours of almost non-stop reading, the director stood up and dismissed the cast. Lucy thought it went pretty well. The director and screenwriters made notes on everyone there, even the most seasoned actors. She was tired and still hungry. She contemplated if it was rude to just leave.

          Martin walks up to her. "I hope you weren't thinking about leaving." He starts. "There's more."

          "There's more?" Lucy exclaims as they walk toward other people.

          "Yeah. First, I'm introducing you to the most important people here---"

          "I already met the director---"

          "No, not them." He laughs. "Then, we're all going out to dinner."

          "All? Who's coming?"

          "I'm glad you asked." He says as they stop in front of a couple of familiar faces. He introduces her to Ben, his best friend, and Abbie, his wife.

          After a few quick words, Martin rushes them out, explaining that it's well past dinner time. The restaurant was only a couple of blocks away, so they decided to walk. Lucy wanted to just "sit in the back seat" so to speak and learn more about her three new friends. Unfortunately for her, they had the same idea and were much more persistent in staying quiet to hear her answers. They wanted to know everything about her and they soaked up every detail she gave.

          "So, where did you grow up?" Abbie asks curiously.

          "A small woodsy town in New York called Holland. It wasn't exactly the country, but it wasn't really the city either. I don't know if that makes sense; I'm sure it doesn't."

          Abbie quickly objected. "Oh no! We know exactly what you mean, especially you, Ben, right? You grew up in a small town too?"

          Ben nods. "I grew up in Marlborough. It's in Wiltshire." Lucy nods as if she remotely knew where that was.

          "Ben, you should definitely take her the next time we're all back in England." She turns to me. "It's quite beautiful there." She then turns to her husband and smacks him lightly on the arm.

          "Oh, yeah, um...So Lucy, have you performed in any plays? Maybe Shakespeare?"

          "No...well Kind of? In 12th grade, we read Hamlet as a class and the teacher would let some of us act out some scenes in front of the class." Lucy smiles at the memories.

          "Really? Ben just performed in Hamlet at the Donmar Warehouse back in April! Isn't that a coincidence!" Abbie brags.

          Lucy turns to Ben. "What role did you play?"

          He began to respond. "He played Hamlet!" Abbie answers for him. Martin nudges her and gives her a look as if to say 'stop embarrassing him'. He knew exactly what she was doing.

                                                   To Be Continued