Romantic One Shots & Imagines

One Shot #43: On-Screen/Off-Screen III

"At his lips' touch she blossomed like a flower and the incarnation was complete." ~ The Great Gatsby

     Lucy noticed her phone blowing up with notifications as she was brushing her teeth. She decided not to check them since they were usually from her social media. She turned her phone on silent before going to bed. The events of the evening ran through her mind repeatedly until she fell asleep.

     Back on set, Lucy was anxious for the day to start and end. She had no idea who to go to first. Confide in Martin? Surely he already knows about their evening. Tell Abbie? She's going to want to hound Lucy over every single detail. Find Ben? Whom of which is surprisingly nowhere to be found. Lucy thanked the Lord as she was quickly swept away by the hair and makeup crew.

     As she sat in her chair, she remembered to turn her ringer back on. As soon as she unlocked her phone, 23 unread text messages, 17 missed phone calls and about a dozen voicemails popped up on her screen. They were all from her publicist and manager. After giving up on their hope that Lucy would call back, they texted her screen shots of online tabloid articles. Each one was virtually the same. "New Couple Alert: Ben Ventham and new actress on the scene?". "BAFTA nominated actor with unknown American actress". "Ventham finally shows off new girlfriend." "Lovers on-screen and Off-screen too?"

      Lucy stares at her phone, not knowing what to feel or do next. She wondered if Ben saw any of those headlines. If he was smart enough to answer his publicist's phone calls, he would know, she thought to herself. Sooner or later, she would find out as filming began in less than an hour.

     Timidly, Lucy walks onto set. Abbie walks up to her. "I heard it was one hell of a kiss." Lucy sighed, too worried about Ben to be girly with Abbie. She continued, "It better have been since we had to skip out on date night for it." She jokes.

          "Oh yeah. I'm sorry that you're babysitter bailed on you."

          "Babysitter? Who told you that? Martin told me a few days ago that he had a long talk with Ben and that he had no choice but to give, quote-un-quote, the sorry chap those tickets. He said Ben didn't know how to ask you out. I agreed to give the tickets to him for the greater good. Speaking of greater good, that kiss?"

          Lucy looked at her in astonishment. "Well...it was amazing," She started to reminisce. "And unexpected. He was saying bye, then next thing I knew, his face was glued to mine." They both laugh.

          "Aren't those the best ones, though? The unexpected ones?" Abbie responds. Lucy nods with an unbreakable smile.

     As they giggle over the topic, Lucy glances to her right. Her eyes catch those of a familiar figure. Conveniently, the director pulls Abbie away. She turns back to him, his eyes never leaving her. She started to make her way over to him. Her eyes had a certain charm that transfixed him. Her eyes had the powers to dishearten him with intimidation, then later lure him back with full confidence.

          "Hey." She greeted him.

          "Hey." Ben replied. He added a little wave, which she thought was absolutely adorable.

          This time she was the nervous one. "Um...thanks for last night. I really enjoyed myself."

          "Of course. We should do it again sometime."

          "I'd love that." She answered a little too eagerly.

           He smiles. "Have you...um...been online since last night?"

           She sighs as her body tenses up. "Yeah." Abbie told her that he liked her, so logically there was no need for her to be so nervous. Unfortunately for her, social anxiety never believed in logic. "My publicist actually sent me pictures."

           He laughs nervously. "Mine too."

          "Paparazzi have nothing better to do than try to ruin people's nights." Ben agrees.

           He looks down at his shoes. "This isn't how I wanted it to be, the tabloids jumping to conclusions and announcing things that weren't true." He looks back at her. "But the thing is, I wish it were true."

          She moves in closer to him. The tips of her shoes touches his. "I want it to be true too." She says in a soft voice. She got on her tip-toes and wrapped her arms around him as her lips smashed onto his. They were able to faintly feel the beating of each other's hearts as their chests touched. Warm shivers radiated off from one and sent waves of explosions through the other.

          Martin stood next to Abbie whistling and cheering. The director yells, "Aye! It's about time!" They break their kiss and look back at the small crowd. Lucy's arms still around Ben. "Now, we still have a film to finish."

     They both smiled at each other before sneaking one last kiss.