Inglourious Romance

Escape

Filming on an accelerated schedule was hell. As the deadline drew near to complete the film for editing in time for the Cannes Film Festival, the work schedules increased for everyone. That meant that Amaya and Christoph had even less time for one another, aside from occasionally going out to dinner or chatting in his dressing room on a break. It pained Amaya to not see Christoph as often, but then this would be a small test of how things would be if his career took off as a result of this film.

Today was supposed to be the very last day of filming. Amaya, with no more storyboards to draw, was packing up her art supplies and putting them into a box she had brought so she could carry everything to her hotel room and sort through it to get it ready to ship back to Los Angeles. She had acquired some new supplies since she had been in Germany. Jeff and the others were busily disassembling the sets that were not needed anymore, though some had to be left up for the actors to use later to re-shoot some additional scenes.

But Amaya was looking forward to only one thing: she was going to Vienna with Christoph when filming was completed and in editing, and she could hardly wait. It would only be him and her on his home ground, and there was so much he wanted to show her that she wanted to see. She didn’t know how long the filming would take today, so once she had packed her supplies, Amaya ventured out to Jeff’s area of the lot to figure out whether they needed another hand with disassembling some of the sets.

She found Jeff pulling nails out from the back of the theater set that she had helped paint and construct. It was almost sad, in a way, that filming would be ending. All these neat people she had met while over here would go their separate ways, most of them. Luckily, she didn’t have to worry about Jeff; he worked for the same company as she, though he probably would be assigned to other projects, but there was no way he would ever not go without seeing his younger buddy. They would always Skype or text.

"Well, it looks like filming’s wrapping today if it hasn’t already," Jeff said as Amaya approached.

"It’s supposed to," she replied. “But that was like, two days ago and then he had to add another few days to reshoot some scenes." Amaya sighed. “I’m ready for it to be done."

Jeff chuckled. “So you can see Christoph, right?"

Amaya bit her lip, but the excited mirth flickered in her eyes. “Yeah. He’s all I can think about, Jeff. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before."

"That’s what I said about Elisha when I started dating her," he said, grinning. “She was all I could think about. Somehow I have a feeling that the end of this filming won’t be the end of you two, especially if he moves to L.A. It sounds like you’re in love with him already, and to be honest, I’m glad. Maybe this one will be the one after all the shit you went through with Dan."

She squatted down next to him. "I know a lot of people look at me and Christoph and think I’m too young for him and he’s too old for me, but honestly, if George Clooney can date women half his age, then why can’t Christoph have someone 17 years younger?"

"Hey," Jeff began, looking up at her. “Don’t you let anyone look down on you and Christoph’s relationship. If you love him, he treats you well, and he loves you in return, then that’s all that matters. Fuck everyone else and what they think. Besides, after what you had to put up with before him, I think it’s about time you had some happiness come your way."

Amaya offered Jeff a soft smile. It was so nice to have someone be so happy and supportive of her. Nikki had said the same thing when Amaya had called her the other night, and they were both right. Honestly, she could not stop thinking about Christoph and how awesome her heart felt when she was with him. He was everything she wanted in a man and more.