The Fourth Side of the Triangle

Chapter 10

10.

By the time filming starts again, his weight has dropped once again. Not drastically, but enough.

He finds it ridiculously easy to fall back into the habit of eating only one proper meal a day. Like before not many people notice his change in routine. This time, it is due to the tight time frame that people are constantly worrying about and there is much ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ about whether they will get their job done in time. Oliver throws himself into his job as he never has done before; always the first one on set, the last one off. His fellow cast mates have told him to relax, but Oliver can’t. He needs something to work for, something to distract himself. It’s not that he doesn’t want to eat, but after so many months of irregular meal patterns and eating habits, the slightest thing can make him feel ill. His body isn’t sure of what he wants it to do and his stomach seems to have turned against him, leaving him with almost unbearable stomach pains if he happens to eat too much at a time. Because of this, Oliver deems it easier to just not eat; he uses the need to learn lines and claims to having eaten a large meal that morning as excuses. He rarely feels hungry anymore and becomes completely dependent on liquids. His lemonade becomes a life line and he needs a strong cup of tea in the morning before work. He has become a master at deceiving people when it comes to meals- he is present at dinner, the main meal of the day when it comes to filming and eats just enough to stop people from asking questions.

He isn’t sure whether to feel relieved or not when he realises that he no longer feels sick and hungry like he did the first time he stopped eating; his body seems to have gotten used to it, he is used to little sleep and the only thing that changes are the measurements for his costumes as weight shreds off him like garments. It is almost the complete opposite of what has happened before, where his body craved food. Now, it is almost begging him not to eat- he still feels faint, but Becca has put it down to stress and dehydration and nobody has yet argued with her; simply agreed when she has ordered him to stay in bed in the weeks leading up to the next eight month stint. She has already had strict conversations with David and the rest of the ‘higher authorities’ when it comes to filming, and has strictly stated that Oliver is not to be overworked and while they’re at it, neither is James.

Filming continues and life goes on, until-

“Ollie! Come on man, what’s going on?!”

Oliver doesn’t even have to lift his head at the shout that echoes across the set to know who it is. He knows that there is only one person in the whole crew who would shout in such an obnoxious manner. Guy Hilton occasionally stands in for David when he is away at a different location and has taken a strong dislike to the majority of the cast right from his first day there; especially Oliver. Guy had been an aspiring actor but had been told, in less harsher words to, ‘just give up’ and it had turned him sour against all those who had made it in his dream profession. Oliver often wants to feel sorry for the man, but Guy only has to open his mouth and make one scathing remark and Oliver goes back to feeling mutual resentment towards him.

Now, Guy is forced to call the scene to a cut as Oliver trips once again, breathing heavily, wiping a slightly shaking had across his clammy brow.

“Look, Hilton,” comes a new voice and Oliver looks up in time to see James striding over to where they are standing, the long, burgundy coat of his costume breezing out behind him, making the blonde seem even more menacing. Despite the fact that Guy towers above James, he is also incredibly lanky, which only makes James’s bulky form appear to have the upper hand as he shoots the older man an icy glare.

“We have to get this scene finished!” Guy shouts, rounding on James, “David said-“

“I don’t particularly care what David said,” James spits back, “can’t you see he’s not well? Oliver Haydon is a bloody trooper for being here today, when a couple of weeks ago he was under strict bed rest at home! I’m sure our health matters more to David than whether we get this scene finished.” James stops abruptly to take a deep breath, before wrapping an arm around Oliver’s shoulders, letting the weaker man lean on him for support.