Trapped

Chapter One: Take My Breath Away

Vera Farmiga has always lived an extraordinary life. She became an actress when she was young and has become quite successful over the years. However, she has always felt like something was missing. Or rather someone. Year after year, she would film characters that would fall in love and live happily ever after. A luxury she had not yet seen for herself. Perhaps love does not exist. Maybe love is made up. People pretend for the cameras but don't actually feel it. And so she goes on living her lonely life as an actress. Unbeknownst to her, on this particular day, things were going to change.
It started off like an average day at the bates motel set. She put on her blonde wig and her vintage looking dress and waited for the crew to be ready for her. She looked across the sea of people, searching for him. He was the closest she had ever felt to being in love. When she was with him, the void in her life was filled. Her bright blue eyes met his dark brown ones and she couldn't help but smile as he walked toward her.
"Nice of you to finally show up, Farmiga." Nestor Carbonell says with a teasing tone.
"Hey it's not my fault it takes so long to transform from Vera to Norma." she says with a smile.
"Are you nervous?" he asks.
"For this next scene? No. Are you?" she asks.
"A little. I don't want to hurt you." he says honestly. She smiles softly and nudges him with her shoulder.
"I promise to forgive you if you do hurt me." she says. He chuckles.
"Thanks, kiddo." he says with a wink.
"Places!" the director calls out. Vera makes her way inside of the makeshift house and waits for the director to call action. When it is called out, she begins to move around the house, looking through Alex's stuff. She does this until she hears Nestor walk inside. She turns around and sees him holding a gun toward her.
"You gotta be kidding me." he says, lowering it.
"My son isn't going to prison." Vera says stubbornly. The scene continues calmly, the two of them seamlessly remembering their lines. They didn't have to stop even once. That's how their scenes usually went. The two of them were both professional when they had to be and got the job done quite well. The scene starts to come to an end which means Vera and Nestor are supposed to become more emotional with their lines.
"How could you do that to me?" Vera asks calmly. She pauses slightly as tears form in her eyes.
"Bob Paris is going to investigate my husband's death just to get back at me. I'm screwed! I'm li-I'm like-I'm totally screwed. How could you do this to me?" she asks again louder. She begins to walk away and once she walks past him, he grabs her arm and gently pushes her against the wall.
"Why did you lie to me?" he asks.
"I didn't lie."
"Oh come on, you know your husband didn't die." he says angrily.
"I didn't!" she says back, her heart racing from how close he is to her.
"He didn't die in an accident. You know it and I know it." he says, shaking her a little.
"So tell me the truth. For once in your life, just tell me the truth, Norma."
Nestor watches as tears form in her bright blue eyes and for a moment, he is afraid that he might have hurt her in some way. He could never forgive himself if he had.
"I did. I killed him." she says, glancing down at his lips. It doesn't matter what scene they filmed, her eyes always seemed to be drawn to his lips. This did not go unnoticed by him and he does the same out of instinct.
"No, come on, the truth."
"He was abusive and I killed him."
"No, damn it! The truth!" he shouts, his hands squeezing her upper arms. It was tight but it set Vera's body on fire in a way she was unfamiliar with. No other actor had been able to do that to her.
"He was hitting me and I hit him in the head with a blender and I-I didn't mean to kill him, but I did." she says. Nestor sighs trying to get the image out of his head of a man hitting Vera.
"And I dragged his body to the garage and I made it look like an accident."
Nestor unknowingly tightens his grip on Vera's arms.
"Stop lying to me!" he shouts in her face. Now Vera is really crying, looking at every detail of his angry face.
"You know the truth. Don't make me say it." she sobs out. His expression softens as he looks at this brilliant actress. And then her broken expression becomes angry and she hits him. Nestor backs away as she continues to hit him. Each slap earned a sting to Nestor's face but he ignored it, letting her continue. They had talked about whether they wanted real hits or not and they both decided they wanted to do it to make it feel real.
"You! You! I hate you! I hate you!" she shouts as she continues to slap and hit him. He knows it is just her lines but it still hurts him to hear her say those words at him. He grabs her hands as she struggles against him.
"I hate you! I hate--I hate..."
He pushes her against the wall again, holding her arms above her head as she continues to cry. Nestor runs the top of his nose against the soft skin of her cheek. He slowly moves their hands down and then places his hands on her face, holding it close to his. His heart is racing as she continues to cry. His lips are inches away from hers. So close that he can feel her breath, taste it.
He feels her hands on his chest, her face leaning up toward his to give him a better angle. She was teasing him and he knew it. Just as he was about to go in and kiss her, she looks away and his lips settle for lightly touching the skin of her cheek.
"Don't touch me." she whispers, her voice barely audible. "Don't touch me please."
He rests his forehead against hers but she turns away.
"Don't touch me. Don't you touch me." she says, moving out of his embrace. "Don't touch me."
She walks out of the house, leaving Nestor feeling flustered. Cut is called and the crew members swarm the set, getting it ready for the next scene. Vera rushes to her dressing room without looking back at the still flustered Nestor who remains in his spot on the set. His heart begins to race even more and he begins to breathe heavily as he clutches his chest. This isn't normal, he thought as he drops down on one knee unsteadily.
"Nestor?" Freddie asks, grabbing his shoulder. "Hey, man are you alright?"
Nestor gasps for air and clutches his chest, his other hand on the ground, trying to keep him from falling completely. His strength finally gives out and he looks at the young boy for help.
"Help! Nestor!" Freddie shouts, trying to do something.
"Someone please. Call 911!" he shouts. Nestor's vision becomes blurry but he can still just barely make out Vera running toward him. She puts her face near his, making it more clear.
"Nestor? Nestor what's wrong? What hurts?" she asks, grabbing his face in her small hands.
"V--V...He..." He can't speak. Vera hushes him, rubbing her thumbs along his cheeks.
"Save your breath. The ambulance will be here soon. Stay awake. Nestor."
He can feel himself become more and more tired as his vision turns black. The last thing he can hear is Vera's beautiful voice calling out to him.
"Stay awake. Nestor, please. Please."