The Making of…
Chapter 22
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
I yawned and shifted my travel pillow from one side of the small aeroplane seat to the other, trying to find a comfy spot, whilst attempting to ignore the irritating businessman who was continuously tapping away at his laptop beside me. My third flight since I’d left from home yesterday… Or should that be today? Or was it the day before? The time difference was frazzling my brain as I made my way back to New Zealand. Over eleven hours flying, six hours spent traipsing around airports, and only about half an hours sleep. My original cheery mood had slumped to neutral and plummeted to dismal over the past few hours. I wanted to be back in New Zealand. I missed everything. The scenery, the weather… Even small things like my trailer, and the battered leather interior of Viggo’s Jeep… Most of all, I missed my friends.
‘Good Lord girl! If a week away does this to you, how the hell are you going to cope when filming is over?’ I asked myself, before rolling over and shaking my head. I’d tackle that hurdle when I came to it.
Eventually, the plane landed, and I dragged my half-asleep body across to the arrivals terminal, just like I had done all those months ago when I had first arrived. I shook myself awake as I made my way through the airport, searching for the familiar face who’d promised to be here.
“Kira!”
I turned and smiled at the sound of his voice.
“Viggo!” I cried, running into his open arms and dropping my baggage at my feet. He hugged me tightly as I laughed, a feeling of strange sense of relief washing over me. Suddenly, he lifted me by my waist and spun me around – mimicking Aragorn and Rana's reunion from our very first scene together. “Hi.” I smiled breathlessly as he set me on my feet.
“Hey.” He grinned, “You look rough.” He commented.
“No sleep.” I sighed, “I don’t like sleeping on planes.” I stared at him for a long moment, taking in his appearance. Something was different. “Vig?”
“Hm?”
“What the hell have you done to your hair?”
“Do you like it?”
“No.”
“Ouch.”
“It’s… Blonde.” I said, still staring dumbly at his light crop of hair.
“And… You don’t like it?” He asked, suddenly seeming self-conscious.
“I liked your dark hair.” I murmured shyly, reaching up and ruffling his blonde locks.
“Don’t worry; I’m dying it back later for filming. I just felt like a change.” He smiled, lifting my bags and linking arms with me as he lead me out to his familiar Jeep.
“I missed the sunshine.” I sighed as I settled down in the passenger seat and closed my eyes. “It’s bloody freezing back home.” I heard Viggo laugh softly as he climbed in beside me and started the engine.
“It’s good to see you again.” He said quietly; I turned my head and opened my eyes to look at him as he focused on the road ahead. I knew what he had said, but I sensed what he really meant.
“I missed you too.” I whispered with a smile, closing my eyes again as the urge to sleep crept up on me.
***
Filming resumed as if we had never been away, only instead of gallivanting around the beautiful country of New Zealand, we were confined to Stone Street Studios and Weta Workshops. Not that I minded, it meant we had to move around less, and got to sleep later, as we were already on set! Our first week of filming consisted of The Council of Elrond. It would be a relatively short scene on the movie, but it was estimated to take around ten days to film!
