The Last Blues We're Ever Gonna Have

Chapter 2

    Luxe nibbled at her bottom lip, trying desperately to control the jittery feeling in her body. She only stopped worrying at her lip to take a sip of her coffee, wincing slightly at how hot it was on her tongue. This was her biggest break to date since she and Gigi had packed their shit and came to LA.
It wasn't that she had ever been under the impression that her choice to pursue acting would be an easy road, but the last four years had been a fairly thorough lesson in humility. She was too 'Girl next door' looking to land any glamorous romantic lead roles she had auditioned for, too 'modestly shaped' to be cast in any bombshell roles, not 'modestly shaped' enough to land teen and tween roles, and far too 'soft bodied and featured' to be considered for any bad-ass, ass kicking female role. Were it not for the occasional commercial role and guest star roles on several different series, she may have lost faith. But she had lucked out with this one, a somewhat naive intelligence analyst in a crime drama. She was cast as a one-off character-a guest star for two episodes- just a small part in the plot arc of season two. God, she was so nervous, standing by the food table with her cup of coffee in her hand, waiting for her scenes. She turned to Gigi, who was standing beside her, eyes wide and uncertain.
    "You're gonna do fine, Luxe," Gigi reassured her with a confident smile. Luxe nodded, taking in a shaky breath.
    "Yeah....I'm fine. Totally fine. This is all...fine."
    "Luxe, you're here because you rocked that audition and you had the best chemistry with the actors during your Read-through of the script. Now, stop over thinking and just relax."
    "I'm...I'm not over thinking," Luxe denied, whispering. "I'm just nervous. I mean...I have a scene with Jem Donnelly. Jem Donnelly, Gigi. I've had a crush on him since I was 16. I've watched literally everything he's been in. And now I'm about to meet him in person! What if I make an ass out of myself?"
    "What if he turns out to be a douche or a moron?" Gigi snorted, shrugging her shoulder.
    "Oh, god, that would be even worse," Luxe whined. "Who would I fantasize about while I'm in the shower?" Gigi laughed and playfully pushed Luxe's shoulder. Luxe giggled, taking a step back so that she didn't topple over. She gasped when her body made contact with another body. Luxe whirled around, forgetting completely about the very warm coffee in her hand...until the brown liquid sloshed up out of her styrofoam cup...and splashed all over the very nicely fitting baby blue Henley shirt on the person she'd bumped into.
    "Oh fuck," Luxe whispered, staring in horror at the stain before looking up into the face of a very handsome-and very shocked and angry-Jem Donnelly.
    "Oh shit," Luxe heard Gigi swear behind her.
    "I'm...I'm so sorry," Luxe stammered. "I had no idea you were behind me."
    "Jem, we're ready forOHMYGODWHATHAPPENEDTOYOURWARDROBE!!"
***
    Luxe chewed nervously at her bottom lip as thoughts of her first moments working on Clandestine filtered through her mind while she read through her lines for the day. She looked over the scene blocking notes written in the margins. They'd probably be tweaked as they worked through the actual scene, but Luxe tried to lock them into her memory anyway. She didn't have too many lines for this scene and, thankfully no fighting either. Her lip was still sore from two days ago, and her muscles ached from her last workout with her personal trainer.
     It would be mostly Beck and Wendy speaking, but Jem, Steve, and Luxe would be in the background, interjecting dialogue. The blocking stated that she and Jem would both be leaning over a laptop, quietly speaking to each other. Luxe tried not to groan out loud. Scenes with Jem were still so very uncomfortable for her, even after all this time.
    As far as first impressions had gone, she'd definitely cemented some lasting resentment. Jem had flat out refused to acknowledge her for the ten days that they had worked together, shooting the two episodes that she had guest starred on. And when she had become a reoccurring role, well...he had been less than thrilled. To make it worse, none of the rest of the cast had seemed too happy with her either, especially Beck, the second lead role and best friend of one Jem Donnelly. Though, to be fair, it was hard to tell if the brash, crude, towering brunette liked anyone. He could be a prick to everyone on set, even Jem-who always seemed to take his shit attitude and crass jokes in stride.
    She'd nearly turned down the opportunity, when she'd been offered a part as a full time cast member, not entirely keen on working with two people who seemed to openly hate her, but Gigi had threatened to shake the teeth out of Luxe's skull at the very idea of saying No.
   "Forget about Jem! This is your chance to get your name known! Who fucking cares if they don't like you! It's a better paycheck than we've ever had! You can finally stop working two jobs just to barely make ends meet! And your tits are too small for porn!" Gigi had shouted at her through a mouthful of leftover pizza as they sat on the floor of Luxe's cramped apartment that she shared with her boyfriend at the time. 
"Actually, I think the porn industry is more accepting of members of the Itty Bitty Titty Brigade than they used to be," Luxe had hedged absently, picking at her own slice of pizza. Gigi had snorted and flung a pepperoni at her. She was right, of course. When would another opportunity like this arrive?
So far, Luxe's only other big acting opportunities had been community theatre and non-speaking extras-which she loved but didn't really pay very well-and one music video for an up and coming country star. So Luxe had taken the job, signing a contract for three seasons with a possible extension. Not two weeks later, her boyfriend had moved out, cleaning out their joint savings account he had insisted they have, and driving away with her car.
"It's a good thing you lucked into this role, Luxe, 'cause your luck with men has hit an all-time low." Luxe couldn't even muster the strength to be annoyed at Gigi's observation. She'd been too exhausted from working 10-16 hour work days and her new work out regimen with Natasha, her new personal trainer. Plus, Gigi was right. Luxe always ended up falling for men who were only interested in taking advantage of her. But, she'd been hopeful that her life was just beginning to turn around.
And she'd ended up loving her role. Penelope Tate was an intelligent and clever woman who started out working as an intelligence analyst for the CIA until her father, a former CIA field agent became a target for a Russian Terrorist Organization. After her father is murdered, Penelope goes through his personal files, hidden in his basement, which leads her to a group of agents working for, and somewhat outside of, the government to neutralize terrorists, which-of course-is led by Clint Blackburn, played by Jem.
More than anything, Luxe loved the fact that her character, and the other female character, Scarlet Aimes-who was played by Wendy Olsen-were integral roles in the show and not reduced to eye candy or pithy romantic side arcs. It was one of the reasons that Clandestine was raking in accolades and viewers a like.
     Luxe heard the sound of a camera click and looked up from her script to find Gigi's phone inches away from her face. Another camera click, and the flash momentarily blinded her. Luxe squeezed her eyes shut, grimacing.
     "Jesus, Gigi," Luxe swore. "What are you doing?"
"I'm taking pictures to post to your Insta," she replied blandly, still focused on her phone screen. "Look like you're concentrating on your script." Luxe blinked slowly.
"That...that's what I was doing," she monotoned. Gigi rolled her eyes.
"Well, do it again, but this time don't make a face like you're constipated." Luxe laughed.
"Stop giving me shit about my concentration face," she groaned through her smile. Gigi smiled before taking another picture.
"That was a cute one," she told Luxe as she moved her fingers across the screen. "I'm gonna post that one."
"Why?"
"Because," Gigi explained. "Making sure you have an online presence will help you gain fans and possibly help you get future roles. Never doubt how much internet PR can influence your career in this business." Luxe stared at her blankly. "What, I've read articles about it."
"Okay, lets get this shit started!" Vaughn called. "I need everyone at their marks for the top of the scene!"
"Okay, get over there!" Gigi ordered, snatching Luxe's script out of her hands and gently shoving her away from the food table. Luxe shuffled onto the set, trying not to wince at the sore muscles in her thighs.
"Luxe, I want you seated at the desk, hands on the laptop," Vaughn told her, pointing at the desk. Luxe sat and looked over her shoulder, waiting for any other instructions. "Jem! Where's Jem?"
"Here." Luxe turned to watch him step out onto the set, left hand rubbing the back of his neck, and she swallowed hard at the sight of his muscles moving beneath the fabric of his black t-shirt.
"Jem, you're going to be behind Luxe, leaning over her and you're both looking at the laptop. Yeah?"
"Yeah," he muttered, meandering over to where she sat. Thanks to being less than enthusiastically welcomed as a cast mate, Luxe had mostly gotten over her crush on Jem. But that didn't stop her from being ridiculously sexually attracted to him. The soft gravel of his tenor voice, the cut of his sharp jaw and sculpt of his pretty cheek bones, the intensity of his gaze, the muscle that wrapped his 5'10 form, the tattoos that covered both of his arms...and the fact that he was an exceptionally gifted actor who could move the cast and crew to tears during emotional scenes...Luxe sighed to herself. He'd be the perfect man, except for his lofty attitude, and she may or may not still fantasize about him while showering...
     Luxe turned to face the laptop as Jem stepped up to her, bending at the waist and planting one hand on the back of her chair and the other on the desk. She could smell the faint scent of smoke and his cologne. He must have been smoking on the roof again, she thought distantly. Even though Gigi had made her quit smoking years ago, she found herself missing the burn of smoke on her tongue and rush of nicotine in her veins.
     "Actually, Jem, I want that hand on Luxe's shoulder," Mark called out and, as one, Luxe and Jem turned to stare at him in surprise. Never before had there been any intentional touching between their characters, save for a slap to  Jem's face in the first episode she'd appeared in and a scene in the second to last episode of the last season when Luxe had accidentally fallen asleep during his monologue as they rode in a ridiculously warm bus and her head had lolled onto Jem's shoulder. She might have felt embarrassed about it, but Beck, who had been seated on the other side of her had fallen asleep as well, head falling back to rest on the bus seat, mouth open and snoring softly. She'd missed her cue and three whole lines of dialogue, but Mark and Vaughn had loved the shot so much they had decided to keep the take.
"You want what?" Jem asked, not bothering to hide his incredulity. Mark walked over to them from his place by the camera, his loafers whispering on the floor of the soundstage and one hand coming up to press his tortoiseshell glasses up further on the bridge of his sharp nose. When he finally drew up to Luxe and Jem, he pointed to the hand resting on the back of Luxe's chair.
"I want that hand on Luxe's shoulder," he repeated. Jem started at him for a moment before complying, lifting his hand and placing it on her shoulder. Luxe felt the warmth from his palm sink into her and she swallowed thickly. "Good. And lean in over her, you both are speaking quietly while Beck and Wendy argue, except for when you're interjecting your lines. Luxe, you'll be typing, and you both should be looking at the screen, yeah?"
"Yeah," Luxe and Jem replied together, shooting each other a  wary look, before turning and positioning themselves the way they had been instructed. As her eyes focused on the blank screen, Luxe heard the sounds of Mark's footsteps as he retreated out of the shot.
"Well, this is awkward," she muttered softly as Vaughn announced that they were rolling. From the corner of her eye she saw a muscle in Jem's cheek tick. She smirked slightly.
"Pretty sure you're supposed to be typing on this thing, Hanna Montana," Jem said loud enough for only Luxe to hear and she narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Jem and Beck never tired of reminding her that she looked younger than her twenty five years. When she'd first started full time with the show, they had the crew convinced that she was 15, even going so far as having them sign a Sweet Sixteen card for an imaginary birthday. Luxe knew that she shouldn't let it get to her, honestly she'd been called so much worse in her life, but they were so damn persistent about it that she couldn't stop it from getting under her skin.
She let her fingers move across the keys, pressing randomly and watching as the letters popped up on the screen. In post-production, someone would work their editing magic to put whatever the scene needed on the screen, but for now it was just a blank word document. She smiled slightly as her fingers began typing with a purpose, and watched as the words "Jem Donnelly can suck my dick" popped up on the screen. Behind her, she could hear Beck's voice, in character as James, gaining volume, but she only had eyes for Jem's reaction. She knew he could see the words and knew the exact moment they had registered as he snorted and turned his head ever so slightly to glare at her.
"I only go down if its bigger than mine," he retorted. Luxe rolled her eyes.
"Please," she muttered. "I've worn heels bigger that your dick."
"I didn't know they made fifteen inch heels."
"That's not even physically poss-"
"LUXE! That was your line!" Luxe jumped at Vaughn's shout, eyes going wide and turning to look behind her. Everyone was staring. She felt her cheeks flush, before turning back to glare at the laptop. That motherfucker did that on purpose, she seethed.
"Sorry, Vaughn. I missed my cue. It won't happen again."