Photo Finish

Smexy

     The sun was bright, the pleasant beams shining into my eyes as they attempted to blind me while I slept. The alarm went off next to me, the horrid buzzing filling my ears. I opened my eyes to the sunrise and took in a deep breath. I sat up and stretched.
     "Another day, another fight scene," I hummed happily.
     "Laurraine, are you up yet? Oh! Morning, hun. Want breakfast?" Em peeked into the room with a cup of milk.
     I swung my legs off the bed and went over to her. "Yes, please! Thank you!"
     "You're in a good mood today. Did you have a good dream or something?"
     "Nah, just glad that this is the last violent scene of the movie. I mean, when Lilith died in just the fourth or fifth scene we shot, it broke my heart. Then there was the one that was in Tokyo just last week. That was a hoot. I got to kill a bunch of bad guys like a sexy ninja lady with Falchion in that pretty city. I never thought I'd like traveling so much. Plus I got to see Granny and--"
     "Laurraine, the Tokyo shoot was your last fight scene."
     "What?"
     "Today is the —ahem— bed scene," Em choked out, stifling a laugh.
     "No, it can't be," I replied, refusing to believe it. Then it hit me. I ran back to the bedroom and looked at the calendar on my wall. Sure enough. 'December 15 SMEXY SCENE!!!!!' It was the day that I had been both dreading and awaiting. I gave out a scream of mixed terror and joy. "What am I going to do?"
     "You've read that part of the script a million times, Ladybug, you'll do fine. And hey, maybe you'll actually get some after being single for so long."
     "Oh, are you here too Damon? What a surprise," I snapped sarcastically with a roll of my eyes.
     "Hardy-har-har. Yes, I'm here for moral support because this day can go two ways." He held up one finger. "One, you can be super excited and want to get there right away." He held up another. "Two, you could be so scared that you won't want to leave the house, forcing me to carry you in a body bag all the way to the shoot kidnapper-style."
     "I'll choose the former, only I'm not that happy about the scene. I mean, I'm very happy, but what if I don't do it right? What if I mess up? What if we actually have to kiss? What if—"
     "Hey!" Em shouted, squishing my face and pulling it towards her. "That's a lot of questions for such a small brain."
     I frowned as one would with a squished face.
     "Calm down. A lot of the answers are right there, very obvious, and nothing you should worry about. Yes, you will have to kiss him, no you might not do it right, but that's what extra takes are for. You've read this script a thousand times. You know it, the scene, the characters. No one can do it but you, Ink."
     "Aw, thanks. I'll eat and get dressed really quick. I'm going with Dae to the shoot."
     "I bet he's excited too. He's totally got a thing for you," Damon said, sitting on the couch.
     "Damon, don't feed her false hope. Laurraine, you can do this."
     "Yeah, I can do this!"

     "I can't do this!" I exclaimed, sitting rigidly in one of the comfy padded chairs of the dressing room.
     "What do you mean? It's easy. Take it from someone who knows the trade," Matte explained, touching up the sexy makeup he was applying to my face.
     "They actually want me to get naked! And lay in bed with Dae, who will also be naked! This is crazy!"
     "Yao, did you forget the part where they said you're going to be wearing nude underwear?" Julian said, reading over the director's notes.
     "Yao, you're going to be fine. So many stars have done it, and some of them have hooked up afterwards," Matte chimed, slicking back a stray piece of my hair.
     "But I don't want to 'hook up.' They can lead to relationships. I don't have a good history with relationships!"
     "You mean your two relationships? Yeah, that's solid proof."
     "Don't mock me. After Lucas, I've always been afraid of another relationship. I don't want to go through that again."
     "Who's Lucas?" Julian asked, looking up from the marginalia.
     Matte turned around intensely. "'Who's Lucas?'" He cried. "Lucas is the dumbass that broke my baby girl's heart! Dated her for two years before revealing that it was all a lie!"
     "Thanks, Matte, for that wonderful reminder. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go back to wallowing in fear and self-pity."
     "No no no, none of that. Look, Yao, you'll be fine. It's just a couple of takes and then it's over with and the movie's done. It's not that hard." Julian rose from his seat and walked over to me, putting a hand on my bare shoulder.
     "But his boner will be."
     "Matthew!" The manager exclaimed, slapping the stylist on the back.
     "Right, like that would ever happen. Face it, guys, no matter what I'm just unlovable."
     "Back to this again," Matte grumbled.
     "You aren't unloveable, Yao. I think Matte and I can both agree that you are the only woman in the world we would ever consider going straight for."
     Matte shrugged with a cocky smile. "Yeah, probably."
     "If you could potentially turn two gay males straight, that's an achievement in and of itself."
     "I guess."
     "Look, you two will probably get your own kind of boners. You're doing a sex scene for goodness sake." Julian sighed.
     "Okay," I said, nodding with a nervous smile. "I'll try to get it right the first time so we don't have to do it again." I got up and went over to the clothing rack. "Why are we doing it in the studio anyway? I was excited to fly out to Japan again."
     "The staff was banned from ever traveling with the name TriTea to Japan after the 'Saki Incident.' Remember? We recreated the set to the best of our abilities."
     I slipped on the loose kimono, nude underwear underneath. The kimono was a bright pink and sagged off my shoulders. It seemed to only be held together by the sash in the middle, causing a slight panic as I walked. Nonetheless, I felt like a Japanese princess. I smiled at my reflection, the whole look tying together.
     "Alright, I'm ready."