Marshall Plays Pretend

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For the next week, at the end of every day of shooting, Melissa and I would hang out in my trailer. We played card games, watched movies, laughed, and chatted. It was unreal how quickly I came to need those moments. Every morning and day, my focus was on the work I was there to do, but at the back of my mind was the reward of being able to see her. If I did my job right – if the director was satisfied with how shooting had gone - we'd finish up earlier for the day and I'd have more time with her.

At the end of the time on location, we packed everything up and made our way to Vancouver. While Hollywood has plenty of sets and studios, shooting can prove to be less expensive in Canada under the right circumstances. Given the needs for most of the remainder of the film, the studios we were headed to were perfect. The majority of the rest of the movie would be shot there.

The "talent" as the director liked to call the actors, were all provided buses to get to the studios and then, when we got there, apartments that were relatively close. The staff, on the other hand, mostly had to find their own ways to where we were headed. I'd offered for Melissa to ride on the bus with us, given that it was going to be several hours, but she'd declined. Instead, she'd gone along in the caravan, driving behind the bus in an old pickup that looked like it had seen a lot of miles.

Three days after our shooting in Montana ended, we were set to start up at the studios. As before, Melissa was my makeup artist. I wasn't sure how things were going to pan out, now that we weren't in the middle of nowhere. I'd missed her smile, the way she tucked her hair behind one ear, how her eyes took in everything and snapped with amusement. I wanted it back.

"You ready for your big scene, handsome?" She asked as she applied the tattoo design to me once more. I waited for her to finish before I spoke.

"Big scene?" I asked, pretending not to know what she was talking about.

The script for this film had a bit of a love triangle between the hero, the villain, and the confused female lead. Today, I was going to be shooting several scenes that were suggestive in nature, including one in which me and the lead actress, a gorgeous blonde who was also on the up and coming list in Hollywood, would be tangling tongues.

I kept my eyes trained on Melissa's as she continued to apply my makeup. I'd learned that when we were on set, she kept her expression joking for the most part. No one ever saw her sad, or angry, or anything other than the cheerful or quirky Freak. In our private moments, she'd allow other expressions and emotions to come out. I'd realized it the third night we'd hung out – Melissa trusted me enough to not hide behind the mask she showed everyone else. When other people were around, however, the only way to tell what she felt was to watch her eyes. Right now, I could see that she was upset, and I couldn't help the small flame of hope that gave me. Maybe she was jealous.

"You know," she said in reply. "The one where you get to play tonsil hockey with Tanya." She teased, but the lift of her lips wasn't reflected in her eyes. I was about to speak, to try to navigate what was unsaid, when I was cut off.

"Hey, Freak!" Brian, the other main makeup artist called and I sneered a little. I really fucking hated when he said it. It always sounded less of her name, and more of an insult.

"What do you need?" She responded as she leaned back and started putting away her things.

"I feel like shit. Can you finish up Daredevil?" He asked and she nodded, giving me a small smile.

"You're all set to woo." She said before she turned and walked over to Chris, who was waiting for her to finish up what Brian started. I got off my seat, unsettled but certain that Melissa wouldn't thank me for trying to talk about it in front of anyone else. Before I could come up with an excuse to get her alone, the director called us all over and shooting began.

---

"Alright, Marshall. What we need from you, here, is heat. We want every woman in the audience to be torn between what their head tells them they should want," the director pointed at Chris, who was lounging off camera, "and their passion, which should be focused on you." I nodded as he finished, looking at the woman before me.

She was quite beautiful. She had long, blonde hair that fell to her waist and soft green eyes that had been done up to look smoky. In typical Hollywood fashion, she was slim everywhere but her clearly fake tits, which were bursting at the seams of the top that was supposed to look like it had been ripped in a struggle. 

The director moved out from the cameras and sat, calling out for quiet. Once everything was silent, we started rolling and I stepped toward her. I slid my hand around her waist and stared into her eyes for a moment before bending my head to kiss her.

She was a decent kisser, but there was no heat between us. I liked Tanya well enough, but I just wasn't in to her. Apparently, it showed.

"Cut!" The director called, running a hand over his face. He stalked forward, eyeing the two of us with a cocked head and then gesturing to the side to talk to me. I followed him a few steps and he stopped with a furrowed brow.

"We all know you aren't gay." He said, surprising me with his bluntness. I smirked and nodded, but didn't speak. He looked back to her and then to me.

"She's dressed as a wet dream right now." He noted as he mused aloud, his hand coming up to his lips. "But you don't care." He said. I looked away a little, avoiding his eyes.

"There's a woman." He continued with certainty. My eyes swung to his and he smiled, nodding as he did. "There is." He concluded. "Alright. Here's what you do." He gestured toward Tanya, turning me to face her.

"That's not Tanya. It's the woman you want. I want you to flood your mind with whoever she is, swim in your thoughts of her. You don't see the woman before you anymore, you see her. Now, try again." He said.

When the filming started again, I did as he asked. Instead of the green eyes before me, I saw Melissa's mismatched eyes. Instead of long, blonde hair, there was chin length brown hair that gleamed in the sun. I reached for her, pulling her to me and kissed her as I'd wanted to kiss Melissa.

When we parted, there was a moment where Tanya's eyes were wide and her mouth parted. Melissa's eyes faded from my mind as I looked into the green of Tanya's and I heard the director call "Cut!" once more. I dropped my hand and stood back, finding him nodding at me.

"Holy shit, Marshall." Tanya said and my eyes turned to hers. "Whoever she is, I hope she knows how you feel."

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