Lights! Camera!....Love! [Complete]

1

"Cut! And that's a wrap. Good job everyone!"

I slowly let my shoulders drop. The tension easing away from the taut muscles. Unwrapping my arms from the passionate embrace, wiping the back of my hand against the moist cheeks to rub away the tears without finally having to not worry about the 4 inches of makeup caked on my face. A burst of applause ringing all around us, partially for the intensely emotional climax scene we had just finished shooting, but also more so for the fact that after a year and a half we were finally done. And even though everyone around me was rejoicing the culmination of a long 2 years of hard work for the mega block-buster this action thriller movie was deemed to be, it always took me a few minutes to reorient myself back to reality. Detaching from the character I have embodied for so long always left me feeling slightly bereft. Like suddenly a part of me was leaving forever.

So I did the one thing I have always done for the past nine years every single time I feel like I am being trapped between the horizon of reality and make-believe. I turn around to look for the one person who has remained a constant in my life.

I caught his eyes almost instantly, not a doubt in my mind that he had his gaze peeled at me throughout the entire shoot. Flashing me a small smile that could belong to nobody but him as he gave me his patented thumbs up. Nodding his approval at my performance before getting dragged away to discuss one of the gazillion things the man has to handle. Isn't it at least a little bit weird that I am the supposed superstar but people on the set always want to get a few minutes alone with Kongpob?

Actually not that surprising seeing how he is my manager cum agent cum personal assistant cum the go-to guy for anything and everything related to me. Not that it stopped me from always getting miffed about how he got busy the second I was free. Although at least now that the shoot is finally done we might just get a moment to breathe peacefully. Or so I thought as I plopped next to Kong in the back seat of the car about to take us home.

"Ah man, I'm beat. Why does an action movie have so many crying scenes? It's like an assault on my tear glands."

"Cause women go crazy over watching you be vulnerable. It's all about the emotions."

I swear I couldn't have rolled my eyes hard enough as the man's completely flat, deadpanned response. Not having once even mistakenly looked up from his phone as he typed away at it feverishly. How could a man so intricately involved in the movie business not have any expression other than 'Don't mess with me, I am Mr. Hardass' was simply beyond me. Surely the word emotions was nowhere to be found in Kong's dictionary.

"Stop staring at your phone all the time. You haven't spoken to me all day. I hate it when you ignore me."

"I'm not ignoring you, I'm working. On your schedule by the way. Don't forget you start shooting for the new movie tomorrow."

"Wait what? I thought we could squeeze in like a vacation or something. We haven't had a break in forever."

"We could have if you hadn't accepted the role without consulting me first."

"But back to back shoots is going to kill me. Can't you do something? As my manager shouldn't you be making sure I am all relaxed and well-rested?"

"I do. Which is why we are going home instead of following through with your brilliant idea of partying all night long. And then being hungover for your 6 am shoot."

"6 am? Are you fucking kidding me!"

"If I was it wouldn't be a very funny joke now would it?"

"Kong have I ever told you that you are like a serial killer for anything remotely fun."

"Yup. About five times a day."

"You really do enjoy being my slave driver huh?"

And finally, he looked up. A sardonic smile creeping up to the corner of his mouth as he looked straight at me for the first time in hours.

"Honestly I prefer being called your pimp. You see I don't make money if you don't make money."

"In that case, you are the most boring pimp on the face of this planet. Maybe I should fire you and get one of those young hot assistants that everyone seems to be having nowadays. You know the ones with perky boobs and a face that doesn't have an expression sour enough to curdle milk constantly."

"Uh-huh. Want me to set up appointments with a few perky boobs?"

And there you go. He was back to staring at his phone, completely nonchalant about me whining once again. Does anything ever phase the man?

"You think I am kidding? I am totally not. I am so firing you as soon as...ummm...when is my last scheduled shoot?"

"Let's see, between movies, commercials, and events, you are booked until September 5th five years from now."

"Alright, then it's decided. Kongpob in five years on 5th September you are fired. You see it wouldn't be fair to hire someone and deal with the mountain of crap she will have to inherit from you."

"Sure boss, whatever you say."

Thankfully the car pulled into the garage just in time to prevent me from throwing a few more tantrums while the man continued to not even look in my direction as we made our way to the top floor of the high rise apartment building. Only two doors in the hallway. And absolutely no points in guessing who was the one who insisted that Kongpob rent the apartment bang next to mine. You see I had come to the realization ages ago that traditional alarm clocks were not really made for me.

"Arthit don't forget there will be a car at 5:30 to pick you up. I'm busy in other meetings so I won't be able to go with you. Don't be late. Last time I had to..."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it already. Stop lecturing please."

I pushed through my door to enter a room which frankly looked more like a war zone. Three day old dishes still stinking up my kitchen sink while every corner of the apartment had unlaundered clothes from months ago. I know, I know, I need to clean my house or at least hire someone to do it for me. It's not like Kong hasn't already told me a million times my place smells worse than a morgue. It will happen at some point. I promise. But for now, I peeled off my clothes haphazardly as I trudged my way to a boiling hot shower. The steam finally relaxing my muscles after a long, hard, brutal day. A brutal year actually.

Now don't get me wrong, as much as I sound like a whiny brat, I truly do love being an actor. I reveled in playing these fantastical characters in these awe-inspiring movies. And frankly, I wouldn't have achieved nearly as much as I have without having Kong by my side for so long. Fate playing its beautiful hand when it randomly threw two nineteen-year-old boys together for a bit part in a C grade movie. One aspiring actor, another a budding author. For some odd reason from the very first day we met I just knew we would be stuck together for a long, long time. At some point in the past nine years he took on the role of my agent, helping me in every way possible to climb the ladder of success and the rest was history.

That didn't mean I don't also hate the man at times. Oh yeah, I do. He frustrated me beyond reason. In exactly the same way your best friend gets on your nerves when he is all persnickety about things when all you want to do is have a nice stiff drink at the end of a long day. Maybe one day I might actually fire him and force him to take a vacation or something.

I put on my pajamas, furiously drying my hair before I jumped on my large, inviting bed. Totally prepared to pass out for the day before another one came roaring out in a few short hours. Not even a tiny doubt in my mind that there was no way I was going to be ready by 5:30, which only meant I was going to have a furious Kong banging on my door first thing in the morning. A half evil smile played around my lips as I slowly drifted off. Sometimes I wonder why I enjoy troubling Kong so much.