Hearts' Desires (14 page)

             
Alison sighed. “We could get trapped between the two sides, or by fleeing refugees, though! And Max and I are r
e
sponsible for all of you and our equipment!” Right away she regretted having said this and opened her bag of worries in front of him. This hadn’t been necessary, had it?!

             
Vance stopped himself at the last second from putting his arm around her. He realized that he searched an excuse to touch her.
             
“Of course you’re worried. But tonight,” he said, “you
should relax. You need it just as much as any of us. And I a
s
sure you, these stunt guys have prepared a marvelous
braai
!”

             
“Vance, this time your charm is completely lost! I’m sure they are all happy without their ‘directing dragon’ for once!”
             
“Well, I missed you and came looking for you.” He held his hand out to help her up.
             
“You know, I’m Vegan,” she fended him off. “All this meat is not healthy for a human body...”
             
“I feel quite healthy.” He smiled and had this particular twinkle in his eyes again.

             
“And the animals which have suffered for it...”
             
“They are already dead. Not eating them is of no use to an
y
one.”
             
Any other person Alison would have left standing there alone without another word after such a statement. However, Vance was simply - disarming. She searched for an unco
m
promising answer, but he left her no time.
             
“Don’t think I don’t care about animal welfare,” Vance added. “But this should not stop us from enjoying this eve
n
ing.”
             
“You don’t give up...”
             
“My father called me a headstrong ox, if you mean that.”
             
Now, Alison got up, infected by Vance’s smile which su
d
denly pulled on her lips, too. “Well, I shouldn’t mess with you then, should I?” She put her hair in order with quick moves.
Still outside the range of the barbecue’s light, Alison looked up to the nightly sky and the glinting jewels of the stars.
             
“There, you can see the Southern Cross!”
             
They both stopped. “It’s a long time since I last did any sta
r
gazing,” she admitted. “When I was a kid, I used to sit at the door of our house. There was almost no other light; you could see the
milky way
.”
             
“My older brother was a little astronomer,” Vance told, “He had a telescope and knew all the stuff... the names of the stars, the cycles of the planets. He rode out in the
veld
at night, and som
e
times I accompanied him, driving him crazy with all the crap I had read in some Science Fiction comics, I guess. All those superheroes saving the universe...”
             
He tried to rediscover some of the sights his brother had e
x
plained him once, but failed completely. So long ago, yes...

             
”Was it then when you decided to become an actor?”
             
Vance laughed. “No, I suppose it happened when I was 10 and they searched actors for our Nativity play at school. I applied, b
e
cause I was very much in love with a classmate then, and I knew she would play Mary. I was ready to do an
y
thing to impress her!”

             
“And?
Did it work?”

             
Vance shook his head, still smiling. “Yes and no. Our teacher cast me as a soldier, because I was the tallest of our class and he needed someone looking a bit threatening. I had to run across the stage, after the Holy Family, branding a plastic sword. I must have been very scary! At least my adored was frightened and started to cry. Well, nice start of my career. I’m afraid
I’ve been
typecast ever since.”

             
Alison turned her gaze down from the sky at his face. “You are very talented. And I mean it.”
             
Vance looked away in order not to show how flattered he felt. Not so much to hear this, but to hear it from her. Above them, some night bird called out into the semi darkness. He felt happy and in peace, something he had not felt for... he did not even remember.
Home soil under his feet.
Home sky above him.
Everything seemed in order, seemed perfect, i
n
cluding the woman standing at his side. He liked being close to her, liked her faint scent of perfume, the way she moved. Next to her, all his worries slipped to the edge of his mind.
Harker
, his agent, L.A. ... even C
a
rolyn. Carolyn.
             
It was like a cold shower rushing down on him and was
h
ing the perfection of the moment away in an instant. He fought through the suddenly swirling chaos of his thoughts to reach ground again. His guilty conscience was back. And this time, with every reason. Instinctively, he fumbled for his wedding ring, turned it nervously. Carolyn should be the one towards whom he felt this way! No, the danger was not in the a
d
vances Lauren made. A one night stand with her would have been exactly that.
Something light, fast, fun to pass time and forget instantly.
It would have had nothing to do with feelings at all, especially not the ones he had now...
             
He looked back to Alison and judged she hadn’t noticed an
y
thing unusual. The better! While Vance was still searching for words without even knowing which kind of words, a figure showed up between the trees near the parking lot. A moment later, it turned out to be Thabo.
             
“Miss Cartwright!” He was nearly the only one on the set still calling her that - out of reference. “Hello, Vance! Searched for you, because you didn’t come back!
Matty
said if you don’t hurry, there will be nothing left!”
             
He grinned, and his white line of teeth glared from his black face, so that he looked like a night demon.
             
Vance had lost all his appetite. However, he couldn’t say a word now without disappointing all the others ... and arouse suspicion. He forced a smile and waved.
             
“We’re co
m
ing!”
             
He wished Alison would want to go back to the bus.

Alison slept badly that night. There were too many things b
o
the
r
ing her. She needed two tranquillizers before she found a little rest, and thus she felt 10 years older in the morning. While brewing some coffee, she took an amphetamine as ‘wake-up-call’ and shu
f
fled into the bathroom.
             
Maybe it is time for a little plastic surgery...
she mused, catc
h
ing herself avoiding the face in the mirror. The value of a woman - and ridiculously of the things she created as well - diminished with every wrinkle in her face. One of her Holl
y
wood colleagues had told her once it was a rough terrain for men, but it was even worse for women. That was exactly the reason Alison that wanted this project to be her last. She would cross the ‘magical border’ of 45 this year, and she did not want to be introduced as “the old dame” during a premiere celebration! No, this would be the last produ
c
tion she directed! Her crowning project! And then?!
             
She suppressed the little spike of panic piercing through her and left the bathroom. Life had much to offer; she would enjoy relaxing, reading and whatever... For now, she had to concentrate on the important details of her work! After a few sips of hot coffee and with the amphetamine kicking in, she began to feel a bit of energy flowing through her veins again. She leaned over the script on her knees, but today she had to read the whole sequence twice, before she had reached the necessary concentration to start.
             
Today a lengthy sequence with a discussion between
M
a
rens
and Louis was on schedule. Thabo was nervous, b
e
cause this would be the first time he had a one-on-one scene
with Vance, and because it was a highly complex and em
o
tional sequence.

Nearly everyone on the set liked Thabo, and so he got some hugs and pats on his shoulder, when he walked ‘into the ar
e
na’ today. Vance smiled reassuring in his direction, too. The boy looked around to see if Lauren was somewhere in the area, but there was no sign of her. Alison and Max at the camera were already waiting. Thabo breathed deeply, closed his eyes for a moment and tried to focus on his lines, waiting for the start signal.
             
There it was!
             
Arend
Marens
sat on a worn out table on the porch, busy with cleaning a revolver. The camera focused on his hands until he had finished the task and reassembled the firearm. Then, when steps could be heard, it zoomed out and revealed Thabo.

             
Marens
raised his gun, aiming at the young man. The camera caught Louis’ shock and fear as well as
Marens
’ sly grin.

             
“Don’t worry. I’m not on the hunt today!”

             
Louis’ expression changed into plain disgust.

             
Alison was satisfied. There was really much talent in this boy!

             
“What do you want?” asked
Marens
, taking another drink from the brandy bottle on the table.

             
“My father sent me with the billing…
Sir.
There’s trouble with one of our goats, and so he--”

             
“Just put that crap down over there! - I have to talk to you!”

             
“Yes? …
Sir?”

             
“You won’t talk to my daughter again. Do you unde
r
stand?”

             
“I’m not your slave. You can’t tell me who I can and ca
n
not talk to.”
             
Now
Marens
jumped up, grabbed Louis by his collar and pushed him against the wall. “You dare talking to me like this?
In my own house?!”
             
The young man
‘
s eyes sparkled.
             
“Who do you think you are?!”
Marens
hissed through his teeth.
             
“Cut!” Alison spread her arms and the camera team looked in her direction. “Vance? Turn around a little more t
o
wards the ca
m
era, when you say ‘Who do you think you are’, okay? I want to have you in profile. - Good,
back to one. We’ll do another take!
”
             
She observed the next
one with a sharp line between her brows
. Yes, this was definitely better. Vance could look very threatening, especially in a profile shot.
             
“…Who do you think you are? You are on my soil!
In my house! And when I decide-“

             
“You cannot turn me over to the police as you did with
uncle
Samuel!”
             
“What?” A clear, honest surprise showed on
Marens
’ face. He was clearly caught off guard.
             
“You denunciated him, because he was working for the ANC!
And the police killed him! It was your fault!”
             
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Marens
loosened his grip and Louis rubbed his neck.