Seeing Clearly (6 page)

Chapter 7

Gretchen

I love working with women who aren't catty. I had no idea what to expect out of my cast mates when I joined them at Paradise Island, and aside from this one girl
, Chelsea Harris, everyone welcomed me with open arms. The cast and crew were one big, happy family and they accepted me without question… well, everyone except Chelsea, but there's always one in the group.

One of my favorite co-stars, Cali Stevens
, was hanging out with me in one of the dressing rooms at the studio. Cali was a few years older than me in real life, but the character she played was exactly my age. The two girls were best friends on the show until my character, Abby, got kidnapped by one of the show's villains years ago. Just like my friend Caleb, who plays Ashton on the show, Cali grew up under the stage lights of Paradise Island. There were no on-set secrets Cali wasn't privy to… she knew
everything
about
everyone
on the cast and crew.

I had only been filming with P.I. for a month, but I'd already gotten close to my sweet co-star. We were two peas in a pod around the set just like our characters were on the show.

"I heard one of the P.A.'s say Max asked you out. Is it true?"  Cali was looking at me with wide eyes as if it were the juiciest bit of gossip she could ever imagine hearing.

"He did, but how would a P.A. know about that? It just happened like thirty minutes ago," I said. I couldn't believe word really traveled
that
fast.

"Oh girl," Cali said with utmost certainty, "P.A.'s know
everything
around here. If you want to be in the loop, just make friends with one of them. Anyway, are you going out with Max? He's a good guy, you know. He never tried to sleep with any of the cast or crew when he was married. In fact, you're the first girl he's shown any interest in since his divorce."

"Just because he didn't cheat on his wife, doesn't mean he's a good guy."

"I know, but it definitely puts him in the minority around here," Cali said.

"Well, I guess it counts for something, but that's not really the issue. I just don't think I could go out with someone who's twenty years older than me."

"So you told him no?" Cali looked shocked… as if she couldn’t believe
anyone
would tell Max Mitchell no about
anything.

"I didn't tell him anything yet," I answered. "Like I said, he just asked me a half hour ago, and he didn't expect an answer right away." 

"I would give it some thought, Gretchen. He's not the kind of guy who goes around asking people out, and he's definitely not used to having anyone tell him no."

"Well, I'm certainly not agreeing to it
just
because he's my producer. Aren't there rules about that kind of thing? I'm not sure it's appropriate in the work environment."

"Oh please, there's probably someone hooking up on set as we speak. Well, you know that already… you go out with Caleb sometimes."

"As friends," I said, defending myself.

"That's not what I heard." Cali was just teasing me. She knew Caleb and I were good friends and nothing more. At this moment, I almost wished Caleb and I
did
have something more going on between us. That would have given me an excellent excuse for declining Max's offer. I did have to hand it to the guy… he was being really patient. After the way we met and he got me the audition for the show, I thought he'd be much quicker to try to take advantage of his power over me. I was almost feeling like I should consider giving him a shot.

Cali must have picked up on the direction of my thoughts because
she said, "I don't want you to feel like you
have
to say yes or anything, because you don't, but if you care to have my opinion, you could do a lot worse."

"Would you go out with him?" I asked.

"In a heartbeat, Chica. In fact, if I didn't love you so much I'd be really jealous of you right now." I wasn't quite sure why I didn't want to give Max a chance. The age difference was certainly an issue, but more than that, I just didn't feel like pursuing a relationship with anyone right now. It had only been ten days since I spent the night with Joel Perrin in his guesthouse, and I was still reeling from that experience. I wondered if I'd
ever
want another man like I wanted Joel. I had to believe I would, but our night together was still so fresh, and right now I just wanted to be single. 

"It's all about who you know, after all." Cali's words pulled me from my daydream. "This show would just be a springboard for you if you hooked up with a guy like Max. He has real-deal connections at all the studios."

"You can't tell me things like that," I said. "If anything, the things he can do for my career only
discourage
me from wanting to go out with him. I don't want to feel like I owe him anything. Besides, who wants to come by fame that way? I believe in myself. I think I can make it on my own."

"So maybe you can… but shortcuts aren't anything to be ashamed of."

"I know that. And I'm not saying I'd turn down an opportunity based on honor. I'm just at a different place right now with the whole boyfriend thing."

"Caleb?"

"No."

"What then?" she asked, her head cocked to the side.

"It's a long story."

Just then, there came a few loud raps on the door of the dressing room. "Oh good, you've both had
makeup." Vicki, one of the show's producers, was peeking her head around the door to look Cali and I over. "We need you on set at the shop in fifteen."

The shop
was one of the smaller sets in the back of the studio. Any of the sets that needed natural light where located in the back of the studio so they could use the back wall and the real outdoors that lay beyond that wall.

We were headed to Caleb's character's custom motorcycle shop, hence the nickname. In the scene we were filming, Cali's character Megan is trying to seduce Ashton even though she knows Ashton has feelings for the newly returned Abby. My character is supposed to walk in on them kissing, cross the room
, and after a few words, end up slapping Ashton across the face. It was imperative that we get the slap on the first shot because it was going to be real, and Ashton would have a red cheek afterward. A
real
slap across the cheek… I couldn't help but think of Joel again. I still couldn't believe I slapped him across the face at Rachel and Collin's party.

Oh, that reminded me. I looked at Cali who was walking beside me on our way to shoot the scene at the shop. "Do you remember me telling you about Ian Craig taking pictures at my friend Rachel's wedding party?"

"Yeah, for free, right?" "Exactly. Well, sort of. It was more of a trade. Rachel gets first dibbs on prints at Ian's cost in exchange for Ian getting to sell prints for his own profit."

"Who would want to purchase wedding party photos of someone
else's
wedding party?" Cali asked, confused.

I laughed. "I know, right? I was thinking the same thing, but Ian said any photos he chooses to be a part of the art show would be considered more of an art piece than a wedding photo. The Mirror Garden is so beautiful that I'm sure he had plenty of things to take photos of besides the bride and groom. Rachel said Ian gave her a few traditional photos of her and Collin that
won't
be displayed at the gallery."

"Oh, I get it. But why are you telling me all this?" Cali asked, the confused expression returning to her face.

"Oh yeah, I forgot the whole point of the story. Ian's show opens this Friday night, and I was planning on going to the gallery for a little while. I was thinking you could come with me?"

"Sure, I don’t have anything else going on. We can go to the club afterward if you want," Cali said.

"It's a plan," I said.

The two of us were approaching the shop. Caleb was already there. He was sitting in a director's chair while hair and makeup did some last minute touchups. C
ali and I took our places on the empty chairs next to him.

"What's up ladies?" Caleb asked.

"Aww, nothing. Gretchen here was just asking me if I wanted to go to an art opening Friday night. It's just the world famous Ian Craig's, so I'm sure I'll be rubbing some elbows, don't worry about it." Cali stuck her elbows out and wiggled them a little bit for effect.

"The guy who took photos at The Mirror Garden that night?" Caleb asked.

"Yes, actually. And he'll be showing some of the photos from that night." I said.

"I wonder if I will be in any of them."

"I was wondering the same thing," I told him. "Rachel has only seen a few of the photos so she has no idea what to expect either. Do you want to come with us?"

"I'm game," Caleb said, "but you better okay it with Max Mitchell. I don't want to step on any toes."

"Oh for the love of God,
you
heard about that too?" I asked. I just couldn't believe that word was spreading this fast, and I hadn't even agreed to go out with him yet.

"Everybody knows. Not too many women are on Max Mitchell's radar. You should feel honored."

"Thanks, but it's a little awkward that everybody knows about it now. Does that mean I'm sort of stuck having to say yes?"

"What do you mean
stuck
? Most girls would die to go out with Max. I was thinking once he asked you out that meant I was out of the running for sure… are you saying I still have a chance?"

I pushed at Caleb playfully, which made his makeup artist shoot me a dirty look. Caleb was just messing around with me. I was upfront with him
about wanting to stay single right now. That didn't mean he and I couldn't enjoy a night out and maybe an off-screen kiss every now and then. He was a total playboy, so my not wanting a commitment was more than fine with him.

"To answer your question Gretchen… no, you're not stuck having to go out with him." Caleb shot me a sincere smile. "I've known Max for a long time and he's not the type of guy who would want you to feel obligated to do something."

"That's good to hear because I'm not the biggest fan of feeling obligated either," I said.

"Don't sweat it. He knows you've been turning me down for more than a month now, so he won't have his feelings hurt."

"I don't know about all
that
," Cali interjected.

"I have not been turning you down, Caleb, you and I hangout on a regular basis."

"Yeah but your definition of hanging out and mine are two different things."

"Dammit Caleb, you're making me feel like I'm a tease or something. I just want to show up and do my job here."

Cali spoke up at this point.

"Amen sister. Granted, I don't have
Max
and
Caleb
trying to ask me out. If I had those two, it probably wouldn't be so annoying. But you're right… I can't get from one set to the other without a trail of P.A.s following me around like puppy dogs. I think they all dream of acting out a scene with me in one of the empty sets."

"Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it," Caleb said. "I've played out a few bedroom scenes when no one was filming. It can be fun, depending on who the P.A. is."

"Okay, if we're confessing," Cali said with a guilty look. "But it was only one time, and the P.A. was
really
cute."

"What set?" Caleb asked, smiling mischievously and wiggling his eyebrows.

"The blue bedroom in Studio One."

"Excellent choice!" Caleb said. 

"TMI," I said, holding my hands over my ears. I could just imagine having to film a scene in that bedroom. I was going to be picturing Cali and her lucky P.A. sneaking in there.

We were all three laughing about behind-the-scenes rendezvous as we made our way into the shop. Gary, one of the directors, warned us all that we better get serious
since we only had one shot at the scene because of the slap. The scene started with Megan and Ashton having a heart to heart in his motorcycle shop. I entered the room just as she went in for a kiss.

My line: "So
this
is what kind of work you do in your shop Ashton?"

Cali's line: "Abby, we didn't mean for this to happen. Ashton and I were just talking and—"

Caleb cuts in.

His line: "She kissed me. I had
nothing
to do with that. I don't even know why she's here. She told me she wanted to talk about you."

I cross to the two of them and look at them with a world of hurt in my eyes. My line: "My mother and father are missing and I'm not even
close
to recovering from the torture I've been put through for the past ten years. The two of you were all I had left in this world, and here you are, sneaking around behind my back." Then Abby Wentworth rears back and slaps Ashton Knight across the face before storming out and letting them finish the scene.