by Maisy Morgan
“Yes, so sorry, Donnie,” Matthew said. “Donnie and I go way back. Been friends since we were kids growing up in LA. He works as my assistant and manager now.”
“Yeah,” Donnie said with a grunt, gladly handing the duffle bag over to Tripp, who had offered to help carry something.
“I’ll take my purse, Donnie,” Lilly said with a laugh. “So sorry about that. I think Matthew and I just got a little excited and forgot about you for a moment.”
Donnie smirked. “It’s fine, Lil.”
“Well, why don’t we hurry on out to the parking lot, and we’ll grab dinner on the way down to Senoia?” Mary suggested. “No sense in crowding up the airport.”
“Oh, gosh, Mary,” Matthew said, looking embarrassed. “I didn’t tell you about Donnie—do you have enough room in your car for all of us?”
“I can catch a cab if not,” Donnie offered.
“No need! Third-row seating,” Mary said. “Traded in my Escape for a minivan recently.”
“Nice,” Matthew said enthusiastically.
“Not really,” Tripp said bluntly with a shrug, and Matthew laughed.
They loaded into the minivan. Mary drove, and Donnie occupied the front passenger seat. Lilly and Tripp each took a bucket seat in the middle, and Matthew crawled into the back with the luggage. “So, how long are you guys going to be here?” Tripp asked, and from spying on him through the rearview, Mary could tell that Tripp was avoiding eye contact with his mom. She supposed it was good that they were able to talk, at least. It was a great first step and, considering that when she first told Tripp this morning, she didn’t think Tripp would be ready for even that, she would take what she could get.
“We’ll be here for a few months, at least,” Lilly said. “Matthew has a pretty prominent role in the film. He plays the lead’s best friend.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Tripp said.
“Did you always want to be an actor, Matthew?” Mary asked from the front of the car, cutting through the unsure small talk between Tripp and his mom.
“Sort of,” he said. “My parents were both actors. Mom fell out of it when she was still pretty young after her sister died. She went to school for drug therapy after that. Dad stayed with it, though, for the longest time; now he’s really made a name for himself as a director and producer. He won’t use his name to get me any leverage, though. Says I’ve got to do the grunge work. He wasn’t afraid to name drop at my acting school, though. Just not to get me a job, unfortunately.”
“Impressive,” Mary said. “Teaching you to work your way up on your own. Not a lot of that strict parenting in LA.”
“No, believe me, I’m appreciative of it,” Matthew said. “I mean, he helps me out—mostly advice sort of thing. But he wants me to earn my spot. I’m glad, though, because I feel like I earned this job I’m going to be doing in Senoia. It’s my first big role.”
“If this movie goes well, it’s going to be Matthew’s big break; you’ll see,” Donnie said energetically. “It’s going to be the thing that puts him on top.”
“Aww, Don, you’re making me blush,” Matthew said in a joking manner.
“So, Tripp,” Lilly said, sounding a bit uncomfortable as she did so. “Tell me about school… Do you enjoy it?”
“Yeah,” Tripp said shortly. He thought better of his quick retort and cleared his throat. “Well, most of my classes, I do. I got landed with this drama class I didn’t want, but it’s turning out to be pretty cool.”
“Drama!” Matthew exclaimed excitedly. “Oh, awesome! Then we’ve got something we can totally talk about.”
Mary found herself giggling slightly at Matthew. It was very clear he wanted to impress Tripp. Tripp laughed slightly. “Yeah, I guess so,” he said a bit half-heartedly. “I do football too.”
“I would love to come see a game! Are they still going on?” Lilly asked hopefully.
“They have a few more left in the season,” Mary said. Mary was starting to feel very relieved at how easy this conversing was. She had been worried sick that this was going to be a very quiet and uncomfortable hour-long car ride. They arrived in Fayetteville, where they headed inside a local tavern known as The Olde Courthouse Tavern. They gathered around a booth, and Matthew charmed them all with some fun stories from home and talked about his upcoming movie. Lilly had a million questions for Tripp, but she hesitated before asking every one of them. There was still a strain in the air, but the initial ice seemed to be slowly melting as everyone had been getting along well.
Much to Mary’s delight, halfway through dinner, Tripp gave his mother a hug that seemed to originally have meant to be a mere friendly side-hug. Mary watched, smiling, as Tripp seemed to melt into the woman for a moment before they both broke apart uncomfortably and laughed about whatever it was they had been discussing on their side of the booth.
Matthew paid for dinner, and they headed back out to Mary’s car. The two women lingered by the bathrooms for a moment, and Mary pulled her daughter aside before they met Tripp and the others out on the patio. “Lilly, I just wanted to say how glad I am to see you, but before we get back to town, I wanted to say that, well, I think it’s for the best if we take things a bit slowly with Tripp. I just mean that I think it’s best you stay at the hotel with Matthew and Donnie. I hope you don’t get upset with me for thinking that, but…”
“No, Mom, I agree with you,” Lilly said, much to Mary’s relief. “I don’t want to push him. And, he’s being so great. If I were in his situation, I don’t think I would want anything to do with my parent, honestly. That’s about how I feel about Dad, if I’m being honest.”
“That’s how most people feel about your dad,” Mary jibbed.
“I’m just glad he’s giving me a chance, Mom,” Lilly said and then brushed her strawberry blond hair out of her face. “God knows I don’t deserve it.”
Mary kissed her daughter’s forehead. “You’re doing good, sweetheart.”
“Thanks,” Lilly said. “We’re going to be here for most of the summer at least. So we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other.”
They took the back exit where Tripp was talking with Matthew and Donnie, looking very excited. “Really? That would be so cool,” Tripp was saying to Matthew.
“What would be so cool?” Mary asked.
Matthew smiled at her. “I was just telling Tripp that once filming got underway and the dust settled a bit, maybe, if you two were up to it, you could come visit us on set?”
Mary smiled at Matthew. He was trying very hard to make Tripp comfortable around them all, and it showed. “That sounds like a lot of fun, Matthew,” Mary said.
“Great,” Matthew said, clasping Tripp on the shoulder. “Maybe this weekend, then?”
“I don’t see why not,” Mary said, and Tripp seemed inebriated by the idea.
They loaded back up into Mary’s car, and she drove the group to their hotel where they were staying. Lilly and Tripp talked excitedly on the way home about their weekend plans, and Tripp confided in her that he was so happy to have met his mother at last. “She was really cool,” Tripp said, cool being one of the highest compliments the teenaged Tripp seemed to know. As they were pulling up into the driveway, Mary saw him wiping his eyes.
“Tripp?” she questioned.
“Huh?” he grumbled, trying to hide that he had teared up. He felt embarrassed that he couldn’t keep up with his own emotions and was trying to hold back the tears. “I’m fine,” he tried to say quickly. “I’m fine… really, Grandma…” He kept wiping his eyes and trying to hide his face from her.
Mary smiled at him. “A lot to take in, I know,” she assured him. “Come on, let’s go inside. I’m sure Sweetfeet is waiting for us.”
Chapter Seven
That Sunday morning, Mary was woken up with a start by Tripp excitedly banging on her bedroom door. “Grandma! Come on, Preston will be here any minute!” he exclaimed, and Mary forced herself out of bed, clutching her chest in surprise.
“I’m up! I’m up!” she called back, and a smile crossed over her face as she realized the sudden wakeup call was due to Tripp being excited to go see his mother that morning. That, or he was just excited about going to a movie set. Either way, this was a step in the right direction and looked like it would be good for both of them. Their remedial road.
She hurried to shower and dress, and by the time she was emerging into the kitchen, there was a pleasant smell of pancakes. Tripp had already started on breakfast. “Whoa, do my eyes deceive me, or is my grandson making us breakfast?” she asked.
Tripp beamed. “I think I’ve watched you make pancakes enough times that I can handle it,” he said just as the doorbell rang.
Mary presumed Tripp just wanted to make sure breakfast was ready when Preston got there so that there was no lull or wasted time. He was eager to get out the door as quickly as possible that morning. Mary greeted Preston at the door and invited him in for pancakes. Tripp fixed each of them a plate and proceeded to inhale his food. “Slow down, Tripp,” Mary told him. “The set isn’t going anywhere.”
“I know,” Tripp said, taking a large swallow of milk. “I’m just excited.”
“Thanks for inviting me to tag along, you two,” Preston said pleasantly, taking his time with his breakfast to the point that Tripp accused him of doing it on purpose—which he was.
They headed out and arrived at the studio rather quickly. Mary felt important as she told the man at the gate that they were guests of one of the stars. They checked her ID and then allowed her to drive up and park on set. Donnie came hurrying up to them shortly afterward to meet them, all smiles. “Mary and Tripp! Welcome!” he called. “And you must be Preston?” Donnie asked, shaking Preston’s hand. “I’m Donnie, Matthew’s assistant. They’re waiting for you but sent me because Matthew is in the middle of makeup.”
“Ooh, is he having anything interesting done to him today?” Mary asked hopefully.
“Yes, actually,” Donnie said like the information had been a secret, but they were important enough to be let in on it. “They’re adding a gash on the side of his head. Filming a scene today where his character jumps through a window. He did the stunt himself this morning—you should have seen him! Sorry you guys missed it. They’re going to film the next scene in just a bit.”
“See! I told you we needed to hurry. We missed something cool,” Tripp complained, and Mary laughed slightly at him.
“Don’t worry. They’ve got all sorts of cool stuff today, kid,” Donnie said. “There’s a full day of filming ahead of us. Come on; I’ll show you around.” Donnie waved down a golf cart that was speeding past, and the driver gladly surrendered it over to Donnie, who thanked him.
The three of them felt excited about their tour of the set and the new perks they had just because they knew Matthew. Tripp sat up front with Donnie and Mary and Preston climbed onto the back. “So what is this movie about anyhow?” Preston asked.
“It’s a small-town romance drama,” Donnie said. “Oh, wait, hold on a second,” he said just as they were speeding past a small crowd of studio personnel. A young man near Matthew’s age was standing there, and Donnie called out to him. “Yo! Sven!”
The young man smiled, excused himself from the group, and approached. “What’s up, Donnie?” he said.
“Sven, meet Tripp, Mary, and Preston,” Donnie said. “Tripp is Lilly’s son—Mary back here is her mama.”
“Oh, sweet,” Sven said, putting his hand out to shake Tripp’s hand. “Love Lilly. I’ve only just met her this week, but I can tell she’s a sweetheart.”
Mary smiled as Donnie continued with the introductions. She was glad to know that Lilly was at a place where she was making friends and being respected again. “Sven here plays Conner Stuart, the main character in the film.”
“Impressive,” Mary said, feeling especially grateful that it was the big-shot in this film who thought so highly of her daughter. She felt a twinge of pride at the thought.
Tripp suddenly gasped. “Wait! I’ve seen you before—you were in… what was it? That action- heist movie that came out two years ago—you played the getaway driver.”
“Homeplate,” Sven said with a wink. “Hope you liked the film?”
“It was awesome!” Tripp said, looking a bit starstruck now. “My dad took me to see it.” Tripp got uncomfortably quiet for a moment, but he snapped out of it after a moment. “It was good. Dad and I went and saw it twice!”
Sven smiled. “Thanks, kid. Hold up a sec—yo! Tasha! Tasha!”
A young woman seemed to appear out of nowhere. She was a slender woman with wild, curly red hair and glasses that made her look almost bug-like. She was on her phone, typing up some email that seemed, by the strain on her face, very important. “Yes, Sven?”
“This kid here, you get him some of my merch from the Homeplate movie for me. I’ll sign it and send it off with Matthew later,” Sven said.
“Of course, Mr. Lewis,” Tasha said blandly.
Sven gave Tripp a casual fist bump before hurrying off. “Catch you guys later! I’ve got to get to makeup!”
“He seems nice,” Preston said, but he was looking at Tasha for a moment.
“He is,” she said quickly, but she looked rather strained.
“Tasha!” Sven was already calling after her again, and she hurried off.
“Sven’s a nice guy,” Donnie said. “But I think Tasha’s ready to pull her hair out.” Donnie laughed slightly and continued to drive the golf cart across the set. “Matthew and I have a pretty good working relationship. I know I’m technically his assistant, but he wouldn’t bark at me the way Sven does Tasha, I don’t think. I’d probably flip him off if he did.”
Tripp laughed and added, “She looked stressed out to me.”
“Because Sven has given her about a dozen things to do since we all arrived on set this morning,” Donnie said. “I’ll probably help her out and snag that merch for her. Hold on; I’ll let her know I’ll handle it.” He sent her a text message before pointing towards a building they were passing by. “That’s the window he went through earlier.”
“Two stories up!” Tripp exclaimed, quite obviously impressed.
“Yeah, it was a pretty action-packed scene,” Donnie said. “Not the smartest idea filming the heavy action scene early on, in my opinion. Last thing they need is for an actor to be in a cast on week one.”
Mary smirked slightly. Up ahead, she could see a number of trailers. “Are Matthew and Lilly over there?” she asked hopefully.
“Yup,” Donnie added, seeming to enjoy being the leader of their little tour group. “That’s where we’re headed. Matthew’s got his own trailer. He’s pretty giddy about it—don’t tell him I said that. It’s his first time with his own trailer on a set.”
Mary smiled as they pulled up outside the trailer. Lilly must have been watching from the window because she came hurrying out with the biggest smile on her face. She and Tripp hugged, and then she hugged Mary. She turned to Preston, smiling wildly. “You must be Preston!” she said and gave him a hug as well. “Mom’s told me about you.”
“All good things, I hope,” Preston said, hugging her back.
“Come on; you guys have got to see this. Definitely all good things,” Lilly said with a smile, holding a hand out to Tripp.
Tripp took his mother by the hand willingly, and they hurried into the trailer, Mary and Preston following right behind. A makeup artist was busy adding fake blood to the top of Matthew’s head. The man was grinning ear to ear.
“Wow, it looks so good, Tina,” Matthew said.
The makeup artist smiled. “Of course it does,” she said pridefully and then hurried off. “Hurry up. I’ll be waiting on the set to do the final touchups. Don’t mess it up before you get there.”
“Will do,” Matthew said, tilting his head to the left and right to see the final product again in the mirror. It was amazing what stage makeup could do and how realistic it looked. He sat admiring t
he good work.
There was a man standing in the corner, and he clapped his hands together once. “Looking good, Matthew,” the man said and then nodded towards Tripp, Mary, and Preston. “Who are your friends?”
Mathew smiled. “This is Lilly’s family. Her son, Tripp. Her mom, Mary. And, I’m sorry, we haven’t met, have we?” Matthew asked, sticking a hand out to Preston.
“Preston,” Preston introduced himself while reaching out and shaking his hand firmly.
Matthew grinned and pointed at the young man in the corner who was admiring Matthew’s fake bloodied head. “This is Walter. He’s the assistant director for the movie. He and my dad go way back.”
“I thought you said your dad wasn’t going to pull strings for you,” Mary said jokingly.
“Believe me, Matthew made his way into this movie all on his own,” Walter said. “I had nothing to do with casting for this piece. I was only just recently hired on. If anything, Matthew helped me land the job, not the other way around.” Walter said this in a sort of proud uncle way, patting Matthew on the back. “He’s got talent, and I’m excited to be working with him. Where’s your assistant? He hiding from me?”
“Probably,” Matthew said with a laugh. “I’ve got to run, guys. They’re waiting for me on set, but Lilly I’m sure will give you the grand tour.”
Matthew left with Walter, and instantly, Mary could hear Walter and Donnie bickering slightly about Donnie commandeering a golf cart from one of the set crew. She was fairly certain Donnie told him where he could put that golf cart, but the last of what he was saying was drowned out by Lilly’s excited chattering. “I’m so glad you guys are here; you have no idea!” she said. “I can’t wait to show you around set. Well, we can start here, I guess. This is Matthew’s trailer where he comes to relax between shots. He’s been doing such a great job. They started filming some last night, actually. He and Sven did their first scene together, and it was incredible.”
They headed out of the trailer and began walking through the set. Lilly introduced them to a number of actors, some of whom Tripp was excited to recognize, as well as the set crew, whom Lilly had already gotten to know since their arrival on Wednesday. They ate some lunch that had been brought in from a local restaurant for the crew and got to walk around on several of the stage sets that would be used during filming over the coming.
