All That Lies Within

by Lynn Ames

  “Okay. I can help ease your mind there. These are the guys that build entire sets in a day. I’m pretty sure they can handle putting together a virtual classroom in that amount of time. Piece of cake.”

  “And they just happen to be in Vermont?”

  God, you’re even prettier with a furrowed brow. “Studios work with unionized crews. Those unions have members pretty much everywhere in the country. So the powers that be will just go down a list using a location filter, for say, New England, and they’ll put a crew together in less than an hour.”

  “Huh. Okay. Well, maybe we can get past that hurdle. But that’s just one item on Alistar’s list.”

  “What’s next?” And why don’t you come back and sit next to me again?

  “He wants assurances that I’ll make myself available to my students just as I would if I were holding regular office hours.”

  “They don’t have to be the same hours, do they?”

  “No. But they have to be equivalent hours.”

  Dara raised her eyebrows. “Meaning three to four hours a day?”

  “More or less, yes. I don’t know how often I’ll have to be on set, but…”

  Dara calculated. Their days on set would be ten to twelve hours long. Depending on George’s predilections, that could mean a fourteen to sixteen hour day for Rebecca, every day for three months.

  “Too many for you to be able to keep regular office hours. That’s ridiculous. He’s asking too much of you.”

  Rebecca came and put a gentle hand on her arm. “I appreciate your righteous indignation on my behalf. I do. But it’s okay. He’s within his rights. My job contract requires that I offer a certain number of office hours.”

  “Yes, but this is an extraordinary circumstance. He should make allowances.” Dara wanted to snatch the cell phone from Rebecca and redial her boss. She put her hand in her pocket. She’s just a business colleague, Dara. Relax. This isn’t your battle to fight.

  “I don’t have office hours every day. Usually only on days when I have classes, so it’ll be all right.”

  “How many days is that?”

  “Three, this semester. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday.”

  “I still think it’s unreasonable.”

  “Noted,” Rebecca said. “You know what I’d like?”

  “What?”

  “Breakfast. All that groveling has made me famished.”

  “We’ve got an app for that,” Dara said.

  “Don’t I need to check out first?”

  “We should have time to grab your stuff after brunch, but if you’re already packed, we can do it now and throw your gear in my car.”

  Rebecca laughed. “It isn’t like I was planning to be here for long. All I have is this.” She held up a small carry-on bag.

  “Okay. You make the call. Pack now or pack later.”

  “It’ll only take me a minute. Let’s just do it now and then we won’t be rushed over brunch.”

  “I like the way you think.” Dara got up and moved to the sofa to get out of the way. She observed Rebecca as she hustled from the bathroom to the bed, where the carry-on lay open, and then to the closet where she’d hung her pants and blouses. Efficient. Organized. Neat. Dara shook her head at herself. What? Are you taking notes for an evaluation?

  “Okay. That’s it.”

  Dara made a show of looking at her watch. “Less than four minutes.”

  Rebecca blushed an appealing shade of red. “As I said, I didn’t bring much.”

  “Which brings us to the next item on our agenda after brunch,” Dara said, as she rose and headed for the door. “Clothes shopping…”

  “What do you think about this?” Dara held up a pair of stonewashed skinny jeans and a silk tank top.

  Rebecca blushed, again. It felt like she was doing that a lot today. Everything Dara had picked out for her so far was form-fitting and sexy. Rebecca rarely wore such things in everyday life, and never to work.

  They were in a small, trendy boutique in Hollywood where Dara obviously was a regular customer. The sales staff called her by name and immediately began pulling items off the racks in her size until she stopped them and told them she wasn’t the customer today.

  “Just try it on.” Dara shoved the items at her. “Please? Humor me.”

  Reluctantly, Rebecca took the items and disappeared into the dressing room.

  “Don’t forget to come out and model for me this time. How am I supposed to be able to gauge your style if I don’t see the results?”

  The jeans fit like a glove, and Rebecca had to admit the top hugged her in all the right places. Still, it was a sea change from what she was accustomed to.

  “Well? Let’s see it.”

  Rebecca ducked outside the dressing room and Dara whistled appreciatively, which resulted in yet another blush. “Really?”

  “I’d never lie to you,” Dara said. Rebecca might have imagined it, but Dara’s voice sounded husky to her. “You look hot. If you show up on the set looking like that, there’ll be a lot of heads turning in your direction.”

  “As if with you anywhere nearby anyone would be looking at me.” It slipped out without permission. You’re an idiot. She’s a business colleague. And, worse still, you just made yourself like everyone else in her life. Rebecca wanted to cry.

  “That would be their mistake,” Dara said. She came and wrapped a belt she’d picked up around Rebecca’s hips.

  Standing this close, Rebecca could feel Dara’s breath on her face. Her perfume was light and clean, her eyes vibrant and alive. You are in so much trouble. She’s just a colleague helping you out. She’s just a colleague helping you out. Maybe if she said it often enough, her stomach would stop doing cartwheels.

  “Do you like it?” Dara raised an eyebrow, cocked her head, and smiled playfully.

  “Oh.” You actually need to answer her. Now would be good. Rebecca looked down to see Dara’s arms around her hips holding the belt in place. Not helpful. “Um, yeah. If you think it works.”

  “It absolutely works.”

  Unable to stop herself, Rebecca squirmed. She was human, after all, and could only be expected to endure so much.

  Dara dropped one end of the belt and stepped back, evaluating her. “Mm-hmm. You’re a babe.”

  “I-I’ll just go get dressed. We’ve got enough clothes to get me through the week now. I’ll fly home on the weekend and get my things.” Rebecca retreated as quickly as she could. Heaven only knows what would happen if she had to stand there any longer with Dara looking at her like that.

  When she came back out, the sales staff already had everything rung up for her.

  “I was going to pay for it,” Dara said, “but I suspect the studio might wonder why they were reimbursing me for your wardrobe when I’m not supposed to know about you.”

  “True.” Rebecca took out her credit card. She hoped it wouldn’t take too long for her to be reimbursed. The total was complete sticker shock and more than she would’ve paid for clothes in a year.

  They walked out into the bright sunshine and Dara put on her shades. “Condo shopping next.” She checked her iPhone. “Looks like my agent has lined up a few prospects for us to check out.”

  “Really? How did she know what to look for?”

  Dara grinned. “Did you think I was grilling you about what kinds of places you’ve lived out of idle curiosity?”

  “You mean you didn’t really care?”

  “Oh, I definitely cared. But I also wanted to get my agent working while we were shopping. I gave her parameters based on what you said this morning.” Dara bit her lip.

  Oh, please don’t do that. Rebecca tried, with marginal success, not to stare at those luscious lips and resisted the urge to reach out and touch them with her fingertips.

  “Is that okay? I guess it was a little presumptuous, huh?”

  Rebecca shook her head. “No. It was incredibly thoughtful. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Dara used her hands t
o mock frame Rebecca’s face. “Definitely.”

  “Definitely what?”

  “Definitely you’re an ice cream kind of girl.”

  Rebecca burst out laughing. “You can tell that just by looking, eh?”

  “From the right angle, I can tell a lot of things.” Dara waggled her eyebrows. “So, how about if I take you to my favorite ice cream joint and then we’ll meet my agent at the first place? What do you say?”

  “Sounds perfect.” I can’t imagine anything I’d rather do, or anyone with whom I’d rather do it. Rebecca sighed happily. I am in so much trouble.

  Dara answered Carolyn’s call on the second ring while she waited for Rebecca to come back from the bathroom. “Hi.”

  “Hi, yourself. How’s it going?”

  “Great.”

  “Where are you?”

  “We just finished eating ice cream. When Rebecca comes back from the ladies’ room we’re going to check out a few condos.”

  “How did the shopping go?”

  “She’s incredibly easy.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Dara felt the heat flow south from her belly. “She’s easy to buy clothes for. She looks good in everything.”

  “Ah. I see. So all-in-all, a successful day.”

  Dara thought back to the beginning of the day. “Mostly. Seems like her boss is a bit of a problem.”

  “How so?”

  Dara explained Alistar’s demands.

  “Well, she does already have a day job, Dar.”

  “I know that. But if he holds her to that schedule, she’ll be exhausted before the first week is done. The guy’s being a jerk.”

  “Seems to me he’s just taking care of his professional responsibility.”

  “Maybe, but I’m worried for her.” Carolyn was silent on the other end of the phone. “You still there?”

  “I’m here.”

  “I thought maybe I lost you.”

  “Nope. I’m just wondering what happened to the woman who stood outside my house last night vehemently insisting that she never wanted to see Rebecca again.”

  Worst mistake ever. Dara closed her eyes. “Okay, I was wrong. You were right. Is that what you want me to say?”

  Carolyn laughed. “I wasn’t looking for that, but you could say it about a hundred more times and I’d be all right with that.”

  “I’m going now.”

  “Bye, Dar.”

  Dara ended the call as Rebecca emerged from the bathroom and walked toward her. Yeah, I was definitely, definitely wrong about that.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Rebecca twirled around in the middle of the tastefully furnished, spacious living room. This was the third condo they’d checked out in the last two hours. Dara rejected the first spot, Rebecca the second.

  “Do you like it?” Dara asked.

  “I do. It’s modern, yet comfortable. You know what I mean?”

  “I was thinking the same thing. Did you see this?” Dara motioned for Rebecca to join her in the backyard. “It’s got a sunken hot tub. Perfect for relaxing after a long day on the set.”

  Especially if I could share it with you. “That’s a nice bonus.” Stay on track here. “What happened to Stacy?”

  “She’s probably out front on her iPad, investigating other options for us.”

  The way she said it made Rebecca wonder if Dara had asked the agent to make herself scarce. But why would she? Rebecca went back inside and down the hall to have a look at the bedrooms. There were three of them. One bedroom doubled as an office. It featured a sturdy desk and a comfortable office chair and a recliner in the corner that would be a perfect spot to do some reading. The second bedroom held a treadmill, a flat screen television, and a queen size futon. The third bedroom was the master bedroom.

  A large, flat-screen TV dominated the wall opposite the king size bed. A sizeable window opened onto a nice view, and the walk-in closet was large enough to house a dresser alongside a California Closet organizer for pants, blouses, dresses, and shoes.

  “This is the nicest one we’ve se—” Rebecca stopped short and her mouth went dry when she turned around to see Dara lying on the bed.

  “The bed is pretty comfy. Come try it out.” When Rebecca hesitated, Dara added, “You can’t know whether a place is the right one for you until you know that you can get some quality sleep in the bed.” She patted the bed next to her.

  Tentatively, Rebecca sat on the bed and pushed down on it with her hands. “Feels pretty good.”

  “Argh.” Dara reached up and pulled Rebecca’s shoulder so that she fell backward. Now they were lying side-by-side. “Now you can tell whether or not the bed suits you. What do you think?”

  I think if I stay like this I’m ninety percent likely to do something I know I really, really shouldn’t do with a business colleague.

  “It’s fine.”

  “Fine? Fine isn’t good enough for ninety nights of sleeping. I’ll take comfortable, or heavenly, or even yummy. But fine just isn’t going to cut it.”

  Rebecca tried her hardest to get comfortable without touching any part of Dara’s body. She scooted to her right by a few feet and wiggled around until she was in proper sleeping position. “It’s comfortable, and heavenly, and yummy to boot. Satisfied?” She jumped up and stepped back from the bed.

  Dara grinned like a Cheshire cat and rolled off the other side of the bed. “That’s better.”

  Are you intentionally making me crazy? Or is that just a side benefit?

  “Do you want to keep looking?”

  They walked back into the living room and Rebecca spun around one last time. “I could see spending three months in a place like this. I think I’m good.”

  Dara nodded her approval. “I agree. Let’s go see what Stacy has to say about how quickly we can get you in here.”

  “Right.” So why am I hoping the lease doesn’t start right away?

  “So, this is my place.” Dara flitted around, turning on lights. “Normally, I’d be at my beach place on the weekend, but we’ve got such an early start tomorrow, I thought it would be better if we stayed closer to the studio.” And why are you blabbering on like a high school girl on a first date worried about getting to first base? “I’ll show you around.”

  “Is this from that Williamstown Theater production of Under the Blue Sky?” Rebecca was peering intently at a picture on the wall in Dara’s office.

  Dara moved in behind Rebecca to stand over her shoulder. “You know about that?”

  “Why do you sound so surprised? Of course I know about that. What kind of academic would I be if I hadn’t done my homework?”

  “I suppose there’s something to that, but I have to say, that’s a little frightening.”

  “Sorry.” Rebecca turned to face Dara. “The last thing in the world I want to do is frighten you.”

  Too late for that. Dara momentarily lost herself in Rebecca’s eyes. “Right. In answer to your question, yes. That shot was taken by the production’s marketing folks.”

  “To get a role like that right out of the gate… What a coup.”

  For a moment, neither one of them gave ground. If I stay here like this, I’ll kiss you. Dara cleared her throat and took a step back. “It was just an understudy role. I got pretty lucky.”

  “You’re selling yourself short, and you know it. You don’t get something like that by being lucky. That’s about talent.”

  At that moment, Dara’s computer alerted her to an e-mail. Both she and Rebecca jumped at the intrusion. “Sorry. That’s probably the call sheet for tomorrow.”

  “The call sheet?”

  “The schedule that tells everyone what time they need to be on set or in makeup, and what scenes are being shot.”

  Rebecca checked her watch. “They’re just now sending it at seven-thirty on a Sunday night?”

  “Are you kidding? That’s early.” Dara walked to her computer monitor to verify that it was, indeed, the call sheet. When she returned, Rebecca
was staring at her phone.

  “What is it?”

  “E-mails. One from Alistar gushing about the crew that came and created an entire new world in what he’s calling the Minton Lab.”

  “See? I told you everything would be fine with your boss.”

  “For now. Tomorrow’s another day.”

  “What did I tell you about the Law of Attraction?”

  “Right. Yes,” Rebecca agreed, “everything is fine and will remain so throughout the duration of this project. Better?”

  “Much. Good job.”

  Rebecca continued to stare at her phone.

  “What else?”

  “Hmm? Oh. An e-mail from the director ordering me to be on set at 8:30 a.m. and an attachment with the pages for tomorrow’s filming.” Rebecca’s arms fell loosely to her sides. She looked up at Dara, wide-eyed. “This is really happening, isn’t it?”

  Dara smiled broadly. “It most certainly is. How about if we go over the pages? I’ll print them out for us and you can run lines with me. Together we can work out what needs to change in the script.”

  “Okay. Wow. I can’t believe this is real.”

  “Want me to pinch you?”

  Rebecca shook her head. “You’re a little too eager, I think.”

  Rebecca lowered the script to her lap. They were comfortably ensconced on matching leather chairs in Dara’s library. Rebecca had her feet up on the ottoman. “Is this really helping you?”

  “Are you kidding? You’re a great Harold. Sam had better watch out before you steal the part from him.”

  “Very funny.”

  “Who said I was kidding? I don’t usually get to run lines with someone who so thoroughly gets the ins and outs of the character she’s reading, or the one she’s interacting with. Most often, I’m just in my own little world with someone woodenly reciting words opposite me. So, to answer your question, yes, you’re really, really helping me tremendously.”

  Rebecca spent a moment basking in Dara’s smile, enjoying being in her company. You’re in deep trouble. Keep it professional. You’re just here to help. You can’t sit here and go all gaga on her. That makes you no different than anyone else in her life.