Collision

by Stefne Miller

  “Once people find out about us, what if they find out about me, my past?”

  “They won’t. James dug and dug and couldn’t figure it out. It’ll be fine. Everyone’s going to love you. Trust me.”

  “But in the meantime?”

  “We play it cool. Nobody on the set knows we’re together except Oliver and Andrew.”

  “Whatever you say. This is your world, Cabot. I’ll follow your lead.”

  “Correction. This is now our world.”

  C H A P T E R

  32

  Once shooting started, my first priority was to keep Kei out of the chaos as much as possible. To do that, we had to severely limit the amount of time we spent together, no matter how painful it was or difficult it got.

  On the first day, Oliver took Kei with him and they left thirty minutes before I did. We left Millie behind to scavenge the hallways for anything she thought Kei might need to take back to Uganda the next time she went.

  By the time I made it to the set, the streets were lined three people deep, and when I stepped out of the car, I thought I might go deaf the screams were so loud. I’d been away from it all for so long, I’d forgotten how intense it was.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Kei. She videotaped me as I waved to the crowd then ducked my head, hunched my shoulders, and hid in the middle of Andrew and several other men who led me through the set and into a trailer that sat farthest away from the onlookers.

  A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

  Andrew opened it.“Yeah?”

  “This is Kei,” a male voice said. “Oliver sent her to interview Cab.”

  Andrew acted liked he’d never seen her before. He even scowled. “Okay. Come on in. Thanks, Pacey.”

  “Call me when you want me to come get her,” the voice said.

  “Will do.” Andrew held open the door. “Come in. Cab, evidently you’ve got an interview to do. Oliver’s orders.”

  Kei walked up a few steps and glanced around at the room full of people before making eye contact with me. “Hi,” I said with a reassuring smile. “If you can give me just a second to wrap this up.”

  “Of course.”

  “Thank you.” I turned back to the guy sitting next to me and tried to concentrate on what he was saying while at the same time keeping in tune with what was going on with Kei.

  “Please have a seat,” Andrew encouraged. “Can I get you a drink or anything, coffee maybe?”

  “There’s also tea back there,” I announced. “If you like that…hot tea instead of coffee. It’s back there.”

  “I do prefer tea actually.”

  “Great. Stella, please get Kei some hot tea.”

  Kei picked up a magazine and started flipping through it.

  Eventually my meeting ended and the four men stood and left the trailer. Kei, Andrew, Stella, and I were left.

  “So you’re here to interview me, is that right?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Go for it.”

  “All right.” She set up the camera and focused it before sitting back down. “Should I just start?”

  “Yep.”

  She glanced over at Andrew, but he didn’t respond in any way.

  “When I arrived here this morning, I was shocked at the number of people waiting to catch a glimpse of you. Were you surprised at all?”

  “I was,” I said with a nod. “The previous films I’ve worked on were more private and away from crowds, so I hadn’t experienced this before. This morning, when we came around the corner, I was really surprised to see so many fans, surprised and honored.”

  “They’re loud,” she said.

  “They can be. But you take it all in stride and realize that they’re just trying to show their support for what you do. We’ve got several weeks of shooting outdoors, so hopefully we’ll be able to keep them quiet while we’re filming.”

  I’d been trained at this. Answering questions from reporters or fans was completely different from having a normal conversation. Every word had to be planned and spoken carefully. This meant a different pace and more controlled voice, but it didn’t seem to throw Kei off at all. She went with the flow.

  “Can you tell me what it was about this role that spoke to you and made you decide to be a part of the project?”

  “Actually, the producer personally approached me about this story over a year ago, even before anyone really knew who I was. We’d met through an acquaintance. He gave me the script, I read through it, and the character instantly clicked with me.”

  “It’s a serious role,” she interrupted.

  I nodded. “It is. It’s very serious, and that’s part of what I liked about it. It’s a powerful story, and if it’s done correctly, I think it will really touch people in a way that not many stories do. The character of Fiero is a good guy. He’s passionate, but he’s very flawed.”

  “How so?”

  “I don’t want to give too much away.”

  “Well, this will be on the DVD, so everyone will already know how it ends.”

  I laughed. “True. Well, okay then. When the woman he loves is hurt, he lashes out and he does it in a very violent way. While some will think it’s romantic that he loves her so much that he will do anything to protect her—”

  “Or avenge what happened to her,” she interrupted again.

  “Right. Others might see it differently. I’ll be curious to see what people think.”

  “How do you see it?”

  “I can see both sides. If a woman I loved was hurt by someone, I’d want to hurt them back. But in the end, I’m not sure it would help anything.”

  “Eye for an eye?”

  “We’ll see. I guess people can decide for themselves if that’s the best way to handle the situation.”

  “One last question for now.”

  “Okay. Shoot.”

  “Do you have a girlfriend?”

  “Um…” I laughed as I looked down and rubbed my temples. My Cab facade instantly cracked.

  “Too personal?” she asked.

  “Um…you know….um…I normally don’t answer personal questions like that.”

  “I take that as a yes?”

  “No comment.” I glanced at Andrew and gave a quick tilt of the head.

  “Stella,” Andrew said instantly, “would you run and make sure Cab’s call time hasn’t changed?”

  “Of course,” Stella answered.

  Kei turned off the camera as the woman stopped what she was doing and left the trailer. Andrew was right behind her.

  I watched as he closed the door behind him. Just as it latched, I grabbed Kei, pulled her onto my lap, and kissed her.

  “Good morning,” I said just before kissing her again.

  “What did you think of my brilliant interview questions? Not bad for having no preparation.”

  “You did good. That last question was a doozy.”

  “I wanted to truly test your acting skills. And besides, isn’t it the question every person wants an answer to?”

  “It is. How’d I do?”

  “Horrid. You didn’t hide it well at all.”

  “I can’t help myself. You’re too cute, acting all official and

  everything.”

  “I take my job very seriously,” she teased. “Inquiring minds want to know if you have a girlfriend.”

  “Is this off the record?”

  “It is.”

  “I’m in a very serious, monogamous, committed, and private relationship with the most amazing person I’ve ever met. I couldn’t be happier.”

  “Blimey. Wish I could have gotten that on film.”

  “I’ll repeat it anytime you want.”

  There was one knock on the door. I picked her up and tossed her back in her chair just seconds before the door opened and Andrew walked back in.

  “She’s on her way back,” he said. “Great job, Kei.”

  “Thanks.”

  “So, I understand that O
liver’s wanting you to interview me daily?” I asked as Stella walked back inside.

  “He does. I think he was hoping to really capture your thoughts all the way through this process. You’re the heart and soul of the story. I believe people will be captivated in knowing how the filming is going and your thoughts about it all.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “Excuse me, Cab?” Stella interrupted. “Call time hasn’t changed. They need you in makeup in fifteen minutes.”

  “Thanks, Stella.” I held my hand out to Kei. “Thank you, Kei.”

  She shook my hand and stood. “No. Thank you.”

  “I’ll look forward to our time together each day.”

  “Me too. I’ll come prepared with better, less personal questions next time.”

  “Your questions were just fine. I’m about to go greet the fans. Would you want to capture that?”

  “I’d love to capture it.”

  “Then why don’t you head on out. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Aces.” She removed the camera from the tripod, gathered everything together, and left without looking back.

  As soon as I turned the corner and was spotted, the screaming started again. I didn’t spot Kei among the throng of girls but didn’t make a point to look for her either.

  “There he is!”

  “He’s coming this way!”

  Just as I got to the crowd, Andrew handed me a Sharpie. On cue, every girl standing there whipped out their books, pictures, and posters.

  “Over here!”

  “Cab!”

  “Can I have your autograph?”

  “Me, me, me, me!”

  I signed autographs, posed for pictures, and made small talk. “Marry me, Cab!”

  “You’ll have to get my mother’s permission,” I replied while signing another photograph. “I’m old fashioned, you know.”

  “Marry me too!”

  “Sorry. I’m a one-woman kind of guy.” That reply was mostly for Kei’s benefit.

  The statement received another squeal of delight from the females.

  “Okay. I’ve got to get going,” I announced.

  All the girls groaned, and some even cried.

  “I’ve got to get to the makeup trailer. Thanks for coming out this morning. I appreciate the support.”

  “We love you, Cab!”

  “You guys are great. Thanks.” With that, I handed the marker back to Andrew and walked away.

  Kei and I never made eye contact.

  From what I could tell, Kei spent the rest of the day exploring the set, getting to know the crew, and watching from afar while I prepared for scenes and eventually got around to actually shooting a few. I ate lunch with some of the other actors while Kei sat with Ben, the kid Oliver and I hired to stay with her at all times, and a few of the other film crew. Toward the end of the day, as she packed her cameras into a bag, I walked up behind her.

  “We should have gotten you a better job,” I whispered.

  “I like this job. Although, I wouldn’t mind taking the place of the young lady who is told to spritz you with water from time to time.”

  “We don’t even get to talk to each other. It completely blows.”

  “It’s better than nothing, I suppose.”

  “Dinner tonight? Just the two of us?”

  “Of course.”

  I looked around. She did the same. Andrew was keeping Ben occupied with a conversation of their own.

  “Gotta go,” I said quickly.

  “See you in a little while.”

  As soon as I walked off, as always, I was surrounded by a group of people who were leading me off to do the next item on my schedule.

  I never got to have dinner with Kei that night. I got stuck watching the dailies with the director and didn’t get back to the hotel until well after midnight.

  When I checked in on her, Kei was asleep on the couch next to a table stacked with sample-sized shampoos and conditioners, proof that Millie had done some damage to the housekeeper’s carts.

  I quietly left the room and walked down the long corridor to my suite. Even just down the hall, Kei felt too far away.

  C H A P T E R

  33

  Due to all the action sequences and battle scenes that had to be filmed, Jocelyn, the female lead, didn’t arrive on set until almost a month into shooting. Her arrival seemed to make Kei uncomfortable.

  She tried not to be worried, but given my history with co-stars, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t help but worry that if something was going to come between us, it would be this latest femme fatale that I had intimate scenes with.

  Kei’s anxiety, however, lessened when she watched Jocelyn and me film our first kissing scene. Once she saw how technical it all was and how there was absolutely no chemistry between Jocelyn and me, she calmed and went back to enjoying her job in the background.

  Kei took advantage of being on a movie set and took the opportunity to learn as much as she could about the process of filmmaking. She also got to be friends with a lot of the crewmembers. She ate with the same set of people every day, and from afar, her conversations seemed much more interesting than the ones I was having. I actually got jealous that some of the crew were learning things about her that I might not know yet.

  Finally, one day during lunch, instead of sitting with the cast or going to my trailer, I walked over to the table Kei was sitting at and sat down next to her.

  The crewmembers she was with were shocked.

  “Kei, evidently you’re one interesting woman. You’ve got everyone hanging on your every word,” I said.

  “You don’t know what you’ve been missing,” she teased.

  “We’re trying to teach her the ropes,” a guy named Chris announced. “She’s a fast learner.”

  “I find it all very interesting,” Kei said.

  “Good,” I said.

  “So, Kei,” Chris said. “Oliver told me that you’re wanting to put together a documentary on some footage you’ve taken in Uganda.”

  “Well, I’ve got a lot of footage, but I don’t necessarily know what I’ll be doing with it or if it’s any good.”

  “It’s all great,” I blurted, before I could stop myself. “Or at least that’s what Oliver has told me.”

  Kei froze for a second and then covered my slip. “Yes, Oliver has been telling everyone about the footage. I can’t believe he even got to you.”

  “He’s proud of you,” I said.

  “I’d love to see it,” Chris added.

  “Honestly?” Kei asked.

  “Yeah. You should bring it to my trailer sometime. I’ve got my computer set up. We can look through it, maybe choose some of the best parts. I bet we can even get one of the editing guys to teach you how to cut it.”

  “That would be splendid. And I would appreciate some pointers as well.”

  “Sure. My wife and I went to Ghana a few years back and fell in love with it. She’d love to see the footage too. We’ll need to show it to her next time she’s in town.”

  “I’d love to.”

  I was being completely ignored. Everyone was much more interested in what Kei had to say than anything I could’ve come up with. It was nice.

  “I’d like to hear more about what your family does there,” Chris continued. “And maybe if we can get something put together, we can have a showing with the cast and crew, raise some money for your ministry.”

  “That would be amazing. Thank you so much.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I took a second to interrupt. “Well, I’ve got a little downtime, so if you want to come knock out today’s interview after lunch, it might be a good time.”

  She glanced at our tablemates and then back at me. “If you’re sure you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all.” I stood up and put my hand on her shoulder. “I’ve got to go get some stuff done. Why don’t you finish up lunch and then meet me at my trailer. I’ll let Andrew know to be expect
ing you.”

  “All right.”

  I overheard the crew tease her as I walked away.

  •••••

  “What’s the highest honor that an actor can obtain?” Kei asked as she swept into my trailer.

  “The Academy Award. Why?”

  “Because I deserve one. I doubt you realize how difficult it is for me to pretend not only that I don’t like you but also that I hardly even know you.”

  I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her on the neck. “That makes two of us.”

  “High drama. That’s our life. High drama.”

  “Funny you should mention the Academy Awards. They’re getting close.”

  “I know.”

  “Which means you need to get a dress.”

  “A dress? And just how do I go about doing that?”

  “I don’t know. I’m a guy. But Jocelyn has had to get her hands on tons of fancy dresses through the years. She said she’d be willing to help.”

  “You told her about us?”

  “I figured it was about to come out anyway, so why not. Plus, she’s nice and she won’t say anything.”

  Kei plopped onto the couch. “Wow.”

  “Wow what?”

  “You’ve gone from nobbing your co-stars to asking them to help your girlfriend purchase a swanky dress.”

  “Times, they are a changin’.”

  “Apparently.” She pulled her feet onto the cushion, rested her chin on her knee, and took a deep breath. “It’s all about to get batty, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. But I know where to go if I want to be spotted, and I know where to go if I don’t. We aren’t going to be able to avoid the press altogether, but we can do the best we can. All that matters is that we try to have a little bit of normalcy.”

  “Normal? Like I’ve said, I don’t think we do normal.”

  “Kei, we want to be together. We aren’t going to be able to hide this thing forever, so we might as well put ourselves out there and let people get used to us. It’ll be crazy for a while, but things will eventually die down.”

  “I understand what you’re saying. I’m just frightened.”

  I sat on the arm of the couch. “Here’s the deal. I really need you to go out of your way not to look at the weeklies. I don’t know how people are going to respond, and I don’t want you stressing about what people think.”