“I come every day it’s light enough to see. My favorite part of the day.” She let out a soft laugh. “Besides drinking beer and watching movies after dinner.” She squatted close to the water, clearly fearless about being knocked over. “Got some venomous urchins here. Be careful.”
Piper took cautious steps to perch on a rock next to Haley, then crouched down. “Which ones?”
Pointing, she said, “The ones with the long spines. They call them wana.” Her finger moved, pointing out a pretty, nautilus-shaped shell. “Periwinkle snail. Nice, huh?”
A wave, slightly bigger than any in the last set, swooshed along the rocks, splashing them both. “Not nice,” Piper said, spitting sea water. She wiped at her eyes, trying to remove the sting. “At least it’s warm.”
“Super warm. I go swimming in the morning if I can get someone to go with me.”
“I’m with you,” Piper said, giving her an encouraging smile.
“Yeah, you are, but I’m digging this.” She pointed at a creature that skittered along the big boulder next to her. “Rock crab.”
Nodding, Piper said, “You know a lot about these guys. I just know I like ’em.”
“That’s plenty. And I only know the names because I’ve been out here with some of the local guys. They know a load about this stuff.” She moved a little further out, her gaze locked on the rocks, clearly looking for movement. “All of these Hawaiians, many of them trained actors, and the cast is one hundred percent white,” she muttered.
“I guess they were hemmed in by the concept. A bunch of white hippies go to a deserted island and bumble along for decades because they know nothing about the area. I guess there wasn’t much chance for diversity.”
“That’s bull. They’re not trying to incorporate native culture at all. This is just one more movie set in Hawaii without context, making it seem like the mainland with perfect weather.”
“You have been coming out here with native guys,” Piper teased, hoping Haley took it as the joke she meant.
The sweet, full smile she revealed made Piper smile back. “I’ve been radicalized. I guess I’m going to have to contact the writer and suggest she do a sequel where real Hawaiians come to the island.”
Piper put her hands out, prepared to fall as a knee-high wave splashed over them. “Kinda iffy here,” she said, chuckling. “I hope you can swim.”
“The water’s six inches deep. But I can fish your butt out of here if I have to.”
“You know, I haven’t seen many Hawaiian guys on set. Where are you meeting locals?”
“Security, catering, and craft services are almost all local people. You’ve got to get out more, Piper. You’re in a bubble.”
“All true. If I didn’t have to do Charlie’s hair the minute we got here, I’d come out and walk in the morning. But that’s not an option.”
“Well, if you ever do, we’ll go talk to the guys over by the cove. They can give you an earful about the movies studios have made here in the last ten years.” She took another few steps, then her hand shot out. “Black sea cucumber. Pretty one.”
Piper followed her, with her foot slipping on the moss. But she kept her balance and stood close. “Really pretty.”
Haley turned to look directly into her eyes, and Piper could feel her pulse start to race. Haley’s gaze was so open, so revealing. That was one of her most attractive traits. “This is nice. Maybe we could meet up and do this again.”
“I’d love to,” Piper said, realizing her voice made her sound like she was taking a vow.
Haley grabbed her hand and held it tightly, pulling it to her chest when a wave nearly bowled them over. They were wet from their shoulders down, and they both began to laugh. “What are we doing standing out here?” Haley asked, choking a little, obviously having inhaled some water.
“I have no idea, but I think we ought to head for dry sand.”
They picked their way back over the rocks, then stood on the beach and tried to wipe the salt water from their eyes. Haley used her fingers to comb through her hair, making it look nearly perfect. “Well, she said, tugging on her shirt to settle it over her shorts, “That was refreshing.”
Piper followed a few drops of seawater as they slid down Haley’s face, finding herself mesmerized.
“Is that cool?” Haley asked.
“What?” She snapped to it, trying to look like she’d been paying attention.
“I asked if you’d like me to check the shooting schedule, then see when the next good tide-pooling is. You kinda need to plan this.”
“Oh, yeah. Great.” Piper was smiling, feeling great, then a thought hit her, making her knees weak. “Um, did you ever listen to a voicemail I sent a while after you left LA?”
“No,” she said, looking down at the sand. “I blocked your number. I’d have to go through my voice mails to find it. Why? Should I?”
“Please don’t,” Piper said, with a nervous laugh making her voice break. “I was really angry, and hurt, and… Please don’t,” she repeated, hoping that Haley was the kind of person who didn’t want to ask for trouble.
“Next time I get a signal, I’ll delete it,” she said. “Promise. Neither of us was at her best during that time, and I don’t have any interest in revisiting old wounds.”
Perfect, Piper thought. Exactly the kind of response she would have expected from the Haley she’d started to fall in love with. The woman she’d effectively made off-limits.
***
That afternoon, Piper sat in a Jeep, waiting for Charlie to finish whatever she was doing with Tim. They tended to spend an hour together at the end of the day, talking about God knew what, while Piper worked on correspondence.
She had printouts from the emails Zandra considered important, and was making notes on them. In just a few days they’d gotten into a good groove, with Zandra eager to push for as much responsibility as Piper would allow. Given every part of the job was a part she was more than willing to give up, Piper let her run with it, impressed by Zandra’s instincts, which were usually perfect.
A hand landed on her shoulder, and she turned to see Haley, holding Delta.
“Hey! How’d the little guy wind up with you?”
“Zandra got called away to do something for the director of photography, and she handed him off to Scott, who was then called to the set. Since I’m third on the list of Delta-minders, we got to spend the afternoon together.” She held him in front of Piper and moved him to and fro, his legs dangling when he went limp in her hands. “The little monster barked his head off at my birds, who responded by squawking all afternoon. He’ll never know how close he came to having his muzzle wrapped in duct tape.”
She might have been complaining, but Haley was, at her essence, such a good-natured person, even her complaining didn’t sound very grumpy.
Piper took the pup from her and gave him a lecture. “You’re a very bad doggie for barking at birds. They’re in cages and can’t dig their claws into you and carry you away for dinner. That’s not fair.”
“Eww,” Haley said, making a face. “Good thing he doesn’t understand English very well.” She slapped her hand on the side of the Jeep. “Taking off?”
“Supposed to. How about you? Big plans?”
“The usual. Since we’ve got tomorrow off, I’m looking forward to sleeping in.”
“Wish I could do the same. Aaron Evert’s flying in to do some PR with Charlie for the movie they’ve got coming out in a couple of months. That’s probably going to take all day.”
“Do you have to go?”
“Probably not.” Piper started to think through the logistics. “People from the studio publicity department are in charge. I’m sure they don’t need me to give them advice.”
Haley put a hand to her shoulder, with Piper relishing the warmth that permeated her shirt. The simplest touch meant so much when your body craved contact. “Why don’t you stay over? We’ve got some fun things planned.”
“You do?” She cocke
d her head, puzzled. “Do you mean the crew?”
“Yeah.” A bright grin lit up her face. “My homies. Some of them are truly awesome, Piper.”
“Really? I like just about everyone, but I wouldn’t go all the way to awesome.”
“That’s because you never hang out. Come on,” she urged, tugging at her shirt. “We’re not getting many days off. Why not make use of one?”
“What would I do with Delta?”
Haley patted her on the cheek. “I believe he’s your sister’s dog. Maybe you could remind her of that.”
Piper waited a beat and nodded. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give that a try.”
***
Charlie didn’t put up even a minimal complaint about caring for Delta for an entire night. She cuddled the pup to her chest and kissed his little face, then climbed into the Jeep and moved Delta’s paw up and down in an exaggerated goodbye. Piper stayed by the dining hall long enough to watch the helicopter take off and curl around to zip right over the structure.
“Wow. That’s what I look like when I leave at night? Kinda like the overlord going back to the manor, huh?”
Haley banged into her with her shoulder, chuckling. “We’ve got a few names for you guys. We might share if you prove you’re not an egotistical monster.” She opened the door and entered, leaving Piper to stare after her.
“I’m not a monster!” she said, her voice a little loud.
A couple of guys from the sound crew exited at that moment, unable to contain their snickering.
Off to a super start!
They ate with a group from the costume department, then some people from transportation pulled up chairs and joined them. There were soon eleven jammed around the table, most of them drinking beer and trying to top each other’s stories of hijinks on previous movies. It truly was like being at camp—with alcohol.
Haley must have had her own stories, but she didn’t offer any up, instead begging Myra to tell one about a really famous actress who insisted she was a size zero. Myra and her crew had to spend hours cutting out whatever tags were in her ready-to-wear clothing and sew in tags they had made, confirming that the size six actress was, in fact, a zero. When she got to the punch line, where the actress lost two pounds and decided she was then a negative two, Piper caught sight of Haley, silently mouthing the words, clearly having heard the story enough times to have it memorized. Really cute.
After dinner, the whole group went outside to watch a movie on a gigantic screen they’d set up. Being outside on a beautiful night, the sky cloud-free and filled with stars, was nice all on its own. But Roger Whitman, an old hand who’d been a second-unit director on movies going back to Piper’s youth, had his hand on the remote. Every once in a while he’d stop the movie, one he’d worked on, and reveal a bit of background or a funny story. Hearing those little tidbits made the film come alive in ways Piper would never have guessed possible. Soon her gaze was glued to the screen, like they were watching Citizen Kane with Orson Welles himself commenting.
Piper’d been sitting in a sand chair, but she found a towel and lay down to watch, still mesmerized. It was a great bonding experience to be surrounded by people all working to achieve a common goal, not a single outsider around. Someone came out and passed around a tray of freshly baked cookies, and she grabbed two. Then she lay back down and stared up at the sky, perfectly content to listen to Roger’s stories without the visuals
It was only around ten when the movie ended, but Piper was nearly asleep when Haley poked her on the foot.
“Is it time to see how the other half sleeps, hotel girl?”
“I’ll just stay here. Nice.”
“I’m not sure what crawls around here at night, but I bet something does.” Haley reached down and grasped both of Piper’s hands, pulling her up with surprisingly little effort. While draping an arm around her shoulders, she said, “If you get carried off, I’ll probably wind up being Delta’s guardian. I’m just trying to protect my interests.”
“Where am I going to sleep? On the floor of your tent?”
“Now doesn’t that sound like fun?” Haley squeezed her shoulder. “I promised Charlie I’d take care of you. I can’t have you on the floor.”
“You promised Charlie?”
“She loves you,” Haley said, now very serious. “She told me to keep an eye on you.”
“For god’s sake! I’m twelve years older than she is. I think I’ve learned how to take care of myself by now.”
“Can’t hurt to have some help.”
They walked past all of the tents, Piper taking a close look at them for the first time. They were the nicest ones she’d ever seen, with plywood floors and flaps that zipped securely. Each one had screen windows on three sides and a full screen in the front, letting people leave the heavy flap open when it was warm—which it almost always was. They were big, too, with each of the two occupants having a chest of drawers for their things, and a rack for hanging clothes. The sleeping arrangements didn’t look too bad, but narrow cots probably got in the way of any cuddling for people lucky enough to hook up.
As they walked up a slight ridge, Piper saw the outline of a few more tents, obviously intentionally set away from the others. “These are for Tim and Meredith and the kids, but they’ve never used them,” Haley said. “And yes, I asked permission before I decided to plunk you down in one.” She unzipped the flap, revealing a set-up similar to the others, but with a few upgrades. “Your castle awaits.”
Piper went inside, surprised it was big enough to stand up in. “Are you going back to yours?”
“I think I’ll head back to the party for a while. Saturday nights are pretty special.”
“I could…”
“You’re clearly tired, Piper. Use this chance to catch up on some sleep. I’m sure you won’t hear the party. They went to a lot of trouble to make sure the sound wouldn’t carry up here and disturb the kids.”
There were lanterns on each dresser, and she flicked them on, with the warm golden glow making Haley’s skin look particularly pretty. “Now that you’re rolling with the bigwigs, don’t think you’ve got to share a bathroom. Oh, no. Not you.” Taking Piper by the hand, she led her out of the tent and up a path. “Yours alone,” she said when they stood in front of a building exactly the same as the others they’d passed, this one with not another soul inside.
“Really nice,” Piper said, nodding. “But I feel bad. Why don’t you use this one too? I bet the other ones get crowded.”
“They planned this out well. I’ve never had to wait long.” She put her arm around Piper’s waist and hugged her. “Enjoy yourself out here in suburbia. I’ll bring you some clothes to change into in the morning.”
“Toothbrush?” Piper asked.
Haley reached into her back pocket and extracted a travel sized brush and a tiny tube of paste. “Way ahead of you. Do you mind wearing my clothes?”
“Of course not, but they’ll be tight. I’m sure I’m at least one size bigger than you are.”
“Really?” Her eyes scanned Piper quickly, like she’d never looked at her closely before. “I’m not sure that’s true, but I was going to grab a new crew T-shirt for you, along with a pair of shorts I run in. I’m sure the shorts will fit.”
“How about a spare swimsuit? I assume we’ll spend the day at the beach, right?”
“You assume correctly. I’ll bring you a comb, a swimsuit and some sunblock. You won’t need another thing.” With a quick squeeze, Haley let go and walked away. Piper had to stop herself from once more asking her to stay, and not just because her digs were nice, and private, and easily big enough to share. She simply didn’t want her to go.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Piper let that thought have free rein. Maintaining a polite distance from Haley hadn’t helped at all. It was probably time to actively try to be closer. Maybe Haley would reveal some awful traits that would finally sever the persistent longing that Piper hadn’t been able to extinguish. That wasn�
�t likely, but she was running out of alternatives.
***
After breakfast, about a hundred and fifty people—nearly the entire crew—headed to the beach. It looked nothing like it had on the days they’d filmed there, now with lounge chairs, floats, towels, kayaks, three small sailboats, and a refreshment stand already set up.
Haley led the way down to the end of a long line of chairs, taking the last two. About fifty yards further down the beach, a group of guys were filling a pit with wood, furiously stacking it like they were under a real time crunch. “Little early for a bonfire,” Piper said, pointing.
“Catering. They and the grounds crew work their butts off. So far, I’d have to say I have the easiest job on set.” She gave Piper a glittering smile. “Other than you.”
“I could argue with that, but I’ll concede I’ve never had to fill a pit.” She stood there, gazing at the guys for another minute. “What in the heck are they doing?”
“Making sure we get a special dinner for our day off. I’m not sure when their day off is,” she added. “I think never.”
A motor boat came into view, with a couple of guys tossing big, orange, inflated cones into the water, then heaving what must have been a heavy weight attached to a long chain overboard. “I assume that’s the grounds crew?”
“Yep. I hope they sneak in long naps during the day, because it looks to me like they’re always working.”
One of the assistant sound guys stood near the center of the line of chairs, then picked up a bullhorn to speak into it. “Attention!” he called out. “I need the red team to line up on my right, and the blue team on my left.”
Piper looked at Haley, who pulled a pair of tank tops out of her bag, one red and one blue. She tossed the blue one over and said, “May the best team—mine—win.”
***
A half hour later, Piper sat in a sea kayak, paddling her ass off. Haley was beating her by twenty feet, even though their relay teammates had handed over the kayaks at about the same time. She dug deep, really giving it her all, but found she wasn’t making much of a dent. Haley didn’t look that strong, but she was kicking her butt!
Fame Page 38
