15

"So. How've you been?"

"Um, fine?" Laura replied, blushing as her answer came out sounding like a question. "How've you been doing?"

"Doin' good," Blake said, grinning at Laura's discomfort. He was definitely having an effect on women today. "What are you up to?"

"Working?" Laura answered, her blush deepening. Why did she always act like a star-struck schoolgirl when he talked to her? "I'm, uh, just waiting right now, actually, until either Ric- Mr. Jarvis calls places or Sophia needs something."

Blake did not miss Laura's slip-up, but he kept his face straight. "Is this your first time working on a film set?" he asked, keeping his tone conversational.

"Um, no, actually. I've done a lot of extra work before." Laura paused, but Blake stayed silent, looking at her as if he expected more. "But it's my first time on set as a personal assistant."

"Ahh..." he said slowly. "How did you go from extra to assistant?"

"Well, um, I spent a lot of time doing community theatre -"

"Right, because community theatre has a lot of personal assistants," Blake said, raising an eyebrow.

"I did a lot of community theatre and," Laura repeated, ignoring Blake's comment, "I realized that I don't really like being an actor, but I like working behind the scenes."

"Oh." Blake didn't have a smart comment about that. "Is this the first time you've worked with Mr. Jarvis?"

"Umm...." Laura stalled, trying to remember the story she had concocted, in case something like this ever came up.

14

Laura had started towards the actress's trailer when Ricardo called for a break, but she had turned around in time to catch the exchange between the two actors. Laura made a point of looking away, though, when Sophia started walking towards her trailer. Between the bad start to the day and this latest exchange with her co-star, Laura was certain that Sophia was not going to be in a good mood.

Her prediction was not far off. Sophia did not acknowledge anyone between the set and her trailer. Laura had the door open as Sophia walked up the steps, and the actress paused at the top step before going inside. "Knock twice when Ricardo calls for me," Sophia instructed, then closed the door.

Laura blinked. Maybe Blake had said something... nice? Sophia certain seemed much less irritable than Laura had expected. Of course, it didn't take much to change the actress's mood, so Laura resolved to stay on her toes. She debated going off to grab a coffee, but decided against it - she wasn't sure how long of a break Ricardo planned to take, and Laura didn't want to be far, in case Sophia decided that she needed something.

"You look thirsty."

Laura whirled around, almost hitting Blake as she did so. "What?" she asked, certain that she had misheard him.

"I said, 'You look thirsty'," Blank repeated, laughing lightly. "I brought you some coffee. It's got cream and sugar - you look like a cream-and-sugar sort of girl." He held out a styrofoam cup towards her.

"Uh, thanks," Laura said, accepting the cup. She didn't really like regular coffee - she was more of a smothered-in-caramel-and-chocolate sort of girl than a cream-and-sugar sort of girl - but she thought it was a sweet gesture. She smiled at him awkwardly and took a sip.

"Mmm, hot," she said, wincing.

"Fresh," Blake corrected, taking a sip of his own coffee. "So. How've you been?"

13

"I'm Zach," Blake said, extending his hand towards Sophia.

"Kat," she replied, shaking his hand. "Um, I'm sorry... should I know you?"

"Not really," he replied. "But I've seen you around."

Sophia smiled. "Here in the park, right?" she asked. "I thought you looked familiar. Do you live nearby?"

"No," he replied, "but I work around the corner. I like to take a walk through this park after work to relax."

"But it's Saturday," Sophia said, looking confused. She shifted her position on the bench, turning so that there was room beside her.

"Yeah... well, I decided to take a chance that you might be here today," he said, stepping closer to the bench, but not sitting down yet.

"Really?" Sophia asked, blushing.

The scene continued beautifully - the first time that had happened during the shoot so far. Ricardo kept the cameras rolling, letting the actors run through the whole scene before finally stopping.

"Beautiful!" Ricardo called out as the action stopped. "That was amazing, folks. I want you to take a break, then we'll come back and get a few more angles, okay? Good." Ricardo turned to the equipment beside him to review the film, hoping to get a fairly short list of shots to re-do.

As Sophia rose from the bench, Blake reached out and touched her arm lightly. She paused and looked at him, ready to spit out some acidic comeback at whatever teasing remark he was about to make.

He surprised her, however. "That felt really good, Sophia," he told her.

She blinked, uncertain of what to say. "Thanks," she finally responded. "It did."

Blake grinned at her, then turned and headed over to the craft services table, pleased with the way both the scene had gone, and with the way he had managed to put his co-star at a loss for words.

Sophia watched as he walked off, still unsure of how she should have reacted to his comment. She shook her head, trying to regain her composure, then started towards her trailer.