Making Love (Destiny Book 1) (20 page)

“What about you, Elle?”

“I’ve made that mistake,” I admitted. “If you’re already in a dark place, it’s kind of tempting to go and read things that back it up but on the whole, I’ve been very good at avoiding online discussion of me. Although I do have a friend who texts me links to funny articles with ludicrous stories about us, so I try to have fun with the downsides of it too.”

“Articles like what?”

“Well the first one I texted to my old school friend, was my bedroom secrets laid bare by a man who I had never slept with and who had never been in my bedroom. She sends me similar things now; like speculation on whether I’ve had a boob job because I wore a padded bra, and I remember a list of my favourite books, half of which I'd never read or never heard of.”

“But getting back to the jealousy for a moment, how does being the focus of those kind of ugly sentiments make you feel?”

“Uh, not great but I think the saddest thing, is how in the 21st century, we’re still pitting women against each other. The truth is, I’m not their competition and to say that I am, denies Will his autonomy. I mean, if you take me out of the picture right now, chances are Will wouldn’t fall for any of the women who hate me and even if he did, it would only be one person out of all of them. So really, their problem isn’t with me, it’s with Will’s taste.”

“Are you saying I have bad taste?” he asked me.

“Um, of course not, darling…”

“But with so many people willing to take your place,” Erica continued, “doesn’t it ever make you feel insecure and jealous?”

Oh well, if we were being truthful, in for a penny, in for a pound. Welcome to Elle’s Relationship Philosophy 101.

“No, and I’ll try to explain why. There’s one thing I’ve never understood about woman who are cheated on, and I’ve been cheated on, so this isn’t judgement, but so many women blame the other woman. I just don’t get that. I mean, if it’s a friend or family member, that’s a double betrayal but most of the time, the other woman is a stranger who owes you nothing. Why shouldn’t she make a play for your man?”

“But what about the wife and sometimes, kiddies too?”

“But that other woman made no commitment to the wife, and those children aren’t her responsibility. I’m not saying that having an affair with a married man is a good thing to do, it isn’t, but the person most in the wrong is the man. He
did
make a commitment, to a relationship if not a marriage. If there are kids involved, he did father them and he is the one responsible for betraying them. These other women (or men for that matter) don’t have magical, mystical powers to make people forget their commitments and responsibilities and become a cheater, and if they’ll cheat with one person, they’ll cheat with another so even if some women turn them down, they’ll just keep trying until they find one who doesn’t care that he’s in a relationship.

“So the thing is, when it comes to cheating, I don’t look at how many women might like the man I’m with; that’s irrelevant. Every woman on the planet could fancy a man, but he’s only going to cheat if he’s inclined to do so. If I thought there was a chance that Will might cheat, sure, I would be hellishly insecure given all the opportunities his career affords him but when I look at him, I see a man of integrity. If I had any doubts about his ability to be faithful, I wouldn’t be with him in the first place.”

“That’s no guarantee though,” Erica cautioned.

“No, I agree, and I ignored my instincts with the boy who cheated on me. I know better now and I always listen to that little voice of disquiet when it speaks up. Luckily, so far it doesn’t have a bad word to say about Will.”

Will raised my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles.

“Wow,” Erica grinned, “That got kinda deep. For what it’s worth, I agree with you, but right now we have to go to commercial.” She turned to the camera. “When we come back, I’ll be asking about wedding plans, and later in the show, we have a very special dance off between Youtube sensation, Dancing Bunny Girl and dance troupe, Diversity.”

“That was very well put, darling,” Will said once the director announced we were clear.

“Thank you.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’m okay,” I smiled, and I meant it.

When the show returned, we were still sitting in the middle of the set.

“Now, before we move on, I just have one last question, Elle,” Erica began. “Does he have any flaws?”

I laughed. “Well, now that you come to mention it-”

Will looked to me, slightly surprised.

“He chews chocolate, rather than letting it melt on his tongue and savouring it.”

Will chuckled.

“Ooh, yeah, that is a serious flaw,” Erica agreed with me.

“Sacrilege,” I agreed.

Will shook his head in disbelief.

The rest of the interview remained light, with Erica asking about the next Shadow Watch movies, and our wedding plans. We stayed to watch the dance off between the Youtube star and Diversity, and Will even ended up joining in. As I watched them, I mused that this whole interview hadn’t been nearly so painful as I had thought it would be. In fact at times, like during the dance off, it had been great fun.

I was on the set a lot more with Firebolt 3, as I had been hired to draw the tie-in comic books, and it was kinda fun to watch. I hadn’t seen any wire work before and of course, Will’s transformation into Dante each day, was a revelation and I liked the long haired look.

Thanks to being kept in solitary confinement in a windowless cell, Dante started the movie pale faced, with matted, messy hair and although he scrubbed up once he had escaped, he kept the pale appearance and long, dark hair for the duration of the film. Most people seemed to like the look so there was talk of not cutting his hair for the next two Sentinels films, but that was for other people to decide. I certainly didn’t mind if he kept it.

In an attempt to reduce time in the make-up chair, the crew had opted to give Will hair extensions. They always struck me as high maintenance but at the end of each day, the hairstylist plaited his hair, so the extensions couldn’t be too damaged.

Dante’s hair was sort of mid shoulder blade in length. I had never been into men with long hair, floppy maybe, but not long. Dante however, blew my previous misconceptions out of the water. I even made Will take the braid out some nights, just because I loved the way it hung down when we had sex, and I’d have to brush it back to see his face.

We even had sex while he was in costume sometimes and when he was in the mood, he’d use that slightly deeper voice he used for Dante on me, and turn me into a puddle of goo. I could quite see the appeal of bad boys at those times.

These last few days had all been emotional ones for Will, full of (verbal) confrontations between Agent Firebolt and Dante. They had been partners in the agency once, until Dante turned rogue and they became enemies. Dante wasn’t just a bad guy who had sold out for money though, he had been betrayed by his agency, who had tried to kill him, and he had turned rogue in order to survive. And it turned out he was very good at being a rogue agent, but he wasn’t evil incarnate and he had as much love for his former partner, as he did animosity.

It was a tricky blend to manage but Will pulled it off with aplomb.

These movies were usually dismissed as ‘action flicks’ which was a real shame because the scripts and characters were all layered and nuanced, and far more intelligent than your average action movie.

Will isn’t usually one to bring his characters home with him but sometimes, inhabiting and portraying Dante’s inner pain and anger got him down a little. That’s one of the reasons I dragged him back to his trailer for a quickie, because sex helps his moods. It doesn’t cure them, but it does help.

“We’d best get back,” he said with a sigh as we cuddled afterwards.

I hastily re-buttoned my shirt but Will stopped me at the door, pointing out that I was one button out all the way along.

“Bugger.” I redid the buttons. “Okay?”

“Perfect.” He stole a kiss.

Much as it sounds like a fun day off for me, I was actually here working. Since I’d got the contract to illustrate the tie-in comics, I came to the set to watch pivotal scenes being done, getting some quick sketches down to work from later.

Most of the comics were original material to bridge the gaps between movies in the franchise, but some of their content was taken directly from the movies. Today’s scene would likely feature in a flashback in the post-Firebolt 3 comic, which would bridge the gap to Sentinels 3.

Most of the film was being shot at Pinewood Studios, but there were a few location shoots too, and there was one which didn’t require Dante, so Will would have two weeks off (yay!). Soon they’d be heading out into London, showing Agent Firebolt living there (those were the location shoots Will wasn’t need for), then filming would move to the Highlands, then to the desert in North America.

I had to go on those too, to familiarise myself with the landscapes. I didn’t really mind, this contract would put me on the map, and they were paying me quite handsomely for my time.

I could only do preliminary work for the moment. I knew the basic plotline of the comics but I didn’t have a layout or script yet, those were written once the film was finished, just in case anything important changed during the reshoots.

Back on set, Dante was now yelling at Firebolt, who was flinching with every word, as if they physically hurt him.

Will was going to need a relaxing evening, I decided. A bath, a backrub and a nice takeaway should do it.

***

“I’ve had a fantastic idea for the wedding,” Will said, barrelling into the house a few days later and yelling from the front door.

We’d been talking a lot about the wedding recently, trying to find a location where we could be private but still have the people we wanted there.

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” He came into the kitchen looking flushed but grinning. 

“So what’s this big idea?” I asked, putting the kettle on.

“I was looking for a way my more well-known friends could assemble and not be noticed so I started to think of film festivals. Then I remembered Edinburgh’s film festival, so I started to look at locations around there and found the perfect castle.”

“You want us to get married in Edinburgh Castle? That’s not exactly low key, Will.”

“No, not
the
castle,
a
castle. Don’t worry, it’s just a small one, tiny really, and the best part is, not only is it private, it has 17 bedrooms and an extra cottage we can rent, so we’d be able to house up to 38 people. Well, 36 and us.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I agreed.

His grin widened. “If we do it in August, people can claim they’re in Edinburgh for the festivals, between the film, arts, comedy, books and fringe festivals, the whole city is packed with celebrities, so no one would think anything of our guests being there at the same time. Plus your sister lives there, which can explain our presence in the city. It’s perfect.”

“Won’t you be filming Sentinels in August though?”

“Yes, but it’s filming in the UK and if I have a word with John, I’m sure we can work out a couple of weeks or so when I won’t be needed.”

“Do I even want to know what it costs to rent a castle?”

“Absolutely not but in my defence, I will say that I read that the average wedding now costs 25 thousand pounds, and this is not even remotely close to that.”

“Okay, so tell me about this place.”

“It’s called Dundas Castle and it’s just outside the city, near Queensferry and, oh it’s easiest if I just show you.”

He grabbed my hand and all but ran from the room, dragging me after him and once again I marvelled at how this man, who could be as enthusiastic as a 5 year old child, could also play believable villains with ease.

In the office, he pulled a second chair up to his desk and loaded the website.

“That’s beautiful,” I said as we browsed through the pictures.

“Isn’t it? And we can have the ceremony there as well as the reception.”

“I’m sold,” I beamed at him.

“Wonderful!” he grinned. “I must call John then as soon as we’ve sorted a date, get it booked. “Do you want to go up and see it first?”

“That might give the game away. I suggest we do as much by phone and email as we can. Hannah might be able to help with anything that has to be done in person. Maybe she’d even let us make the booking under her name.”

“And what will we do about your mother?” He knew she couldn’t keep a secret, but I could hardly not invite her.

“She adores you, so if I say we’re popping up to see Han and offer to pay for her to join us, so the whole family can get together for once, I’m sure she’d go for it.”

“Then we spring the wedding on her?” he sounded worried.

“Yes. I don’t care how mad she is. I’ll tell her to make sure she brings a dress for Musselburgh races, whatever she chooses for that should be suitable for a wedding.”

“Well, she’s your mother, so you know best.”

***

Rather than traditional therapy to get over my fears of being judged (I’d already had my share, having taken advantage of the counselling services offered by my student union at university), Will suggested that I take acting classes.

I was unsure to begin with but he kept pressing the point that an actor needs to be totally uninhibited in order to be any good and after a few lessons, where I was painfully wooden and unable to commit to a line, let alone a whole scene, I could see his point.

If I could only get over the fear of making a fool of myself in front of my fellow acting students, (I didn’t even want to think about the play we’d be putting on at the end of the course yet, because every time I did, I had flashbacks to my stint with comedy and freezing on stage) but if I could overcome my inhibitions, then I was hopeful that it would help me to feel okay just being myself around the press.

The only downside was that although this was just an evening class, in week three one of the students recognised me and since then, everyone was treating me differently and asking about how Will would do this scene or that scene.

“How’d it go?” Will asked as I came in.

I sighed and threw myself down on the sofa next to him. “I think I have to find a new class.”

“I’m so sorry, darling.” He reached for my legs and pulled them onto his lap. I hate foot rubs but Will liked to do this thing where he trailed his fingers over my calves and shins, drawing invisible patterns on my skin, which was deliciously relaxing, so I laid back to better enjoy it.

“It’s not your fault,” I assured him. “I think they start a new class in the autumn, I’ll sign up for that.”

“Maybe you could have one on one lessons? I’m owed some favours.”

“Thank you,” I reached for his hand. “But don’t waste a favour on me.”

“You’re worth every favour I’m owed and more,” he assured me.

“That’s really sweet, but you’d probably get the best going and it’d be wasted on me.”

“Fine, I won’t press you.”

“Thank you, and believe me, I’m not giving up, I really do want to get over this.”

“I know. So, Chinese or Indian?”

“Indian.”

“The usual?” Will asked as he reached for his phone.

“Please.”

I hopped in the shower while we waited for the takeaway to be delivered and when I came out, Will was serving up.

“Are you coming to the rehearsal tomorrow?” he asked as we ate at the kitchen table.

“Are you done with the read through already?”

“Yeah, and some of the sets are finished, so you could get a first look at them for the comic book.”

“I’m in.” I couldn’t wait to see the sets.

“The car’s coming for us at 6am.”

“I’ll be ready. I’ll have a wander around the set on my own while you rehearse.”

***

It had been a ruse. We got to the studio in the morning and as I made my way to the set, Audrey Grant came and found me.

“Oh hey, you need to come with me.”

“What? Why?” I asked.

“It’s a surprise.”

I found myself being dragged into wardrobe and shoehorned into a black catsuit. Luckily no seams split but I had a nasty feeling that I knew what was going on.

“Come on.” Audrey grabbed my hand and dragged me back to the Shadow Watch HQ set.

“What are we doing?” I asked, trying to yank my arm free. “And why are you so freakishly strong?”

Assembled on the set was Will, in Dante costume but sans make-up, Chris Watson, Evan Wade, Robert Davis and Jackson Moore.

“There she is,” Will came up and dragged me into the centre of the room.

“What are we doing?” I whispered, literally feeling myself shut down.

“Acting, darling. You are about to receive a masterclass.”

“But… but…”

“But nothing,” Robert butted in. “We’ve got a handful of scenes for you to run through, you’ll be playing Audrey’s character, Miss Grey, and you can watch her run through everything a couple of times, then we push you in the deep end. Nice catsuit, by the way.”

“Here,” Will handed me two script pages. “Since they have a common enemy in this movie, Dante has agreed to help the Sentinels-”

“Uh, we agreed to let you help,” Robert corrected. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between him and his character.

“-but needless to say, there’s a lot of confrontations in there.” Will finished explaining.

I was shaking. I couldn’t refuse because these people had all put themselves out for me but equally, I couldn’t act for toffee! I was going to make a massive fool of myself.

“Let’s start with some stage warm ups,” Will suggested. “This one is called Siren and it’s particularly good for stopping your words getting caught in your throat.”

“Sounds cool,” Robert said. “I haven’t done much theatre.”

“Nor me,” Chris added.

“Okay, form a circle.” Will literally had to push me into the circle. “Start by humming a little to warm the voice up, try smiling and frowning while doing it, see how that affects your voice. Keep your lips loose, just barely touching.