Blurred Boundaries (5 page)

She felt the bed dip when Evan sat beside her. He draped an arm around her shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. We’re all in this together. Everybody wants this show to continue and will do what’s necessary to make that happen. Don’t forget that.”

Tam turned her head to look at him. The concern and kindness in his blue eyes gave her strength. She sucked in a deep breath. “Every problem is just an opportunity, right?”

He grinned. “Exactly. Oh!” He pulled his phone from his pocket and flipped through some apps. “This right here is what we’re going to do.”

The opening notes of Bon Jovi’s
Have a Nice Day
echoed through the room. She chuckled. Show the wind how to fly indeed.

Evan popped up off the bed. Using the remote as a makeshift mic, he lip synced along with the song. Tam watched his antics with a smile. When the chorus started, he came over to pull her to her feet and shoved the “mic” in her face. She shook her head. He was ham enough for the both of them.

Tam tried to back away so he could have the “stage” to himself. He wouldn’t let her. He twirled her around then pulled her close so they could share the mic. They were just lip syncing, so she figured what the hell. She joined him in the middle of the second verse. He grinned his approval.

When they got to the end of the chorus, she frowned at him and smiled at the same time in her version of the album’s artwork. She was curious to see just how big a fan he was. Evan’s eyebrows shot up in surprise then he started cracking up. “The pissed off smiley face!” And there was her answer.

As the song wound to a close, they made pissed off smiley faces at each other every time the lyrics said, “Have a nice day.” By the time it was over they’d dissolved into a pile of giggles. They fell on the bed exhausted from all the jumping around and laughed hard. Tam couldn’t believe how good it felt. She was still up a shit creek, but she may have just found a paddle. She looked at Evan and marveled at the random direction her life had just taken. When they’d bought her freelance episode, the most she’d hoped for was getting a chance to meet him. She couldn’t believe that she’d just been dancing while lip syncing Bon Jovi, and just being a general goof with him.

He caught his breath and looked at her. “Gavin deserves a nice day. Don’t you agree?”

His brilliant blue eyes beckoned like a siren. Why did they have to be so easy to get lost in?
Focus, girl! On something other than Evan
, she admonished herself. Tam shook her head trying to clear him from her mind. Talk about a losing battle with him lying right there next to her. She forced her thoughts back to why she was there in the first place even though she really didn’t want to. The episode she’d written had been strong; she’d believed in it, in herself. There was nothing more important than getting her first hour of television produced and on the air. So what if Tam didn’t have clue one about how to go about it. She was surrounded by people who did.

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She let it take form as she gazed at Evan. “Payback hates it when I call her out, but she really is a bitch.”

“That’s my girl.” He sat up and switched back to the DVD input. Tam went to gather Gavin’s script pages from the other bed to try and follow along with the dailies. Surely that would be less painful than trying to read the stupid thing.

She settled back in her original position to watch the video. It didn’t take long to realize that she’d been wrong. No wonder Evan had insisted on her flying out her to fix what he’d thought was her script. Even on film, it was horrendous. She cringed at the stilted dialogue that had the actors tripping all over the place and ruining take after take. When they finally got it right, it was so boring, Tam wanted to cry.

Remembering that she still had about thirty-eight thousand dollars to cut from the production was almost enough to make her curl up in the fetal position until everything just went away and left her alone.

She hardly took note when Evan stretched out on the other side of the bed and munched on his peppers again, she was so focused on trying to figure a way out of this mess. A quick glimpse at his expression told her he wasn’t happy either.

“Oh, Drew. Isn’t my hair simply divine, today?” Evan narrated over Audra’s actual line which surprisingly wasn’t much different. Tam stifled a giggle when Audra did her customary hair flip and exit. The camera stayed on Evan’s back for a moment, prompting him to say, “Emmaline. No. Don’t go and take your hair from me.”

When he finally turned to face the camera, his expression was pained, as if he were actually longing for the company of Audra’s hair. Tam laughed out loud. Evan tossed a wry look her way. “What? That may as well be what we were saying.” She didn’t want to say it, but he was right.

On the screen, Marc rushed down the stairs and looked at the door. Beside her, Evan changed the line again. “Was that Emmaline? Did I miss her hair? Again?” Right on cue, Marc turned to give Evan a scandalized look and delivered his actual line. Evan’s inane improvisation was a definite improvement and totally fit the timing.

Tam sat up abruptly when an idea struck. “Oh my God. That’s it!” She reached for the remote to rewind the scene. Evan held it aloft.

“What’s
it
, Grabby?”

Tam raised a sardonic eyebrow. “Really? You’re one of
those
who needs control of the remote at all times?”

Evan’s guilty look told her all she needed to know. “Maybe.”

She shook her head. “Fine. Back it up to the beginning of this take.”

Evan did as she asked while she scrolled through her version of the script on her laptop. When she found the scene she was looking for, she turned the screen so he could see it. “Okay. Play it and read this when the door closes behind Audra.”

Evan did as she asked. She marveled at how easily he slipped into character as Drew for just a few words. He finished reading while the camera stayed on his back. On the screen, his turn to face the audience was perfectly timed.

Tam looked between the TV and the laptop. She scrolled a couple lines down. “Now this, in three, two, one.”

Evan read his next line. It was slightly too long for the length of time that the camera was on Marc’s entrance. He noted the overage. “Let me try that again.”

He rewound the footage and gave it another shot. He sped the line up just a hair and got it in just under the wire. He smiled at her. “I think you’re on to something.”

“It’s not the most perfect solution, but I think we can salvage this.”

“Gavin is going to be so delightfully pissed. I can’t wait.” Evan sat up and rubbed his hands in glee.

Tam smiled at his evil enthusiasm. Her thoughts exactly. “How much footage do we have?”

“About two and half hours.”

Tam checked the clock on the nightstand. It was closing in on ten thirty. She stretched her fingers. It was going to be a long night. “Back it up again.”

Evan complied. She matched the script with places that could potentially be dubbed with the correct dialogue. With Evan running the footage while reading the lines, Tam was free to revise the script since she only had to listen for what was needed. She didn’t want to think about much longer this would’ve taken without Evan’s help. It also surprised her at how easily they settled into a working rhythm. They made quite a team.

“Try it this time without “really” in the sentence.” Tam glanced up from the laptop when Evan didn’t respond. The man was fast asleep. She checked the clock again and was shocked that three hours had almost gone by. “Never mind.”

She bit her lip and wrestled the remote from his hand. Despite being knocked out, he still had a pretty firm grip on the thing. She finally got it free and rewound the footage to keep working. If she were honest, she was pretty beat herself, but she needed to get this to Rock first thing, and she still had some revisions to do on the pages they were going to shoot the next day.

Tam continued without him. Her obsessive nature kept her going until she’d finished. It was close to 1
a.m.
when she turned her attention to the revised pages. Having handled most of the set up with the previous footage, she found that the changes weren’t quite as extensive as she’d feared. Still, it was 2:45
a.m.
when she sent them off to Tanzi and Kyle, the 1
st
AD.

She looked at Evan who was oblivious to the world. No sense waking him now. She’d just get in the other bed. In a minute. She just needed to rest for a moment. Then she’d go over there.

Her moment ended when her phone beeped, scaring the crap out of her. Who in the world was calling her so late? She pried open one eye to check the ID. Tanzi. She must’ve just gotten the pages and needed to talk. Tam stifled a groan, but answered.

“‘Lo?”

“Have you seen Evan? He was supposed to be in makeup thirty-eight minutes ago.”

Confused as all get out, Tam frowned. “I thought 4
a.m.
was the call time.”

“It was. It’s now…” Tanzi paused. “…4:39
a.m.
and no one has seen Evan.”

Stunned, Tam rolled over. Sure enough, Evan was snoring away beside her. He was sporting almost a full beard. “I’ll see if I can find him,” she hedged and immediately felt bad for misleading the woman. Still, she wasn’t about to admit to sleeping with one of the stars on the first night. She wasn’t that kind of girl. Tam looked at their still fully clothed bodies. She really wasn’t that kind of girl. Bummer.

“Thanks, Tam. I got the revisions. They look great.”

“Thanks. I’ll get on the Evan situation.” Tam hung up and shook him. “Evan. You gotta wake up.”

He stirred and stretched a bit, but not much else. She shook him harder. “C’mon. You’ve got to get to makeup. Now.”

His eyes blinked open. When he saw her, he smiled that sexy smile of his. “G’mornin’.”

“You’re due on set in like nineteen minutes.”

His eyes widened and he bolted up. His hand went to his beard. “Crap. See you there.”

Moments later, he was gone. Tam flopped back down on the bed and set her alarm for forty more minutes of slumber. But when she closed her eyes, all she could see was the gorgeous view of Evan waking up beside her. She smiled. Her life had indeed taken a strange and wonderful turn.

Evan worked very hard to keep his hand steady while he ran the razor over his jaw. He was late enough already. Rushing his shave would only delay him that much longer. Marguerite couldn’t work her makeup magic if he were bleeding all over the place. He could not believe he’d overslept like this. More than that, he could not believe how much he cared about what Tam must be thinking of him right now. First, he’d played his diva card to get her here to fix the script, and now he couldn’t even be bothered to show up on time to shoot said script.

He ducked his head under the shower to wash away the remains of the shaving creme. Finally, his jaw was smooth again. Relieved, he turned the water off and stepped from the tiny enclosure to dry himself off. He was still in shock that he’d forgotten to set his alarm. He’d forgotten to do a lot of things last night. Worst of all, he’d forgotten to go back to his own room at the hotel.

When he’d stopped by Tam’s last night, he’d only intended to bring her some food and watch the dailies. A couple hours tops, then he’d head back to his room and get some much needed rest. Apparently, his body had had other plans. He didn’t even remember conking out in her bed like that. How embarrassing. And waking up next to her this morning was doubly so. Except it wasn’t. How in the world could he explain that little conundrum?

He tossed the towel on the back of a chair and pulled out enough clothes to get him from his trailer to wardrobe without getting cited for indecent exposure. Evan shoved his feet in some flip flops, grabbed his script pages and raced out.

Marguerite greeted him with a phony stern look and tapped her watch when he finally made it over to the hair and makeup trailer. He kissed her cheek in apology. “You know you like a challenge,” he teased, and then plopped into her chair. She got right to work.

“Yes, well, even I can’t work miracles. So try to be on time this afternoon when I have to turn you into a werewolf.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Evan closed his eyes while she got to work. He forced his mind away from Tam and focused on getting into character. He was so thankful that he’d run lines with Audra the night before so he wasn’t completely unprepared for the day.

“There you are. Thank God.” Evan opened his eyes when he heard Tanzi’s voice. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Sorry about that. Alarm issues.”

Tanzi sighed. “You’re not the only one.” Evan couldn’t help his involuntary cringe. He shifted in the chair to try to hide it. Were they looking for Tam, too? If so, it wouldn’t be long before they figured out they’d been together all night. Despite what he’d told her, Tam was still an outsider. She needed to get acquainted with the crew before they really trusted her. Assuming she was having an affair with him from the get-go would damage that credibility.

Tanzi didn’t notice his reaction since she was busy on her radio. “I’ve got Evan. He’s in makeup.”

“A PA located Audra. She was still at the hotel. He’s bringing her over.” Evan recognized the voice as that of Kyle. He relaxed a bit when he heard they’d been looking for Audra, not Tam.

“It’s going to take her a bit to get ready. Are we going to wait? We’ve got an abbreviated shoot schedule as it is.”

Tanzi chewed on her nails. “Marc is on hand. We can shoot him and Evan while Audra gets ready.”

“I need a producer to make that call. Have we found Gavin, yet? Can he okay it?” Kyle asked.

Tanzi’s eyes met Evan’s. He nodded. Tam was about to have her first test. “Tam is taking over for Gavin. I’ll run this by her.”

Kyle paused. After a moment, he agreed. “Get back to me.”

Tanzi sighed at Evan and dialed Tam’s cell. She answered on the first ring sounding like she’d been awake and alert for hours. Which he knew for a fact she hadn’t been. He kinda liked being in on that secret with her.

“Hey Tanzi.”

“We’ve got a situation and need you to sign off.”

Evan and Marguerite listened while Tanzi brought her up to speed. Evan was a professional, so he managed to hide his proud smile when Tam gave them the go ahead with such authority in her voice that the casual observer would assume that she’d been producing TV for years.

Tanzi nodded and smiled. “Got it.” She got back on the radio with Kyle. “We’re a go.”

“I’ll get Marc to the set.”

“We should get Tam a radio so it’s faster to reach her.”

“I’m on it,” Kyle agreed and signed off.

“Which scene are we talking?” Marguerite asked a little nervously.

Evan unfolded his pages and showed them to her. “Twenty-two.”

She read the descriptions and relaxed. “Got it. You just need a little blood at the corner of your mouth. That’s doable quickly.”

Tanzi left them alone and true to her word, Marguerite had him camera ready in less than seven minutes. After Paul fussed over his hair for a minute, Evan headed over to wardrobe. Fifteen minutes total had elapsed between Tam’s decision and his arrival on set.

He wasn’t surprised to see Marc already there and raring to go. The man was a freak of nature the way he was always early to everything. Evan kidded him on more than one occasion that he was going to be early to his own funeral if he wasn’t careful.

After a quick greeting, he and Marc ran their lines. Both were completely oblivious to all the hubbub happening around them as cameras were set and lights rigged. It was just a normal day at the office. Rock came over to give them a bit of direction before starting the rehearsal.

“Rehearsal’s up!” Kyle informed the set in his booming voice. Everything got super quiet.

“Action,” Rock called.

From that moment on, the day was a blur of activity. Despite moving at a breakneck pace through the necessary camera set-ups, he was proud of the performance they all turned in. It was a challenge to move so fast through the varied emotional beats, but it was fun, too. Even the ever unflappable Marc got tripped up a bit and contributed to the blooper reel for a change.

Evan wasn’t sure when Tam arrived on set. He just knew she was there in Video Village with Rock when they finally got a break and the crew set the next the scene. They were deep in discussion over the playback and he didn’t want to interrupt. Marguerite appeared at his side.

“It’s time to wolf you up.”

He groaned and stood. So much for having a moment to relax. He looked back toward the monitors and caught Tam’s eye. She smiled and moved toward him, but Justin popped up in her path with what looked to be a life or death question judging by the young man’s nervous demeanor. Tam shot Evan an apologetic look over Justin’s shoulder and mouthed, “Sorry.”

Evan nodded and mouthed back, “Later.” She turned her complete focus on Justin while Evan headed off with Marguerite.

Forty-eight minutes later, in full wolf regalia, Evan made his way back to the stage. For some reason, the teeth were bothering him much more than usual. He worked his jaw, trying to move them to a more comfortable position. Unfortunately, that more comfortable position did not exist.

Rehearsal was a disaster. He tried running lines with Audra while the crew set up around them. He stumbled his way through for the most part, but he could not manage to get out the line that was the highest emotional point of the shot. His frustration continued to build with each pass. He could feel Audra becoming annoyed with him, too.

When Rock kicked off the official rehearsal, Evan’s self consciousness grew to a level he’d never experienced before. It was due to his concern over how Tam would take his failure to execute her work. It was a great line. He just couldn’t say it and be a werewolf at the same time.

As expected, he stumbled over it again. They were under a time crunch. He needed to set aside his pride and throw in the towel. He pulled the teeth from his mouth. “I’m sorry you guys. I can’t do it.”

“Take it slow. One word at a time,” Rock coached.

Evan shook his head. “All the Fs are killing me. The teeth slide with every one.”

He braced himself and slid his gaze to Tam. Surprisingly, she wasn’t glaring at him. Instead, she was tapping a pencil on her copy of the script. She scribbled something and looked pretty pleased with herself.

“May I?” She directed her question at Rock. He gestured toward Evan and she headed his way. She showed him her revised line. “Try this.”

He took a moment to memorize the line. “You sure?”

She gave him a surprised look. “Of course.”

He took her at her word and slid the teeth back in. Evan tested out the line. He managed to get it out without spitting the teeth on the floor. He gave Tam a gruesome werewolf smile. “Thanks.”

“It’s what I’m here for.” Her eyes darted around before she pretended to scratch her cheek with the hand that held her copy of the script. While her face was hidden from everyone except him, she gave him the pissed off smiley face for a brief moment. His eyebrows shot up in amused surprise. She lowered the script and walked back to Video Village like nothing had happened.

While Tam shared the new line with Suzie, their script supervisor, Evan ran through another Rock run rehearsal with Audra. Satisfied with the results, Rock rolled the cameras. They were in the middle of coverage on Audra when Evan saw Tanzi pull Tam away. Tanzi had on her crisis face so he knew it couldn’t be anything good. He’d find out what it was later. Meanwhile, he needed to concentrate so they could finish up for the day.

Tam was doing everything in her power not to panic. Her decision to move the budget to the screen had just had its first consequence. Craft services had run out of food that day. So far, the crew had been mostly okay about it, but there’d been scattered grumbles. She couldn’t blame them. Food kept everybody going. If she couldn’t find a way to keep everyone fed, she’d end up with an out and out riot on her hands.

She parked her car in the hotel parking lot. She grabbed her laptop and the budget Tanzi had printed out for her. Tam hated leaving the set early. Watching her words come to life like that had been a rush the likes of which she’d never had the privilege to feel. If she wanted it to continue, she had to find some money somewhere. Tanzi had highlighted the possibilities and explained to her the consequences of each one. So far, all her options pretty much sucked. They needed either an influx of cash or some serious savings from somewhere. Doubling up the hotel rooms had already been included and wouldn’t start until the next day anyway.

Aside from that, Rock had approved the ADR sessions for Marc, Audra and Evan to record the additional dialogue. They planned to do it while on location so Rock could hit the ground running with his editors when they returned to L.A. Unfortunately that turned out to be another headache for Tam because the studio was going to charge them an additional fee since they hadn’t booked it up front.

Tam rubbed her tired eyes. And she needed to get some rest that night. Thankfully, the script seemed to be in pretty good shape. She just had a few tiny revisions to knock out which wouldn’t take her too long. If only she could stay awake long enough to do them. She had almost reached the lobby doors when bright green and purple caught her attention.

She’d noticed the deli across the street from the hotel when she’d first arrived and meant to check it out the night before; it just looked so adorable. Tam had gotten so caught up in her work that she’d forgotten to come back down for food. Then she hadn’t needed to because Evan had brought her dinner. Not wanting to take a chance on getting too settled, Tam decided to grab something to go.

She was charmed from the moment she set foot inside the deli. The white wrought iron chairs were a cutesy throwback and a perfect complement to the purple and green gingham table cloths. The restaurant was much longer than it appeared from outside. A long counter stretched from the back almost to the front door. The enclosed glass displayed a well-stocked assortment of pastries, pastas then sandwich fixings.

“What can I get you, sweetheart?” The woman’s friendly voice was tinged with a southern twang and startled the crap out of Tam because once she’d seen the red velvet cake in the display, everything else had pretty much faded away.

“Let’s start with that red velvet cake and I’ll figure out dinner after.” The woman chuckled at Tam’s choice and moved to the dessert case.

“A woman after my own heart.”

Tam set the budget and laptop on a nearby table to accept the generous cake slice the woman handed her. She didn’t even care that she’d planned to take it with her back to the hotel. After a quick blessing, she took her first bite. “Delicious” was the understatement of the year.