Unforgettable Charm

I considered the run through of the script to be a success. So far, it seemed like everyone who attended was friendly, or at least willing to be civil with one another. I hoped that once production actually started that things would pick up, and hopefully I could actually get to know everyone on a more personal level and become friends with them. Yes, that included Josh.

Just because I may or may not start to have feelings for him, didn’t mean I couldn’t get to know him a bit. After all, since we would be working so closely together, it was bound to happen. I also knew that in order to portray our characters better, we would probably have to get to know each other better off camera. All I had to do, was remember that this was all for the film. I’m sure once I got to know him, that I would like him. I needed to keep in mind the line between professionalism and friendship. Work came first, and if I had feelings for Josh, to keep them buried until after production. After that, I was free to daydream and wonder all I wanted, but until then, I only thought of him as my attractive cast mate.

Tonight I was supposed to be heading to Greg’s house. Alex told me that Greg wanted a chance to see Josh and I alone in a more comfortable setting, so he told us to come to his house. Alex also told me that Greg wanted to see how much chemistry we had. I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but Alex told me not to worry, like he always did. Jennifer told me that she overheard Greg talking to Mark about how much potential I had, and that he enjoyed watching Josh and I interact with one another during the scene.

I was still nervous as to why Greg wanted us over. I assumed that he wanted to just talk to us together without everyone around, and maybe have Josh and I talk more to get to know one another. Although it was supposedly going to be a more comfortable atmosphere, I knew that I would be far from that. I didn’t want to be in such close contact with Josh so soon, I thought that I wouldn’t have to see him again until we started filming. Yes, it might seem like I was overreacting, I just wanted to have more time to prepare myself before having to be in close contact with Josh.

Today was not a very busy day for me, after running through the script I went straight back to the hotel where I was staying. I got caught up with a few things that I had to do and practiced my lines. I started to familiarize myself with the character I was playing. Charlotte was a complex young women, not fully knowing what she wanted, and not understanding her own feelings. She felt confused about what was going on with her parents, and that affected her personal life, and her relationship with Tyler. The real reason she didn't want to be with Tyler, was because she was afraid she would end up just like her parents. She didn't want to end up hurting Tyler, so she thought it would be better if they were to never be in an actual relationship. But by the end, she knows she can't let go of him, and that she never will, so she decided to be with him. Although she dies in the very end, the plot was beautiful.

After running through my lines, I made sure that I called friends and family back home, just like I promised I would. I always tried to keep in contact with everyone back home. I knew that no matter what happened with me and my career, I would always make time for them. I cherished the free time that I had, because I knew that once I started filming I wouldn’t have much of it anymore.

It was almost time for me to go to Greg’s house. Earlier in the day I had changed into some sweats and a tank top, and I saw no point in changing out of it to go to Greg’s. If this was supposed to be a comfortable setting, then I would go to his house in my most comfortable clothes. I grabbed a sweater on my way out, along with my purse with my script inside of it, and left the hotel. I didn’t need Jennifer of Alex for this, so I went by myself.

I got into the backseat of the car that was being used at my disposal, and told my driver where to go. Greg was a bit of a distance away, living almost an hour away from where I was staying in Los Angeles. Once I arrived at his house, I noticed two cars parked in the driveway. I assumed one was Greg’s and that the other was Josh’s. I exited the car and walked up to Greg’s front door and rang the doorbell.

After a few short moments, I heard someone opening the door. Once the door was fully opened, Greg stood in front of me, smiling.

“Hello, Kate, welcome.” He said, as he welcomed me inside.

“Hey, Greg, thanks.” I walked inside of his home as he shut the door.

His home wasn’t what I expected, I thought that a director like Greg would have showy things and obnoxious decorations of various sorts. But when I walked in, I saw that in his living room he had a simple beige furniture set that was placed in front of the television, that was hiding behind the closed doors of the entertainment center. On the walls were pictures of his family, the locations of the photos were surely vacations spots that they had taken together. Against the walls he had hung up simple decorations to compliment the room. This didn’t look like a millionaire’s home, it looked like a home I would find back where I lived; I in fact already started to feel comfortable.

“I see you dressed for the occasion.” I turned around to face Greg and saw him smirking, I knew that he was joking by the tone of his voice.

“Oh, you know, just trying to make a good impression.” I said, playing along.

Greg chuckled. “Well, good, because Josh looks just as fancy as you do.”

“Well, great.” I said smiling.

“I’ll give you a tour of the house later, Josh is waiting upstairs.”

“Upstairs?” I asked, confused. I didn’t know why Josh would be waiting upstairs, and not in the living room.

“Yes, upstairs. Come along, don’t be shy.”

He led the way up the stairs and once to the top, we walked up to the bedroom furthest from the steps. The door was already open, and I walked in and saw Josh, sitting on the bed with the script in his hands. I assumed the bedroom was the guest room, since their was only a bed, a desk and a dresser for clothes. Josh noticed us come in and he stood up.

“Hey, Katie.” He said, smiling and giving me a small wave.

“Hey, Josh.”

I took a look at what Josh was wearing. He was wearing navy blue sweatpants and a form fitting black t-shirt. His hair was tousled in a way that a person could tell he only ran his fingers through it to fix it, but he still managed to look great.

“I see you went all out for this too.” Josh said smiling, referring to my choice of attire.

“I see that you did the same.” I said to him, smiling back.

“Okay, you two.” Greg interjected. “Ready to get to business?”

“Sure are.” Josh said, for the both of us. I took a seat next to Josh on the bed, and Greg pulled over a desk chair and sat in front of us.

“Okay, so do you either of you know what you’re doing here?” He asked us.

“Not really.” I said, giving a small smile. I could feel my nerves kicking in, and I had to try to keep them at bay.

“Well, I just need to see the chemistry. I liked what I saw earlier today at the run through, it looked like you guys were really connecting during the scene.:

“Yeah, I thought we were,” Josh said. “What about you, Katie?”

“Yeah, I agree. I think we did well together.”

“So do I.” Greg said. “But I just want to see more, I wanted to do this earlier, but I believed it’d be best that this happen in private.”

“Greg, what are you talking about?” Josh asked, confused.

“Do you both know the second to last scene, where Charlotte decides to tell Tyler she wants to be with him, before she leaves?”

I hope this wasn’t going where I was thinking it was going. The second last scene, was a sex scene between Tyler and Charlotte. Keep in mind, that this movie was only going to be rated PG-13, so of course, the scene wasn't actually going to be shown. But I knew that in the script, Tyler and Charlotte shed some clothing, before the scene gets changed.

“Yeah, the sex scene.” Josh said, casually.

“Yes, that’s right. Well, I need to see it.”

“Wh-what do you mean see it?” I asked.

“You guys aren’t actually going to have sex.” He said laughing at me. “I need to see kissing, I need to see passion between the two of you. I have to know you both can do it. Are you both okay with that?”

“I am,” Josh looked at me. “Are you?”

“Yeah, completely.” That was a lie. I was definitely not okay with it. I didn’t think I would have to do this scene for another month or so. Sure, I knew all of my lines and what I had to do, but that didn’t mean I was prepared to get so close to Josh so soon.

“Great.” Greg clapped his hands together. “I’m just going to get some music to play, I’ll be right back.” He then stood up and walked out of the room.

I could feel Josh’s eyes on me. “Are you sure you’re okay with this, Katie? You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.” I looked back at him and could tell he knew how nervous I was feeling.

“No, I’ll be fine. I just wasn’t expecting to do this so soon, that’s all. This is a part of the job, so this had to happen sooner or later.” Giving him a small laugh, I was trying to convince myself more than Josh that I could actually do this.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you have to do this right now. If you’re uncomfortable, I’m sure Greg will understand.” He really was a gentleman.

“It’s okay, Josh.” I said smiling at him. “I promise, I’ll be fine.”

“If it’s any consolation, I’m a little nervous to.”

“Really?” I asked shocked.

“Yeah, I’ve never had to do, any type of scene that was as intimate as the one we’re gonna have to do.” He scratched the back of his neck and smiled at me.

“Oh, I just thought, with you being an experienced actor, you would’ve done something like this before.”

“Ha ha, no not really, Katie.”

“I’ve got the music.” Greg said as he walked back into the bedroom. “You two ready?”

“We sure are.” Josh said.

Greg put the CD into laptop, and the sound of a piano playing softly started to play throughout the room.

“So, what is it that you want us to do?” I asked him.

“I just need to see kissing, passion, between the two of you. Get into character mode, and say what you think your characters would say at this moment. We’ll go off script just for this, I just need you two to say what you have to say to get into character, and then start kissing. I want the kissing to lead onto the bed, and from there you both can decide how it goes, okay?”

“Okay.” Josh said.

“Alright, I’ll be over here.” Greg pulled the chair into a corner of the room, far from where the bed was. “Kate, Josh, start off by the doorway.”

So Josh and I stood in the doorway. “Are you ready for this?” He asked me.

I shook my head. “Yeah, are you?”

“Yeah, do you want me to start?”

“Sure.”

“Okay.” Josh closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

“Action!” We heard Greg.

“Charlotte, what are you doing here?” He asked, confused.

“I couldn’t go yet, Tyler. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry that I’m so stubborn, I never should’ve said the things I said.” I started to let my eyes get watery.

“Shh, it’s okay, Charlotte.” He wrapped his arms around me in a hug. “I’m just glad you’re here now.” He then pulled away from me and looked into my eyes. “When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“Then let’s make tonight special.”

I knew what was coming, and I had to make this seem as real as possible for Greg. Even though, I knew definitely wanted to kiss Josh. I had to make it seem like I was really in love with him, and I knew that if I didn’t make this perfect, then Greg would think I wasn’t up to the job. So I knew I had to give this my best shot.

Josh put an arm around my waist, and his other hand on my cheek and ran his thumb back and forth against it. He was looking right into my eyes, and I stared into his eyes with as much intensity as I could muster up. Josh slowly started leaning forward, and I did the same. Our lips were almost touching, and I let my eyes flutter close, and then I could feel his lips pressed against mine in a soft kiss.

I could feel him holding me tighter, and he put his hand that was on my cheek on the nape of my neck and tilted his head to the side as I did the same. I felt my lips moving in sync with his, and I could feel myself being lead towards the bed. I didn’t know how I was walking right now. I could feel my legs shaking and my breath was caught in the back of my throat. My eyes felt heavy, and felt like they never wanted to be opened again. I could feel Josh lowering me onto the bed, never breaking the kiss. I could feel myself getting lowered onto the bed, and I felt my head hit the soft pillows. Josh was on top of me and was laying on top of me, but being careful not to crush me with his weight.

I felt like I had no control over my body anymore, and that my mind and body were no longer in sync. My body wanted Josh, and I somehow couldn’t even manage to think. My hands found his back and I felt my fingers running up and down his back slowly. I went up all the way with his back rested my hands on the back of his neck. We were kissing for a few more moments before my hands decided to travel down his back again, this time I found the bottom of his shirt, and slowly, started putting my hands underneath it.

Josh pulled away slowly for a moment, and I opened my eyes, even though just doing that was difficult to do. I bit the bottom of my lip, as I started to lift up his shirt. I looked into his eyes, silently asking for permission, and when he didn’t say anything, I knew it was okay. I lifted his shirt up over his head and threw it on the ground next to me.

Josh leaned in again and started kissing my lips, and I kissed him back. After I kissed him back he pulled away and started kissing my neck lightly, and softly sucking on the skin. I let out a small gasp, not expecting that to happen again. My hand went under his arm and I placed on his shoulder and with my other hand I ran it through his hair.

Josh bit down on my neck and I let out a small moan. I almost moaned Josh’s name, but something inside me kicked in, and instead of moaning his name, I said the name Tyler. Josh stopped kissing my neck for a quick moment, but then went back to it. He made his way up to my lips and kissed me softly again. He then pulled away, and looked into my eyes. He leaned his forehead against mine, still looking into my eyes. I couldn’t bring myself to look away from him, and I could feel myself stop breathing. And then I heard Greg.

“And, cut.”