Authors: Marianna Roberg
She frowned. "Colin, hon, how hard is it to boil water, milk, butter, the seasoning packet, and the pasta?"
He said. "Apparently, for me, bloody near impossible."
Bumping him out of the way, she turned the temperature down, poured in the mild, dumped in the margarine and the seasonings, and added some sweet basil. Colin stared in awe, which made her giggle.
"What inspired your impulse to cook?" she asked.
"The dinner you were preparing go abandoned, so..." He shrugged. "Plus, I don't think the cooking lessons are paying off."
Jaina looked thoughtful. "Well, it just might take a while. Or else you're purposely being a bad chef so I'll cook for you."
Colin grinned.
Jaina rolled her eyes. "Stick to acting. We'll need something in addition to this. Do you have-"
He held up a loaf of French bread. Her eyes lit up.
"Perfect!"
In a small container, she mixed butter, basil, a touch of oregano and parsley, and powdered garlic. Colin watched her slice the bread, spread the mixture on it, and slide the loaf--on a cookie sheet--into the oven to warm.
"You are a wonder," he stated. "You whipped up garlic bread in two minutes flat!"
"My friend Sadie's mother runs a restaurant in Los Angeles. I used to work in the kitchen part time. So did Annie and Sadie."
"Remind me who Annie is?"
"She's another friend. And she looks scarily like Sadie, except Sadie's cut off all her blonde hair and dyed it red. Makes sense they look alike, since their mothers are sisters. Were." Jaina shook her head. "Annie, Sadie, and I went to high school together. Annie and Sadie both have relatives in Utah, so they spent half their childhood there. I'd sometimes summer with them."
She checked the pasta. "Anyway, Sadie's dad's a lawyer, her mom has the restaurant. Annie... as far as I know, Annie's going back to school now. She would have graduated with me and Sade, but... her mom got sick, and her dad skipped out, so Annie quit school for a while. Then her mom died last October."
Jaina turned back to him. "Enough sadness. What movie do you want to watch? I brought
Kate and Leopold
,
Return To Me
,
Sweet November
, a couple random things off my shelf, and
The Matrix
. Which I've seen thirty-four times."
"I think you've seen
that
one enough, then." Colin reached for a wine bottle that sat on the counter. He poured a dark red liquid into a goblet, then went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of sparkling white grape juice. "I got this for you, since you don't drink alcohol, and Dr. Grey said to avoid red grape juice."
"Oh, thank you." Jaina stood on her toes and gave him a smack on the lips. "But I can get you sloshed. That should be entertaining."
He smirked. "For you, possibly. Until you have to nurse my hangover. Besides, we've got work tomorrow."
"Blast," she said. "But... I have no curfew. Granted, Jasa would prefer me in by eleven, or not even over here... But Teniel doesn't mind as long as I don't wake everyone up when I come home."
Colin sipped from his glass. "What, may I ask, was your brother's problem? I mean, aside from finding us on the sofa?"
Jaina grinned. "Teniel's pregnant. I suspected as much, actually."
"Mmm." Colin wandered into the living room. "Pick something, we can start it while we're waiting for the food."
Nodding, she went to the bag of videos and pawed through them, finally deciding on one that had her giggling. Colin's brows drew together in puzzlement.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing," she said sweetly, inserting the tape into the VCR.
A few minutes later, Colin groaned. "Oh, please, no!"
Jaina snuggled up against him. "Hey, I only watch
Age of Heroes
for one thing. There's this actor who's been on a couple times. Very hot. Also talented enough that he makes an otherwise hideous episode watchable."
"And who would this be?" he asked.
"Dominic Belleau," she replied, then laughed. "You, silly!"
"Hmm."
"Though I really deplore the American accent they forced you to have in this. Horrid." Jaina sat in silence for several minutes, watching the episode, then asked, "Does it make me a bad person if I want to shag the bad guy?"
He shook with barely restrained laughter. "Yes, very bad. You'll have to be my consort," he said, leaning over to the end table to put down his wine glass.
"That sounds fun. What would that entail?"
"Well..."
"Would it involve kinky costumes álá Princess Leia?"
Remembering her bellydance outfit, Colin said, "Possibly."
Jaina trailed her fingers down his arm. "Hmm. Tell me... Did they let you keep your costume?"
"Screw the movie," he said, and grabbed her
.
♥♥♥
Jaina woke to an unfamiliar bedroom. The bed was queen-sized, with no headboard or footboard, the walls were white, the ceiling slanted on one side. Across from the bed, French doors that lead onto a balcony were closed tight against the winter chill.
She sat up and looked around. A few photographs sat on the dresser, in a riot of mismatching frames. Jaina slid out of bed and her feet touched on a fur rug in a while and dark-brown cow spot pattern.
A robe lay across the foot of the bed, apparently Colin's, and since she was rather scantily clad, she slipped into it. The scent of Colin's aftershave enfolded her and she closed her eyes, sighing. The terrycloth was warm, which was nice.
Jaina wandered over to look at the photographs. She hadn't met any of his family yet, but she could tell immediately who some of these people where. One was of Colin and his parents at what appeared to be his high school graduation. She grinned, seeing him with the mortar board and tassel, skinny and gawky.
Other pictures seemed to be of him and his older brother Benjamin, and his younger sister Mary-Jane. There was one of Ben and his wife, May, and their two children, obviously a Christmas portrait.
The last one caught Jaina's attention. It was behind the others, a snapshot not in a frame, just leaned against one of the knickknacks on the dresser top. Jaina noted with some surprise that it was from early in the season, one of the behind-the-scenes shots a few of the crew members would occasionally take. In it, she and Colin were just outside the makeup trailer, discussing something. Jaina couldn't remember what it was, couldn't even remember the picture being taken.
She looked at the back of the photograph. It said, "15 04 08". This had been taken in April? And he'd had it that long?
Jaina shook her head. No, it had been developed in April. Judging by her attire, it could have been taken anywhere from mid-March to mid-April, because she had bought that t-shirt when she'd moved to New Zealand.
Hearing sounds downstairs, Jaina gathered the robe close and left the bedroom. She was relieved to find herself on the second floor of Colin's home. She went barefoot down the stairs and found Colin in the kitchen, apparently cooking something. He was wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms.
Jaina slid her arms around his waist, giggling when he jumped. "What's for breakfast?"
"French toast," he replied. "One thing I can actually make."
"Mmm." Jaina kissed his shoulder. "So was that your bedroom I woke in?"
"Yeah. You fell asleep halfway through
Sweet November
, so after I finished the movie, I carried you upstairs."
"What'd you think?" Jaina went to the cupboard to get the powdered sugar and cinnamon out.
Colin shrugged. "The ending was weak."
"That's what I thought." Jaina got plates out and
set them on the counter. "I like your house a lot more now."
He smiled, and Jaina smiled back.
"Hurry up with the food," she said. "We've gotta get going.
"
♥♥♥
The first person they ran into was Sara. She looked at them with interest.
"Car trouble," Ja
ina said by way of explanation. "Colin gave me a lift. I'm going to have to shoot the thing and put it out of my misery."
"Colin?" Sara deadpanned.
Jaina tried not to laugh at the expression on her lover’s face. She shook her head.
Sara nodded. "Cars are more trouble than they're worth."
Jaina got to her workroom and set up her stuff. Colin went off to get that day's script pages. Sara had followed Jaina and planted herself in the makeup chair.
"What did you do over the weekend?" she asked.
"My brother and sister-in-law were out of town until last night, so I spent the weekend playing
Star Wars
Monopoly with Colin. You?"
She smiled slyly. "You spent the weekend with Colin?"
Jaina rolled her eyes. "You're acting like my family, when they came into the house and found me in my bellydance costume and Colin in his boxers, holding my bellydance veil. It's not
my
fault Klutzo spilled orange juice on his clothes."
Sara burst out laughing. "What did your brother say?"
"I believe it was, 'Kids, go to your room.'"
"What were you doing?"
"I was dancing." Jaina motioned to Sara's clothing. "Is that today's costume?"
"No, I'm wearing the red shirt."
"Asymmetrical one?"
"And black jeans."
"Okay."
Jaina was just finishing Sara's blush when the director appeared.
"Jaina! he called.
"Yeah?"
He walked over, Colin trailing with a mildly guilty expression. "You know we're filming the Festival of Romance? Well, our lead dancer just called in. She broke her leg yesterday."
Dreading where this seemed to be going, Jaina asked, "And?"
He held out a red bellydance costume. "Colin says you bellydance."
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jaina stood on the bar set, listening as the director explained her role.
"Now, we're going to need Alex to kiss the bellydancer," he was saying.
Jaina blinked in surprise and her eyes darted to Colin, who looked just as shocked.
"I thought you just wanted me to dance," she said.
"No, Alex goes home with the bellydancer," the director said. "It's in the script."
Colin rapidly flipped through the script, which he'd just been given. "He's right."
"I know this could be awkward," the director said. "I know you two are friends, and pretending to have sex could create... awkwardness..."
Jaina barely managed to keep in a derisive snort.
Inwardly, a little voice in her head was giggling almost hysterically. She was going to get to kiss Colin... And no one would be the wiser. Maybe.
"Do I have any lines?" she asked.
"A few. Just a page. Or... two." The director handed her two sheets of paper. Then, after a moment, a third. "First page is your dance number, second is talking to Alex, third is your, uh, scene."
"Got it." Jaina's green eyes skimmed over the dialogue. "Now, am I supposed to talk like me, or do you want me to speak like you people?"
The director blinked. Halfway through her question, she'd switched from her American accent to a near-flawless imitation of Sara Whitman.
Sara laughed, shocked. "That was cool. I vote for the second."
Jaina laughed. "Me, too."
"How did you do that?" the other woman asked.
She shrugged. "Dunno. I just pick up accents. Especially really strong ones."
The director looked Jaina up and down. "You can wear that for your 'street clothes', and then we'll have you put on the costume."
"Do you have zylls and bells?" Jaina asked.
"Do we have what?" He looked at her blankly.
"I'll be right back." Jaina sprinted out to Colin's car and from her overnight bag, fetched her zylls, bells, arm bands, and headdress. Then she came back and held up the tiny cymbal-like bells.
"These are zylls," she said. "And these are bells."
"And you just
happened
to have this stuff with you?" Colin asked, raising an eyebrow.
Jaina shot him a look that clammed him up instantly.
The director--and Sara--were oblivious to the brief exchange. "We'll film the bar scene first, the scene in Laurie's room, then the dance, get it out of the way."
"Okay." Jaina steeled herself.
"It'll be okay," Colin said.
She wished she believed him
.
♥♥♥