Payback (40 page)

“You can text me, call me, email me, Skype me…you don’t need me on the set.”

“Marie, you’ll be on the set tomorrow or I’m bringing in another screenwriter.”

“You can’t do that!”

“The contract requires that you be on the set at the request of the director. If you refuse, I can call another one in. Can I expect you tomorrow?”

“You’re really a bastard.”

“I don’t know what’s going on between you and Caden, but it’s seeping into everything.  I have to admit, the torture it’s causing Caden has helped with the torture the character feels, but it’s also making it hard on the crew.  He’s grumpy, and in between scenes he mopes. The two of you are driving me nuts.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The love scene was to be filmed in Caden’s bedroom since it was large enough to get a film crew inside. The bedroom had been stripped and then decorated to
look as if it were in a middle-class neighborhood, the house of the female lead in the movie. It was a pivotal point, where the lead understands that he has to let go of the past. It’s very painful for both the lead and the heroine, but eventually they make love, and there’s only a few more scenes to film after that before the film ends somewhat happily.

Marie stayed below in the basement with Jack until ten a
.m. when she was retrieved by one of Jeremiah’s assistants. Walking up the two flights of stairs, Marie dreaded facing Caden. As soon as she walked into the room, she saw Caden reviewing a script dressed in a terry cloth bathrobe. He was sitting in a chair with Cathy beside him. Cathy was twirling her hair and staring out into space.

“Marie! It’s n
ot working. They sound stilted,” Jeremiah said.

“Which lines?
”

Jeremiah walked over and pointed to several lines on the page. Marie read them and then asked Jeremiah for a run through. Caden lifted an eyebrow and then stood up to comply with her request.

“Come on, Cathy, we’re up.”

Cathy came out of her trance and joined him.  She took off her robe and stood stark naked, Caden joined her. The two embraced for the scene. Marie couldn’t help but think that they made a striking couple
, but the body language was off…at least it was for Caden.

“Start when you like,” Jeremiah said as he sat back into the director’s chair and watched on the view screen.

Caden and Cathy embraced. Cathy was nonplus over the fact that she was holding the twice voted “America’s Sexiest Man” in her arms and he was butt naked. Caden wrapped his arms around her from behind, his arms crushing against her bare breasts. The scene directions said that he should push a strand of Cathy’s hair back. He reached forward, grabbing a thin strand of errant hair and then gently tucked it behind her ear before putting his lips to her neck. “I’ve screwed this all up. Are you sure this is what you want?”

“You put me through hell, but I don’t think I can live without you.”

He turned Cathy to face him and stared down at her, but the stare seemed dead, unfeeling. They kissed deeply, and then Caden pulled back, sighed, and smiled at Cathy, “I wish I hadn’t let it get this far. To think that we’ve wasted so much time that we could have spent together. I wish I had seen how toxic Rebecca is.”

“As long as you know it now,” Cathy responds
, as she runs her hand through his hair.

“I do, God, I do.”
They kissed again. “Promise that you’ll never leave me.”

Cathy chuckles
but then turns serious.  She stares into Caden’s eyes, into his heart, and says definitively, “I will never leave you.”

Marie watched and listened but realized the words weren’t the problem, the delivery was. Caden seemed flat, almost mechanical, something very out of character for him.  Caden was a real actor
, who was capable of playing numerous parts and making you believe he was a different person each time.

“Jeremiah, can I talk to you?”

Jeremiah blew air from his cheeks and stood, walking out into the hall to join Marie. “What?”

“It’s not the dialogue, it
’s Caden.”

“Caden?” he sounded skeptical.

“I know Caden, and he’s not connecting to the scene—”

“Because of the dialogue,” he insisted.

“I tell you, it’s not the dialogue, it’s the delivery.”

“Yeah, every screenwriter says that.”

“Have Cathy run the scene with Caden’s stand-in.”

“No, I have something better. C
ome on.”

Marie and Jeremiah walked in together.  Caden and Cathy were back in their robes sitting on the chairs.

“Caden, Marie says it’s you. You’re flat, not connecting to your character in this scene.”

Caden rolled his eyes
but stood up. “Come on, Cathy, we’re up again.”

“No, I don’t want you to do this with Cathy
. You’re going to do it with Marie so he can stop you whenever she feels as if you’re ‘not connecting’ she can stop you and tell you why!” Jeremiah announced.

Both Marie and Caden started shaking their heads. 

“No way. Ain’t gonna happen,” Caden insisted. “I’ll do it with Cathy, and she can stop me then…”

Jeremiah crossed his arms over his chest. “Sorry, but you two need to work together on something
, and I do mean, ‘work together.’  I insist that you two do this together.  Let’s get this anger out in the open.”

“Anger? Ha!” Marie spat with a toss of her hair. “Besides, there’s no way that Caden could do it opposit
e me…I wrote it. I
know
what it is supposed to sound like, so doing it with me will put him on the spot. Not really fair to him.”

“Fair?” he scoffed. “You come over here and let me show you how ridiculous your lines sound.”

“I’m not playing this game.”

“Then change the crappy dialogue!” Caden yelled.

Marie looked around at all the faces of the crew waiting. “Caden, I can tell you your problem—”

“Oh, I just bet you can!” Caden hissed. “Now, would you like me to tell you your problem?”

Marie’s chin jutted out, as her eyes narrowed and arms crossed over her chest. “And that would be?”

“You’re not an actor who has to regurgitate this crap!”

Marie’s mouth fell open, as her entire face changed to crimson. Looking around, there were some grins and attempts to hold back laughter. “Fine, then I’ll show you why it’s your lousy acting and not my lines.”

She walked over to Cathy’s mark and put her hand on her hip. Raising an eyebrow
, she silently dared him to come over. 

Caden was secretly laughing to himself, assured that he could show her that the dialogue was stilted.  He also knew he could throw her
off her game by doing one thing: he disrobed and walked over to her in the nude.

Marie stood up straight and held her breath, wondering what the hell Caden was thinking?

“Aren’t you going to get naked?” he asked.

“No!”

“Fine, but you should at least know how it feels for Cathy when I have to say this in the nude.” His arm snaked out and grabbed her arm and pulled her to him.

Caden’s
naked body, his woodsy smell, his blue eyes and long arms overwhelmed her senses. She was so anxious she thought that she would throw up.

“Okay
, you two, I’m going to videotape this so we can review it if we need to at a later date,” Jeremiah ordered with a wave of his hand as he put the headphones on and turned to the video monitor.

Caden whipped Marie around so that her back was to him and then pulled her into his body while wrapping his arms around her breasts.  He paused for a moment, the feel of her so close sending electricity through every nerve in his body. With his heart pounding and his breath shortening, he swallowed hard and then reached around
, pulling a strand of her hair back. He rested his lips on her neck and allowed the smell of her shampoo and body to fill his nostrils. Without thinking, he closed his eyes to savor her and then sensually kissed her neck. Acting was out the window; he was having trouble just concentrating on not pulling her around and never letting her go.

The lips on her neck made her weak in the knees.  He’d placed them exactly where he always placed them when they made love.  She was getting dizzy and could feel Caden’s arm tighten to give her support.

“I’ve screwed this all up. Are you sure this is what you want?” he said, his voice tight and anxious.

Marie could feel tears welling up.  Just as they spilled over
, she managed to get out, “You put me through hell, but I don’t think I can live without you.”

He turned Marie to face him and stared down at her. The tears were too much, too real. He wanted to protect her, to keep the pain at bay, but the only thing he could think to do was to take the side of his finger and wipe some of the tears.  Caden gave her a tender smile
, and then he pressed his lips to hers as his arms wrapped exactly as they had always wrapped. He opened his mouth slightly, his tongue slipped between her lips and found her tongue.  The kiss was deep and long, until Marie realized they were still playing out the scene. She pulled back.

Caden sighed and smiled, “I was a fool to let it get this far. I’ve wasted so much time that we could have spent together. If only I had known how insignificant all my demands were.”

Caden was off script and it had Marie confused but she said the lines she had written, “As long as you know it now.” Looking up, she touched his cheek, pulling her hand down to his chin.  He took her hand and kissed the palm of it.

“I do, God, I do.” Caden responded. He kissed her again. This time it was difficult for either of them to stop.  Marie could feel his entire body pressing into her
, and she ached for him. “Promise that you’ll never leave me.”

Marie started to hyperventilate, her lungs feeling as if they would explode, her head reeling
from the lack of oxygen. She felt as if she was frozen, unable to move, even though her heart was pounding hard against her chest. “I can’t breathe.”

Caden could see the panic in her eyes. Waving to the cameraman, he snapped, “Stop! Stop filming, she’s not well.”

The camera’s light went out and the bright lights were turned off.

Caden pulled Marie to the bed and gently lowered her before turning and grabbing his robe off the floor. Windows were opened to get the air circulating.  Caden gestured for everyone to leave. “Please, get out. Let her have some air and a little time to pull herself together.”

Jeremiah nodded in agreement, and so the crew and Cathy went downstairs while Caden put his hands on Marie’s upper arms and stared into her eyes. 

“Breathe with me,” he ordered.

“I can’t.”

“You can.  Now breathe.  In…out…in…out…”
he continued to count for a minute until he could see her start to relax.

After a minute
, the dizziness started to fade.  She shrugged. “You were right, your words worked better.”

“No, you were right. I wasn’t connecting to Cathy. I can’t help but connect to you. I don’t know what the hell to do. I make up my mind
, and five minutes later a tornado blows through my life and I have to make new plans. No matter where I turn, I hurt people I love.”

“I need to leave…I’m going back to Jason’s and rest, okay? Does the scene work for you now?” she asked.

He laughed. “Yeah, it works. Too well. I’ll call you tonight to see how you are.”

“Caden…I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t.  I know you’re as confused as I am, but we need to keep our distance.”

“You’re probably right.”

Caden helped Marie to her feet just as Brooke came in. “What’s going on?” she asked.

“Marie almost fainted. She was just catching her breath.”

“I’m going to get Jack and go back to rest,” she assured Brooke so that she wouldn’t be suspicious.

“Anything I can do for you?” she asked, sounding sincere.

“No, I’m fine.”

Rushing down the stairs, Jeremiah was waiting down by the bar where Jack was playing with one of the assistants. “Ah, there you are.  Are you okay?”

“You really are
a prick.”

He chuckled. “I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. The two of you worked through your roadblock and managed to make that scene work really well. I have to admit, I wish you were Cathy.  Caden’s performance was gripping.”

“I think he has the gist of what I was saying about his acting. I told him to use the dialogue that he changed because it sounded better. Now, I have to go.I’m really not feeling well.”

Jeremiah let her go, but knew that there had been a breakthrough between Marie and Caden. Where it would take them, he wasn’t sure. But he found out at nine that night when angry but muffled voices
could be heard from the guest room where Brooke and Caden had moved so that the master bedroom could be used as a set.

He stepped into the hall and was surprised when Brooke emerged from the guest room shaking her fist back at Caden
, who stood at the door.  Jeremiah hustled back into the bedroom but left the door open.