Chapter 25 – Chelsea
“Cut.”
Scott and I look at Vivien. She’s standing on the beach behind Gary, who took off his shoes and socks to wade in behind us,
“Are you guys going to do it, or what?”
Do it?I think. Does she know we haven’t done it? Of course she does. She knows everything about us. It’s her superpower. Well, one of them.
“Just do it already.”
“What exactly—”
“Kiss her! We are like seven episodes in and the kiss count is pathetic.”
“Oh,” Scott says.
“We’ve kissed,” I say with as much defiance as I can muster up.
I know we have. Because I’ve spent countless hours reliving them while I lay in bed at night afterwards. Wondering if Scott felt what I felt. And forcing myself to remember he didn’t.
“On the cheek,” Vivien says, and her defiance tone is much stronger than mine. “A quick peck on the lips—”
“I’ve got it, Viv,” Scott says.
“You—”
A wave rolls onto the shore, slapping into us, pushing me into him. He grabs me, steadying me. Pulls me close.
A second ago I had goosebumps all over my arms. Now I’m shivering, but for an entirely different reason.
“Action.”
“Chelsea,” he says.
His voice is soft, but strong, firm. His tone indicates he knows what he wants and what he wants is me.
“Scott.”
I want to tell him to kiss me, but the words won’t come. It doesn’t matter anyway, he’s moving in close. Closer.
Oh,I think as our lips connect. Oh, yes. Fire races through my body and I wrap my arms around his neck, clutching him, clinging to him. I want him so badly.
Under the water our bodies connect. I can feel him, it, through his thin swimsuit. I can tell, he wants me too.
I let my lips fall apart ever so slowly, hoping he gets the message. I’m thrilled when he takes me up on the invitation, dipping his tongue inside my mouth. I push my chest up against his and feel the vibration of a low moan coming from deep in his throat.
“Cut.”
What?
All of a sudden we are back. It had all disappeared, the water, the waves, the hot sun. There was nothing but him and me in the whole wide world. And now everything is back. And everyone. Especially Vivien. At least she is smiling.
“I think we’re good,” she says to Gary, who nods. “But just hang out for a second.”
“Can I get out of the water?” I ask. “I’m cold.”
She shrugs. I turn to Scott.
“I guess we are on our own for the rest of the day.”
What I mean is, ‘Why don’t we go back to the house and continue this.’
“Actually, I’m not cold,” he says. “I’m going to ride the waves for a bit.”
“Oh, I—”
He turns away from me and dives under the water. I wait for him, but when he resurfaces farther out, I turn and head for the beach. I trudge through the shallows, the outgoing tide doing its best to drag me out with it.
Then I step on something sharp. I pick my foot up reflexively and when another wave slaps into me, I topple over.
“Wait, film that.”
Gary’s got catlike reflexes. By the time I’ve finished assessing if I hurt anything—I didn’t—he’s pointing the camera at me. I look back, praying Scott’s right behind me, but he’s still further out. I watch him stand up and dive under a wave. Dude looks like he’s half dolphin. If I hadn’t met his parents, I’d swear to it.
“Come on, get up.”
I stand up and walk up to the blanket. I grab a towel and wrap it around me, acutely aware that Gary is still filming. And I’m practically naked. Scott and I walked into the water hand in hand, with Gary much further up on the beach. Now he’s much closer.
Being on TV in a bikini was not something that we discussed, ever. I hug the towel around me and sit down. At least I have the towel. How long has it been since I did any sit-ups? I can’t remember but the exact answer doesn’t matter. Too long is close enough.
Scott comes out of the water—finally—and sits down beside me. He looks amazing. I didn’t know he was in that kind of shape. He looks like he spends hours at the gym daily. And I do not. I’m sure everyone who watches this episode is going to wonder what the hell he is doing with me.
But he’s not actually with you,I remind myself. So it makes sense.
“And cut.”
Scott looks from me to Vivien.
“I though you said we were done?”
“I changed my mind.”
“Are you done now?”
“I think so.”
Gary lowers the camera. Vivien paces back and forth, mumbling to herself and counting on her fingers.
“How much footage did we shoot?” she barks.
Gary looks up from the camera.
“Over two hours. Almost two and a half.”
If I had to guess I would have said he was anticipating the question and maybe even fudging the answer a little bit.
“Okay. I should be able to get two usable minutes out of that.”
Two minutes! I was out in the water getting whacked around and freezing my butt off for a good hour.
“So we’re done?” Gary says.
“Yep,” Vivien says. “We’re good. Let’s head back to the city.”
“Thank God,” Gary says. “See you guys Monday.”
They turn and head off the beach without another word. I shake my head.
“Chels—”
“We did all that for two minutes of film?”
I think the kiss lasted longer than two minutes. It sure felt that way. It seemed to go on forever, in a good, time standing still, kind of way. I have no idea how long it actually was. Only that it was as wonderful as I’d hoped it would be and I wanted it to never, ever end.
“Sorry,” Scott says.
“For what?”
“I didn’t realize they were still filming. I shouldn’t have left you alone.”
I shake my head. Nothing I can do but make it out to be no big deal. I’m not going to point out to him exactly how stupid I looked getting tossed around in the shallow water.
“You don’t have to be sorry. But Vivien, God, she’s so annoying.”
“Well, it was kind of fun though?” he says. “Right?”
“Fun?”
“I mean…the beach. It’s nice.”
“It’s a nice beach.”
He leans over and brushes my hair back behind my ear.
“They are gone,” I remind him.
“What?”
“Gary and the dragon. They’re gone. You don’t have to do that…fake stuff anymore.”
There, I laid it all out on the table. He can tell me it was not fake, that he felt it too. And that it was like nothing he ever felt before.
“Oh, right.”
The hope inside me dies. It whooshes out of me like the air being let out of a balloon. And then I’m left with nothing. I’m just a sad, deflated, little lump. Emphasis on lump.
“You know what I think?” I say.
Somehow I manage to keep the quiver out of my voice. I want to go back to the house, lock myself in the bedroom, stuff my face in a pillow and cry.
“What?” he says, smiling.
Now I want to brush his hair back. Actually, I want to do a whole lot more. But I don’t. I can’t. Why do I keep doing this to myself?
Forget inner Samantha. I have my own strengths. And strong Chelsea is in charge now. Back to business.
“I think not demanding editorial review for everything we filmed was a big mistake.”
“Oh.”