Chapter 2
Samuel "Sam" Allison
~
Los Angeles, California
A few days later
"Sam, Tommy was attracted to Chloe immediately, so when Lottie comes to you with this idea of assuming Chloe's identity, you're surprising her by being supportive of it.
And Amelia, you're not saying anything right then, but I want your facial expression to reflect just a little surprise.
Sam, you're fighting to hide your excitement because you've known Lottie for so long.
You'll miss her and don't want to hurt her. "
Amelia and Sam both nodded.
It was Alex who was speaking, giving notes on a scene.
Sam and Alex were both in Los Angeles, in the same house.
They were sitting in different rooms, on the same Zoom call with five other people, some of whom were in the house with them as well.
The television series, Paths Crossing, would finally start filming next month.
It was written and directed by Alex Stockton, one of Sam's good friends from college.
It was a passion project for Alex, and it was based on the true story of his great, great, great grandmother who changed identities with another young woman on the trail out west in the early nineteen-hundreds.
Alex's real relative was the one who left her life in Missouri to go to California.
Alex had researched for over a year—two now that the project had been delayed.
He had heard stories from relatives of the people involved.
It was a historical fact that Lottie Logan, Ty's character, was the wife of Tommy Logan, Sam's character, and that they had four children.
It was also confirmed that Lottie from Missouri was born as Chloe, and changed her name to Lottie as a teenager when the two girls switched lives in Missouri.
It had been a bit confusing to Sam at first, but he knew the script and characters well by now.
The story had Tommy fall in love with Chloe the instant she came into town.
Their romance was a significant part of the storyline.
In recent days, Sam had been working directly with the woman who was playing his love interest. They had a lot of scenes together, and he had spoken with her and read with her on the phone several times before.
He had seen her face on the rare video call like the one they were doing now, but he had never met her in person.
She was not a trained actress. She was a childhood friend of Alex's with no acting experience, and yet she and her sister had the two biggest roles in this series.
Alex had faith in her, and so far, she was doing a good job in spite of how little she knew about the whole process.
Sam wasn't the type to mix feelings with work, but he could have easily developed an actual crush on Ty Banks.
She was tenacious and funny, and she was beautiful.
There was no chance anything would happen between them because she had a boyfriend.
She had mentioned him. There were a few kissing scenes, and apparently, her boyfriend took issue with them.
In one scene, the new Lottie stood at the stove to cook eggs, and Sam, who was at her house at the time, noticed that she wasn't doing it like the old Lottie would have done.
They have a lighthearted exchange about eggs, but it quickly becomes sincere, and things escalate between them.
It would be the first time they kiss in the series.
It's a moving scene, one that Cameron, the assistant director, referred to as toe-curling and her new favorite.
It had been a recent addition to the script.
The plans for it had to be altered, though, because Ty's boyfriend didn't feel comfortable with her kissing anyone.
Alex had made a note saying that the kiss at the end of the scene would be filmed with a stand-in Lottie.
Sam, who was a trained actor, thought it was an insane thing to ask, and he couldn't believe Alex had gone along with it.
It wasn't that he was disappointed not to be able to kiss Ty.
He didn't care either way. But she was asking a lot.
Sam liked Ty in general, though, and he was going to have an easy time playing someone who was interested in her.
She was interesting, beautiful, and easy to like.
"All right, gang," Alex said, closing the meeting. "I think I've given you enough notes for today. I can't thank you enough, and I can't wait to see you all in a few short weeks to start filming this thing."
They all started waving at each other, saying goodbye and smiling.
"Hey, Sam and Ty," Alex said. "You two, please stay on the line while everyone else disconnects. I have a few other things to go over with you."
Sam nodded, and he focused on Ty, who was doing the same thing.
One by one, everyone else left the call.
"Hey, you two, thanks for all the preparation you've been doing.
Ty, your character is not my blood relative, so I'm not sure why I'm so focused on this, but I am.
The love story between Tommy and new Lottie is surprisingly my favorite part of the series.
Okay. That being said, I want you two to have a certain level of familiarity with each other.
I've given you some facts about each of your characters—random lore about each of them.
You each have a set of questions and answers in your email.
It should only take about fifteen minutes for you to go through the questions with each other, but please go ahead and do this right away. "
"So, we're going through them together?" Ty asked.
Alex nodded. "Yes, I want you and Sam to gain some trust with each other before we show up in Montana to start filming.
Any time you two could spend together around the set would be amazing.
I'm looking for comfort and familiarity.
Chemistry. I need good chemistry here. Okay, if neither of you has any other questions, I'm going to disconnect and let you two—you need to start another call since I'm the host."
"Is it something we could just do over the phone?" Ty asked.
"Are you opposed to staying on a video call?" Alex asked her.
"No, no, I just wasn't sure," she said.
"Okay, do a video. Thanks, guys. I'm disconnecting. Just let Cam know if you have trouble accessing the questions."
Alex's screen went blank.
"Hey, I'll just FaceTime you since I have your number," Sam said.
Within a couple of minutes, the two of them were staring at their phones instead of their computers.
"Did you read the questions?" was the first thing Ty asked him when the call connected. "It's basically a script."
"I'm looking at it right now," he said, glancing to the side so that he could read Cameron's message on his computer screen. He smiled at the email. Cameron was a perfectionist, and she had everything clearly marked. "Do you have questions and answers?" he asked, glancing back at his phone.
"I do. This is crazy. Is this something actors typically do?"
"No, not really. I've never done it. All directors are different. Alex just has something in mind for how we see each other, and he's trying to help us get there."
"How long have you been acting?" she asked.
"Since I was five," he said.
"Whoa, I didn't expect you to say that," she said, her eyes growing big.
"My parents moved to L.A. for me to pursue acting when I was five. My mom flew me out to audition for a commercial, and when I got the role, we moved."
"Oh, my goodness, I didn't know you've been acting for so long."
"Up until last year, I didn't do anything major. I just lived a normal life and went to high school and college. I got little gigs here and there and a lot of theater. I play some music. Nothing big."
"Did you say you got something major last year? Is it this one? Is this your biggest role?" He smiled at her. She was really adorable.
"Actually, this is a really cool gig, and in terms of size, this is a big one. I have a lot of lines for Alex. But no, I got a different one last year."
"Did you say it was better than this?"
"Not better. Just a bigger budget and everything. It's a supporting role, but it's in a movie with Tom Hardy. They had a big name director and everything. It'll be coming out next year."
"Tom Hardy? That's crazy. He's really big."
"I know. He's a nice guy, too. I'm pumped about it. I got called because the first actor they cast broke his leg. It was last-minute for me, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it if we had filmed Alex's series last year."
"Oh, man, so it worked out for you that we got delayed."
"Yes, definitely. It was ideal for me, for sure."
"Alex said you went to college together."
"We did," Sam agreed with a nod.
"What did you study?"
"My parents were behind me a hundred percent on the acting thing. I did a film program. They have a theater program, too, and I minored in that and music. I was all over the art department."
"So, are you a full-time actor now? Is that what you do for a job?"
"Well, yeah, right now the one I just finished, that sort of changes things for me.
I was gigging and working at a theater doing set design and construction.
I love that sort of carpentry work, so it's something I can always go back to in between acting jobs.
But right now, I'm busy with acting. I haven't done any set building for the last year. "
"That is so cool. So much training. I hope I can keep up with you."
She was looking straight at him on the screen. She had long, medium-brown hair and light brown eyes. Sam's own eyes were blue, and he looked at hers, thinking they were opposite in color, but still somehow the same as his. Maybe it was the shape, or the darker ring around the edge.
He couldn't let himself get distracted.
Sam had been in dozens of theatrical productions, and he had been the leading man who kissed beautiful women live on stage. He was usually unattached and unaffected, but he found himself feeling more intrigued by Ty.
"You're doing just fine," Sam said, focusing and responding to her statement about keeping up. "Alex said you have a lot going on—that you were into making YouTube videos."
"I am, and I've been getting into promoting events, which I like even more."
"What sort of events?"
"Music stuff. Concerts. I do parties and fundraisers for my sorority, but on my own, it's music. I book venues and hire artists—put on shows."
"How interesting. How'd you get into that?"
"I'm in leadership in my sorority, and I would plan parties.
I was growing my channel, and all that sort of just led to this—one idea after another, you know, just thinking of something to do next.
I love music. Concerts are fun, so I just thought, why can't I organize one?
Somebody's got to be the middle man, right? "
"You must thrive under pressure," he said.
"Y-yeah, I guess I do," she said with a thoughtful smile. "I don't know about thrive, but I like the results, and I get it done. I've got a big show coming in December, and some other things this fall, so I'm going to be working on that from Montana in my free time."
"Who's playing at the show in December?"
"John Mayer and a couple of local acts. It's an intimate show compared to his normal venues.
It's in an old auditorium with two thousand seats.
He was excited to play there, and there's not a bad seat in the house, so the audience is in for a treat.
It's going to be beautiful. I'm excited about it. It's going to sell out."
"That's amazing, Ty. How impressive. And you're the promoter? You're the one in charge, doing marketing and everything?"
"Yes," she said, laughing a little. "I have no idea how I ended up here. One thing led to another, and suddenly I'm making ads and talking to venues and managers."
"That's so cool."
"Thank you. Sometimes I get overwhelmed, so please be honest with me if I'm falling behind. I'll try to be a diligent actress for Alex, so please tell me if I'm doing something wrong or need to change something. I’m open to all the instruction I can get, so please don't be shy about correcting me."
Who was this woman?
She was so intriguing.
She smiled and shook her head shyly. "Enough about me, though. We should probably get to these questions Cameron sent."