Chapter 9
Sam
Sam had the biggest crush on his co-star.
He couldn't help it. She was beautiful and wonderful, and she was a hard worker and so real. He told himself he wanted her because he couldn’t have her, but it was more than that.
Not being able to have her was a bad thing.
He didn't want to interfere with her relationship, so he had kept his distance, but on the inside, he wished he could make her his.
It was impossible to stay away from Ty completely, and when he did encounter her on set, it just confirmed how much he liked her. He had been dreading how much he was looking forward to filming this scene. They were going to rehearse it today and film tomorrow.
Sam knew his lines, and he had a plan, but he would have to improvise some of the blocking when they first started rehearsing.
That would happen any second now. Everyone was in the new building that had been constructed for the series.
It was built to look old so they could use it in the film.
The set kitchen was located in that building, and the cast and crew were all waiting for Alex to arrive so they could start the rehearsal.
Ty had her hair pulled back in a ponytail that was situated high on her head.
She had on a t-shirt tucked into high water jeans and Converse, and she was adorable.
He was a gentleman, and he didn't notice her that way, but it took effort, and he had to work to keep his eyes diverted. He was drawn to her.
She was sitting on a nearby bench with a few others.
Natalie was there, also, and he had seen Ty notice the other woman.
He thought of how she reacted when he teased her about rehearsing with Natalie.
It gave him some kind of odd satisfaction that she was so quick to choke, even though she said that wasn't the reason.
She smiled at Sam as he walked over to stand next to her.
"Good luck," she said to him.
"You too," he replied. "It's going to be great."
She nodded, but they both turned because Alex walked in at that moment. Ty stood to attention, knowing that the scene would revolve around her.
"Okay, sorry, thank you all for waiting.
Ty and Sam, where are we?" Alex walked toward the stove as he spoke, since that was where the scene was to be filmed.
He noticed that both of them moved toward him, and he smiled as he stood back and let Ty approach the stovetop.
"Okay, let's get your hair down," he said first thing, pointing at Ty.
She didn't hesitate. She reached up and pulled the elastic out of her hair, causing it to fall onto her shoulders like a shampoo commercial.
"I told her she didn't need to worry about her hair for rehearsal," Cameron said apologetically.
"It's a prop," Alex said to her. "Sam might want to use it."
"I see," she agreed, nodding.
Ty glanced at Sam when they said that, and Sam felt a rush of some warm feeling in is chest.
They went through the motions of getting into positions and talking about Sam's entrance, and then Alex spoke to the crew and asked them to film the first take of rehearsal so he could review it for proper positioning.
He said that we should not pause for mistakes so that we can get a general feel of how long the scene will take.
Sam could tell Ty was nervous, and he gave her a reassuring smile as he walked away.
He went to stand on the other side of the door, waiting for Alex to call for action.
Sam would listen for her to crack the first egg into the pan, and that was his cue to come into the room, carrying a box.
He knew she would do other things first. He could see Cameron from where he was standing, and she would give him the cue if he missed the sound of the egg.
Alex called for action, and Sam waited patiently, holding his prop, a box of supplies from his store. He listened, imagining Ty moving into her place waiting for the sound of her cracking the egg.
Sam found himself closing his eyes and centering himself in that familiar backstage feeling. There were nerves and anticipation, but Sam was assured that he was the best person for the job. He knew the lines, and he knew what to do.
Knowing that gave him quiet confidence, and he hefted the box he was holding, freeing one hand so that he could open the door and go inside.
It was the first time to rehearse this live and in person, but they had talked about it, and everyone was going through the motions they had planned.
The box of goods was from his store, things that he was dropping off to Lottie's family.
Suddenly, he was Tommy. There were cameras and crew everywhere, but suddenly, Sam was unaware of those things. It was Lottie and him in that kitchen—the girl named Chloe who had just changed her name to Lottie. And he was in love.
He did a double-take, looking her way as he came into the kitchen. He started to say something to greet her, but then his face fell when he noticed what was in her pot. He set down his things. "That's not how she makes the eggs," he said sweetly, crossing over to her, going to help her out.
In one motion, he came to stand behind her, placing his hand on hers.
She flinched a little in stunned amazement at his proximity, but she didn't dare move.
This made him smile. He stirred slowly from the instant he was there.
He was already beginning to help her scramble the eggs in the pan when he said his next line. "They eat their eggs scrambled."
"Who eats their eggs scrambled?"
"All of your family does," he explained.
"I don't know how to cook that. I've only ever done it with the yolks."
Sam helped her hold the wooden spoon, and they stirred for a few seconds with him standing directly behind her. He was attracted to her, and his body reacted to touching her. He felt like he was touching someone he liked and not just someone he was acting with.
"My mom didn't trust me with the cooking. All I did was clean and take care of the kids."
"Well, you'll cook quite a bit over here. I’m sure you'll do your share of cleaning and caretaking, too."
She paused but then moved to stare up at him. "I think they know I'm not Lottie," she whispered, blinking at him. "I think they know and they just don't care."
Sam reached up and smoothed a piece of hair near her hairline. He looked at her with a tender, regretful smile as he whispered back to her. "Lottie told you it wasn't great over here. That's why she wanted to leave."
"Well, the life I left wasn't great either."
"Oh, no?"
"No. I was scared to death to go to California."
"I didn't want you to go to California either," he said.
She stared at him.
"I just hope you like it here." He reached out and turned the fire off since the eggs were almost done.
"Right now, I'm feeling really thankful I stayed."
They stared at each other like a kiss was imminent. It was scripted, but the tension existed, there was no denying that.
Alex yelled for them to stop the action and the cameras. Sam let her go, taking a step back as Alex approached them.
"Okay, and right when you guys get close to kissing, little Katherine's going to walk in and interrupt you. Tommy will talk to Katherine, follow her out, and then he comes back for the kiss.
They nodded, and then Alex paused before taking a dramatic deep breath. He clasped his hands in front of him and exhaled, looking back and forth from Ty to Sam like he was trying to figure out how to say something.
"Yeah, uh, you guys, uh, did all the right things and said all the right things, but with the way you were standing…
it just sort of comes across as… tim-id.
Sam, I think you should move even closer and really embrace her.
Because by this point, you two have built trust. That's what this whole moment is about.
And, you know, we're working up to the kiss.
This is our biggest kiss of the series, so we're building up to that in this scene. "
"I wasn't sure how close you wanted me," Sam said.
"Give me quite a bit more than you showed me just now."
"Are you comfortable?" Sam asked, looking straight at Ty. She was the one who had asked him to tone it down during that scene, and he just wanted to be sure she was okay with what Alex was saying.
"I am," she said, nodding. "I'm not with… It's not a problem with my boyfriend. We-I'm not with him, so it's not an issue. We can do whatever he tells us to do."
She was looking at Sam and talking to him, telling him he could do whatever Alex said. Sam was trying to process it. Had she said she and her boyfriend broke up?
It was Alex who spoke again. "You're not with Jacob?" Alex said to her, looking confused. "What are you saying?" Ty looked at Alex, who stared at her, waiting for an answer. "What are you saying?" he pressed.
"I'm not seeing Jacob anymore. I know Sam was trying to respect my wishes, but I didn't need him to… he can just act the scene however you want him to. I'm sorry for the confusion. I’m sorry."
"So, are you not with this guy? Are you filming the kissing scenes?" Alex stared intensely, firing off questions.
Ty shrugged and nodded. "I'm fine to do them. I can do whatever."
"Well, what's the problem?" Alex said. "Do you feel uncomfortable?"
"No. Why?" she said.
"Because the scene would be much better without having to consider your personal life.
" He stared at her. "The scene's going to be a lot better with you kissing him so we can get it from all angles.
No offense, Natalie, but, Ty! I can't believe you didn't give me this news.
This changes things. Are you doing the kissing scenes now? Is that what you're saying?"
"I mean, I can, but I know you had other plans, and I didn't want to mess with that. I hated to keep making you change your plan."
"Yeah, but this plan is how it should be." Alex paused and craned his neck to look directly at Natalie. "Sorry. Thank you for being here. I think we won't need you after all."
"Should I go?"
"Yeah, go ahead, for now. I might have you get dressed tomorrow just in case. Thanks for being willing to kiss Sam," he said in all seriousness.
Sam smiled and waved at Natalie as she picked up her things and began to walk out. He felt a certain type of reaction to this news.
"Okay, I'm glad we got that cleared up before we put too much work into making the substitute believable. This really simplifies things." Alex said. He had a no-nonsense way of directing, and no one was surprised to see him changing things around on the fly.
Sam pretended to be aloof during this whole conversation, but his heart was about to beat out of his chest. Ty was nervous and vulnerable saying that, and he felt protective of her. He could see her chest rise shakily as she took a deep breath.
"It's going to be great," Sam said to her in a calm, reassuring tone as he nodded.
"Okay, we're going to review the footage now, and I might reposition the cameras for the next shot, but it won't take long. We're running it again in five." He glanced at Sam. "Hold her properly next time."
"Got it," Sam said with a nod.
Alex walked off to talk to the crew, and Ty blinked up at Sam, breathing shakily again.
"You good?" he said, focusing on her and trying to decide if tears were forming in her eyes or if they were just that shiny.
"Yeah."
"Do you want to step outside for a second?"
"Do you think we have time?" she asked, with a worried glance at Alex. Sam gave her a quick nod and then told Cameron that the two of them were stepping outside for a minute and would be right back. Cameron agreed easily, and Ty smiled as she followed Sam outside.