9. Vonnie
It was only eight in the morning, but Gia and I had been at it for hours. The hardest part of the day was the first couple of hours when we worked with the team to get the cast ready for the start of the day. We were inundated with makeup and repairing outfits from the previous day’s events.
It was a good thing that I was pretty handy with a sewing machine, but the teams carried the bulk of the workload.
The crew doing the makeup was masterful at replicating the looks I gave them.
After three hours on the set, I was beat.
I was more than grateful to come up for air and get some breakfast in my stomach.
The vanilla yogurt bowl I picked up was chockfull of dried fruit and granola.
I’d added a drizzle of honey to the top to sweeten it just a bit more.
Since it would be a few hours before we went to lunch, I’d gotten some sausage and eggs to make sure I had enough protein in my system to carry me through a busy day.
“I wasn’t aware that Marshawn had children,” I mentioned, trying to sound as casual as possible.
The side-eye Gia gave me showed that my attempt to be coy as I pried wasn’t as successful as I’d hoped.
“That’s because he doesn’t. Those are his nephews. You didn’t hear one of them call him Unc?”
“Well, who was the woman? She was pretty.”
“One of his sisters. For someone who continues to claim not to have a crush on the director, you sure ask a lot of questions.”
“Is there something wrong with wanting to get to know my coworkers?”
She smirked. “Not at all.”
“You know what? To hell with you. Yes, the man is fine. Am I so wrong for noticing? I’m not blind.”
“Noticing isn’t the problem. It’s the way you keep pretending not to notice that’s throwing me for a loop. If I catch y’all stealing glances at each other like we’re in a teenage sitcom, I’m going to smash y’all’s lips together,” Gia threatened.
“Stealing glances? Girl, please. If I wanted the man, I would already be riding his face into the sunset.”
“So, now, I’m supposed to be blind too?” She rolled her eyes.
“No. I’m just saying… I might look a little bit, but that’s because I’m in awe of his work. I’m sure he’s not stealing any glances my way.”
“Are you in denial, or you really haven’t noticed?”
“I don’t think there’s anything to notice.”
“That man wants you, Vonnie. I’ve never been invited to sit with him in his section during filming, and I’ve done three movies with him.”
“Like he said, he wants us to see our work in action so we can get a better perspective.”
“We can do that from anywhere on the set. We don’t have to sit with him. He didn’t even want Clarissa sitting with him.”
“Do you blame him, though?” I asked.
“Hell no! That’s not the point. He wants you around.”
“Well, tell him to hire me for the next movie he makes.”
“You tell him. I have the feeling he’ll listen to you.”
“Girl, please. Can I eat my yogurt in peace without you trying to fabricate a love story? You should look into writing.”
“Say what you want, but I think you know I’m onto something.”
“Nah, I just think you’re on something. Even if he looks at me here and there, it doesn’t mean anything… just like me looking at him doesn’t mean anything.”
She shrugged. “If you say so.”
“I do say so. We are simply two professionals trying to make a movie.”
“I get it.”
“I’m serious, Gia… I’m not trying to get fired for trying to get with the director.”
“I know right… because he already fired you once.”
“Exactly, besides… I’m sure he doesn’t mix business and pleasure. Didn’t you tell me that?”
“I’m not arguing with you, V.”
“Good,” I stated.
“But! If he did happen to start wanting to mix business with pleasure, would you be interested?”
“I’m not answering your hypotheticals today.”
“Hey, ladies!” I looked up to see the beautiful woman, who I now knew to be Marshawn’s sister, walking into our tent with the two little boys in tow.
“I hope I’m not interrupting. The boys always like to see how the costumes and set ideas are done.
Shawn said you two wouldn’t mind if we stopped by.
Actually, I think he wanted us out of the way while they got everything started. ”
“Whichever it is, it’s always a pleasure to show these guys what I do,” Gia stated.
“Look at these, Evan! Did you design that cool, black suit that man had on out there?” the bigger one asked.
“I did.” Gia nodded as she held up one of the sketches of the rebel leader.
“Whoa! What about the one with the mask over his mouth?” he asked, pointing to the picture propped on the canvas next to her.
“My friend Vonnie drew that one,” Gia told them as she pointed to me.
“I like that one too.”
“Thank you! I appreciate a compliment like that from such an esteemed professional. You guys know your stuff.”
“My uncle teaches us a lot about movies,” Evan reported.
“Can you make me one like that for Halloween? I know I would win the costume contest at the park!” Nick asked me.
“Uh uh, Nick. I want one like the red guy’s wear,” Evan responded.
“As you can see, he loves red.” Marshae shook her head. “I’m sure Uncle Marty can find y’all some really cool costumes. These ladies only work with movie sets.”
“Who knows? Maybe we can arrange something…” I shrugged, hating to refuse the adorable pair. Marshawn was correct in his statement that the boys looked like him. He could have easily been mistaken for their father, hence my slip up earlier.
The boys were in awe as we showed them our designs and a few pictures of the cast members dressed for their scenes.
“I like the costumes, but my favorite thing is seeing how they build the sets. They make this place look like real life,” Nick revealed.
“It’s pretty fascinating, huh? This is my first time working up close and personal on a movie set.”
“You should come down to watch with us,” Nick suggested.
“Yeah, Uncle Marty said we get to see them blow up something today!” Evan added with excitement in his eyes and voice.
“Oh, that’s cool!” I enthused.
“Are you coming?” he quizzed.
“I’m sure Uncle Marty will have enough company with the three of you,” I told them.
“Uncle Marty said for you to come. Didn’t he, Auntie?” Evan whipped his head around to find Marshae shaking her head.
“Girl, actually, he did. He told us to mention that you two didn’t have to stay away just because we were here. You’re welcome as long as you remember to be quiet on the set.”
“He needs to get that on a T-shirt,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Who are you telling? Do you know he put me off a movie set for talking one time?” Marshae giggled.
“That definitely sounds like him.”
Her soft laughter continued before she turned to Gia. “Girl, I was livid. Do you remember that, Gia?”
“Was it for Wooden Door ?” Gia quizzed.
“Something like that. I still refuse to watch it. Do you think his big-headed self cares?”
“Not at all. When he says he wants quiet, he means it.” Gia laughed.
“You have to follow the rules, Auntie,” Evan interrupted.
“I know, baby. I’m going to be quiet when it’s quiet time. I hate to show out and get put out today.”
“Please don’t…” I laughed.
“Well, let me finish showing the boys the ins and outs of the game. Shawn wants to make sure they know everything there is to know about making movies in case they decide to follow in his footsteps one day.”
“That’s a good idea. Do you boys want to make movies like your uncle?” I quizzed.
“Uncle Marty likes to tell people what to do, but that’s no fun. He loves to boss people around… I think I’d rather be a producer,” Nick replied confidently.
“That’s still bossing people around,” Marshae informed him.
“But I don’t have to sit around and point fingers all day. Producers make stuff happen. I can have fun finding the best people for the part and making sure everyone is in place so Uncle Marty can boss them around.” He shrugged.
“Well… at least you’ve got it all figured out.” She smiled. “So, are you ladies going to be joining us today? Like Evan said, they’re going to be doing a lot of action scenes and blowing stuff up today. I got extra earplugs if you need them.”
“We might come down for a little bit. We don’t want to get in the way.” Gia’s answer mirrored my thoughts.
“I hope to see you down there. The boys, plus their uncle, is enough testosterone for me. Since he had to get a chair for me, he got extras for you two. These guys aren’t going to need chairs anyway. They’ll be on their feet, if not on Marshawn’s heels half the time.” She laughed.
“We’ve probably spent more than enough time getting in Marshawn’s way,” I commented.
Gia shot me a look before giving her own input. “I don’t know about that. If there’s going to be explosions, I may have to leave you behind.”
I nodded and confessed, “I’m actually excited to see some explosions myself, but?—”
“Well, it’s settled. I’ll have some company while the boys call themselves working .”
“See you there,” Gia returned.
Despite Gia’s declaration, I decided to stay in the back and work on touching up some makeup.
I liked interacting with the cast aside from Clarissa.
There was a comradery among the lesser-known actors and actresses that I loved.
I had been running around for what seemed like forever, redoing makeup and helping the team do some repairs on outfits.
You couldn’t tell by the way my dogs were hollering, but I was having the time of my life.
“Am I to assume you didn’t want to be bothered with us today?”
I jumped, startled by Marshawn’s voice from behind me. “Uh, not at all. I wanted to learn all I could from this position, so I decided to help out behind the scenes during set today.”
“I’m not going to lie. I miss your colorful commentary.”
“Really?” I asked way quicker than I intended to.
Were his words loaded? Did he mean he missed me or that he missed hearing what I had to say about the film?
It felt silly thinking so much into simple words.
I would never reveal what a huge crush I had on Marshawn.
It was natural to admire him after seeing his work firsthand.
Anyone could see what a handsome man he was.
I would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to have a crush on him.
On the other hand, I would be a fool to think he saw me as anything other than a makeup and wardrobe designer.
“Sure. You give an unbiased perspective. I hope you’re not staying away because you don’t feel welcome.”
“I wanted to get back here and get my hands dirty today.” I only partially lied.
“OK. I can’t get mad at hard work. Are you going home next week?”
“Home?” I asked, confused as to why Marshawn thought I would be going home.
“Yeah. We’re at the halfway mark. I like to schedule an entire week off from filming so I can evaluate what needs to be done going forward.”
“So, you aren’t going?”
“No. That’s why I have the boys come to me. I try to stay on set until I’m done filming.”
“I wasn’t even aware of the week off…”
“Yeah, it gives everyone a chance to cool their heels and get a break from being under an asshole .”
I chuckled. “You’re not all that bad.”
“You say that now, but you’re back here hiding out to keep from having to deal with me.”
“I am not hiding …”
“Yeah, right.” A couple of the actors came back around the corner from where they had been taking a smoke break. Noticing them, Marshawn’s demeanor shifted. “All right. Let me let you get back to work. My assistants will be looking for me any minute now.”