CHAPTER 17
Samara was all smiles this morning, and she was never all smiles, so when her assistant requested a FaceTime chat to go over some things before Samara had to go shoot, Kyla naturally brought it up.
“Um… What’s gotten into you?”
“What do you mean?” Samara asked.
“You’re, like, smiling.”
“So? I smile.”
“Yes, you do; when you’re forced to.”
“Hey!” She laughed. “I smile for real sometimes, too.”
“Not like this. Why do you look so happy right now? I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing; just curious more than anything.”
“I just had a good morning.”
“It’s eight AM. It still is morning.”
“Kyla, I’m smiling. That’s a good thing. Can we just move on?”
“I thought you got in late last night.”
“I did. After eleven. And I… stayed up later than that.”
“Why? You never stay up late when you shoot unless you’re actually working and have to.”
“I was just on the phone with someone, and it was fun, so we kept talking until about two.”
Kyla’s face got really close to the phone.
“Who were you talking to, Samara?”
“No one you know, so don’t worry about it.”
“Did you finally find a woman you want to you-know-what with?”
“What? No,” she lied. “Anyway, what did you need me for this early in the morning your time?”
“Oh, I’ve got your stuff for the next movie. Your Vancouver shoot. They need you to review everything ASAP to lock it in.”
“Well, that could’ve been an email, but okay.”
“I was up with indigestion anyway,” Kyla replied.
“Hey.”
Samara heard the voice and looked up to see Dana walk into her trailer through the open door.
“Your door is open,” Dana noted, surprised. “It’s never open.”
“Morning,” Samara said with a smile.
“Who’s that? Why are you smiling?” her assistant asked. “Turn the phone around.”
“Nope. Talk later, Kyla,” she said and hung up on her.
“Oh, sorry,” Dana spoke. “I interrupted.”
“It’s okay. We were just wrapping up.”
Dana walked in farther then and asked, “Door?”
“Oh, it was pretty cool out there this morning and kind of hot in here, so I thought I would leave it open for a few minutes. You can close it, if you want. It’s seventy now.”
“It is so cool that you can do that.” Dana smiled at her and shook her head. “And we have to go, anyway, so maybe we just head over together.”
“Right. Sure,” Samara said. “So, day two. How are you doing?”
“Surprisingly good,” Dana replied. “I’m tired.”
“Well, you stayed up late.”
“I know. Someone kept talking to me for hours. Something about LA being a great place for actors.”
Samara laughed, and they left the trailer.
“It is a great place for actors. Did you not know that?”
“I didn’t until last night, so thanks for making sure I was aware,” Dana joked.
“Happy to help,” Samara said with a chuckle and then added, “Another day of the bar, huh?”
“Yup,” Dana replied. “Same kiss. Different angles.”
“Yeah. So, this time, when you shove your tongue down my throat, make sure to let me breathe, at least, or the close-up won’t look good.”
Dana laughed and said, “Excuse me; I seem to remember your tongue going into my mouth.”
“What? That doesn’t sound like something Stella would have initiated.”
“Oh, really? Bryce!”
Bryce was some good twenty steps ahead of them, but she stopped and turned around.
“Yeah?”
“Does Sophie ever shove her tongue down your throat first?”
“What?” Bryce laughed. “Yeah. Why?”
“See?” Dana said to Samara.
“What are you two talking about?” Bryce asked.
“Samara over here doesn’t know her character at all, it seems.”
“Shut up,” Samara said, laughing.
“I’m assuming this is about the close-ups today?” Bryce guessed when they caught up to her.
“Yes,” Dana said.
“Well, whatever you did yesterday, just do that again because it really worked.”
“It did?” Samara asked.
“Oh, yeah. I showed Soph the dailies last night, and she fanned herself.”
“She did not,” Samara said.
“She did,” Bryce replied. “No lie.”
“So, more of that, then,” Dana said. “Of Samara shoving her tongue down my mouth first.”
“Oh, my God! I did not do that,” she argued before she leaned into Dana and looped her arm through hers without a thought as they kept walking.
The next several hours had Samara needing a fan, too, because they shot the same scene from yesterday until lunch, making sure to get all the close-ups they would need before switching to a wider shot in the afternoon, where the camera would pick up on Bray’s thigh between Stella’s legs and Stella practically begging for her to rock it against her.
Samara was ready to beg for that as well, but she figured that might be a little much for her budding friendship with Dana.
“Can you please make me come while we’re both wearing jeans and rubbing against each other? I know there are people watching, but I really need you to give me an orgasm right now.”
That was what she wanted to say, but she kept it to herself.
“Cut! Okay. That’s dinner,” Reed announced. “Let’s get set up for the next one.”
“What are you doing for dinner?” Samara asked Dana, who was still kind of leaning into her.
“My sister is here. She brought me food from our favorite burger place.”
“Oh, nice,” Samara said.
“Do you want to come and eat with us?”
“No, I’m good. I actually have to call my agent, anyway. I’ll see you after?”
“Yeah, I’ll be here.”
Samara was sad that they wouldn’t be having dinner together, but she didn’t want to intrude on Dana’s time with her sister, so she walked over to Bryce, who was staring down at her phone as Dana left the set.
“Hey, can I ask you a question?”
“Yes, Sophie uses tongue first sometimes.”
“No,” Samara said, laughing. “This obviously isn’t the real bar where you two met.”
“Oh, no. Why?” Bryce asked as she looked up at her.
“Where is it?”
“In the Quarter. Why?”
“Can you give me the name? I’d kind of like to check it out.”
“Sure. But should you?”
“Why not?”
“You’re a celebrity,” Bryce said. “If you go, can you at least take someone from security, just for safety?”
“I was going to go now. I ate my dinner during our last break. It arrived on time, but we were behind.”
“Let me get one of the guys to take you there, then,” Bryce replied.
“Okay. Sure.”
“Lainey, where’s my food?” Dana said into her phone, causing Samara to look up.
“Ugh. Fine. I’ll just eat here, then. You’re buying next time.
” She paused. “I know you would’ve bought it this time.
I’m just making sure you know that you have to buy it next time, too, now.
” She paused again. “Yeah, I love you, too.”
Samara walked over to her and asked, “She’s not coming?”
“No, she got held up at work.”
“Soccer coach, right?”
Dana looked surprised and said, “Yeah. College. They have some kind of off-season meeting or something that’s going long. Why aren’t you eating in your trailer while you talk to your agent?”
“He… had a meeting run over, too, so we’re going to do that later. And I ate on our lighting break.”
“Want to watch me eat, then? Exciting stuff.”
Samara laughed lightly and said, “Actually, I’m going to go to the real bar where they met right now, if you want to join.”
“The real bar? You mean where Bryce and Sophie met?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, I’ve been there a million times. I can take you.”
“She wanted someone from security to go with me.”
“Makes sense. I can drive, if you want, or we can walk. It’s not all that far from here.”
“Yeah, that would be nice. Let me change out of these clothes first, though, or wardrobe would kill me.”
“Oh, yeah. Me too. Meet you at your trailer?”
Ten minutes later, Samara stood outside her own trailer, waiting for Dana, and the biggest man she’d ever seen stood close by, wearing a black T-shirt that showed off all his muscles and a tighter pair of jeans, if that was even possible.
“Ready?” Dana asked when she emerged.
“Let’s go. This is–”
“Hey, Danny,” Dana said.
“Hey. You two ready to go? I’ve got a car ready,” the security guy said.
“We’re going to walk. Is that okay?”
“Sure.”
“Can you walk, like, twenty feet behind us?” Dana requested. “I think Samara can be incognito well enough, but people will notice you from a mile away.”
Danny laughed and gave her a nod.
“So, why do you want to go to the bar?” Dana asked her.
“I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to see where it all went down. Two soulmates met, got separated, and found each other again a year later. It sounds nice.”
“Yeah, it does,” Dana replied, and they started walking.
◆◆◆
“I tolerated it,” Samara said twenty minutes later, when they arrived in the Quarter.
“Tolerated New Orleans?” Dana asked.
“I was here for a bachelorette party. They made us all wear penis hats. I wasn’t exactly thrilled.”
“But that’s the party. You didn’t like the city?”
“It’s nice enough. A little too humid for me, but that’s more my… issues than anything else. It was a fun weekend. I was just really tired, and it was hard to find food for me, so I didn’t eat right.”
“Your sister knows, though, right?”
“She does. But it was her party, so I didn’t want to make it about me. I’m already Samara Barber, you know? Everywhere we go, she has to deal with people wanting pictures or autographs, and it’s been that way since we were little.”
“She didn’t want to be an actress, too?”
“Not at all. My mom asked her when I started getting parts, but she wasn’t interested.”
“And you still love it? What you do?” Dana asked.
“I do,” she said. “If I didn’t, I’d stop. I have more than enough money at this point, and I’m sure I could find things to occupy my time.”
“Like a boyfriend?” Dana asked. “Oh, I almost walked past it.” She nodded. “Here it is.”
“This is the place?”
“Yeah,” Dana replied. “Let’s go in.”
Samara followed her into the bar, which wasn’t super crowded yet, but there were still at least a hundred people on the dance floor in front of the corner stage and by the bar, ordering drinks.
“Are you okay?” Dana checked once they were inside.
“I’m okay. Where’s the sofa?”
“Upstairs,” Dana said and held out her hand for Samara to take. “Most people don’t even realize that this place has an upstairs, so it’s usually not as busy.”
Samara took it, and Dana led her up a somewhat hidden staircase that turned halfway up until they were on the second floor, which only had about fifteen people.
“You’re right,” she said, surprised.
“It’ll get busy in another couple of hours, though.”
“Is that the–” Samara pointed.
“The sofa?” Dana guessed. “I doubt it. They change it at least a few times a year, but that’s the same spot. Danny, think you can go glare really hard at the people on that sofa so that Samara and I can sit on it and get the full experience for a minute?”
Danny nodded and walked over to the small sofa.
“What do you think he’s saying?” Samara asked.
“I don’t know, but it’s working. He probably pretended that he worked here, or they just assumed.”
When Danny motioned for them to come over, Dana tugged on Samara’s hand, which she still held.
“There.” She motioned with her free hand. “Your sofa, Stella.”
Samara laughed and asked, “Will you join me, Bray?”
Dana sat down next to her, wrapping her arm around the back of the sofa and looking around. Danny moved to essentially block the area off from other people, which gave them a little privacy.
“I was kind of hoping I could talk to you about something,” Samara began.
“Okay,” Dana replied, turning a little more toward her. “Everything okay? Did I go too far earlier?”
“What? No,” she replied. “I think you’re always worried about that.”
“I just have zero experience in kissing scenes, so I don’t know what’s too far unless you tell me.”
“Nothing has been too far, okay?”
“Okay,” Dana said. “So, what’s up?”
“No one else here knows this, Dana.”
“I won’t say anything.”
“I know. It’s not about that. Only a few people back in LA know: my assistant, my sister, and maybe one other person. Not even my dad knows. My mom didn’t know before she died. I wish I had told her, but you never expect people to just not be there one day. I thought I had time.”
Dana stared at her, waiting for Samara to say more.
“I’m like you,” she said, motioning with an open palm toward Dana.
“Like me?”
“I’m bisexual,” Samara shared.
“You’re bi?”
Samara nodded.
“Oh,” Dana said.
“Is that okay?”
“Why wouldn’t that be okay?” Dana asked with a soft, encouraging smile. “How long have you known?”
“Not long; maybe a couple of years. I took this movie in part because of the playing gay thing you like to pick on me for, but I might also want to come out later.”
“Oh,” Dana said. “So, this is practice?”
“No, it’s maybe a vehicle to approach those conversations. I don’t know.” She sighed. “I don’t even know why I’m really telling you. I just wanted you to know.”
“But you said you hadn’t kissed a woman. I thought you meant ever. Did you just mean for work?”
Samara shook her head and said, “No. I’ve only dated men. A few boys, too, unfortunately.”
Dana laughed and said, “Been there.”
“Miles?”
Dana laughed harder and replied, “He’s definitely one of them, but that really was only one date, so I don’t think we can call it dating, exactly.” Then, Dana looked serious as she added, “Thank you for telling me.”
“Thank you for… being you.”
Dana smiled at her, and before Samara knew it, she was cupping Samara’s cheek.
“I wish other people got to see this side of you.”
Samara laughed and replied, “Why? I’m a pest.”
“Not all the time.” Dana winked at her. “Sometimes, you’re just like… this, and it’s really nice.”
“Dana?”
They both looked up and saw that Danny was blocking a group of likely Samara fans. Dana’s hand fell away instantly, and Samara knew she’d done that for her.
“It’s okay. We need to head back, anyway,” Dana replied to Danny.
“Yeah,” Samara added and stood, putting on her forced smile. “Hi, everyone. We were just rehearsing a scene from our upcoming movie. This is my co-star, Dana Sterling.”
The phones were already out, and people were recording, taking photos, and asking for selfies.
“You should take Dana’s picture,” Samara said. “She’s about to be all over your screens.”
Dana smiled at her as Danny held back a group of about ten people, and just like that, the night turned into Samara taking a few photos with the fans while Dana held the camera for some.
Samara returned the favor, too, and it was nice to see Dana have someone ask her for her autograph.
Samara supposed she’d always remember being there the time Dana signed her first one.
Then, it really was time to leave because the crowd was picking up.
“Ready?” Dana asked her and held out her hand before pulling it back. “Shit. Sorry.”
“Why?” she asked, taking it still. “Don’t change, okay? Just because I told you, don’t change, Dana.”
Dana nodded.