Mr. 365 (14 page)

“Nope, not yet.”

“But you get all those inner-city kids to visit, right?” Terry asks.

Will nods.

“So, you’re like a fucking saint,” Stu announces.

“Yeah, and did you hear about all his homeless stuff?” Terry adds, shaking his head.

“Are you for real? Or are you one of those closet assholes who tries to make up for it by being all generous and self-righteous in public?” Stu asks, half teasing.

“Stu!” I yell. “Don’t be such an ass. Are you forgetting he’s our subject?”

“I thought it was a fair question, and he’s like one of the guys now,” he says grumbling.

“I really don’t think Will’s a closet asshole.” I fight back a laugh.

“Thanks, Sophia. Listen to your producer, Stu. She’s a smart lady, Will says without taking his eyes off me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Stu grin and nudge Terry. With a toss of his head, he motions to Will. Terry snorts and whispers something to Stu, who tries unsuccessfully to cover his laughter with a cough.

I make a silent note to myself to be more careful
.

The guys get to work and I step over to the village setup. I kneel down and survey it now that all the characters are in place.

“This is so great. Oh no, Will—two of the ice skaters have face planted on the ice.” I point at the apparent disaster on the plastic ice rink.

Will comes over and kneels down so our thighs are pressed against each other, then puts the little skaters upright and positions them over the magnetized track so that they can continue skating. The girl skaters in their fur-trimmed jackets continue their figure eights and turn as if they never missed a beat.

“That’s better,” Will says.

Meanwhile my leg is on fire feeling him this close again. After he left my apartment last night I had the rest of evening to think about him pressed against me and the alternate ways the night could’ve proceeded if he hadn’t left. The burn is moving through my body and making my heart thunder. I subtly press my thigh back against his

“So how are you feeling this morning?” he asks quietly.

“Really good. Although I didn’t sleep much. I was really distracted after you left.” I smile.

He grins back. “Me too.”

A quick peek at the guys assures me everyone is focused on their work. My cheeks color when I turn to Will. “Remind me to tell you about the dream I had last night.”

“Was I in it?” He teases.

“Let’s just say you were the star,” I whisper and then boldly trail my hand up his thigh.

“Tell me more,” he says with a deep breath.

I lean closer and press my breast against his arm. “You were naked through most of it.”

He swallows thickly. “Good, good, but more importantly… were you?”

My fingers tighten high on his thigh. “Oh yeah, completely.”

“Sophia,” he whispers, his eyes wide as he looks at my hand precariously close to the danger zone. “What are you doing?”

“Hey, Will. Can you show us something on this remote control?” Aaron asks.

I yank my hand away and stand.
Good God, what am I doing?
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

Will stands and stretches his legs. “Be right there, Aaron.”

He leans in. “Don’t be sorry. Don’t ever be sorry for that.” He winks and joins Aaron and the guys.

I leave the room to get my bearings.
Geez Sophia, what was that about?
Last
night
you agreed to slow down and this morning you’re all over him? Get a grip, girl.

Paul’s picking through the box of doughnuts when I walk into the kitchen.

“Hey, Sophia, how’s it going?”

“You tell me, Paul.”

He gives me a devilish grin. “I think it’s going splendidly. We got some good stuff yesterday.”

“Why did you portray Will as a manwhore in that last segment?”

“Ha, manwhore! I like that. If the shoe fits, honey.”

“That’s my point, I don’t think it does.”

“Come on, you have to admit he was completely flat earlier. I think that Q and A was by far the most entertaining. Besides, the viewers will love it. Mr. Christmas isn’t some geekazoid who wears holiday sweaters his grannie knitted him. No, he’s a stud who seduces women right under his well hung mistletoe.”

I blanch, wondering if True Blue has a secret camera in the house that caught us under the mistletoe. I need to snap out of it and refocus.

“Paul, do I need to remind you the demographics for these shows are seventy percent middle-aged women, and they do not find manwhores appealing in the least.”

Paul rolls his eyes. “Sure they do! Besides, me thinks you’re a wee bit jealous, Ms. Sophia.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?” I’m fuming.

“You think I didn’t notice you ogling his ass yesterday… and other body parts as well? You’ve got the hots for him,” he says smugly.

“Was that me or you doing the ogling?” I ask, trying to deflect his accusation.

“Well, it’s a given I’m going to ogle him. I wouldn’t be a self-respecting gay man if I didn’t, but I would guess you, my dear, are normally all work and no play.”

Lindsey joins us as she flips through her schedule and long list of notes. “They’re taking too long with the trains. They’re like a bunch of little boys in there. I knew we should’ve shot that last.”

“Hey, Lindsey,” Paul says, interrupting her rambling. “What did you think of the last segment yesterday where I brought out the inner stud in Will?”

“I thought it was hot,” she says, smacking her lips.

“Ugh.” I groan.

“Come on, Sophia. He’s a total stud muffin. The ladies are gonna love that because they’ll think they have a chance. It’s sexual desire meets aspirational fantasies. That’s a home run for sure,” Lindsey says.

“Exactly,” says Paul. “And who are we to tell them they’re delusional. They can eat their pint of ice cream in front of their wide screen TVs and imagine climbing Will’s tree.”

“Okay, enough!” I yell and turn to walk out of the kitchen.

“Someone’s got it bad,” Paul says to Lindsey as I pass behind him.

“Well she can get in line behind me. I get him first.”

I linger closer to the set for the next segment in the
under the sea
room.

Once the camera starts rolling, Paul heads right into the forbidden forest. “So is it true the mermaids in this room were inspired by a girlfriend who thought she’d been a mermaid?”

Will looks off camera and nods to me. “That’s true.”

“So, a lot of people think mermaids are sexy. Could you shed some light on that?”

What the hell!

“Uh…I thought this was a Christmas special.”

“All I’ll say, viewers, is I imagine Will has some great stories.”

“Um, Paul,” Will says nervously.

Paul looks directly into the camera. “So listen up, female viewers. Will may be a little shy, but I bet he knows how to make dreams come true.”

Will’s face turns red and the veins on his neck and forehead bulge.

I finally snap to attention. “Cut!” I call out.

“Why did you call cut, Sophia?” Aaron asks.

I step in and pull Paul aside. “I called cut because this demeans and objectifies our subject. I can’t allow this type of direction for the interview to continue.”

Paul points to Will and mouths the words
stud
muffin
. He looks as if he wants to cackle with glee.

Lindsey grabs my arm and asks me to step outside for a minute.

“We’ll be back in a minute,” she says to the crew.

Once Lindsey has me alone, she turns to me.

“What. Are. You. Doing?”

“Protecting the subject,” I say with a huff.

“Hey, girl, can you step off your high horse one minute so we can get real here?”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Well, first of all, why are you being so irritable and saying Paul’s not being ‘professional and appropriate’ with the subject while you keep touching Will? This morning, every time I turned around, you were rubbing his arm or stroking his cheek. I mean, what the fuck! And you’re giving Paul shit for teasing him when you know most of this shit won’t be used. He’s just trying to get the energy going.”

“But it’s so
wrong
. He’s doing this on camera, and it’s humiliating Will.”

“Can we just call a spade a spade girl and get on with things.”

I fold my arms over my chest angrily. “What are you alluding to?”

“You want to fuck him, and you don’t want anyone else
fucking
with him.”

“What?” I bark.

“Oh, just own it and stop being a special buttercup. I want to fuck him too. So does Gia, for that matter.”

“That’s great, just great,” I say.

“But bottom line is none of that matters. What matters is that we have to get this show done, and it has to be top priority.”

“This is so completely out of line.” I retort so convincingly that I almost believe it myself. “Have you forgotten that I’m the producer of this shoot?”

“Whatever. Live in denial land all you want. I’m sure it’s a bright and happy place. But meanwhile I need you to take a break, walk away, and get your bearings. We can’t afford anymore drama delays today.”

Paul strolls into the kitchen. “Break time!” he calls out cheerfully.

Lindsey glances at her watch. “It’s not time for a break.”

“Well, Will just blew up and told me he was going to kick my ass, so Aaron took him for a little drive to cool him off. So yeah, it’s break time.”

“Fabulous!” Lindsey says, exasperated. “Let me go get things back on track. Why don’t you take a break and cool off too, Sophia.”

I glare at Lindsey as I head out the back door.

When I step onto the porch, Romeo peeks out from his doghouse. I’m too stressed to let the dog get to me too, so I smile. He steps outside the doghouse and sits down to watch me. I’m encouraged that he isn’t charging over to hump my leg. Maybe our relationship has possibilities. I sit down on the step and hold my hand out to him.

“Here, boy.”

He stays seated and keeps eyeing me.

“Are you playing hard to get now?” I ask, laughing.

As soon as he hears me laugh he stands and trots over, stopping just in front of me.

“Good boy.”

He steps closer and gives my leg a little lick.

“Ah, so we’re friends now. I’m glad.” I scratch him behind the ear and he licks my leg again.

“Perhaps you’ve just been misunderstood. Maybe all you wanted was to be loved.”

He steps closer, and I run my hand down his back in long strokes. “Thanks, Romeo. I feel better already.”

The rest of the morning everyone tries to play nice. I decide to put on my big girl panties and make my best effort to get along.

I’m especially relieved that Will is in good spirits after his time with Aaron.

“You okay?” I ask as the filming moves to the kitchen for setup scene shots.

“Yeah, Aaron got me to relax about everything. He explained how Paul likes to be provocative to get things going, but it’s harmless. Once the sound bites are pulled, the rest is trashed.”

“Good,” I reply, not sure I completely agree with Aaron, but glad Will is okay.

“I’ve decided just to chill and have a good attitude. It’s really the only way I can get through this without beating the crap out of Paul.”

“Me too.” I laugh.

“I like how fiery you are though,” he says, grinning.

“What can I say? You bring it out of me.”

Stu has a question for Will, and when he steps away, Lindsey joins me. “So, Will’s fine now. I think everything’s back on track.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

“And I’m sorry if I was out of line earlier,” Lindsey says. “You go ahead and touch Will all you want. He doesn’t mind, so why should I say anything about it.”

I laugh. “Well, thanks for the permission but I really shouldn’t.”

Chill out. You’re always professional. So what that you have a crush on this subject? The shoot will be over soon, and then it’s back to the oddballs and dweebs. Have fun with it while you can.” Lindsey adds.

“Ah, thanks, I guess,” I reply, feeling awkward.

“And believe me. I’d touch him too if I thought he wanted me to.”