The Beginning

Ch. 38 - The subway

There is an excited buzz that chilly afternoon as the cast arrives to the filming location on Hollywood Boulevard. It is a big, behind-the-scenes footage day, with more people than usual rushing around wearing headsets or holding walkie talkies. Dennis is his typical charming self, chatting up journalists, photographers, extras and casual passersby.

Sandra ate lunch alone in her trailer, trying not to cringe whenever images of her hastened retreat away from Keanu infiltrate her thoughts. While giving herself a pep talk, it clicks for her that he was playing with their chemistry, using it to tease her a bit. This triggers her competitive side. She is no stranger to having the upper hand in flirtations with men, after all, she could be just as charismatic as him.

After a reapplication of her makeup and a touch-up for hair, she strolls onto the set where she finds Dennis and Jan. Her call time isn't for another hour, but there are journalists following all the main characters, eager for interviews. She makes her way over to the two men, who are surrounded by autograph seekers and cameras. She leaps into pumping Jan up to the crowd, talking about his directorial genius.

"Just look around you here. Turn around. Let your admirers take you in, Jan," she says with a wink, causing his cheeks to deepen in color. She can feel him falling right into her hands, weakened by her charm. "Ladies and gentleman, Jan de Bont," she announces, leading the onlookers in applause, with Dennis joining her.

As the crowd circles more closely around Jan, she casually scans the area until she finds Keanu, sitting at a small table on the sidewalk with another journalist, a boom microphone floating down from the sky above him.

"Jesus," she mutters under her breath, watching him work the camera. His dark sweater, jacket and navy beanie coordinate with his coal-black hair to play off his bright smile.

"Miss Bullock?" A voice behind her begs for attention. She turns to find a tall man in a red Hawaiian shirt covered by a jean jacket, camera over his shoulder. "Would you mind answering some questions for us?"

"What's your name?" Sandra stands tall, flashing an easy smile, back to her game.

"Uh, Billy."

"Hi, Billy," she straightens the collar on his jacket. "I'm happy to answer questions for you, Billy. Where do you want me?"

Stuttering, he points her toward a director-style chair about twenty feet away from Keanu, where a woman waits, holding a microphone.

"Lead the way, Billy. I'm all yours."

Billy takes three steps, the last landing on his own shoelace, tripping himself ever so slightly. He stumbles into a slow jog as though he'd meant to do that all along. Sandra trails him, chuckling, enjoying the effect she knows she has on most men.

"Hi, I'm Sandra Bullock. How are ya?" She reaches her hand out to the woman, who introduces herself as Kimberly, before settling into the chair. She is within earshot of Keanu, sitting just to his left.

*"I've gotten to, like, hang out of, you know, moving vehicles. And I got to, um, you know, drive through on freeways and stuff, just careening through traffic."

She pretends not to notice as he discusses the physicality of his role, thus launching them both into the most peculiar non-joint, yet still joint, interview ever seen. Without missing a beat or turning in his direction, she excitedly continues where he left off. "He did a stunt where his car runs parallel to the bus and he leaps off the car, into the doorway of the bus. And we thought it was the stunt guy until we see Keanu's little head, falling in and grabbing onto the side."

When she finishes, he looks at his journalist and half-shrugs, "That was trippy," then launches into a description of the plot until he's interrupted, asked how Sandra fits into the whole story. "So it's about trying to get the bus, and get on the bus, and keeping the bus going fifty miles per hour, and, that's Sandra Bullock. She's a character on the bus, and she ends up driving."