The secret - an Evansson story

20

December 2009
Scarlett woke up with a pounding headache and her eyes threatening to close from the bright sunlight that seeped in through the windows.

After taking Tylenol, she slowly got ready for a full day of reshoots for the Iron Man 2 movie. She wasn't feeling herself, mostly because of her hangover but also because she was filled with guilt.

Guilt for leaving Aleah and Chris only days before Christmas. Guilt for lying. It was all starting to weigh her down.

The blonde woman was lucky to have an easy day. She didn't have to reshoot a fight scene; those usually took the entire day to film. But Robert and Samuel Jackson were going back and forth, messing each other up and causing them to reshoot the same scene multiple times.

Usually she'd be laughing along with the two, joining in on the fun and making the most of it. She did let a few chuckles escape her lips but she felt guilty to be having any type of fun without Chris and Aleah.

"Scene 3, take 7." Someone yelled, clapping the slate closed in front of their faces.

"Action."

The woman, with her red curly hair walked past the camera toward the table where Robert and Samuel sat in character.

"We've secured the perimeter but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer." She said, it felt boring as those lines rolled off her tongue. She's said it at least twenty times already.

Robert, dressed in his Iron man suit, looked her up and down. It was kind of ironic, for the sober man to be playing a hungover genius playboy billionaire philanthropist, and the hungover woman playing, well, Natasha.

"You're...fired." He spoke his lines perfectly.

"That's not up to..." Scarlett's voice trailed off as she whipped her head around. A cry filled her ears, not just any cry, but Aleah's.

She spotted the small child on the ground ahead of her, tears streaming down her already red face. Chris kneeled down beside her, trying to shush her but she only wailed louder.

The blonde woman practically sprinted toward her daughter, picker her up and bouncing her up and down as Aleah's cry turned to hiccups.

"Shh, sh, it's okay." Scarlett whispered to her daughter. "Mama's here, mama's got you."

The crew around her stared, their eyes bulging and their mouths catching flys. Scarlett ignored them, walking back to her trailer with the child in her arms and Chris following behind with a nervous look on his face.

"I'm sorry, she just tripped and-" Chris began but he was cut off.

"Why are you here?" She questioned angrily. She wasn't actually angry, she was happy to see them but now the whole crew knew something was up.

Scarlett set Aleah down on the counter, inspecting her scraped knee. It was only a small scrape with a little bit of blood, nothing severe.

"I don't think we should be separated during Christmas." Was all he said as he watched Scarlett rinse her daughter's knee before putting a bandaid over the small cut.

"All better." She whispered to Aleah, giving her a kiss on the top of her nose before letting her run off into the other room.

She turned back to Chris. "I'm truly happy to see you, I really am." She began. "But now they know."

"Is that really a bad thing?" He questioned. "We don't have to explain ourselves, but we're making it harder on her if we keep her a secret."

He was right, they were making it harder on Aleah and themselves. But she was scared. She was terrified to tell the world about her daughter, have her grow up with no privacy.