Following the Stars

Chapter Six

Lexie got off the water taxi and walked along the pier to the hotel that the cast and crew were residing in. It looked like it was straight from a romance novel. Her luggage was immediately taken up to a suite as she was greeted by the general manager and a runner from the set. "Hi Dylan." "Hello Miss Donnington." "Oh please. I've told you, please call me Lexie." "Sure thing, Lexie, is there anything I can get for you?" "No nothing I can think of thank you." "Ok well your suite has been set up as per instructions. Your call sheets and paperwork are already up there. We will begin shooting later today, a night shoot I'm afraid, hoping for a 10pm start. Call time around 7:30/8 for you? I think Chris is hoping by then the restaurant would have emptied out and we can make use of the quietness. Hair and make up will want to speak to you before then." Lexie nodded taking all the information in. She signed the paperwork that the receptionist had offered before heading up to the suite. She was extremely nervous, Paris had gone well but now she would be shooting more or less the entire summer with Johnny, since he left for LA after their final table read, she had only received the odd text from him. Not that it bothered her too much but it made her anxious to see him again. As she entered her suite, her thoughts disappeared. There were three large windows floor to ceiling revealing a spectacular view of Venice. She giggled a lot and ran to the window, this was amazing, and it made her feel so lucky to have the job she had.

After snapping a few photos and selfies sending them to her parents and friends, she began to unpack. She wanted to make the suite feel as homely as possible baring in mind she would spend the entire next two months here. She hadn't packed a lot because most of the time she would be working and therefore wearing her character's clothes but what she had was enough to fill the wardrobe space. As she pulled the final case off the bed and shoved it under, there was a knock on the door. She wandered over to it and opened it to find two ladies there. Carmen and Sharon, the heads of hair make up, and wardrobe. "Hi, come on in, Dylan said you wanted to see me." "Yes there's been a slight change of plan, we are going to shoot the dinner scene tonight. You'll be full glam, Chris thinks it would work best if we got that out the way now before anyone knows we are here. Then if press attention does arise they won't get the money shots." Lexie nodded agreeing. "Sounds good. What do you need from me?" "Nothing. You'll be full glam, so just wash and dry your hair, no make up, we can sort the rest. The dress is off shoulder remember so strapless underwear ok?" "You got it" Lexie was about to show the women out the suite when there was another knock on the door, she answered it and a butler stood there with a bouquet of pale pink roses. "Miss Donnington?" "Yes that's me!" "Sign here please." She did so, before taking the bouquet. "My parents are so cute... these are beautiful." She took the small envelope out the flowers as the women left. It was handwritten

Here's to an incredible summer. It's an honour to take on this project with you. Looking forward to being the Frank to your Elise. Love and Respect always, JD x

Lexie was stunned, how thoughtful. She also couldn't help but wonder if he did this for all his Co stars? She grabbed her phone and sent him a message.

What a wonderful surprise, thank you so much, how on earth did you know pink roses were my favourite? See you on set. X x

You mentioned they were one of your favourite things in that post that caused the shitstorm with the media, man they say I'm forgetful. You're most welcome, I hope they made you smile, looking forward to it, JD X

Lexie was even more stunned that he remembered her favourites and how he had gone about it, it made her heart swell but she knew it was ridiculous to get hung up on just a nice gesture, after all Johnny Depp was hardly going to be interested in her anyway.

She made her way down to the lobby just before 7 and was greeted by Dylan who showed her to a water taxi. They were using an old building as a base near the floating restaurant this evening. The boat took them right to the door, they entered and Lexie was immediately put in a directors chair to begin hair and make up. For two hours, she played on her phone, chatted to the make up girls and even had a visit from the director who instructed her how the scene would play out. "Don't worry though, Johnny has only just got here, so you've got some time." "Wasn't his call time 8:30?" "Yep." "It's now 9:20?" "Yep. That's the beauty of working with Mr Depp." Lexie nodded slowly before being shown to the wardrobe area. A black evening gown hung from a beam it was simply stunning. "This is a Alexander McQueen. It's borrowed, so you can't keep it and for the love of god please do not fall into the canal in it." Lexie giggled but felt the pressure anyway, "we also don't need you in heels until the suite scene so you can wear these slippers or Uggs if you like?" "I'll take the slippers" said Lexie loving her home comforts. She donned the dress with some help from the wardrobe department and admired herself in the mirror. God what a transformation. She looked extremely elegant. Her hair was curled and in an extravagant up do, she had a bold red lip, and lashes for days, the dress hugged her petite figure amazingly well too. She smiled at herself before Dylan came to fetch her. "Ok so the restaurant is a brief walk down to the left. Are you ready?" "Ready as I'll ever be. Let's go." She slowly made her way to the grand staircase. Everything seemed grander here in Venice. She was holding her dress up to avoid tripping when she heard a gasp. Lexie prayed that she hadn't ruined the spectacular dress already. She looked up slowly and spotted Johnny. He was coming out a door on the opposite side of the landing. He looked incredibly handsome in a tailored tux, his hair was down, highlighted against the whiteness of the jacket. He had his trademark cigarette in his hand as he smiled at her. Slowly they met at the top of the stairs. She watched as he swallowed nervously, the brunette had no idea how much she had blown him away with her look. He tenderly offered his arm as they made their way down the staircase. She couldn't help but blush, however her mind was quick to remind her that Johnny always threw himself into a character, she had read about his technique often enough so she was sure that's what he was doing. They both felt like the only people in the world by the time they made it to the bottom. She noticed Johnny was about to say something when Chris approached. "Looking amazing guys. That's what we need on screen some of that tenderness, the anticipation, the not knowing. Keep that up." Neither one of them cared to admit that they hadn't been acting at all in that moment.

The pair were sat at a table on the open terrace that was on the water. It was a truly stunning spot if it wasn't for the large lighting crews, cameras and directors gathered round. The usual checks were ran before Chris yelled for a run through of the scene which they did. Lexie struggled to take her eyes off Johnny, not only was he stupidly handsome but watching him work was enchanting. She had never seen anyone act quite like him. They ran through the scene a good few times before Chris was happy and yelled action. They shot the scene a few times getting all the angles they needed before wrapping. Many of the crew ran round gathering what they needed before returning to the base. Lexie was in awe that it had gone as well as it did. "You are ravenous" Johnny whispered making Lexie smile, he was quoting a line from the script. "Do you mean ravishing?" She replied coyly turning to face him. "I do." "You're ravenous." She replied before giggling making Johnny chuckle. "In all seriousness doll, you're a knockout. Old school glamour, you should see if they'll let you wear that to the premiere." Lexie blushed before composing herself. "That's very kind of you to say, thank you! Ha, no way, apparently it's borrowed from a fashion house, I'm surprised they've let me keep it on this long. I do love it though." They slowly stood and Johnny held Lexie's chair for her and they made their way back to the base to change and retire for the evening. It was the early hours now, but due to the adrenaline running through her body Lexie was no way close to wanting to fall asleep anytime soon.

Lexie was out of the dress quickly and unpinned her hair. The crew had taken photos of her from every angle to ensure consistency for the next scenes but she chose to keep the make up on, opting to do her full skincare when back at the hotel. After changing back into her black skinny jeans, sneaks, a tee and her leather jacket she grabbed her small over the body bag and headed back to the stairs. At the bottom of the staircase she saw Johnny rolling a cigarette talking to Dylan. His security were waiting by the exit. As she got to the bottom of the stairs she said "Hey You." "Hey! Great work tonight, my god I got lost in it all." Lexie smiled at the compliment. "Wow thank you! You were amazing." He smirked before licking his cigarette. "Do you have plans now?" "Now? It's 2:30am." Lexie giggled. "I know but I'm a night owl and besides I'm always buzzing straight after shooting so I'll never sleep." "Ha. Yeah I guess I am too" "So, do you have plans?" "No, not particularly." "Fancy a walk?" "Sure." Johnny approached his security as Lexie tried to flatten her hair down she knew it must look like a birds nest after it had been pinned up for so long. "We'll just wander, if it's too much I promise I'll get straight in a boat back to the hotel." Johnny said to Sean his head of security, who simply nodded. Finally the pair headed out and walked down the small pavement that lined the canals. "Fancy a coffee?" Johnny asked sweetly. "Coffee?" Lexie said shocked, "Good god I'll never sleep. I'll take a decaf or a hot chocolate." Johnny smiled "Let's do that then, there's got to be a Starbucks round here somewhere." "Yes very authentic" giggled Lexie, they walked for a few minutes before stumbling on a touristy looking area. Eventually they found the Starbucks that Johnny mentioned and got their respective drinks. "You know that's like the 3rd time we've been for coffee and you've never let me pay." Lexie said sipping her drink as they began walking again. "Most people say thank you." "Thank you." She said shyly before continuing, "you're too generous." "I'm a gentleman, I was raised in the south. That's how we are." Lexie smiled nodding. "Well thank you very much." "You're very welcome." He said smiling. Eventually after an hour of wandering around chatting and getting to know each other better, Johnny noticed Lexie beginning to quieten and yawn. "You've had a busy day." "Yeah I woke in Paris at 5am to travel down here." "Fuck, you never said, you've been awake nearly 24 hours! Let's get you back to your suite!" Lexie smiled gratefully. "I've really enjoyed hanging out though. Thank you." "Anytime doll."