The Music of the Night

Chapter 2

Just as I thought it couldn't possibly get any better, I was stumped once again.

Inside was a huge sound stage that spread about halfway across the room and took a good amount of the space, which was saying something because the room would've been massive on its own without the stage. I could make out two figures standing by it about thirty feet away.

While I looked around in awe, Joel turned to me and said, "Wait here. I'll go fetch the actors for you."

"Okay," I said absentmindedly, which made him chuckle. 

My thoughts were so occupied that I barely noticed him leave, and I continued to observe everything with intense focus. The biggest thing about my designs was that I based them around the settings of the scene and the personalities of the person (or people, in this case.) As the gears turned in my head, everything around me disappeared, and I was left in the full void of my working mind.

I had to fully snap myself out of it when I heard Joel calling my name, which sounded a mile away from where he was actually standing. Coming back to reality, I turned and faced Joel to say something, but my words disappeared in an instant.

Standing beside Joel was Emmy Rossum, who looked gorgeous in a simple white dress that fit her thin body nicely, and her brown hair cascaded down her back in long, luxurious curls.

I had never seen such beauty from a sixteen-year-old before, and I almost started drooling before I closed my mouth back up and regained my posture.

"Ms. Parker, this is Emmy Rossum," Joel said nonchalantly, gesturing to her with his hand. "Emmy, this is Ellie Parker, your new costume designer."

Emmy smiled warmly and said, "How wonderful to meet you, Ms. Parker."

I shook her extended hand and replied in a somewhat trembling voice, "It is an honor to meet you, Ms. Rossum."

"Please, call me Emmy," she said, giving my hand a little squeeze.

"Ellie," I responded, fireworks exploding in my chest.

Our hands separated, and Emmy looked over at Joel as she said, "Gerard should be on his way. He wanted to go over a few lines of the script before meeting Ellie."

"Alright," Joel nodded. "Did he say how long he would be?"

"Just a few minutes," Emmy replied simply. "He doesn't want to keep her waiting."

My eyes widened a bit as I processed what I had just said. Gerard. As in Gerard Butler, my biggest, and only, celebrity crush that I had ever had? Before I could stop myself, I asked, "Am I working with him as well?"

Joel looked at me and said, "Yes. You'll be handling the outfits for Emmy and Gerard."

I blinked, furrowed my brows, and stood there with what was surely a baffled expression on my face. I was designing the outfits for the two lead actors in the movie, which made the job about ten times harder. Not only that, but I was going to be working with Gerard, which in itself sounded crazy in my head, but it was real life, and it was happening. 

I felt overwhelmed, thrilled, and scared at the same time, which was quite a rollercoaster if you asked me.

Seeming to sense my thoughts, Emmy laid a comforting hand on my arm and said, "Don't worry. We will make this job as easy as possible for you. It's a lot, I know, but Gerard and I will help you as much as we can."

I nodded my appreciation and was about to delve back into my head before I saw a silhouette approaching. The room was dimly lit, so I couldn't see who it was, but once the figure moved into the light, my eyes bugged out of my head.

Gerard Butler was the most handsome man I had ever seen, and no picture could ever do him justice. He had short black hair that was combed nicely, and his green eyes stood out like two gems in the night. You're gorgeous, I thought to myself, swooning like crazy.

Joel spoke up and said, "Gerard, this is Ellie, you and Emmy's new costume designer. Ellie, well, I think you can guess who this is."

I noticed quickly that Joel had introduced me by my first name to him, which was a bit odd, but I was too star-struck to pay attention to anything else other than Gerard.

He gave me a smile and said, "It's good to have you, Ellie."

I shifted on my feet and said quietly, "Thank you, Mr. Butler. I'm happy to be here."

"It's Gerard," he replied, but not in a rude way. "You don't need to use all the fancy stuff before my name."

Everybody is so polite here, I thought. Aloud, I said, "Okay."

I still felt intimidated by both him and Emmy, however, even though they seemed like nice people. What I couldn't get out of my head was their celebrity status, so I was left thinking of them as gods instead of normal humans. I had to change that mindset, fast.

After some awkward silence, Joel broke it by saying, "Well, now that you've met these two, I think we should take you to your work station. Would you like to see it?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and said, "Yes. That'll be fine."

"Great," he nodded. "I'll take you there now."

"Thank you," I said, grateful that I could leave without making myself look like a fool in front of Emmy and Gerard. "Lead the way."