Tracy

052:

*****052:

"You're late." Austin announced to the whole crew, as she finally made her way on set. Embarrassed and out of her league, Tracy nodded, her eyes gritty, and the lighting harsh. They were shooting a mid-section love scene today, one that couldn't be done any other time.

"I had a long night." She swished her costume, a diaphanous lingerie reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe.

"Richard kept you up?" Austin was very annoyed.

"Talking."

"He needs to remember we are in production. You are wearing the talk on your face. I need you to erase that talk and focus." The AD came over and rubbed her shoulders, whispering her lines. She shushed him away.

"I know the lines."

He nodded.

The scene was with Austin, and promised a sexual encounter without showing one. Austin joined her as she stood waiting for the lighting tests to be complete. They'd done a lot of this yesterday.

He rubbed her back through the thin material of her silky nightgown. "You going to be okay?"

Tracy nodded, feeling her throat clog up with unshed tears. Put it aside, she told herself roughly, thinking of Nastya, and her trials to help her gain some perspective. Forget Richard for now. Austin kept rubbing.

"You know your lines?"

She nodded again, annoyed, trying to stay focused where she needed to be. Images of Richard's fighting, or raping, or stealing or doing drugs assailed her. She shook her head and mentally relaxed her shoulders. He'd put images in her mind where none should exist. But because it had been the witching hour, and everything had felt like a dream, the images were quite vivid. One slightly trembling hand came up.

"Concentrate." Austin said as he left her side to prepare for his entry. They were inside a fake teepee/ wooden Native American hut. She sat down on the real animal skin rugs and clutched her hand in the fur.

"I am." She mumbled, but her bleary eyes gave her away. Austin came to her and put a hand on her shoulder. He began describing the scene to her and she concentrated with all her might. He seemed to be assessing her. After about ten minutes he shook his head.

"She's not here." He told the room at large and there was a collective sigh of frustration. Austin stepped back and rubbed the back of his neck. Tracy's eyes filled with tears. The AD ran a check and asked that they take five.

Austin knelt beside her. "He laid the whole thing on the line, didn't he? He sat up all night unloading his entire past on you."

Tracy looked around at all the technicians and camera guys. "This isn't the right time either." She didn't know what Austin knew, but rather thought the whole thing.

Austin rested both hands on her knees. "He's trying to hang on to you."

"I'm just tired." She nodded. "I normally don't need much sleep, but this is too much."

"I know, baby." He leaned in to hold her and she crumpled against him.

"I can't help him, Austin! There's too much." This was said with a sob, and a raised tone in her voice.

"Richard will have to overcome his problems himself, baby." He stroked her back, shaking his head as people approached to see what was wrong. "He's latching onto you. Like a light shining in his dark world. You're the light. The big shining happy Tracy light. Like a magnet." He kissed her forehead and tilted her chin back to look into her starry eyes. "Fortunately, you aren't ruining too much of your makeup."

She tried to smile. "Lunch?"

He nodded. "Absolutely." He stood as she got her bearings and got to her feet. His hand on her back was reassuring, and he was right--- a few minutes with her makeup assistant and she was back on set.

But the scene didn't go as easy as they had predicted. There were lightning problems, they had to spend several hours lying on the sleeping furs talking or repeating lines, and snuggling.

Having not thought through this aspect of the film, the one she'd originally insisted on cutting out, Tracy suddenly found herself at a loss. She couldn't visualize herself as Nastya. And Austin was still Austin to her.

The marker went down and Austin was saying his lines. Tracy's mind blurred. She had lines, but her voice sounded too far away for her own ears and she heard the AD say cut. "What's up?"

She put a hand to her forehead. "I felt a little dizzy there. Give me a minute."

Austin rolled back toward her and did his two fingers in her eyes. "Me..." He whispered and blew out his breath, expecting her to do the same. "Focus."

This time, they arrived at the point where he was supposed to kiss her and she fell out of character, pulled away and buried her face under a fur throw. Her shoulders shook as the AD approached.

"Is she crying?"

"No." Austin smiled. "She's laughing."

"Laughing." The AD looked perplexed.

"It's the thought of kissing me." He supplied, chuckling.

The AD put a hand on her shoulder and she wriggled it off. "Trace, you okay?"

"I can't do it." She choked into the furs, messing her hair up completely. "I can. I can. I love my job. I love this movie. I can do it." She chanted and Austin burst out laughing. Tracy hit him with the throw. He tackled her and rubbed her face with his whiskery chin, holding her slight form pinned to the ground.

"You're on a build." He whispered as they backed off for another take.

Tracy cocked her head to one side. "My Brazilian doctor said strong emotion could cause it." She ran her finger down his open neckline. "Any strong emotion."

Austin also cocked his head and raised an eyebrow in acknowledgment. Then without warning, he swooped down and captured her lips forcefully. He lifted her off the furs toward him with one hand, and slanted across her lips, down her cheek, and across her throat. Caught off guard, Tracy felt a sudden overwhelming electrical impulse lash out, one leg came up, both hands cupped his face and her fingers splayed into his hair. Music, thunderously beautiful music swirled into her consciousness and she whimpered at its onslaught.

She heard the marker, heard the AD say cut, and felt Austin let her go. He was looking at her now with a gentle smile playing about the corners of his lips. "That wasn't so bad now, was it?"

She shook her head. Her fingers twirled in his hair, her body tingled with awareness.

"You glow. You actually glow." Austin told her, running a hand down her side, then he lowered his lips to hers again amid a chorus of catcalls.

"I said cut." The AD repeated in disgust.

"Would you cut, George?" A voice called, and a lot of laughter accompanied it.

"That's a wrap, folks," Austin stated, and the lights and heat left them. He stroked her hair down and looked into her eyes. "Kissing you is pretty incredible, girl. That current racing around under the surface.... Enough to drive a guy wild."

Tracy fumbled her fingers out of his hair. "Good thing it's you then, anybody else might have gone wild."

He laughed as they lay entwined. "Is kissing me pretty weird?"

"Yeah." She closed her eyes.

"I almost thought you weren't going to do it at all, and I was going to have to get your double in here."

"I wasn't." She blinked up at him, relaxed now.

"You are without a doubt, the most complex young lady I've ever met."

She snorted. "Well, you've not got the corner on complexity yourself. What you're interested in is quite blatant at the moment." She wriggled provocatively and then rolled over and wrapped a fur around her slender figure, with only one backward glance she rushed barefoot to her dressing room.

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