Not Without You [Chris Evans]

2

Chris' POV

I watched the captivating redhead briefly before I headed to the set, trying to figure what it was that drew me to her. I worked day in and day out with a lot of attractive women, but they didn't draw my gaze like she did. I'd noticed that her attention hadn't been focused on where she was going and used that to my advantage, engineering a meeting.

I hadn't been disappointed by the closer look at her. Her long, loose fiery hair framed a delicate heart shaped face, her pale alabaster complexion lightly enhanced by her makeup, not obscured by it. Her wide forest green eyes had golden flecks in them and a depth I hadn't expected; it had been a moment before I could reply to her query.

She was so short - shorter than Scarlett even - that she had to tip her face up to look at me invitingly and I found myself wondering what those full pink lips would taste like as her scent reached me, a heady combination of cinnamon and vanilla that appealed to me in a way that few perfumes did. Between that and the feel of her in my arms, I found myself needing to take a moment before I stepped on the set just to get her out of my head.

She looked intently at the trailer doors before hesitantly aiming for Seb's. I cursed to myself; she must be one of the applicants Sadie was interviewing today for her new personal assistant. Sebastian and I had managed to eliminate a lot of applications just from what was on them – and what wasn't. We knew from experience that there were some things that would be required, including exceptional organizational skills, computers skills, and tact, but there were other requirements that were more specific to this kind of job - being a PA to someone famous. We traveled all over the world constantly for various filming jobs and our PA's came with us, which led to them working odd hours and being away from home for weeks or months at a time.

After weeding out the ones that we knew wouldn't work, we still had a decent sized pile. Of the remaining applicants, they were all pretty much equal in terms of qualifications and abilities, so in the end, it would come down to personality. Sadie got along with almost everyone, but she also needed someone she would be able to trust. The kicker was that whoever she hired needed to interact with Sebastian and I as well. It wouldn't matter how much Sadie liked them if they couldn't deal with either of us; it wouldn't work for long.

From the brief encounter, I already knew this girl wasn't from around here and I'd even bet she was pretty new to New York as well. I got the impression that she had absolutely no idea who I was, which was pretty rare these days. I was just glad I got to dress like a normal person today and not be wearing my usual Captain America suit.

Sighing, I stepped onto the set and headed for the directors. It took a little effort than I liked to push her out of my mind to focus on my upcoming scene with Sebastian and Anthony Mackie. They were already there and bullshitting each other when I reached today's location.

"What took you so long, Chris?" Mackie asked, "We've been waiting for you."

"I ran into one of Sadie's applicants. Why'd you decide to send them here for the interviews, Seb? This is a confusing place on the best of days – and that ain't today."

He shrugged. "Seemed like the best way to do it. If they can't even follow basic directions, they don't belong here."

"I suppose," I mused. "If they don't take one look at this chaos and turn around, they might be fine."

"That too – weed out the unworthy," Sebastian smirked as we roared in laughter at the hammer reference we'd adopted in every way possible ever since we'd first started filming with Hemsworth. "This is our life, like it or not. Sadie keeps saying she's done after this one, but we all know she loves doing this kind of stuff - and I know for a fact she's been given a few more scripts to read and is considering doing one of them for sure."

"Yeah she does," Mackie said, grinning. "I can't wait until that one she did this summer with Kellan comes out. My wife saw the previews and has been waiting for it to come out. She's even coming to the premiere with me she wants to see it that bad. I never would have believed Sadie didn't have any acting experience if I didn't know better."

"I know – her questions give her away, though. What was the last one?" I asked, trying to remember what she'd asked me about. "It was something set related, I think."

"I don't remember, but yeah they do," Sebastian said, laughing. I know she'd asked him some really strange ones before, too. "So what did this chick look like?"

"Ariel," I said, blurting out the name of the first person that came to mind that reminded me of the redhead, "minus the mermaid tail, of course. Long red hair, big green eyes."

"Of all the things you pick to compare a woman to you have to pick that Disney princess?" Sebastian groaned. With a name like Sebastian, it was inevitable that he'd heard every Little Mermaid related joke there was. "Mackie, I nominate you for Scuttle and Jeremy can be Flounder." I laughed as Anthony punched Sebastian, knowing he was being insulted.

"Did she go mute when she met you or break into song?" Jeremy Renner asked with a smirk, earning himself a shoulder punch from Sebastian. "Was she wearing seashells? September's a little cold for them."

Sebastian slugged him again for that remark. "Knock it off, Jer," he growled. "I hate it when you talk like that."

"Why not a princess?" I turned to Jeremy and asked him, "Jer, who's the first woman you think of if I said 'green eyed redhead'?"

"Merida," he said with a smirk, twirling his bow.

"You would, Legolas." I scoffed, using Robert's favorite nickname for him. "Who else?"

"That Frozen Queen chick's sister Annie?" Sebastian said, smirking.

"Anna," I corrected him. "Get it right, Seb! Haven't you watched it enough with Gracie to know that by now?"

Sadie's year and a half old niece had adopted 'Sebba' - as she called him - as her absolute favorite person in the world, much to my amusement. There was nothing quite like seeing a pink tutu-clad toddler dragging around a grown man who convincingly played a brainwashed metal-armed assassin like he was her personal slave/teddy bear.

"She watches it, I sleep; win – win," he shrugged unconcernedly as we laughed. The Russo's called us to order then, so I had to pay attention to what they were saying.