Love Of My Life

21

Aria

I don't remember too much from last night. I remember waking up, disturbed from a nightmare and then wandering to Ben's room. Well I shouldn't say wander, because I planned to go there, but still. 

My alarm wakes me from my slumber, nearly giving me a heart attack. I find myself tangled in Ben's arms. I break free and turn off my alarm, groaning slightly in the process. I turn back over, not touching Ben, but I look at him. He's still asleep, which I find surprising considering how loud my alarm was. Maybe I'm just accustomed to it so it seems louder, or maybe it's because Ben is a heavy sleeper.

I lean in and kiss his jawline before I sit up and get out of bed. I'm instantly cold and empty but I need to get ready. I know I woke up earlier than everyone else, but I have a couple things to do before we depart. 

I silently sneak out of Ben's room and head back to my own, where I get ready. 

Before I know it, all my clothes are strewn all over the floor and my makeup is everywhere. I want to look decent considering I don't know anyone that we are working with today. I choose this red and blue floral top tucked into black dress pants. My hair is pulled off my face, slightly. I just didn't want it dangling in my eyes. And I have heavier makeup on than usual. I feel foreign, but also like myself. I feel confident. 

I send out a group message at a quarter to ten to make sure everyone is awake. Luckily, everyone responds so I don't need to worry about pounding on their doors. 

A knock on my door startles me. I walk over and answer it.

"Wow you look amazing," Ben compliments me. He leans down and kisses me. "Not that you don't always," He looks good, wearing a white t-shirt and black pants. It's simple but it suits him.

"Thank you, love," I say to him. I move, allowing him to enter.

I briskly walk around my room, gathering everything I need. My phone, the flash drives, paperwork, wallet, and of course the costumes. 

"I'm sorry I didn't walk you out this morning," Ben tells me. He leans on the counter in the kitchen area as I run around. 

"It's okay. I didn't want to wake you," I tell him. "I'm sorry if I bothered you last night,"

"You didn't bother me at all. I was just worried something bad happened,"

I shake my head. "Just the usual," I shoot him a smile. 

"Knock knock," I hear someone say. Ben must have left the door open. It's Joe.

"Good morning," I say to him.

"I'm so tired I don't even know if I'm awake right now," Joe comments. I laugh.

"That's relatable," I say.

"I mean I know I slept but did I really sleep?"

I grab my bag and shove everything I need in it. I swing it over my shoulder and grab the big bag with all the costumes in it.

"Let me get that," Ben says, rushing forward and taking the costumes from me.

"Thank you," I say to him. 

"That's cute," Joe says. "Breaks my hear to have to let him go for you, Aria, but I'll allow it,"

"Wow you're so kind," I joke with him. "Maybe we can share him,"

Joe laughs. "I'll take him for the weekends, and you the weekdays?" 

"We'll need to split up holidays though..."

"As long as I get Christmas,"

"I wanted Christmas!" I argue. 

Ben sighs heavily causing Joe and I to snicker over how ridiculous this conversation is. 

The three of us exit, shutting my door behind me. We make our way down to the lobby where we meet up the others, and our driver from last night. 

"Good morning," the lot of us says almost exactly at the same time.

We follow the driver to the stretch car, Ben throwing the costumes in the trunk and then we all pile in.

"So the schedule today is as follows," I announce once we start moving. I reach into my bag and pull out a folded piece of paper. "You guys go to hair and makeup when we arrive, then filming starts right after. Food is apparently provided and the day ends at five," I shrug. I thought it was busier. 

"That's not horrible," Rami comments.

"Then we can go out at night!" Lucy exclaims. 

"That we can," I tell her. "But we can't do anything too extreme. Paparazzi is everywhere here. Even worse than back in London,"

"I just want to go sightseeing,"

"It's not all that," Joe says, Rami nodding his head. They've probably worked in Hollywood loads of times. 

"We'll figure something out, Luce. If anything you and I can go while the boys do something else," I tell her.

"I like that plan," she tells me.

"I don't," I hear Ben mumble. I grab his hand and give it a squeeze.

The ride is quick to the studio. I'm lost in the images outside whizzing past us. I've been here before, but I'm looking forward to walking around and exploring.

Once at the building, we get out of the car. A woman, dressed in a black and white suit, greets us immediately. 

"Aria Mercury, it's a pleasure," she says to me. We shake hands. "I'm Lindsey, one of the assistant producers here. I'll be with you for your stay,"

"Sounds lovely," I tell her. "This is Rami, Joe, Ben, Gwilym, and Lucy," I introduce everyone. Lindsey shakes hands with each of them.

"If you'll follow me, I'll show you where everything is," Lindsey says. We follow her inside, another man taking the costumes and whisking them away. 

We walk through the hallways of the set, Lindsey pointing out various room and workers. 

"And this is hair and makeup. You guys can go in and get settled while Aria and I look at the rest of the set," she tells us when we stop outside of a large dressing room. I wave to them all as they leave. Ben gives me a light squeeze on my hand before he goes with them.

Lindsey and I continue and eventually make our way to the official set. It looks perfect, I must say. I've always found sets so amazing as they were completely built from scratch for a couple of scenes. 

"It looks great," I tell Lindsey.

"I'm glad," she tells me with a smile. "So we're filming here and down the hall today. This is our first stop before we move on. We also need to do costume changes each time after we film a scene. Overall filming shouldn't take that long but the costume changes add up,"

We are filming the different concerts that Queen toured at so each one requires a different and unique costume. 

"It'll amazing," I tell her. "I'm excited to watch it unfold,"

"Me too. I've honestly been looking forward to this for ages since I found out,"

I smile at her. She seems nice and like a genuine fan of Queen.

"The boys are fantastic too so they make everything better," I tell her. 

Lindsey shows me the rest of the sets, each amazing in their own way. I find myself falling more and more in love with it as we go. Before I know it the boys and Lucy are all ready to go, and filming can start.