I Remember You

Chapter 9

Lily looked at her reflection once more as she gave herself a pep talk. The episode they were currently shooting was one that Uncle Mason was directing. Uncle Mason hadn't directed her before so she was eager to see how he worked behind a camera.

The reason she was extra anxious was that the scene they were shooting in a matter of minutes involved her kissing Finn. She had only ever had a few kisses, boyish pecks really, a few times in her life. So the idea that she was about to have her first real kiss in front of a camera had her almost hyperventilating. What if she made a funny face or did it wrong. What if she had bad breath. She put her hand up to her mouth and breathed into it just to make sure.

"Lily, you're wanted on set!" Cindy called through the door.

Lily stood up and walked toward the door, but it felt as if she was being led to the guillotine. She knew Uncle Mason would be patient with her, but she wasn't sure how Finn would handle her amateur attempts as kissing.

Lily had learned one lesson though and was carrying her shoes in her hand so she wouldn't trip.

The set that they ended up on was one that she hadn't seen yet. It was a seedy looking bar, and it was full of actors who were doing their best to look disreputable. Lily tried to take everything in while she controlled her breathing and put on her shoes. The lights were dim, and a neon beer light hung over the bar. The muted colorful lights were enhanced by stage lighting, and the barstools were worn and high up off of the ground. Someone had even gone to the trouble to scatter peanut shells all over the ground.

It reminded her so much of a bar in her hometown that she could have sworn someone had invaded her memory to create it. She supposed all bars looked the same after a fashion, but she hadn't been in all that many. The only reason she had been in the one back home was that she would have to go and occasionally peel her father off of the floor and take him home when he had had too much to drink.

She was so lost in her memory that she jumped when Cindy giggled. "You get to kiss Finn today. Every woman here is jealous."

Lily smiled weakly, feeling a little sick to her stomach at the thought that so many people were going to be watching.

"Alright! Lily and Finn, places!" Mason called.

Lily watched as Finn emerged from somewhere off set, always there when called even if he was out of sight. Lily walked towards the door of the bar; the scene had her entering in an attempt to track down Finn. She couldn't help but smile at the ironic thought that her father had truly prepared her for this moment.

As she turned, she caught sight of a guy who had been in her drama classes at school, and he gave her a discreet wave. She gave him a forced smile, knowing that everyone still at the college she had attended would have a field day with this if it went wrong.

Mason moved to the center of the set and looked first at Finn and then at Lily. "You both know the scene, having read it, so you know your goals." They both nodded in agreement. "Good, now I want you to ad-lib the scene. Forget the script. Brooke, your goal is to get Desmond out of the bar, Desmond, your goal is to stay in the bar. May the best actor win."

Lily heard some music fire up in the background, and all of the extras started to interact with each other. She took a moment to let the feel of the scene sink in before she searched hard inside herself for Brooke. It was proving hard to do because there was a little bit of the real her still stuck in the past.

She pushed through the door and looked around as if she didn't know where Desmond was sitting. When she spotted him, she walked towards him and sat on the vacant stool next to him as the bartender asked her what she was having. She told him a club soda with a lime, even though all they actually had was weak tea, sprite, and water.