Serendipity // Camren

Chapter 10

Lauren nervously pulled her shirt over her head and smoothed it out over her stomach before she tucked it into her slacks. Her hands trembled, making the process much harder than it should have been, and by the time she finally managed to zip and button up her pants, a light sheen of perspiration coated her brow. She kept telling herself that this was just work, that she had kissed tons—okay, not tons, but a good number—of people in front of the camera, and that this would be no different, but her heart knew that was a lie.

Because everything about this situation was different.

The scene James wanted to sneak in that evening was originally scheduled to shoot the following Monday. Their first lovemaking scene was scheduled for two and a half weeks after that, which was right before a three-day weekend that marked their filming transition from being primarily on the Paramount lot to doing more stuff on location. After that, the romantic scenes were spaced out over the rest of the shoot. There were a grand total of three lovemaking scenes, and a dozen or so kissing scenes. She did not know the entire shooting schedule by heart, but she had memorized which days she would be expected to kiss Camila. To touch Camila. To get naked with Camila.

And she was not ready.

Her heart clenched with the realization that in roughly twenty minutes she would be actually doing what she had dreamt of doing for so long, and she could not help being bitter and angry about it. Bitter that her first kiss with Camila would not be real. Angry that she was going to be forced to share that moment with who knows how many people. When they filmed their love scenes it would be with a skeleton crew to make the undeniably awkward situation less awkward, but this was just a kiss and that meant that everybody would be there. Watching. Judging. Intruding on what, to her, at least, was an especially private moment.

"It's not fair," she whispered, her voice cracking. The statement was childish, but there was nothing childish about the heartbreak she was experiencing. She would finally get to kiss Camila, and she knew that meant nothing. There was nothing fair about that.

She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the ceiling, hoping gravity might keep her tears at bay. She took a deep breath and held it, foolishly hoping that the extra oxygen would calm her nerves.

Keep cool for now, Laur, and when you get home you can lose it, she told herself sternly. Two, maybe three hours and then you can cry, scream, throw shit, whatever, but for now you have to behave professionally.

If only it were that easy.

She took one last ragged breath and opened her eyes to study her reflection in the mirror. She was pleased to see that none of her internal distress was visible. She swallowed thickly as she walked out of the trailer, not caring if the door actually shut behind her as she started across the lot to the set. Her feet moved slowly, heavily, and she jumped when she stepped into the sound stage and the door slammed loudly behind her.

Across the large shell of a building, she could see Camila sitting on top of one of the desks in the 'bullpen' chatting amiably with Chase. Camila was dressed similarly to herself, slacks and a shirt, fake gun holstered on her right hip, badge hanging off the left side of her belt, and Lauren eagerly drank in the sight of her. Camila was laughing at something Chase had said and when she looked up at Lauren, her eyes twinkling with mirth and a large, happy smile on her face, Lauren could not help but smile back. Her smile must have been off, however, because as she walked up to Camila and Chase, the brunette took one look at her and quickly excused themselves from the writer. Lauren shivered ever so slightly as Camila's fingers wrapped around her arm and she allowed Camila to drag her across the set to a dark, quiet corner away from the action.

Camila frowned as she studied Lauren's face intently. "Are you okay?"

No, I'm not, Lauren thought to herself, even as she nodded and focused her attention on the wall just over Camila's right shoulder, unable to look into her eyes as she lied. "Yeah. Fine."