I'm on a roll. I had to break this one up too
. Will post part 2 later.
DISCLAIMER - This story is fictional and in no way reflects the actions or day to day activites of the characters involved. In other words..ITS MADE UP!He sat outside in his car for ages, trying to summon the courage to go inside. The last words he said to her echoed in his ears and he couldn’t leave things as they were. He couldn’t deny his feelings any longer. He had to tell her. He had to tell her he loved her…tonight….19 months earlier
Part 1The Erinsborough High set was a buzz with activity as Eloise, Sam, Caitlin, and James sat around waiting for rehearsal and filming of the last scene of the day.
Eloise couldn’t help but feel nervous about the upcoming scene.
Declan had to kiss Bridget!
She was slightly annoyed with herself for feeling that way. Acting professionally was important to her, and she knew that kissing was always going to be a part of an actor’s job, especially in a soap, but why did it have to be
him! She couldn’t help but feel uneasy, especially with the way things had been between them lately.
Ever since that moment at Jane’s party a month earlier things had been strained between them. Actually strained was an understatement. They had barely spoken to each other, unless it was unavoidable for work purposes. They acted out their scenes like seasoned professionals, but the banter they used to share, whether it be serious or in fun, was now non-existent. Neither of them had addressed the issue, opting to pretend it just didn’t happen, but the tension between them was unbearable.
Eloise sat with Caitlin and watched quietly as James and Sam joked around with a few of the other crew. Around other people he was so fun loving and likeable…everyone adored him, and she couldn’t help but feel upset that they would never have that type of friendship.
They still had 15 minutes before rehearsal, and she became more uptight as the seconds ticked by, until she couldn’t stand it any longer. She decided she had to clear the air before they filmed the next scene.
“James,” she said approaching him, “can we please talk…in private.”
He looked at her nervously. He had managed to avoid her for the last month, but it looked like there was no avoiding her now. He too had been stewing about this scene. It’s not like he hadn’t done a kissing scene before, he had even done a sex scene, but having to kiss Eloise made him uptight. Since that night at the restaurant he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that moment, so he did the only thing he knew how… pretended it didn’t happen and kept away from her.
“Now is hardly the time,” he said surprised at her request.
“I know...but…I just need to,” she said meekly.
“Ok,” he sighed as they surreptitiously left the set and walked into a deserted hallway where no one would hear them.
“Well I just want to…um…” she began nervously ringing her hands as he stood in front of her expectantly, “I think we should clear the air. This tension between us is driving me crazy. We really need to talk about what happened.”
He looked at her blankly and gave away no clue of his emotions.
“What’s to talk about?” he asked moodily.
“You know exactly what,” she said hotly, “don’t you dare try that one on me.”
“But nothing happened…end of,” he replied as he began to walk away, but she grabbed his arm.
“Oh come on…we both know what would have happened if we weren’t interrupted,” she said frustrated.
“But we
were interrupted…that’s all that matters,” he said in an irritated tone.
Even after all these months it still surprised her how he could make her blood pressure go from normal to off the scale in a matter of seconds.
”
What?” she said in disbelief, “So you are going to completely ignore the fact that you wanted to kiss me.”
“Hang on…
you wanted to kiss
me I believe,” he said incredulously.
“But…
you touched
my lips,” she said mouth agape.
“And
you kissed
my fingers,” he yelled back, the moment still burned on both of their brains.
Ugh! She thought to herself, I’ll fix that big head of yours.
‘So….,” she shouted haughtily, “that doesn’t necessarily mean that I wanted to kiss your lips. And to be honest I couldn’t think of anything more….tiresome.”
His jaw hit the floor as she made the biggest mistake of all…attacking a man’s ego…especially his.
All of a sudden all trace of maturity left them, not to be seen again in the next 5 minutes.
“What?
Tiresome!” he yelled at her, “I am a
great kisser I’ll have you know.”
“Oh please! In your own fantasies maybe, but I am sure I would be left feeling…
under whelmed,” she snapped back.
“Hey you two,” Caitlin yelled from the other end,” we have been looking for you. We are about to start rehearsing.”
“We’ll be there in a second,” James called out, neither of them breaking the evil glare between them.
“Under whelmed huh! I’ll show you,” he said hotly as he started storming off down the corridor with her following closely behind, “prepare to be
overwhelmed.”
She was really fuming now.
‘Well you know what, you might just be so overwhelmed by my kiss that you won’t know what hit you,” she challenged before they walked back on set into position.
“Right lets get this show on the road,” James said hotly as he stormed out the school door, leaving all common sense and professionalism behind, and prepared for his entrance.
“Is everything OK?” Caitlin asked her nervously, not being ale to ignore the intense change in both their demeanours.
“Fine,” Eloise said abruptly as she stood in position next to Caitlin with a stern look on her face.
“Ok whenever you’re ready,” the director called.
In a split second ‘Declan’ stormed into the room.
“You need to listen to this before you make up your mind,” he shouted with much more venom than the script intended.
“Make up my mind about what Declan?” she practically screamed at him.
All the yelling caught the attention of the entire crew, but they weren’t prepared for what happened next.
He flung the cd down on the desk, dug his hands into her hair and pulled her in roughly for a scorching kiss. She was stunned at first but then she grabbed his face and pulled him even closer as passion overtook them and they fell back against the classroom door kissing wildly.
The crew watched in stunned silence as they continued to kiss passionately and Caitlyn’s jaw hit the floor.
“Ahem!” Caitlyn cleared her throat to get their attention and they finally broke apart.
Both of their bodies were on fire and they stared at each other in astonishment.
The silence in the room was deafening as James and Eloise tried to catch their breath.
Caitlyn couldn’t stand the awkwardness any longer.
“That,” Caitlyn leaned over and whispered when it became obvious James had totally forgotten he was supposed to speak.
“What?” James asked bemused, his gaze never leaving Eloise’s.
“No…’that’...your next line is ‘that’”, Caitlyn said.
“Oh….that,” he uttered quietly.
Eloise continued to stand there in stunned silence.
“Now you say I’ve met someone,” Caitlyn prompted, still in shock herself.
“I’ve met someone,” Eloise spoke the words but they were barely audible.
“What do I say now,” he furrowed his brow in an attempt to remember his next 2 simple words.
“Dump him,” Caitlyn prompted again, a small smile spreading across her lips.
“Dump him,” he repeated as he swallowed hard.
“Now you are supposed to walk away,” she said as she watched them gazing intently at each other, “but I can see that’s not going to happen, so I guess we’ll just forget….”
‘What the hell was
that,” the director hollered, interrupting Caitlyn and finally breaking the intense stare between them.
“Sorry…I forget my lines…I’ll be right for filming though,” James stammered uncomfortably, now looking everywhere but at Eloise.
“Three simple words James, but that’s not what I’m talking about and you know it,” he said. “I mean I am all for passionate performances but can we tone it down like…a hundred fold please…we do have a G rating you know. Now are we ready to film this or not. We are going to run late as it is.”
“Can I have a few minutes please,” Eloise asked…the first sensible thing she had said without being prompted after the kiss.
He nodded in annoyance and she raced out of the room, passed James, and walked back down the corridor. She leant her head back against the wall, closed her eyes, and sighed loudly.
She could feel herself shaking and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t deny the passion between them.
“Why is this
happening,” she moaned under her breath. She longed to hear Joe’s voice at that moment, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of excitement that James kiss left her with.
“Are you OK?” Caitlyn asked as she appeared in the hallway, “what the hell is going on with you and James. I never know whether you two are going to tear each others heads off or each others clothes off.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she smiled helplessly, “come on lets get this scene shot shall we.”
James was outside the classroom door waiting for her to return. He looked at her pensively and wondered if she felt the same passion for him as he did for her, but then chastised himself for thinking about her like that. He needed to ring Caitlyn ASAP.
“Lets get this over and done with shall we,” he said matter of factly.
She agreed whole-heartedly. She just wanted to get the dam thing out of the way and get far, far away from him.
They shot the scene in one take, toning things down 200 fold. Their kiss this time was short and sweet…but it still left a tingle on both their lips.
“Right that’s it for today…thanks everyone,” the director called, “James, Eloise can I see you for a moment please.”
They looked at each other apprehensively as they approached him.
If we get in trouble for this I am going to
kill him, she thought to herself.
“I was just talking to Susan before,” he said sternly, “She wants to speak to you both…together…now.”
tbc
DISCLAIMER - This story is fictional and in no way reflects the actions or day to day activites of the characters involved. In other words..ITS MADE UP!