Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Wisteria

"So, you see, dear, we'll do the first intimate scene with Banner, the one I'm calling ‘The Big One'."

She does her hands in air quotes and hands me some of the types of pasties she works with.

"Now, the first scene will have you on top of Banner, so we'll need those and some of the underwear I showed you a couple of items back. We'll go through the scene to choreograph the moves fully clothed and then take it from there. We want to be very careful about the placement of arms during this one."

"And she's supposed to be flipped too. So, we'll have to work on that as well."

I jump at the sound of Banner's voice so close to us. Mary Jo turns to him to include him in the conversation, "And what do you think we'll need for the other scene, Banner?"

"Probably the same. But maybe these instead of the super skinny pair." He holds up a thong that is close to the same color my skin tone is. "There's a sheet that goes around her for the most part, so you only really see her thigh and maybe the top of her."

"Oh, that's good. That's really good."

I really like that Mary Jo is here and that she seems to know what she is doing but it also drives home the fact that I am going to have to be very close to this man who didn't even like me to start with. And I have no fucking idea what I am doing. I'm sure as soon as he finds that out, he's going to go back to screaming about what a baby I am. So needless to say, the scenes being talked about are going to be very stressful for me.

I try to look for Vel since she's coached me on what to do and how to act any time something like this comes up, but I can't find her. Instead of dragging me over the coals about what happened before, she just acted like nothing was amiss. I'm not sure if that's what was agreed upon for all parties concerned or if she just doesn't want to talk about what went down when me and Banner left and quite frankly, I"m not sure if I want to find out which one it is.

"Oh, that is wonderful. I love that you took my advice about how to strengthen the bond between you two. You know, it is so nice to work with someone who really listens to what I have to say."

What now? I focus back in on what is being discussed.

"I think it will really make a world of difference. Don't you, dear?"

Oh shit! "Um…I…"

"I was just telling Mary Jo that we took her advice about doing bonding skills and we're going away for a long weekend."

My smile melts off my face at his statement. We…we're going away for the weekend?

"Isn't it wonderful? It will be so much fun."

"Fun?" I look over to Banner who seems to know exactly what is going on.

Mary Jo turns around to lay the pasties down and I slide closer to Banner. "What are we doing?"

"Sarah, the new director, and some of the producers think it might be a good idea to take some of the actors we're working with and go on a little three or four-day vacation. Sometimes the producers do this kind of thing to foster a sense of belonging among everyone."

"Oh." I try to think of something else to say but come up empty. "No one really told me we were supposed to go somewhere."

"It didn't get green-lit until this morning, so it's very likely Vel didn't know about it yet."

"Oh." And just like that, I don't feel so mad about being the only one who didn't know about the trip. "When will we…um…?" A part of my mind wants to finish the question with the words ‘do it' but I stop myself knowing that could be taken the wrong way. "When will we go?"

It comes out uncertain and strained and even I can hear the uneasiness in my voice.

"I assume we'll be doing it this weekend. We'll leave on Friday afternoon and probably won't come back until Tuesday or later."

"You seem like you"re pretty sure about what is going on, is there anything I need to bring or do?"

"I'm the one paying for it."

"Oh. Uh…" I"m not sure how to take or what to say to this little nugget of information.

"You don't have to do a thing except pack for a couple of days away. Maybe bring a bathing suit, the lake is close to the house we're staying at."

"Um…okay." I guess everything is already worked out…except how I'm going to make it through so many days with Banner being so close without losing my mind.