Silver Screens, Silver Bells

She nuzzled against my shoulder and draped an arm across my chest. After she draped a sheet over us, she squirmed her legs a bit to lock her ankles around mine, just as we'd done to each other during that bout of lovemaking.

I chuckled a bit.

"You like that, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Gives me a similar little vibe to when you stood up for me. A sort of protective thing? I don't know. Hard to explain. Human brains are weird as hell, especially when it comes to sex."

"I don't think it's weird. People crave connection. And we connect however we can. Little touches, little moments..." I shrugged.

"Little choices," she said, pressing her hand against my cheek. "Like your choice to take the role, my choice to introduce myself, your choice to press Chris to see if I was into dudes or not..."

"My choice to wear that Star Wars Christmas sweater and make you mad with lust."

We laughed, though the mirth drifted off into a series of yawns from the both of us, and before long we'd drifted off.

**

When we awoke, we had a cup of coffee and then went over our lines for the rest of our scenes together. The prospect seemed absurd, given the night we'd just shared. How in the hell was I going to keep a straight face and call her a tree-hugging do-gooder after I'd felt her fingers inside me, and felt her lips upon mine?

I'd find a way. I wasn't going to ruin this shoot for her or for any of the other cast or crew, and by the time we ran through the lines a second time, I think I'd managed to compartmentalize a bit, to shove the hungry feelings to the side.

At least for the moment.

The rest of the day passed in a blur, starting with a re-do of our confrontation before the Christmas tree, which went off without a hitch. While Eve headed out for a few scenes with Ernest and Chris, I underwent the hilariously cruel scene where my character mocked some puppies up for adoption.

Eve's other scenes involved a night-time hayride through the forest with Chris, so by the time she wrapped up there wasn't time to get up to mischief back at her condo. But she invited me over all the same, and we shared the big, warm bed before rising for coffee and more line-reads.

Our own weird little slice of holiday domestic bliss.

We had a few more scenes together the next day. The scrambled shooting schedule made it hard to follow the exact sequence of events since so much was done out of order, but it was up to the editors and the director to actually turn it into something coherent.

As part of the intense rivalry between the two women, the script had Emilia challenge Valentina to join the town's annual free-for-all snowball fight, where dozens of people would gather in the main square, and duke it out with specially-prepared snowballs dyed in festive Christmas colors. As part of the lead-up to that scene, we'd filmed a little montage of both women training and gearing up for the battle.

It was supposed to be a light scene, showing Emilia as the scrappy but fun type, and amping up Valentina's reputation as a nasty, cold-hearted big city lawyer. The script didn't really have much in the way of details, and the cast would pretty much just improvise a big snowball fight, and the editors would make sense of the chaos in the final cut.

As the camera crew prepped, the crew rolled out several carts loaded with colored snowballs. Several dozen people took their places. Most of them glared playfully at each other, or offered quippy little challenges. Six rambunctious child actors had joined in with the production for the day, and I was certain the little brats would be an absolute menace during the competition.

"Okay," Jason called out. "Just gonna let this be a big free-for-all. Just go at it, battle away, just try not to aim for any faces. Makeup crew already has enough work on their hands. After about a minute, I'll cut then we move into the lines from Eve and Ariane, then we'll roll back to the chaos. And...action!"

Ernest-in character as Old Man Bailey-called out for the contest to begin, and Eve let out a maniacal laugh and darted for the nearest pile of snowballs, nearly colliding with one of the actors playing a local cop. In character as the cold-hearted attorney, I charged for another pile, snapping at a teenaged girl to get out of the way.

When the girl dodged out of my path, I snatched up a snowball, pulled back, and whipped it towards Eve with all my might.

To my horror, it instead collided into the face of one of the child actors. I gasped, my hands rising to cover my mouth, and I was just about to call for Jason to cut when my victim laughed, pulled back, and retaliated, sending a snowball straight into my chest.

Instantly back in character, I growled and lunged for another snowball, as the boy and his friends scampered to collect another volley to unleash upon me.

"Hey!" Eve shouted, pointing at me. "Pick on someone your own size!"

That line was completely improvised and yet completing fitting for the character, and she stepped up between me and the kids, and launched the projectile. It flew over my head and slammed into a tinsel-covered stop sign.

I let out a harsh, derisive laugh. Also not at all in the script, but still fitting the character and the scene.

Eve played along quite well, eyes widening with playful nervousness, and she took a step back, as if fearful of the corporate attorney's icy wrath.

"Yeah," I sneered. "You'd better run."

But before I could throw it, that pack of little boys rushed past Eve, all unleashing their own snowballs in a vicious storm that sprayed me with colored snow and made a mess of my fine jacket. Playing it up for the cameras, I gasped and shrieked, spinning around and raising my hands under the onslaught.

"Get her!" Eve shouted, and all of the other competitors turned to gang up on me, pelting my back and sides with snowballs.

"Cut, cut!" Jason shouted, then burst into laughter. "Let's try not to blow the budget on dry cleaning bills, folks. None of that was in the script at all, but I think that works." He raised an eyebrow at one of the assistant directors, who gave a thumbs up. "Now let's move to line thirteen for this scene, and skip the buildup to that." We all checked our scripts to adjust. A deep breath, and I shifted to the new lines, and I was set.

"Action!"

I wiped snow from my face and coat, my lips curling with disdain as I swept my angry eyes over the square and the townsfolk.

"Ridiculous nonsense," I grumbled under my breath. "I can't wait to rip this town up from its roots."

Eve approached, all smiles, still a bit out of breath from the fight.

"I can't really say I know how the rules of this competition work, but I think it's safe to say you lost, Miss Steel."

"I might have lost here, but I won't lose in court, Miss Harrington," I snapped.

Ernest stepped forward to announce the 'winner,' and gave a reindeer-shaped trophy to a little girl who'd stayed out of most of the fight. The crowd cheered, and I huffed in disdain and stormed off.

Once we cut, a laughing Eve trotted back over to me, and I reached out to wipe some lingering snow from her coat.

"God, I feel so bad about that kid."

"Are you kidding? You just made his day."

I glanced over: he'd already run off with his friends, taking with them the remaining stock of snowballs, no doubt to unleash them on other kids or hapless locals.

"Eve!" Jason shouted. "We gotta go: time for the barnyard scene."

"Right, from snowball fights to horse shit," she said with an eager grin. "See you around."

**

I filmed a few more corporate office scenes, and a tense meeting with Chris about legal matters and the town's fate, where he did a decent enough job of showing the conflicted emotions of a corporate attorney who was starting to feel sympathy for Eve's character and the quaint little town. Overwrought and melodramatic as it was, it was key for the development of the Garret character, and I was glad to get it out of the way.

Lighting issues from the earlier hayride shoot meant that Eve had to go out again for another attempt that night, so I spent a few hours at the bar, drinking with a few of the off-duty cameramen and the actors who played the two town's bumbling cops. Decent enough people, just not nearly as fun as Eve.

I made it back to her condo around ten, but she still wasn't back, so I let myself in with her spare key, showered, and stretched out on the couch. To pass the time, I skimmed over the spines of the pile of books she'd left on the coffee table.

At the top was a book calledEskoril Dawn, the first book of the Dawn-Chant Saga. I chuckled and picked it up, noting how weathered and ragged the pages were. Assuming it was a copy dating back to her childhood, I thus treated it with appropriate care, handling it like it was a precious religious text.

The cover displayed a skinny man with pointed ears wielding a broken black sword fighting a two-headed, horned beast. I carefully flipped it open, skimming over the incredibly detailed map at the front of the book, and the long glossary of bizarre fantastical terms.

The first few pages almost felt like homework.

Just when I was about to move to the first chapter, the front door opened, and a wave of icy air came wafting in. Eve staggered inside, covered in snow, and let out a weary groan as she struggled out of her jacket and boots.

I rose to help her.

"Finally got it done?" I asked, as she slumped against my shoulder.

"Yeah. But...exhausting. I was really looking forward to a bit of fun with you again. Too damned spent, though."

After giving me a kiss on the cheek, she shuffled off to shower, then made her way back downstairs and flopped onto the couch next to me. With a groan, she leaned over and laid her head in my lap, then took note of the book I'd been reading.

"Got you hooked?"

"Not exactly. I was just curious about it. Not really my thing, but I guess I can see the appeal."

"Then can I ask you a very, very silly favor? One that I will repay with a bout of mind-blowing sex tomorrow or the day after?"

I hummed, and tapped my chin.

"I don't know...mind-blowing sex with you sounds like such achore. So is that really a reward?" I snickered and brushed a hand through her hair as she laughed.

"I'm too tired for you to be a brat right now," she grumbled playfully.

"Fine, fine. What's the favor?"

"Go to bed with me and read me the opening paragraph."

"Is this just a trick to try to get me hooked?"

"Maybe, but something about that opening paragraph just knocks me right out when the mood is right. Always lulls me to sleep. It's comforting. Soothing."

"Sure."

We headed into bed, and once she was snuggled under the covers she looked to me with wide, expectant eyes. I opened the pages with delicate reverence, and began to read, hearkening back to my days of Shakespearean theater to lend the words the appropriate gravitas.

"'In the ninth year of the reign of Dusk-King Shorogaak the Fifth, the two dying suns cast their fiery, vengeful glow across the countryside. Long shadows stretched from the crypts of ancient kings, which loomed high like blades rising from the plain. Quiet, sleepy villages clung to life between the shadows, blissfully unaware of the darkness leaking forth from the entrails of the two dying suns.'"

I couldn't make heads or tails of what the fuck was happening in the story, but I pressed on.

"'Within one of those sleepy villages, a lone sun elf boy sat awake in his bed, staring through a gap in the thatch roof of his hut. Through that gap flickered the glow of the dying suns. Like serpents the light slithered down to the floor..."

A slow, heavy breath from Eve told me she was asleep. Smiling, I continued to read, but not aloud. Within a few minutes I felt myself start to drift off as well, so tucked the weathered book onto my nightstand, and slumbered at her side.

**

The next day we finally got the chance to film the actual first meeting of our characters. We crammed into a truck alongside Chris, Jason, and the rest of the crew, and drove out along the snowy country roads leading outside of town. After a few minutes of marching through the thick forest, we arrived at our set, where Chris and Eve went through their lines. Emilia was conducting a botanical survey to prove that the trees were endangered and in need of protection, and Garret had showed up to survey the land to prepare for the lawsuit against the town.

A fun and awkward little meet-cute ensued, where Garret tried to avoid revealing the reason for his visit in the forest.

And then my triumphant entrance: bumbling through the forest, slipping and falling at every opportunity, emphasizing that I was a big-city lawyer who didn't appreciate the wonders of that wooded paradise.

"Oh," I said, stumbling past a large tree and seeing the pair of them. "There you are, Garret." My eyes narrowed at Eve, giving her my most imperious glance. "And who's this? One of the...locals?"

That last word dripped with so much disdain it almost sounded like a slur.

"Yep," Chris said brightly. "This is Emilia Harrington. A botanist and environmental researcher, here to assess the forest."

I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Assess the forest, hmm? For what?"

"Well there's a strand of oak tree that is very rare and dying out," Eve said brightly, playing her warm-hearted do-gooder persona to perfection. "And if I can confirm it grows here, the state can designate the forest as a protected preserve, saving it from large-scale development. I really hope I can find some, because this forest matters so much to the town and its people. All sorts of small-scale, sustainable businesses rely on it, and it's important for tourism. Not to mention it's a key part of the town's character and history, dating back more than two hundred years."

"I see." I raised an eyebrow at Chris. "And did you tell her whyyou're here, Garret?"

"Oh, yeah," he blurted out, playing the bumbling liar quite well. "We're here scouting photo locations for the county's yearly Christmas calendar." He then turned his head to the side and mouthed 'play along' at me, in a very obvious and goofy way that was perfect for this sort of movie.

"Right," I said with a slow nod, then forced a tense smile. "The county Christmas calendar. Yes, yes. All the way out here in these lovely, remote woods, for a holiday photoshoot." I blinked rapidly several times. "A word please, Garret?"

"And cut!" Jason shouted. "Solid, solid. Love the bumbling hunk energy from Chris there. Eve: brilliant as ever. And Ariane, my ice queen." He placed his hands together and bowed his head. "Let's get the departure done for Emilia, and then the argument between Valentina and Garret."

Within an hour we were done, taking a few takes to get my tense chat with Chris right, establishing the stakes of our visit, which in turn helped set up his sub-plot to hide the truth from Emilia. All of that, of course, would lead to a confrontation a bit later when Emilia figured out his ruse and his actual purpose for coming to town, followed by the eventual courtroom drama.

All delightful, Christmas-y nonsense.

Once we wrapped up and walked back to the truck, Eve stepped up to me and looped her arm through mine.

"I know this is weird, and may seem premature and definitely tell me to shut the hell up if I'm out of line..." she said. "But what are you doing for Christmas?"

"Well, filming the big scene at the tree, of course. That's the whole gimmick, right? That we're filming the big moment on Christmas day? The tree lighting, the romantic confession, the big kiss between Emilia and Garret in front of the whole town..."

Through it all, my character would be glowering on the sidelines, only to be overcome by the romantic Christmas magic. The resulting surge of holiday-inflicted emotions would cause Valentina to abandon the legal scheme to take the town's land, bringing the film to a happy conclusion.

Love and Christmas magic would save the day.

"I meant after that last scene, when everything's wrapped."

"I'll have already done a 'remote Christmas' with my parents earlier in the day. Got a few other family members to call, and some friends back in LA to check in with. Other than that, all free. Honestly I kind of figured you and I could share a bottle of wine, watch a classic Christmas movie, and...you know."

"You good with swapping gifts?" she asked, her eyes glittering. "I know we just met, but it could be fun, right? A bit of Christmas magic."

I smiled, surprised but touched at the thought. Those days I didn't really get any proper presents: friends of mine would give me a bottle of wine or liquor for the holiday, and my best friend Darren would usually make me some damned good THC-infused brownies for the occasion. After years of me begging them to stop sending me Christmas pajamas each year, my parents had finally given up and just settled on cards and donations to a local charity in my name.

"Sure, but I hope you don't expect too much. I could probably find something here in town, or get a car back to one of the bigger towns to do a bit of shopping in between my scenes."

"Cool. Nothing too crazy, I promise. Don't feel obligated, don't go out of your way. I just thought of something that would be..." She bit her lower lip. "Fun. And I didn't want it to be weird if I was the only one giving something."

Thrilled at the thought of what sort of 'fun' she could be talking about, I squeezed her arm a bit more tightly, and we walked on.

**

Despite the chaos of the next few days, I did manage to cajole a production assistant into driving me to a nearby college town to go to a specific bookstore I'd spent a good amount of time tracking down. Once I returned, I bought some homemade wrapping paper from the local general store, wrapped the gift as best as I could, and placed it front of the fireplace in Eve's rented condo.

Giddy with excitement at the thought of the look on her face when she opened it, I went back out into the cold, just in time to make my next scene.

For the next few days fleshed out the rest of the movie, taking care of everything except for the grand finale, which was to be filmed at dusk on Christmas day. Some of the courtroom scenes required a couple re-takes, and Chris and Eve had to go out into the woods yet again for that hayride because of a sound issue. All that running around took its toll on the both of us, and the only naughtiness we'd gotten up to had been a quickie in the shower after her return from the hayride shoot.

Even though we were rapidly coming up on the end of the production, I didn't let myself dwell on what would come after Christmas. My flight was scheduled to get back to LA the day after shooting wrapped, which wouldn't leave much time at all to hang out with Eve. I didn't allow that to get me down, though, and just focused on the fact that I'd enjoyed myself while making a nice pile of cash. The future was something to worry aboutafter I was back home.

Christmas Eve entailed shoots for the pie-baking competition, which involved Valentina sabotaging Emilia's efforts to win, tampering with the ingredients to screw up the final product. I still wasn't quite surewhy Valentina was up to all those antics alongside the legal machinations, but it'd make for an amusing enough holiday diversion for people to watch. And, of course, it was ridiculously fun to creep around a kitchen and mess up the ingredients.

Emilia's horrific, misshapen pie was doomed to lose the competition, of course. But over the course of Emilia's frantic efforts to rectify her failure, she bonded with some of the town matriarchs, who forgave her for her deception about her past employment. The subsequent reconciliation with the town at the pie-baking contest got the locals back on her side despite what Valentina had revealed in court.