Get Back To You

That dinner scene with Mitch.e.l.l slowly descended to a prospective disaster. Giving in to an old flame, Lucy abandoned Claudia to a competing silence. Frank noticed the difference, along with the rest of the crew. Together, they all began to wonder about the prolonging tranquillity of the shoot.

Frank could hear the murmurs surging within the group to his stress, yet his gaze set on Lucy, trying to figure out her condition.

Parker, who watched them through the lens, smelled trouble and sought after Ivy. He found her clueless just like him. They glanced at each other, and Ivy let Parker continue to work since Lucy hasn"t technically broken from her character. She had hoped that the actor would recover soon. Parker agreed to watch the two struggle in the spotlight.

Just as mentioned, the one who had to endure this unexpected uncertainty was none other than Mitch.e.l.l. The male actor remained in his seat, without breaking his character or form, yet feeling tensed inside.

At first, instead of jumping to an instant panic, Mitch.e.l.l waited to send indirect signals to the distracted Lucy. He was hoping to engage his fellow actor"s attention from whatever that caused her to get suspended. His silent battle slipped to his several attempts, and Lucy hasn"t budged an inch from her austere state.

Mitch.e.l.l considered her only to resemble Claudia and never felt the spirit of the character. He then made another round of hasty efforts in trying to stir Lucy somehow but took a hard sacrifice from her absent-minded case. With no other choice left, he then slowly moved his eyes to find Ivy, and they exchanged wordless signs to form a quick plan. Upon receiving her approval, Mitch.e.l.l returned to his character and tried to use it as a diversion to draw Lucy"s attention.

"Claudia?" he called forth in his concerned voice.

Lucy flinched at the call, which gave a good sign to the standbys. Ivy, Parker, Frank, and Mitch.e.l.l broke a relieved sweat from her response. Now witnessing her move to his whisper, Mitch.e.l.l spoke low and close that the only person who could hear was Lucy alone. Ivy and Parker stared from a distance, praying that Mitch.e.l.l"s desperate endeavors could yield productive results.

Despite his attempts to provoke Lucy"s senses back to its usual self, Mitch.e.l.l still received a defeating blow from his fellow actor. Lucy only flinched from the unexpected call, but her mind was on somewhere else, thinking about the sad fate she shared with her first love, and reliving its misery kept her blindly occupied.

Minutes fly by to Mitch.e.l.l"s exhausting struggles, yet there seems no chance of rescue from the other end.

Having enough of Lucy"s distracted self from doing her job, he yelled at last, to his losing temper from the exertion. His loud roar called forth attention that even the waiting crew got stirred to his shriek, worrying about what caused the male actor to get much agitated while shooting.

Lucy finally swayed to his sound, returning to the place where she left without notice. Her twitching lashes found Mitch.e.l.l, covered in stress, appearing upset. She discovered the tight spot she was in within a few seconds to her awe.

"What happened?" she thought to her daze and turned to encounter a whole group of people staring at her.

Realizing her circ.u.mstance, Lucy jerked to leave her seat like a cat on hot bricks.

"I"m so sorry!" she begged to apologize for her blunder.

Finally, grabbing her attention and helping to snap her out of her miserable state, Mitch.e.l.l expired cold sweat. He dropped to his seat, letting the people in charge take control hereafter.

Ivy yelled cut to inquire Lucy what happened. From the looks of her sweat-drenched face, she didn"t push the actor to get an answer from her. Instead, she asked if Lucy was feeling alright.

"No! It"s nothing! I- I"m fine! I apologize for causing trouble- I"m good to go. I"ll get it right this time!" Lucy stuttered to respond. Her eyes instinctively searched for Frank and found him standing next to a bunch of guys who kept tiresome faces while whispering to each other. Amidst the worn-out crowd, Frank stood, his eyes worriedly watch her apologize to her fellow actor, Ivy, and the rest of the crew. He kept his stance still to wait until the scene is over with success. After which, he could ask Lucy, his dozens of questions.

***

Ivy let Lucy and Mitch.e.l.l get their makeup fixed for their second take. She made sure that Lucy was alright before calling Action.

The scene took off with a good start as Lucy had followed the pattern.

Mitch.e.l.l and Claudia place their orders to continue with their conversation.

Unlike before, Lucy shrunk within the fear of breaking the second take. She got caught up to her building worry and skipped her lines to a worked up dread.

"I"m sorry!"

"It"s fine, Lucy! Take a deep breath," Mitch.e.l.l whispers as they leap to the third take.

Lucy kept forgetting her lines. Even if she remembered the ones forgotten, she would follow up to ignore the next few lines. Her poor performance began to slope to everyone"s empty sighs and faint whispers.

"It would have been better with an actor who had actual acting experience."

"Who picked her for the role?"

"I heard there was another girl who fit the part!"

"Who was it?"

Some of them joined to discuss Lucy"s unfortunate situation. Their words reached Bethany"s ears, who stayed in her station, observing the shoot. She worried about Ivy and had an eye on her while listening to the blind remarks spreading around. Being in her spot, Ivy could hear the distant voices, questioning her ability to her mounting pressure.

**

"CUT!"

One loud yell wiped out the murmuring noise all around the location, even startling everyone to turn speechless.

"Lucy! Take a break and come back after you have calmed down. It"s pointless if you keep forgetting your G.o.dd.a.m.n lines," she added with an uptight tone.

The crowd dispersed to her command, and Mitch.e.l.l dropped his form to inquire about Lucy"s condition.

"Are you alright?"

Lucy admits with a downcast look on her face.

Frank instantly swoop in to save the situation. He didn"t ask any questions yet but kept rea.s.suring Lucy to decompress. While the actress tried his best, most of the crew members already got tired of the continuing delay. Nonetheless, they waited impa.s.sively to see an end of it. Ivy checked on both the actors to make sure they were in good condition again. She then signaled Parker to get set for a new take.

Ivy"s command accompanied the sharp sound of the slate, and the actors took their spots to begin the scene.

Mitch.e.l.l arrived early to receive his girlfriend. Lucy"s natural fright helped in achieving the initial few moments. When it came time for them to place their food orders, she grew nervous but held it in to read the lines. She restrained herself from getting drawn by the familiar remembrance. It became successful, yet the fear of collapsing bothered her alone.

"CUT!"

Ivy shouted.

"Lucy!"

The call of her name received a lot of m.u.f.fled cries again. Ivy ignored them to focus on the trouble sitting in front of her.

Upon hearing Ivy"s fierce roar, Lucy froze to her seat. Her legs quivered in panic as she remained while catching the stifled moans. Ivy"s face did not appear pleased, which only heightened the tension.

"You did better this time!"

The director"s remark bought forth a repulsive reveal to the audience. Everyone looked astounded and the ones, who mumbled through the shot, worried if they were wrong.

"But-"

The anxious gossipers exhaled to support the opposition.

"You are being Lucy!"

"We don"t want Lucy here!" Ivy smirks playfully without sounding arrogant. She didn"t want to scare her actor on their first day, instead leave them with fair critique.

"What we want is Lucy to portray Claudia! That is why we hired you, didn"t we?" Ivy related to a few head nods to her say.

"More like you did choose her, not any of us!" David, who stayed behind Ivy, mumbled subtly without drawing other"s attention except for the director of the movie. Ivy was not in the mood to encourage any tease, and her single glare stopped David from still moaning about her decision.

"Do you understand what I mean, Lucy?"

"You started great, didn"t you?"

Ivy spoke straightforwardly, appealing to Lucy to realize her mistake.

Lucy admitted.

Ever since the breakout, she couldn"t help but remain herself. Claudia wouldn"t appear no matter how hard she strived to bring her out.

"Is something bothering you with the scene?" Ivy asked.

"N- No- Nothing!"

"Then? Are you sick?"

"No,"

"If there is nothing, then I would like to see Claudia perform."

"Can we continue, or do you want another break?"

Lucy denied, pleading for another chance to fix herself.

"I can do it!" she hastily urges to resume the shoot.

"Are you sure?" Ivy insisted on hearing Lucy guarantee.

She inquired the male actor as well, who affirmed instantly. After receiving the confirmation, Ivy went for the twelfth take. The crew chose to occupy several spots instead of standing to witness another fiasco.