Loving A STRANGER

"The house is empty," Kylie said, "and I have to work now, but I"ll have someone send furniture here as soon as possible."

Laurence was too moved to say a word, but the tears down his face spoke a language of their own.

***

When Lucas heard that Kylie had taken Laurence in, he couldn"t believe his ears. "Kylie," he snapped. "Are you nuts? Have you forgotten everything that he"s done to you?"

"Don"t be so harsh," Faith sighed. "Kylie is an adult. She can do as she pleases."

"I don"t understand you people…" Lucas complained. He sat back in the driver"s seat, and Dinah, who was sitting beside him, didn"t move or say anything at all. Kylie"s safety was the only thing she cared about, and he was worried about her, but she could tell that she"d made her mind up.

Lucas met Kylie"s eyes in the mirror, and he asked her who she trusted more: Laurence or Khloe?

"I don"t know," Kylie sighed. "There are other questions that would need to be answered before I could give a proper answer."

"Such as?" Lucas prompted. 

"For one," Kylie replied, "I would like to know why my mother commit suicide? And who was the man my mother was trying to escape from, and who on earth was my biological father?!"

When Kylie arrived on set, everyone could tell that her mind was preoccupied, and everyone was guessing about what was bothering her. Even her make-up artist was concerned and, when Kylie sat down in her chair, she asked Kylie if she was worried about the vice director.

"He"s actually a paper tiger," the make-up artist said. "Though he speaks loudly, he treats actors well. I"ve been working with him for a long time. He"s a nice guy."

"I"m sorry," Kylie said suddenly. "I was thinking about something else, and I didn"t hear your question clearly. I"m not worried about the vice director."

"It"s alright," the make-up artist replied. "We all have days like that."

"Which scenes are you recording today?" the make-up artist wondered.

"Today, I will be fighting the character that Sally is playing. Sally"s part will be played by a stunt woman, though, so I am a little nervous. Miller offered to let me have a stunt double too, but I"ve practiced too much not to do the scene. Of course, Miller tried to convince me to let it go, but I kept saying, "Just give me a chance!" until he agreed to give me a chance.

"In a film like this," she continued, "there are new possibilities every day. I am so grateful that I"ve been given this opportunity."

"From what I"ve heard," the make-up artist replied, "you"ve done more than hold your own – even from here, I could hear everyone cheering for you yesterday!"

Dinah walked over to help Kylie fasten her safety belt and, in a low voice, she said, "Are you really going to do this yourself?"

"Yes," Kylie replied. "I want to face this challenge. Please don"t tell Ethan though. He would s.h.i.t a brick if he knew that I was putting myself in danger…"

"You can"t hide from Ethan," Dinah sighed as she pointed at the wireless earphones in her ears. "He hears everything." 

Kylie"s face changed suddenly. It turned red, and she grabbed the wireless earphones from Dinah. She put them on and screamed, "What are you doing?!"

"Ethan laughed, and he said, "I"m protecting you, Kylie."

Kylie glanced at the platform. It was ten meters off the ground. "I promise you," she said. "I"ll be safe. The platform is only three meters high off the ground! You worry too much."

Kylie hung up and threw the wireless earphones back to Dinah. "Don"t ever call him again while I"m at work," she hissed. "You work for me, not him. Never forget that!"

"As you wish," Dinah grinned. She had already found a loop-hole. She would not call Ethan again, but she hadn"t promised to answer his calls.

Miller guided Kylie to her place and, when Kylie was ready, he motioned for the scene to begin.

Themis was looking over a cliff when Sharon, with sword drawn, attacked her from behind. Themis had quick reflexes, though, and she dodged the attack easily. She spun left, and there was a second where, if there had been two seconds more, she could have kicked Sharon off of the edge of the cliff.

Still, by the time Sharon turned around, Themis had the upper hand. She lunged, and Sharon dodged. She lunged again, and Sharon dodged again – and with each attack, Themis got closer to her target, never giving Sharon the opportunity to strike back.

A wind blew off of the mountain. It rushed at them and gave them the look of true warriors. 

Themis rose her sword above Sharon"s with the intention of splitting her head. She was too slow, though, and Sharon was able to bring up her sword to block it. The two weapons clashed together, and the sound was deafening.

For a moment, Sharon had all of the leverage that she needed to push Themis away and catch her breath, which is exactly what she did.

As soon as they were apart, Miller called the scene. "Very good," he laughed. "Take a break. We"ll begin again in fifteen minutes."

Kylie set her sword down and had an a.s.sistant wipe some of the sweat from her arms and neck. She was hot and tired, but there wasn"t enough time to take off her outfit.

When Dinah came to check on Kylie, Kylie said, "I think my sword was tampered with. In the final moment where I brought my sword down on Sharon"s head, it felt like it was on the verge of giving out on me. If that had happened, Sharon"s sword would have smashed into my face." 

Dinah looked at the sword and said, "There"s supposed to be a washer right here, but it has been removed…"

"Let"s forget about it," Kylie said. "Just have it fixed. There is no need to tell anyone."

Dinah nodded as she looked around the room in an attempt to winnow out the saboteur. Finally, her eyes landed on the prop manager, and she said, "I have found our culprit."

"Keep an eye on him," Kylie commanded, "but do not confront him. It is time for me to shoot, and I don"t want to be worrying about your safety."

Miller motioned for the scene to begin, and Thermos scurried up a nearby tree. Sharon shouted and rushed to the tree trunk, waving her sword in anger.

Kylie was about to begin mocking the stunt man, in line with the script, when a loud noise bellowed from out of nowhere. It was a sound like thunder.

Dinah"s eyes were on the prop manager the whole time and, when the noise sounded behind her, her first thought was that Kylie was in trouble. She looked up nervously and was relieved to see that Kylie was safe but, when her eyes returned to where the prop manager had been, she was disappointed to see that he was gone.

Kylie, who was still at the top of the tree, began to panic. The wires that were intended to protect her were tangled, and the man who was in charge of them seemed to be running around like a chicken who"d had its head cut off.

There were thick mats at the bottom of the cliff but, from where Kylie was standing, they hardly seemed like a safety measure. She looked for the stunt man, but he seemed to be MIA – Missing In Action. "Oh my G.o.d," she cried. "Is this the end? Is this how I die."

From the ground, she heard someone say, "Call 9-1-1," which was hardly comforting.

The man in charge of the wires finally calmed down. He threw Kylie a rope and explained to her how to connect the carabineers. "Once you are attached to the main support," he said, "you will be one hundred percent safe."

Once Kylie was safely on the ground, Dinah rushed to her and gave her a big hug. "Are you okay?" she wondered. "We were all very worried."

"I"m fine," Kylie replied, "but how is the stunt, man?"

"Not good," Dinah admitted. "He fell from the cliff and hit his head. He isn"t even conscious..."

Kylie frowned, looked at the equipment, and saw what had happened immediately. Her face went pale, and she said, "Our wires got mixed up. I am the one who was supposed to fall…"

"But why would someone want to harm you?" Dinah worried. "You are such a nice person. Do you think it was the props manager?"

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