Page 21 of His Girl Hollywood
“Say, you’re a pretty good dance teacher.” He grinned as he said Danny’s lines, finally letting a bit of his natural charm shine through.
Rita channeled her own frustrations into the character’s tempestuous nature. “Why, I never! That was a dirty trick if I’ve ever seen one.”
She swatted Don on the shoulder, enhancing the sweep of her hand with a flirtatious flounce. He stiffened immediately and delivered the next line with a croak. “You have to admit it was a trick that worked in your favor. Let me buy you dinner for the lesson?”
Arlene and the script girl exchanged a nervous glance. Don wasn’t forgetting his lines or tripping over himself. He was on his mark and he hadn’t once looked at the camera. But he was still hopelessly stiff.
“Cut,” she yelped.
Don dragged a hand down his face in frustration. “I got the lines right that time,” he muttered.
“You did, Mr. Lamont. But we need to believe that Danny is attracted to Lee. That in spite of the trick he played, he’s so charming that Lee is intrigued by him. I don’t think any character played by Rita Carter would want to go out with the spineless jellyfish you’re playing Danny as right now. She knows she could do better.”
Rita shot her a grin. “Ain’t that the truth.” Good, well, at least she had a more than capable leading lady. Maybe they could cut around Don.
Who was she kidding? He was the romantic lead! And this was the love scene that set the plot in motion. He needed to get it right. “Mr. Lamont, as the papers are all too keen to remind us, you’ve had a tempestuous romance with your dance partner, Eleanor Lester, for the last seven years—”
“Oh, but I—”
Arlene raised her hand. “Don’t interrupt me.” Her tone was sharper than she intended, but she noticed the cameraman straighten up a bit at the sound of her voice and couldn’t help but feel a bit pleased that having a firm hand with Don was earning her the measliest morsel of respect. Don gulped. “As I was saying, you’ve had this relationship with your dance partner. Pretend that Rita is Eleanor.”
Don kicked at the dance floor with his shoe. It was a nervous habit, but he still made it look graceful. Why couldn’t he channel that elegance, that effortless grace into his acting? “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Fine. If not Miss Lester, then someone else. Your love life is none of my business. But surely, there is some girl you’ve been sweet on in the last ten years that you can substitute in your head for Rita.”
Don winced and closed his eyes. Nuts, had she made it worse? But all he did was mutter, “Okay, I’ll try that.”
She called for sound speeds and rolling once more. The beginning of the scene was smooth, thankfully. Now, for the dialogue.
“Say, you’re a pretty good dance teacher,” Don began. It was the worst take yet. His voice was strangled as if he were choking out every word and he seemed, inexplicably, on the verge of tears.
“Cut!” Arlene yelled, struggling to keep rising panic out of her voice.
He didn’t say anything, but he balled his hands into fists and furiously kicked at the trash can at the edge of the set’s dance floor. It was a set decoration and his foot went right through it. Great, so now they’d moved on from stinking up the scene to damaging studio property. Lovely.
She needed to fix this. The movie and her career depended on it. If they could get this, they’d end the week on a high note and they could start fresh on Monday. But she didn’t want to get close to Don. Didn’t want to think about how the way he’d sprung up from the floor reminded her of the boy he’d once been. Where was that Don now? The kid pretending to make a movie while she mimed following him with a camera.
The truth was, she was the only one in this room who knew that kid had once existed. Whether she liked it or not, she needed to remind him of that version of Don Lamont, pull it out of him if she had to. And she could. She could do whatever it was going to take. She had to forget about her personal reluctance to connect with Don and be the director he needed in this moment.
“Rita, take five.” The actress gave her a wink and wandered over to the craft services table in the corner, pouring herself a cup of coffee and relaxing against a leaning board designed to let her rest while keeping her costume from getting wrinkled.
Arlene crossed from her place behind the camera to talk to Don. She lowered her voice to a whisper, not wanting to embarrass him further. “What’s going on with you, Don? I saw your screen test. I know you can do better than this.”
A look of panic flickered in his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it came. “You called me Don.”
She sighed. “Yes, that is your name.”
“I thought I was Mr. Lamont from now on.”
“Look, I’m sorry about that first night on the soundstage. I wasn’t expecting to see you. Is that what this is about? Because I don’t have patience for someone who’s gonna muck up my picture because their feelings got hurt.”
Don gaped at her, a bit of admiration in his gaze. “No, I’m sorry, Arlene. Sorry, Miss Morgan, it’s not that.”
She noticed he called her Arlene, not Lena. Just as she’d asked. But her heart still gave a little pang at the loss of her pet name. Damn it, this was exactly why she needed to keep her distance.
“So, what is it then? How can I help you?” She asked him only as his director. Not his friend. Certainly, not the girl who’d once loved him.
He looked pensive, genuinely considering her question. “I don’t know. I’m just in my head, I guess. That thing you said about someone I was sweet on, it…brought up some bad memories. I didn’t sleep well last night because I was thinking about her. And look, we can both agree this hasn’t been a banner week for me. But Ihaveto get this right. Hollywood is my last chance.”