Chapter 17: Chapter 17

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"And that's a wrap, guys!"

"Finally," mumbled someone from the set, earning a collective sigh of relief from the cast and crew.

It sounded like Darren, who had been in a rather chipper mood all evening despite what happened back in his trailer. At times he would even prank his female co-stars during filming, distracting them from saying their lines right.

On the other hand, Jenson was the more serious actor in front of the camera. Perhaps the most professional of them all. Well, since he also had considerable experience as a director and producer, Jessi didn't find his behavior surprising.

Performance-wise, though, she found Darren's acting more dynamic and amusing to watch. But maybe she was just biased.

It was half past ten when the director, Mr. Roberts, yelled "Cut!" and then called it a night.

"See y'all in the mornin'!" seconded Margaux, the sweet, soft-spoken brunette Hollywood actor and the oldest among the cast members. She didn't look older than 55, though, her actual age. "Good productive first day, and so fun workin' with you guys again."

"Bye, Mumsy! Bye, everyone! Goodnight!" Niko, the sole child actor in the cast, bid them goodbye while holding onto his dad's hand. Niko of course had to leave the set earlier to go home.

Meanwhile, Margaux, Kara, and the two male leads stayed for a little while to hang out while getting briefed on tomorrow's shoot sequence. Darren and Jenson had to shoot a scene together for roughly two hours, complete with props and Kara, whose role was the guys' common love interest in the show's plot. Despite some awkwardness and bloopers at first, the cast pretty much killed it.

Although she was trying her best to focus on her tasks at hand, Jessi couldn't stop watching the whole filming process. Everything was just a breath of fresh air she didn't know she needed in her life. It was fun despite the long hours, motivating and inspirational as much as the experience was entertaining, to say the least. She stretched her back and limbs as she watched the crew pack up.

It was her first time watching the taping of a TV show live from the sidelines, with her retouch kit right on her and ready whenever Darren and the extras needed some retouching. There weren't many extras included in the scenes today, though, only four included in Jenson and Darren's scene together. The plot and characters were all written in a contemporary setting here in America.

Therefore she didn't have to do any horror and fantasy-themed makeup looks on the characters. Not yet, anyway. Which meant she still had some time to brush up her skills before she would be required to do heavier, more complex, SFX makeup looks on the actors on a regular basis.

For now, just minimalist natural looks with some hair styling which she didn't shy away from. Actually, Jessi found it much easier than doing makeup. Perhaps because she learned her skills early on from her mother, a longtime hairdresser by profession.

"See ya, Jess. Call sheets posted on the board."

"Thanks, boss. G'night." Jessi put away her makeup brushes after giving the Assistant Director and Director a quick, polite smile.

Then her phone in her pocket went off. She wasn't surprised to see her mom's name and photo on her phone screen. Her mom must have thought she was already snug in bed at this hour.

"Hey, Mom. Whaddup?"

"Honey, you comin' to your dad's party? He keeps buggin' me about it. He said he's gonna grill your favorites."

"Yeah. Sounds like I'mma be pigging out this weekend, Ma." Jessi giggled and sat on a ledge near the props trailer. Her legs just felt like giving up. For the record, she'd been up for 15 hours now and had been working for almost 14.

"You home now?"

"Not yet. But we're wrapping up. I'm gonna be hitchin' a ride with Nikki, the other makeup artist."

"Good. It's gettin' pretty late, hon." Her mother sounded a tad worried now. "You sure they're gonna pay you guys for doing OT?"

"Yeah. Of course." Jessi stretched her legs and smothered a yawn. Even her eyes were tired and strained.

"So you'll catch a flight Friday night? Or Saturday morning?" her mom asked over the phone, her tone rather hopeful.

"Not sure yet, Ma. There could be changes on the call sheet. Might be busier this Friday," she replied without meaning to make any empty promises. She just didn't know if the initial schedule she'd been given was a fixed one.

"Okay. Take care. Did you stock up on your allergy meds?"

"Yes. Of course, Momma," Jessi answered monotonously. Her rhinitis usually bothered her whenever getting enough sleep and rest was an issue for her. After a minute of more mother-henning talk, she said goodbye to her mom and stood up when the chief stylist walked by the props trailer and called her attention.

"Hey, Jessiah. You talked to Zach yet?" Olga, the silver-haired stylist, sighed and propped her hands on her wide hips as she stood on the top of the trailer stairs.

"Hi. Zach? Not yet. I think he's busy with something. Why?"

"I think you're gonna be doing Jenson's makeup, too, starting tomorrow. Mae's been transferred to the six o'clock show."

"Transferred?" Jessi frowned, her legs freezing up in absolute shock.

Mae would be working for another show? The evening news program? How the heck did that happen? Now she had to do Jenson, Darren and the extras' makeup?

"Yeah. Talk to Zach first thing. They're switchin' up the sched a little." Olga waved a short goodbye at her before stepping inside the props trailer with her noisy phone in her hand.

"Okay. Thanks for the heads-up," Jessi muttered and waved back at the older, more experienced styling coordinator while trying not to scowl at the news.

Why the sudden changes? Zach didn't even text her that Mae would be transferred as early as tomorrow, and that she would have to assume Mae's workload. Would they be replacing Mae with a new makeup artist?

Jessi walked off with her sling bag containing her retouch kit while making up assumptions in her head. Why would they just transfer her to another show? Mae didn't even mention anything to her before she left the set half an hour ago.

"Yo, Jessi!"

She stopped in her tracks to glance at the dining area the second she recognized Darren's voice.

He sat in the cafeteria, right behind the table closest to the buffet set-up. Darren waved at her while munching on a burger, with a straight-faced Jenson sitting right beside him and eating something on a square plate.

"What's up?" She stepped forward to get closer to the two guys.

The smell of fried meat, garlic rice and barbecue filled the dining tent. The food on Jenson's plate looked like freshly cooked steak topped with barbecue sauce with some coleslaw on the side.

It stirred up her appetite for a bit, but she felt more tired than hungry at the moment. Her legs, especially, as if she'd been doing cardio for hours.

"I don't think I can sleep with these on." Darren scrunched up his nose as he itched the skin behind his ear. "Help me take 'em off before you go? Can we use the clip-in stuff instead? Tomorrow?"

"Clip-in... Yeah. Sure." She pasted a smile on her face as she stood closer to him. Of course she shouldn't say no to his requests, no matter the overtime fatigue she was enduring at the moment. "We can try them, or the micro ring if clip-in doesn't work out."

"Great. Thanks. You hungry?" Darren sat back and kept chewing, his thick brows partly raised. "Midnight snack?"

"No. Not really. Should I wait in your trailer?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I'll be there in a bit." Darren grinned at her for a second and then grabbed the ketchup bottle beside his plate. Then he just squirted chili sauce on Jenson's meal.

A lot of chili sauce. Some of it even landed on Jenson's fingers.  "Nice." Jenson heaved a sigh but didn't even budge to look at Darren.

He continued slicing his rare-looking steak, ignoring the bloody massacre going on in his pre-midnight meal.

"Real mature, Jablonsky."

Darren snorted and drank what looked like a glass of juice. "Man, really cravin' some Timmy's milkshake right now..." He burped and turned to her again. "Ever tried their milkshakes, Jess?"

"No. I haven't. Is it a franchise?" She didn't grow up here in California, and she wasn't much of a foodie, really.

Both Darren and Jenson, as far as she recalled, had been living here in Cali for a while. "Yeah. I think." Darren finished his burger and easily crumpled the wrapper with one hand. "First tried their burgers and shakes a couple weeks ago. Real good! Addicting, seriously."

"Excuse sugar junkie over here..." Jenson cut in with a little smirk. "He likes to get high on corn syrup and everything fastfood."

"I can tell," she mumbled to the guy, holding back her laughter. Good to see the two having fun now and just hanging out. Like nothing happened. Judging from their behind-the-scenes banter all night and loose body language, she could tell they were actually back to being chummy. For real.

"Sorry. He only eats organic," Darren retorted while a scornful frown wrinkled his slightly greasy lips, emphasizing the word "organic" in a dulled voice that made it sound like a deeper baritone.

"Good to know." She snickered at the blatant taunting. "I'll just put these away." Jessi waved goodbye at the two and checked the zipper of her retouch kit.

"I'll get you some of their shakes soon," Darren near yelled before he and Jenson were out of her peripheral vision.

"Cool! Thanks." She muffled another giggle with her face mask, feeling her nose itching but relieved that the two seemed to be getting along fine now. Well, during the first shoot breaks, she did catch the two hugging it out behind a prop wall.

Darren even jokingly lifted Jenson off his feet earlier while hugging him tight. She wouldn't have seen it with her own eyes had she not been the makeup artist assigned to make sure Darren looked the part whenever he was on set, together with the help of the stylists and other crew members, of course.

With the two guys actually back to being pals, it meant there was no need to worry or be concerned about Darren's safety whenever he was alone with Jenson. So, no need to talk to top management and tell on Jenson. For now.

Jessi let out a sigh at the thought. A huge burden off her chest, really. She just prayed the two wouldn't find themselves in another big fight over the same issue that stirred up their off-screen conflict, or have any other physical altercation ever again, for that matter.

They both had to act civil and professional at work, and stay friends off work, too. At least for the duration of the filming months. The show's third season would take half a year of filming at most (minus the post-production) according to her contract.

If the two lead actors didn't get along, her job was pretty much on the line.

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