first impressions

It was the first day of official filming on Smallville, and Mike was nervous, but excited as well. A new show, a new set, and new people to meet. He loved the energy and the high he got from embarking on an adventure.

Whistling to himself, he headed towards Trailer B, which he’d been told was his. He carried a box of stuff to decorate the space and make it his. Some pictures of friends and family to hang around the mirror, a snowglobe his mother had given to him, a Slinky, a bobblehead hockey player, and a ball of multi-colored rubber bands. Silly stuff, but stuff that he took with him to every set.

He found Trailer B and, still whistling, hopped up the metal steps, yanked open the door and stepped inside. It was bigger than any trailer he’d had before, bright and cheery looking with a large gift basket of fruit sitting on the table.

Before he could check things out further, the bathroom door opened and out walked a young blond woman, hair dripping wet, fresh from a shower.

Completely and totally naked.

Mike had one second to take in the sight before an ear-piercing shriek greeted his ears, making him fall back against the door and topple down the steps, dropping his box. Everything in it landed on the cement around him, but he did manage to catch the snowglobe before it broke.

Crew people came to see what was going on, and Mike slowly got to his feet, shaking his head.

Missy, a set supervisor, rushed over clutching a clipboard.

“Mike! Oh shit, no one told you about the switch,” she said. “Allison took your trailer, and you’ve been given hers. So sorry.”

“Uh, yeah, sure. Allison, no problem,” Mike said, stooping to gather his stuff. “And she is?”

“She plays Chloe Sullivan, Clark’s friend.”

“Right. Okay then, which trailer am I in?”

Missy checked her clipboard. “Trailer D. Down that way, end of the second row.”

“Are you sure? I won’t be walking in on Tom Welling naked will I?”

“No. Wait, you walked in on Allison naked?”

Mike’s memory flashed to a glimpse of smooth, creamy skin, still damp from the shower, and the most amazing breasts he’d ever seen, and he felt his face flush.

“What? No, I uh, Trailer D. Bye.”

He picked up his box and hurried away.

What a way to start a new job, he thought. But wow, what a beautiful girl. Maybe I’ll ask her out.

Then he remembered her screaming and thought not.

~*~*~

They had finished shooting their first scene, and Mike stepped off set for a moment to grab a bottle of water.

“So I heard you met Allison,” Tom said, a grin on his face and his eyebrows wiggling.

Mike and Tom had met a few weeks before, and Mike liked the guy all right, but that smirk was going to get his ass kicked.

“It was a mistake,” Mike said. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I know. I just like giving you crap.”

Mike looked around. “Where is she? I haven’t had a chance to apologize to her. Hell, I didn’t even know who she was.”

“She’s probably hiding. After all, you got a free glimpse of her goodies.”

“Jesus, are you always this pervy?”

“She’s a beautiful woman,” Tom said, shrugging. “I can’t believe how young she is.”

“What? Young? How young?”

Tom swallowed a sip of water and said, “Nineteen.”

Mike choked. “Shit.”

“Thinking of asking her out, huh?” Tom asked, nudging Mike in the side. “Well, she’s also engaged.”

“Double shit.”

“Besides, do you really think she’d want to go out with you after what happened?”

“Biiite meeee,” Mike said slowly. Then he walked away.

Okay, so she was young. And engaged. And he’d seen her naked without schmoozing her first.

Nope, he decided. She’d never go out with him.

~*~*~

Luckily, or unluckily, they didn’t have any scenes together right away. But Mike hung around and watched her film, curious to know more about her. She had spoken to him briefly once, to ask him to move out of her way, and had avoided his gaze. He could see that her cheeks were pink, and he felt bad for causing her such embarrassment. He really wanted to apologize. Especially since they’d be working together soon.

So he watched her work, intrigued at her ability to handle copious amounts of dialogue and not bat an eyelash. When she laughed or smiled, it was infectious and everyone around couldn’t help but join in. Her eyes sparkled, and he wished she’d look at him and smile like that.

He decided to apologize face to face, and look her in the eye. He wanted to prove to her that he wasn’t thinking about her breasts day after day, even though he was.

For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why Clark Kent would ever go after Lana Lang when Chloe Sullivan was right there in all her curvy glory.

One night, he drove over to the house she was renting while in Vancouver. He’d had to find out her address without actually asking for it, since he didn’t want everyone to think he was some kind of stalker. He parked in the street and walked up the short driveway to the front door.

He rang the doorbell and hopped from foot to foot. He’d gone over his speech several times in his head, and he felt confident he could get her to forgive him.

And then she answered the door, and all logical thought left his head.

“Mike,” she said, staring up at him with those wide, expressive eyes. “What are you doing here?”

She was dressed in form-fitting jeans and a sleeveless blue shirt with a v-cut neckline. He noticed she folded her arms across her chest.

“I’m, uh, I wanted to say, um,” he stuttered. He took a deep breath and ran a hand over his head. “Could I come inside? Just for a moment?”

“Why?”

“I just, I want to say that I’m sorry, and I don’t want to do it with me standing outside.”

She hesitated for a second, then stepped aside to let him in.

“Nice place,” he said.

“Thanks. We can sit here,” she said. She motioned to the sofa.

Mike sat down, and Allison sat near him. She folded one leg under and clutched a pillow in front of her.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot,” Mike said. “There was a mix-up with the trailers, and I thought yours was mine. I had no idea you’d be in there, and I certainly had no idea you’d be, uh...”

“Naked?” Allison said. She nodded. “I understand that. You just caught me off guard.”

“Oh, I believe it. That scream was something else.”

Allison smiled, and Mike felt his heart jump.

“Thanks for apologizing. I wanted to clear this up, but I was a little unsure about how to do it. And really, when it happened? The first thing that went through my mind was your reputation,” she said.

“My what?”

She dipped her head a little and laughed. “I’ll admit, I asked around about you before the show started shooting. I heard you were kind of a womanizer.”

“Me? Seriously?”

“Well, you do always have a beautiful woman hanging off your arm.“

Mike tilted his head. “I hadn’t realized people thought I was a slut.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean for it to sound like that!” Allison said. “I don’t think you’re a slut.”

“I was kidding,” Mike said.

“Oh.”

“So, are we okay now? You’ll stop avoiding me?”

Allison nodded. “Sure. As long as you stop staring at my boobs whenever you’re around me.”

Mike froze. Then he blinked and swallowed. “I do?”

“You do.”

“I’m sorry. Is there some way I can make it up to you?”

Allison leaned back and gave him a small smile. “Well, there is one thing.”

“Name it. I’ll do it.”

“Strip.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. You’ve seen me naked. It’s only fair that I get to see you naked.”

“You’re serious.”

“I am.”

Mike studied her face and counted to ten before speaking again. “Well, all right. Here?” He stood up.

“If you want. The curtains are closed.”

Allison moved to the center of the sofa and perched on her knees. Mike half expected for her to pull out a wad of folded up dollar bills and start waving them around.

“Do I get music?” he asked, kicking off his sneakers.

“Stereo’s over there. Help yourself.”

Mike turned on the radio and found a rock station. Then he whirled around and looked at Allison.

“You sure about this?”

Allison pointed to the floor. “Drop ’em.”

~*~*~

They were doing an interview for a local news channel, and the female reporter asked Allison what she thought of Mike.

She looked at him with a sly grin and said, “Overall? A swell package.”

~end