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In Dreams Fanfic |
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| Fanfic The Student The Musician Dream On Sonnet 17 Expense of Illusion Comfortable Seraphim Thoughts of the Royalty A Usual Saturday Rehabilitating Will Behind the Bars The Games Noon Bailey Joyful Joyful Poetry About the Author Contact the Elf Links |
Comfortable A/n: Before I begin this stretch of the story, I’d like to give credit to the REAL Horse Master for Gladiator: Steve Dent. You can see all of the WONDERFUL work he’s done here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0219779/ Oddly enough, he was a stunt coordinator on GoldenEye. Pretty cool, huh? On with the story! ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~ Surrey, England “What the hell are you DOING!?! These pens are three times too small! The poor horses are going to HURT themselves in there! Get them the HELL out of there GOD DAMMIT!!” I pulled my pony tail in frustration, a gesture so familiar with the horse crew that they immediately snapped to my orders, fearful they would lose their jobs. “Hey Kat!” I growled and whirled, ready to chew into whoever had the balls to approach me. Nick took a step back and held up his hands defensively. I couldn’t blame the man. I probably looked like I was ready to slaughter him. “How can I help you?” “The horse-trained extras are ready for the charge shooting right now. Gary is practically screaming for the horse team to assemble.” I ran my hand through my hair once more, this time more out of annoyance at my lack of time and other people’s lack of planning. “Well, I guess I’d better rally the troops.” Nick smiled and hustled off to his next task. Sometimes, I felt more pity for him than I felt for myself. Being in charge of the extras was a task even I found daunting. At least my babies didn’t whine about it being cold or the ground being wet. As long as my half-assed assistants kept them fed, which I more than not ended up doing myself, they were happy critters. I made my way to the ‘War Horse Pen’ as we’d named it and gave out quick instructions for the twenty horses in the scene to be fetched and tacked. All save Whisper, my baby. I led him from the pen, draping him in gorgeous Roman tack and lead him, at the head of the pack, the half mile into the woods to the shoot. Gary Talbot, official title: Third Assistant Director, UK unit, looked like HE was about to slaughter someone at the moment. However, when he caught sight of us, his face lit up in a smile the crew hadn’t seen in a while. “Here comes the cavalry now! All right everyone, please, remember which horse was yours and mount up. I want the circle first, so Maximus can give the pep speech then we ride!” I led Whisper over to the slightly short, yet stunningly masculine main man. “How’s our Whisper today?” He reached up and rubbed the horse’s nose appreciatively. Despite his tendencies to be less than cordial to humans when provoked, Russell Crowe never ceased his kindness towards my baby. “He’s doing well today Mr. Crowe. No problems that I could tell.” He glanced at me and gave me a little smile. I had the feeling that he was one of the few people working on this movie that actually cared about me, which was rare. Only 23 and a horse master. “I’ll take good care of him. Don’t worry. By the way, the Chocolate Prince said he wanted to go out to dinner with you tonight.” I looked up at him, very surprised. I was fast developing a friendship with Joaquin Phoenix, of all people, and was not expecting Russell Crowe to pass me messages from ‘The Chocolate Prince’. Nodding, I backed up, letting horse and rider join the rest of the group. I gave one lasr appreciative glance at the lithe form of the pair before heading back to the make-shift stables. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~ “Who the fuck is SHE Joa? I’m fucking away from you for a month and you pick up a little hussy like her? How old is she Joaquin? TWELVE?” I grimaced as the snarling face of Liv Tyler was shoved in Joaquin’s. Her glare turned to me and I mentally leaned back. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? He’s mine? MINE!” “Liv, listen. You have this all wrong! Kat is just a friend! She works on the film with me. She’s the h-“ “Yeah, I bet she works on the film. I bet she works on a lot more than that!” The woman straightened then and I let out the breath I’d been holding. No wonder people in Hollywood were so rude! They probably all acted like this one! “It’s over. I want nothing else to do with EITHER of you. You’re so faithless! And you, you’re just a two-bit horse rider in flannels and over-alls that has to steal OTHER people’s boyfriends!” She turned that stalked out of the room. ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~ New York, New York I couldn’t believe this. I really couldn’t. How could he have done this to me? How? And why? Were a bunch of dumb animals really any reason to break up with a girl that you’ve loved and dated for FOUR fucking years? I sniffled and rubbed my nose in my pillow. They weren’t stupid animals. They weren’t. I rolled to my back, staring up at the red silk of my canopy. He was a stupid man. That’s all. What to do . . . what to do? It hit me! Laura! I grabbed my phone and, disregarding the expensive phone bill I was probably about to get for calling Michigan, I dialed her number. The phone rang a few moments before a strained, tired voice answered. “’lo?” “Hi Kali.” I must have sounded awful. I could hear my best friend in the whole entire world sit up in her bed. “Oh sweetie, I’m so sorry.” I could feel the tears start to threaten again. Josh must have gotten to her first. “How could he do this?” “I know sweetie. I know. He’s just frustrated. With you living in NY and jetting all around the world, working.” “Are you taking HIS side? How could you!?” What a bitch! Best friend my ass! “Snap out of it Kat. I’m not taking his side. I could never do that, you know that. You’re my very best friend in the whole entire world and I love you to death. I’m just trying to help you understand. I’m just trying to help.” It sounded like she was getting close to tears herself. Dammit. I hate it when she does this. Always making me feel bad for her when I should be focusing on my own damn feelings. I guess that’s what best friends are for anyway. “I know. I’m sorry I snapped at you. I’m still in shock, ya know.” “Yeah, I do.” She shifted again and yawned. I glanced at the clock. Fuck. Four Am. “I’m sorry I called so late. I just needed to vent to someone.” “Oh, it’s fine. Vent away. I don’t have a job or anything to get up for in . . . “ She paused. “Two hours.” I stifled a giggle. “You’re the greatest Kali, you realize that, right?” “Yeah, I do.” “So, how are things going in Michigan with the parentals and everything? Have you told them you’re moving in with Vigg yet?” “Not yet. I don’t think they’ll take it well. At least not my dad.” “Well, in your defense, he’s always been a bit of a prick.” We shared a laugh. Her father was notoriously anti-supportive of anything and everything she’d ever done, her entire life. The first time she’d made the honor role he’d scoffed and told her to take real classes and earn it again. As if art isn’t a ‘real’ class. “Well, I’ll let you get back to that sleep thing you crazy ‘students’ like so much. Give me a call when you tell them and let me know how everything works out, all right?” “Oh, I will. I’m sure I’ll have a real gem of family bonding to share with you.” “Night sweetie.” “Night.” ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~ New York, New York “It is in my best interest that I fly you to New Zealand immediately for training. These horses need to be show ready by the end of May and I hear that you’re the best woman for the job.” The voice on the other end of the phone paused for a moment. “I’m willing to pay a handsome sum for your work. Can you be ready to leave by next Thursday?” I glanced down at the thread bare shirt I was wearing and the faded, holey jeans. I could use some extra cash. And who wouldn’t want to be flown half way around the world to play with happy critters for three or four weeks? “I think this arrangement will work out very well for both of us. I’d be happy to accept your contract.” “Excellent Ms. Thomas. I’ll be looking forward to seeing you.” “As will I.” The line went dead. Wow. Just . . . wow. This was the contract that every horse trainer dreamed of. If I could pull this off, I’d be one of the hottest trainers to date. Everyone would be clamoring to hire me. And, New Zealand. From what Laura had told me, it was paradise there. And the eye candy was definitely worth it. I hopped up and went to my computer, writing a short message to Laura, letting her know I would be making a trip to see 'her', and started packing. |
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