“Okay,” Lily said. “Would you mind telling me now? I know you’ve got something to tell me.”

They had been walking back to Amber’s apartment in silence. “In a second,” her friend said and Lily sighed softly. She was so curious.

Amber opened the door and they walked in. Lily hung up her coat and sat down on the couch after flicking on some lights. “Spill the beans,” she then ordered.

Amber sighed and sat down. “It’s.. I’m not supposed to tell you.”

“Yeah, but we both know you will anyway. So tell.” She looked at her friend, who hesitated. “Well?” she asked. “Has it got to do with Dominic snapping at Elijah?”

Her blonde friend remained quiet. “So that’s a yes. Come on, Amb, you know you wanna tell me. You didn’t give me that I’ve-got-something-to-tell-you look for nothing.”

Amber frowned confused. “The what look? Did I really?”

“Yeah. You can’t hide anything from me.” Lily raised her eyebrows. “So?”

“Okay..” Amber sighed. “It’s got to do with Dominic snapping at Elijah. You’re right about that. But you’ll never believe me when I tell you the reason.”

A silence fell.

“Well maybe I won’t, but we’ll never know until you tell me,” Lily said. “Come on.. I wanna know!”

Again Amber sighed. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but you’ve got to promise not to tell anyone.”

Lily raised her right hand. “I promise.”

“Okay.. Well, after you and Elijah went shooting again Dominic left for a while. And then Viggo, Billy and Sean started talking about the snapping. Apparently it had surprised them as much as it did us.” She stopped for a moment and fidgeted with her shirt.

Lily looked at her in confusion. “Yeah.?” she urged Amber to continue.

“Well.. apparently Dominic was rather flattered by the fact you had a crush on him. Very flattered..” She swallowed. “And then Elijah showed up. Viggo said that Dom and Elijah are best friends, but you know there’s always some envy between friends, whether you want it or not.”

“Yeah..”

“Well.. Last time Dominic got attention from a girl he later found out she only gave it to him so that she could get to Elijah...”

“Ouch,” Lily said. “That’s harsh..”

“Yeah,” Amber agreed. “So you see.. Dominic was afraid that was happening again... apparently..”

Lily bit her lip. “But why did he snap at Elijah then? I mean, it’s the girl’s fault then, isn’t it? Besides, I used to have a crush on Dominic. I was thirteen back then. I don’t even know him.”

“Well maybe you should get to know him,” Amber suggested, biting her lip.

Lily looked at her shocked. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not going to make a move on him just because some stupid bitch hurt his feelings!” Lily threw her hands in the air and let out a frustrated sigh.

“I’m not telling you to make a move on him. I’m telling you to get to know him.”

Lily shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this.” She got up and started pacing. “I don’t even know where’s he’s off to. I don’t think I’m gonna see him again anyway.”

“Viggo said they would be there tomorrow again...” Amber softly said.

“Oh.. Yeah I forgot to tell you.. Me too. Chris asked me if I would come again tomorrow. And then some day next week, Tuesday I believe.”

Amber nodded. “Okay..”

Lily could see the disappointment on her friend’s face and sat down. “I’m sorry, Amb...”

Her friend shrugged. “It’s okay.. Just don’t spend every free minute you’ve got over there. I missed you and I hoped we could do lots of cool stuff together. And now you’re here and you immediately got yourself a job...”

“I know. But it’s not like I went out to search for one,” Lily defended herself.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Amber showed her a smile. “I’m just overreacting.”

“No you’re not. It’s okay. They just need me tomorrow and Tuesday. That’s it. I promise.” Lily stood up and smiled. “Tea?”

Amber nodded. “There’s a great movie on tonight,” she said.

“Really? Which one?”

“You’ll see,” Amber replied. “Just get hot coco, bonbons and Ben & Jerry’s..” She smiled.

“Is it really on?” Lily asked in disbelief, but grinning widely. She knew exactly which movie Amber meant, since it was one of her favourite movies. Especially when you just got dumped this was the movie to watch. Hugh Grant and Colin Firth fighting over your love, what else does a girl want?

Amber nodded and Lily cheered. She started jumping up and down and then stopped to do one of her happy happy dances.

~ * ~

Lily wiped her tears away as the movie ended and sighed. Her cell phone started to ring and she picked it up. “Hello?” she said, her voice still unsteady because of the crying.

“Hey, it’s Billy. Are you okay? You sound..”

“Teary?” Lily filled in. “Yeah.. well just watched a movie. So I’m fine. But how did you get my number?”

She glared at Amber who had the word ‘guilty’ written all over her face. “Your friend Amber gave it to me.. That’s okay, isn’t it?”

“Oh yeah sure, of course. So.. what’s the matter?”

“Uhm.. nothing really. I was just wondering.. Will you be on set tomorrow again?”

“Yeah? Why?”

It remained quiet for a moment and Lily thought she heard someone on the background. “Billy?”

“Uhm.. yeah.. No it’s nothing, I was just wondering. See you tomorrow then!” He hung up the phone.

“Okay, that was strange?” Lily said as she turned around at Amber, who was already looking at her with a curious look on her face.

“What happened? What did he say?”

“Nothing really. He just asked if I would be there again tomorrow. On set I mean. Really weird. He didn’t answer my question. I thought I heard someone on the background.”

Amber looked confused. “That’s strange indeed.”

Lily shrugged. “Whatever. Those guys are weird,” she concluded. “Let’s go get some rest.” She yawned. “I’m tired.”

~ * ~

“Hey Lily,” Dominic greeted her.

She smiled. “Good morning, how are you?”

“I’m fine thanks, and you?”

Lily shrugged. “I’m okay.”

“So what are your plans for today?” he asked.

She looked at him as he raised his eyebrows at her questioningly. “Uhm.. well I think I’ll be shooting here until 1 pm or so.. Then I’m off.”

“And the rest of the day?”

“Oh nothing really. I think I’ll be bored at Amber’s apartment. She’s out today.”

He nodded understandingly. “So how about you and I go out to lunch?”

Lily’s heart began to pound faster. “Uhm.. yeah sure?” she answered.

Dominic laughed and ran a hand through his hair. “You don’t sound so sure to me!”

She laughed. “I’m sure.”

“So Amber’s out today? How is she doing? Doesn’t she mind that you’re always away?”

Lily shrugged. “She’s okay. I don’t think she likes it, but she knows I can’t help it. I promised her not to take on anymore jobs. Just today and then next Tuesday. That’s it.”

“Right.” He smiled at her and Lily felt her cheeks turn red again.

“I think I should go now, we had to be there at 9,” she said as casual as possible.

He nodded shortly and smiled. “Yeah you wouldn’t want to be late. I’ll see you at 1 then?”

Lily showed him a smile. “One o’clock it is. Bye now!” She waved and walked away.

Just a few hours later Lily walked off the set tired. She wiped the sweat off her forehead. She’d better pay a visit to the restroom before meeting up with Dominic.

“Lily!” Chris said as he came walking towards her.

“Yes Chris?” she asked.

“About next Tuesday, you’ve got to go to this address,” he said as he gave her a piece of paper where an address was scribbled on with black pen. “We’re shooting indoor.”

She nodded. “Okay.. at what time do you need me there?”

He looked at the sky in thought. “At about 2 pm. Do you think you can make that?”

Again Lily nodded. “That’d be fine. See you then!”

Chris smiled. “You did a great job today. I can’t wait to see you in action on Tuesday.” He walked away, leaving Lily behind with a faint feeling of stress.

She walked into the ladies room and splashed some water on her face. She looked up in the mirror. She wasn’t feeling so good. During these hours she had been thinking about today. She feared Dominic expected more from her than she could give him. For now she didn’t even know him.

She took a few deep breaths. ‘Remember what Amber said,’ she said to herself. ‘Just get to know him.’ She bit her lip and dried her face.

“Hey again,” Dominic said as she approached him.

She waved. “Hi.”

“And? Do people want your autograph yet?”

She laughed and all her nervous feelings were gone. “No not yet. Do you want one?”

He looked at her and his misty blue eyes made her look away. “I’d love one,” he softly said.

Lily faintly smiled and blushed as she examined the ground.

“What’s so interesting?” Dom asked.

She looked up. “Huh? What?” He pointed at the ground. “Oh. That. Uhm well it’s nothing. Just grass.” She smiled relieved as she saw a cheeky grin appear on his face.

“Let’s go grab a bite before you start thinking about eating the grass,” he joked and Lily’s blush deepened. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

~ * ~

“I can’t believe how different you look,” Dominic said as he looked at her. He brought his glass up to his mouth and took a sip. Lily looked up from the salad she was busy picking with her fork. He smiled. “How old were you back then? Ten? Eleven?”

“I was thirteen, thank you very much,” she replied, fake insulted.

“Oh, sorry..”

She focused her attention on her salad again. “You haven’t changed one bit.”

“I haven’t?”

Lily looked up and blushed. “No not really... I mean you look less of a boy now, but over all..”

His cheeky grin was back. “But over all..?”

She smiled and shrugged. “Over all you haven’t changed.”

Dominic looked at her and Lily bit her lip. “So what do you want to do next?” he asked. “I assume you can’t go back to Amber’s apartment just yet?”

She shook her head. “No I can’t.. She was gonna be back at about 5 pm she said.”

“Aha.. So what are we gonna do in the meantime?” He looked at his watch. “It’s half past 2 now.”

Lily shrugged. “I don’t know..”

He pointed at her salad. “Are you going to finish that?”

She looked up. “Uhm.. I don’t think so.. Why? Do you want some?”

Quickly Dominic shook his head. “Uh-uh, too green for my taste.” He smiled. “But we’ve been sitting here for over an hour now, and if we want to do something else than sit here all day long..”

Lily nodded understandingly, and Dominic asked for the check. He got his wallet out of his pocket and put down some money. Then he stretched out his hand at her. “Shall we go?”

Dominic smiled at her. “Let’s go..” He softly pushed her into the direction of the exit.

Outside Lily took a deep breath. All those years she didn’t dare speak to him and now they were out to lunch together. It was amazing how quickly your life can change. Sometimes she felt as if luck was never at her side, but today was not one of those times.

“Let’s go.. that way!” she said as she pointed to the left.

Dominic laughed. “Okay! Let’s go!” He put his arm around her and Lily once again started blushing at the touch.

~ * ~

“Thank you for this nice day,” Lily softly said as they stopped in front of Amber’s apartment.

Dominic looked at her smiled sweetly. “The pleasure was all mine..”

Her heart started beating fast as he took a step forward. He put his hands on her waist and Lily bit her lip, her cheeks burning up.

Suddenly the door opened and Dominic almost jumped backwards. Lily looked around startled. Amber was standing in the door opening and looked at them. “Ow.. Sorry..” she said and closed the door again.

Lily ran a hand through her hair and laughed a bit. “Perfect timing.”

He smiled. “I will see you soon.” She nodded. Then he took a step forward again and softly pressed his lips on her cheek. “Bye..”

“Bye,” she whispered.

She turned around and went inside.

“So.. how was it?” Amber inquired. She was sitting behind the computer with her back turned to Lily.

“It was nice,” Lily softly said.

“Aha.. Good.”

It remained silent and Lily took off her coat. She sat down and bit her lip.

Amber continued. “What did you do?”

“Uhm.. just went out to lunch. And then walked around London. That’s about it.”

Again a moment of silence fell.

“Looked like I interrupted something there,” Amber said.

Lily started blushing. “Oh.. I don’t know..”

“Hmm..”

She looked at Amber, who didn’t look back. Then she frowned and stood up. “I think I’m gonna.. read or so. Do we need any more groceries?”

Amber merely shook her head. Lily shrugged and walked into the guestroom.

Suddenly she decided to turn back. “What’s wrong?” she demanded.

For the first time since Lily had entered the apartment Amber looked around at her. “What do you mean?” she tried, but Lily could see straight through the act.

“Stop it. I know something’s wrong and you can either tell me or you don’t. It’s up to you how you want this to go. I’m not gonna stay in this awkward silence. So tell me what’s wrong, so I can leave for Scotland again.”

“Leave for.. for Scotland?” Amber stuttered.

Lily nodded. “Yes. You don’t think I’m gonna stay here in this ice cold environment, do you? So if you don’t tell me I’ll go and if you tell me.. well.. I’ll go as well.”

“But what’s the use in telling then? You don’t even know what I want to tell.”

Lily shrugged. “You’re probably gonna tell me that you hate me. That you thought that I was different.”

Amber shook her head frantically. “No, no! It’s not like that. Lil.. It’s not like that..”

“So what is it then?”

“I know,” Lily agreed. “But it’s over soon, you know, that don’t you? Just next Tuesday and then I’m done.”

“Yes.. just next Tuesday,” Amber said and faintly smiled.

~ * ~

“Okay, so Lily,” Chris said. “You are the girl in the shop. You walk that way,” he pointed into the direction of the fake Cash register, “and then on your way there you bump into Elijah. You look up at him scared, ‘cause you’re intimated by his appearance, you say “I’m sorry” and then walk all the way to the Cash register. Got it?”

She nodded. This was going to be hard. She actually had to say something. And if it was a scene with one of the other actors she wouldn’t have a problem. But this was Elijah. Dominic’s friend. She sighed.

There was just one thing left to do. She had to fake. That was the thing about acting anyway, faking it. Lily looked at the other side of the set, where Chris had walked off to. He was now talking to Elijah. They made eye-contact, but Elijah quickly looked away from her. Lily took a deep breath. ‘Brace yourself,’ she thought. This was going to be hard.

“And.. action!” Chris yelled. Lily started walking and looked at the basket she was holding. There were all sorts of products in it. There he was; he walked straight into her. Lily fell against one of the store’s cabinets. She looked up at him and his eyes looked at her full of hatred. “I’m sorry,” she softly said and quickly made her way to the Cash register.

“Cut,” Chris said. “That was great. Let’s have another one. Lily?”

Lily was leaning on the Cash register. Elijah really scared her; no one could fake hatred like that. She looked up at Chris, blinking away the tears that were slowly forming in her eyes.

“Would you mind holding the basket in your left hand? That way all your groceries will fly out of it as soon as you two collide.”

She nodded and started to make her way back to the point of which she had to begin. Elijah walked the other way. Lily pressed her lips together and didn’t look at him. Bastard.

“And.. action!”

She walked forward and with a loud bang the basket hit the floor. This time she didn’t get thrown against the cabinet, but the sound of the groceries hitting the ground made her shiver. Again she looked up in those hatred-filled eyes. “I.. I’m sorry.” She got down on her knees and tried to grab all the groceries before walking to the counter again.

“Cut! Great work! One more time.”

Lily lifted the basket and walked back again. Elijah put a last orange back in her basket. She swallowed and looked down. Why did he hate her anyway? She hadn’t done anything bad, had she? Maybe…

“Elijah can I talk to you for a moment?” she heard Chris ask and from the corner of her eyes she could see Elijah walk over to the director.

Maybe it was just because of the Dominic thing. Maybe he felt that she was ruining their friendship. She sighed and sat down on one of the plastic chairs. “Want something to drink?” one of the other extras offered. “You must be thirsty from all that apologizing.” She laughed and looked up as she took the paper cup filled with water. “Thank you,” she said and smiled.

Lily took a sip and looked at Chris. He and Elijah were definitely arguing about something. Well, arguing.. They were discussing something and it was obvious they didn’t agree on the matter.

“Okay everybody to his or her place again,” Chris shouted.

Lily stood up again and took a deep breath. She was hoping this was the last time they had to do this. She took the basket in her left hand.

“And.. action!”

She walked forward, looking into her basket. There it was again, the collision. Her basket dropped and she looked down before looking up. She didn’t know his blue eyes could be filled with so much hate. “I..” she said, but he looked away. “I’m so -”

Elijah turned back, put his hands on her waist and pressed his lips on hers.

Lily’s heart missed a beat to immediately start racing after that. She closed her eyes as she felt his lips on hers, so soft but firm at the same time. Slowly she brought her arms up over his shoulders and felt his arms tighten the grip around her waist.

“Cut, cut, cut!” Chris yelled.

She opened her eyes in shock. What the fuck did just happen?! She looked up into his eyes. All the hatred was gone, what remained was something she couldn’t quite place. He smiled insecure at her before letting her go.

Chris came walking up to them and he didn’t look happy. Lily looked down at the ground, blushing furiously. “What the fuck was that?!” he yelled and Lily awaited Elijah’s answer. “Lily?!” Chris continued.

She looked up surprised. Was he angry at her?? “Wh.. what? What did I do?”

“You didn’t do your job!” he yelled.

Lily’s initial shock turned into anger. “What?” she asked in disbelief. “I didn’t do my job? No one ever told me he was going to kiss me!”

“No of course not, that was the entire idea! If someone suddenly starts kissing you, you yell, scream and push him away! You don’t kiss him back, do you?!” He grimaced. “Well apparently you do,” he then mumbled.

“Hey,” Elijah suddenly said. “You can’t get angry at Lily for this. She’s right, you didn’t tell her about this. That’s what I’ve been telling you ever since you came up with this idea. Why would I kiss a girl who’s in my way anyway? Where’s the logic in that?”

Chris opened his eyes wide and his face turned red out of anger. “You are a fucking hooligan, Elijah! You do whatever you like and in this case, it was kissing her! You are a hooligan who thinks he can get anything he wants. So if I tell you to kiss her, you kiss her!”

Lily swallowed and cleared her throat softly. “Okay, I see your point.. But really, Chris, if you would’ve told me I would’ve done just the way you wanted.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Let’s try this again.. okay?” She looked at him and her heart pounded fast. The only thing was: she didn’t know whether it was pounding this fast because of Chris yelling at her or because of that kiss.

Chris grunted. “Well okay. But I need a 5 minute break first.” He sighed and walked away.

Lily sighed as well and put a hand on her cheek. It felt really hot, but then again she was blushing like crazy. She looked at the ground.

“Water?” Elijah offered her.

“Thanks,” she said as she frowned confused. She didn’t look up at him until a few seconds later, but then discovered he was long gone. She carefully rubbed her eyes, trying not to mess up the make-up. But she probably had to go into make-up again, for she felt as if her lipstick was all over the place. Suddenly she started grinning. Amber was going to freak when she would tell her this.

After a minute Chris returned. “Okay, one last time,” he sighed. “Everyone to his or her place?” He looked at all the actors. Lily felt as if he looked at her extra long. “And.. action!”

She walked forward, let her basket get slapped out of her hands and looked down in shock before looking up. “I’m so -” Again his lips were on hers. She opened her eyes wide and pushed him away. “What the...” she panted as she quickly got down to grab her groceries. Then she almost ran over to the Cash register.

“Cut!” Chris shouted. “Finally! That’s what I wanted to see. It’s a wrap!”

Lily started to smile. It was over and everyone was happy. Even her. She was confused, but happy. She took the basket and gave it to someone who was in charge of props.

“Hey,” Elijah said as he smiled at her. “Great job.”

“Hi,” she replied. “Thanks. You too.”

His smile grew even a bit bigger. “You really pushed me away there, I wouldn’t stand a chance if you would be angry with me in real life. I should almost think you don’t like me.”

She started blushing. “Well, I could say the same about you. You scared me there, with those big hatred-filled eyes of yours..” She bit her lip.

He started to laugh. “Hatred-filled? No that was just suppressed -”

Lily looked up at him and raised her eyebrows. “Suppressed what?”

“No.. it’s nothing,” he said and he looked away. “I’d better get going.”

She shrugged. “Okay.. Bye then.”

She turned around and as the feeling of happiness slowly faded away the confusion lasted. She didn’t know what she felt or wanted anymore.

Once again faith had played a prank on her. Sometimes she wished she didn’t feel anything anymore. No pain, no confusion, no troubles. She sighed and walked off the set and into the open air.