Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“I’m fine.” Just be normal, like everyone else, I told myself, like I had hundreds of times before.
“Um, is there a reason they want to keep filming by the balcony doors?” I asked. “We could move the cameras to the opposite corner of the bedroom, maybe, and try to get less direct sunlight.”
Chase held up a finger, suddenly getting an excited look on his face, like he was eager to talk about the filming process. “Normally, you’d be right,” he said, “but actually, because we set up the diffusion filters by the balcony doors, that’s actually the best light in the place. It’s like butter. Fucking gorgeous, actually. I wish I had that kind of light in every place I filmed.”
“Diffusion filters,” I repeated.
“Yes,” Chase said, nodding. “Really just a big, fancy piece of fabric that turns direct light into softer light.”
He looked great when he talked about filming. He talked with his hands, and his soft pale skin peeked out from his T-shirt.
“You know your stuff,” I said.
“It’s what I’m best at,” Chase said. “You can make homemade filters. Pop some wax paper up on the window, and it’ll do the trick, almost as good as the expensive stuff. If you’re ever filming anything, I guess.”
“Right,” I said. “I’ll remember that. If I ever need it, or anything.”
I was already brainstorming ways I could use it to change the lighting in my simple OnlyShots videos, but I sure as hell couldn’t admit that to Chase. It led to an awkward pause in the conversation, where I didn’t know what more to say and he clearly was trying to figure out what was going on in my mind.
He turned his head to one side after a moment. “So. Think you’re ready to head back in and finish up the takes?”
I knew he was trying to ask it as nicely as possible, but the truth was that I’d never be fully ready to head back inside. I just had to bite the bullet and make it happen.
I sucked in a big breath. “Let’s head back in. I’ll try my best not to screw it up again.”
“You’re doing great,” Chase said. “Just pretend nobody’s watching.”
“Instead of a dozen people watching.”
“Hey,” Chase said. “Pretend it’s just you and me. Okay?”
I nodded at him. “You and me?”
“You and me,” he repeated with a dimpled smile.
We headed back in and I plunged in like I was getting into the deep end of the pool. I tried to do as Chase said, turning on mental blinders and pretending nobody else was in the room.
Once we got rolling, I still flubbed the first take again. But after that, I delivered the next one perfectly.
Flynn seemed visibly relieved, giving me a little salute. “We’ve got it. We can head home for the day, folks.”
I let out a long breath as if I’d been holding it all day.
“Great first day,” Charlie, one of the Fixer Brothers Construction crew guys, hollered out, starting up a round of applause. “We’re going to rock this reno, Adam.”
Sweet, sweet relief. I was so glad the first day was over. I was still looking forward to the renovation, but all of the peopling today had been overwhelming.
Slowly but surely, the construction guys and the TV crew hauled out all of their equipment and filed out of my house one by one. When I headed back into the short entryway, I saw Chase, the last person heading out of the front door with a metal tripod in his hands.
“Hey, you,” he said, his kind eyes landing on me.
Something about the casualness in the way he talked to me made me both comfortable and a little jittery at the same time.
Nobody usually talked to me in the way he did. On calls for work, I was Mr. Richardsen. And in public, I was typically introverted enough that a lot of people kind of just left me alone.
Some people just regarded me as a nerd.
Others probably figured I didn’t want to chat because I was so bad at chatting.
But Chase was already talking to me like he was my friend. And I realized it had been a long time since I’d had anything close to a new friend.
“Thanks for your suggestion earlier,” I told him. “I tried to ignore everyone. It didn’t work, but it made it at least a little easier to say my lines.”
“I was proud of you,” he said with more of the same warmth. “Hey, I’m about to head to Jade Brewery with some of the Fixer Brothers guys, if you want to come along.”
“No, no thanks,” I said immediately, my usual knee-jerk reaction when people invited me out.
“You sure?” he asked. “We don’t bite. Well, I do, but not unless someone asks for it.”
“Not tonight. But thank you again, Chase.”
“I figured,” he said with a nod. “Maybe next time.”