Turn Me Bad

 She even had to quick step through the doors along the way that, although he held open for her, his sense of timing did not account for the fact that she was mentally stupefied.

Before she could ask what she wanted, therefore, they were downstairs with the rest of the team, all of whom were looking her way for leadership.

When she still couldn’t find her voice, Benjamin piped up, ”Right then, that looks like our minibus,“ clapped his hands and, without even signaling that everyone should follow, managed to have them do so.

Just as Violet was convinced she was putting the guy out of her mind and even been a bit relieved their love making had been a one off, he had turned up out of the blue, had her chasing him around the office building, and then appeared to be in charge of her team.

If she wasn’t so confused, she would have been infuriated.

He was first on the minibus and sat at the back; she was last on and so sat at the front. By the time she had collected her thoughts, she was unable to say a word to him, though she could hear him chirping away at the back with the other actors about some of the modeling work he had done in L.A. and some of the celebrities he had met. His popularity was instant, and but ten minutes into the drive, he was the center of attention and calling everyone by their first names.

Violet spent most of the journey flicking through her files in order to look like she was getting organized, whereas really she was just trying to recover the ability to think straight. The only words that passed her lips were muttered to her colleague Charlotte who was sitting next to her. Charlotte’s job was directing the shoot itself; dishing out the instructions and pointing the camera. She was also the only person to have worked at the company for longer than her.

”Why did you send that model to come find me?“ Violet asked her, when the noise in the background was far too extensive to worry about being overheard.

”What’s that?”

”That guy, erm… what’s his second name?“ Answering her own question, Violet sifted through her paperwork and found the actor’s names. ”Martin; Benjamin Martin – I had no idea what he was doing walking around the building.”

”I didn’t send him,“ Charlotte replied. ”I thought he was in the restroom.”

That was just typical of the guy’s audacity, Violet thought. Asking for directions to the bathroom in order to escape the group and then trotting boldly around a building he didn’t know on the off chance that he would find her.

She would have to really watch him for the rest of the day. He was a natural troublemaker and would not let an opportunity pass to continue playing silly games with her.

Once they had reached the college, Violet had decided not to acknowledge him as anything out of the ordinary until a convenient time allowed. It had been part of her routine to complete a headcount before they had all gotten aboard; something that, as a result of missing it, she did on the sly and was relieved to find that all nine individuals required were indeed present. Four from their office team and five model/actors. So, with a major fuck-up avoided, she stepped purposely from the minibus and headed straight towards the college’s reception to announce their arrival. Keeping to her schedule was crucial for a successful shoot, and she would make sure that she was the one giving the orders from then on.

The group’s route inside to several vacated seminar rooms was soon confirmed, and Violet bid them all to follow without so much as a look at the guy who, just over one week ago, she had been all over like a rash. Soon, they were all setting up indoors and the performers were being briefed on their various roles and lines. Charlotte had them organized in numerous poses; sitting at computers hard at work, pretending to debate, and sharing a joke on their way out at the end of the day. It was all very cheesy and supposed to be; designed to make life at the college look as jolly and sweet-natured as forty-something parents desired for children about to leave home and emerge in the wide world. Occasionally they had lines to say; things like, ”Am I impressed by Palmdale. Let’s just say I feel very lucky,” and ”It’s great to be part of something so forward-thinking and inclusive.” But mostly it was all about friendly smiles and carefree laughter. All of which Benjamin especially managed to pull off as effortlessly as a classically trained guitarist playing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Charlotte was so obviously impressed at having such a pro in their ranks that she kept posing him in the center of the shot and giving him more to do.

Violet would have usually gotten more involved with guiding the actors, even though her role was scheduling. On this occasion, she decided to hold back and be the lash, shouting out instructions like, ”Come on people, we have 15 minutes to finish this shot before we move on to the next.” There is usually some leeway incorporated into any such shoot in terms of timescales, but not this time. Violet was going to make sure there were no detours from the task in hand whatsoever and that the shoot ran like clockwork. This strict approach was also convenient for interrupting Benjamin whenever he was about to tell some funny story about a Hollywood celebrity, or when Charlotte was giggling a little too readily at his jokes and not shooting.

After three hours of shooting, the schedule was met with a 45-minute break for lunch. People disappeared to grab a free helping of whatever dishes were on offer in the student cafeteria, or to visit the restrooms if they needed to.

Being on a strict no-carbs diet – mostly in order to annoy Caitlin by being thinner than her – Violet had brought her own packed lunch. First, she disappeared to the restroom then returned to eat alone in the seminar room they were shooting. She had not as much as looked at or said two words to Benjamin; if he was playing silly games, then they were only amusing him, and if he wanted to engage with her, she would make him do all of the running.

Dying as she was deep inside to know what he was doing there, he would have to get through her best moody mode in order to reel her in if that was his intention. Of course, she was soon to find out. He was not one to hold back, and so, as the rest of the group was sitting two floors below munching on student food, predictably that was when he turned up in the doorway.

”Well fancy meeting you here,” he said, showing no sign at all of coyness despite what had passed between them.

”I suppose turning up like that was a source of great amusement to you,“ she said, glancing up briefly from her salad, but refusing to make it look like she was frazzled at being alone with him again or at all bothered.

“I know girls love the unexpected, that’s all.”

”I bet you think you know everything about women.”

”Your friend Charlotte seems to like me a little.”

”I guess you’ve told her you’re in the restroom again.”

”I don’t quite follow?”