Aware Riley was joking but also that he could just as easily do exactly what he had said, Tasha walked with him to join the others. ‘Whatever you do, just remember, if you want to impress Erin Preston, then upsetting her brother or making a fool of him is the very last thing you should do.’
Riley’s step faltered. ‘Yes, that’s a good point. Fine. I’ll be kind to the guy.’
‘I’ll wait for you over here.’ Tasha found a sheltered place next to the barn wall out of the sunshine. It was hotter today than she had expected. In more ways than one.
34
CALLUM
The director indicated where Callum should stand for his brief scene and explained what he needed to do. As he waited for Riley to check a couple of his lines, he wished he had come up with a reason not to take part in the filming. It was one thing standing still and holding a pose while you were photographed by a professional in a studio, but another entirely when you were filmed supposedly being someone else. Not that he had much to say, only a few words.
Riley walked up to him with a slight frown on his face, which appeared to vanish as soon as he spotted Callum looking at him. He then shot Callum a brilliant smile that seemed to light up his face. Riley’s demeanour also changed and as he joined Callum, he gave him a friendly pat on the back.
‘Good to see you again. I hope you enjoy filming here today. We’ll do our best to make it a memorable experience.’
‘Er, thank you. That’s very kind of you,’ Callum said. He saw the team nearby raising eyebrows and seeming happy with the exchange and supposed that if he didn’t know the pair of them he would assume they were very good friends.
‘Are we ready to roll?’
Callum reminded himself of his lines and prepared for their scene to begin.
Riley’s eyes narrowed as he leant in closer to Callum. ‘What the hell are you doing here? Have you been following me?’
Callum did his best to look affronted. ‘Why would I do that?’
‘You’re here, aren’t you?’ Riley came across as malicious, and Callum had to focus on his next line rather than showing how impressed he was at the man’s sudden change in action for his part.
Callum pushed Riley’s hands away from him and scowled, as he had been shown. ‘Can’t a guy go for a drink without it having to mean something?’
Riley moved back slightly, his demeanour menacing. ‘Just keep away from me, do you hear?’
‘I’ll be happy to.’
He caught movement at the side of his vision and when Riley next spoke, he briefly looked over and saw his sister smiling proudly at him.
Callum focused on waiting to respond to Riley’s comment and watched as Riley continued to morph further from his real personality into the darker, menacing character he was playing.
The experience of working with Riley only went to reaffirm his suspicions that Riley wasn’t the sort of guy he imagined would suit his sister as a partner. Did the man manipulate most scenarios to his advantage? Callum suspected that he might just do that. He was certainly used to getting his own way.
Callum thought of Erin and how strong and independent she was and felt a bit better. He doubted Riley would get his own way with her all that often. The thought made him smile.
‘Cut!’
Surprised by the sound of the director’s voice, Callum realised he had been lost in thought and inadvertently forgotten to keep his expression serious.
‘Callum, this is a serious scene. One that’s supposed to make the audience feel anxious for your character being threatened by Riley’s. You smiling won’t help us achieve that.’
‘Sorry, I don’t know why I did that.’ Callum didn’t like to admit he had lost concentration and tried not to show his discomfort at messing up the scene.
‘Please try to concentrate this time.’
Callum nodded. ‘Of course.’ He spotted Riley give a discreet eye-roll to the director as if to say,This is what happens when you bring in someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.
Riley seemed to sense Callum watching him and shot him a glance, raising his eyebrows and smiling. ‘Could happen to anyone, mate.’
‘That’s good to know.’ Callum knew Riley was only trying to appear friendly because Callum had caught his exchange with the director, but was looking forward to finishing his part in the episode, so let Riley think he hadn’t seen anything.
‘Right, let’s do this one more time.’
