Chapter 7
Pat
One week into filming, I was exhausted. Strolling along the beach in the glorious morning sun, I took a deep breath. It was our day off and after six consecutive days of shooting, often from 6 AM in the morning till 9 PM at night, I was spent. My whole life now centered around the character, but as actors know — half of the time spent on set is getting ready for a scene. Jeff ran a smooth schedule but there was still a lot to set up for every scene.
Jeff… the day we’d spent out on the bike had been like something out of a fairytale. Not that we’d done something that extreme…then again, being forty-five, learning how to bike and riding off with a hot stuntman to a waterfall was kind of extreme! But still, it had felt casual. Relaxed. Simple. And that was just it — I’d felt so free. And then we got back to the hotel and those two women showed up… I frowned just thinking about it. It was disappointing. Seeing that side of his life made me want to puke. It reminded me way too much of Bill — a man who let sex rule him. I knew that maybe it shouldn’t, because to each their own, but it still did. I guess I just wanted to meet a man who thought with his heart and head, for once.
I sighed. At least Jeff was a good producer and friend.
Shaking off my thoughts about Jeff, I focused on the moment. Today I was going to fully enjoy Maui — stretch out on the beach with a book and doze off under an umbrella. Right now, that sounded like a miraculous day. My muscles ached as some scenes required I sit on the bike for ages, or do things, like crawl under a table to hide. Not a problem crawling under a table, but when there were a lot of retakes and you repeated a movement several times, having to act as if you were hiding and hold an uncomfortable position for a long time… Today there would be no exercise, just relaxation.
The morning breeze felt wonderful against my skin. I sighed happily — this was the life. Acting and relaxing on a beach in tropical paradise. Could it possibly get any better than this?
As I strolled along looking for the perfect spot, I saw Jeff, who waved.
“Good morning!” Jeff called.
I saw that he was sitting with a little boy and an older, Mexican looking, woman. I presumed it was his son, Shaun, and maybe his nanny.
“Morning,” I said with a smile.
“Pat, this is my son Shaun and nanny slash housekeeper slash lifesaver Monica. She’s also a very good friend. Shaun and Monica, this is my friend Pat. She’s the lead in my new TV series.”
Monica looked up with a smile and Shaun watched me, curiously. They both greeted me and I them.
“Are you here for the day? Why don’t you join us? I presume you’ve had breakfast, but Monica made them pack us a big picnic basket at the hotel. We’ve got everything from thermoses filled with chilled mocktails — no alcohol today — to sandwiches and fruit salad.”
“Sounds lovely, I’d be happy to,” I said. I’d kind of wanted to get lost in my book for a while, but I could probably do that next to them as well. And I didn’t mind some company. After all, on set you were surrounded by people all the time, but it was intense work. And while I liked the actors and crew, I didn’t really get a chance to connect with them on a deeper level. Jeff was an old friend who knew most of my quirks. I could sit silently next to him without him feeling like he needed to get to know me.
“You wouldn’t mind me reading my book for a little while though, would you?” I asked. “I just need an hour of being lost in someone else’s life.”
Jeff laughed.
“I thought that’s what you did on set all day, every day.”
“True,” I said. “But on set I’m often crawling around with a gun, or you know, busy holding the thoughts of the character. It’s not exactly effortless. Reading a decent romance novel where everything turns out alright in the end, on the other hand, is.”
“Fair enough. We’re going to build a sand castle so long. Come on, Shaun, let’s collect some water in your bucket first — the sand needs to be moist for us to build.”
“OK, Dad,” Shaun said and got up eagerly. “I’m going to build the coolest castle ever.”
“Oh, really, son? I thought I was going to do that.”
“You can help me,” Shaun conceded with a serious look on his face and I couldn’t help but laugh. I also felt a twinge of sadness — I always wanted kids, but Bill kept putting it off. Saying we couldn’t travel as much, he was too busy at work and in the end, I had decided that when life slowed down in our forties, we would adopt. I’d always been keen on the idea of looking after a child with no mother anyway. And I swore to myself that I’d look to adopt within the year but being separated had added an issue. I’d have to adopt as a single mom and I was technically still married as I couldn’t get a divorce for two years. I didn’t know where that left me.
I sighed. Now was not the time to think of that. I was here to enjoy myself. I sat down on the sun bed under the umbrella next to Jeff’s family, as Jeff made his way down to the ocean with Shaun.
Jeff was looking stunning in a pair of bathing shorts — his muscular body shone in the sunshine. I had to force myself not to stare, but I couldn’t help but grin — here I was on a beach enjoying the sight of hot men. And Jeff was particularly hot. Even some of the younger men didn’t have his chiseled physique. Tall, dark and handsome, with a body that would have made Greek Gods jealous. But he was a human, which some of the scars on his body could attest to. One ran along his back and somehow, I found it sexy. He had lived. Taken chances. Followed his heart. Gone on adventures.
I let my eyes wander along the beach, taking in the waves. I smiled happily. Was this the life or what?
Content, I stretched out on my sun bed and started reading my book — it was time to get lost in the world of romance.
***
About an hour later, I felt like I’d relaxed enough to regain my energy. I put my book down and was enjoying watching Shaun and Jeff work on their sandcastle — they’d really done an amazing job with it and now they were creating roads around it, so that Shaun’s toy cars could drive there. Seeing Jeff play with Shaun and have the kind of saintly patience only fathers have, my heart melted. Maybe there was a committed side to Jeff after all? It’s not like I’d ever see him running away from his son…
I shook my head. There was no point harboring that kind of thoughts.
