Bella chuckles. “No pressure, huh?”
“She’s the best of the best,” Gabriel says, beaming. “Taught me everything I know.”
“But not everythingIknow,” Bella teases.
“As you keep reminding me. Every day I say, woman! Tell me your secrets!” Gabriel nudges Bella’s shoulder with a playful shake.
Bella smiles and shrugs. “You’re on your way, Gabriel. The stunt today looked fantastic. Five takes though? Poor Haley’s half-traumatized.”
Gabriel raises a hand. “Hey, unless one of your secrets is how to control the wind, it was the best that could be done. Of course it behaves as soon as you walk onto set. Or maybe it’s Mylo here that’s our luck charm.” He turns to me, inviting me into the conversation.
“I hope so. Sounds like you all need some better luck.”
Gabriel’s expression edges toward solemn. “Truly. I’ll walk you through all our rigs when we cross that bridge. Anything you want adjusted, you let me know.”
Bella cuts in, “Don’t feel like it’s your fault, Gabriel. The buck stops with me.”
“We all know what we’re signing up for,” I offer. “If there wasn’t any risk, I’d doubt we’d like the job so much.”
Gabriel cracks a smile. “Ey, you can say that again. Crazy lot.”
I’m sure Gabriel is speaking from experience; it’s basically a rule that all stunt coordinators are former stunt people. It’s hard to trust someone who hasn’t put their own life on the line.
“Anyway,” Gabriel continues, “welcome aboard. Anything you don’t want to bother Bella with, you bring to me. I want to know if you sneeze funny. Got it?”
I nod as Bella shakes her head. “Oh, come on, you can talk to me too.”
Gabriel raises a finger. “They can. But they don’t. Remember, Bella, you’re alegend.”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m starting to regret it.”
As if on cue, the director calls from her chair, “Bella! Let’s talk through this next scene.”
Bella offers a wry grin. “And this is when I leave you in Gabriel’s capable hands. Take good care of Mylo, y’hear?”
“Loud and clear, boss.”
Gabriel beckons, and I follow him back toward the trailers, leaving the set behind.
“You ready to get in on the action?” Gabriel asks.
“Absolutely. Let me show you what I’ve got.”
“That’s what I like to hear. We’ve got a practice rig set up just over here…”
For the restof the morning, Gabriel puts me through my paces. Mostly we focus on fighting and tumbling, which are the main skills they hired me for. I go through a few sequences in the relevant fighting styles before Gabriel and I spar briefly.
We start crisp so I can establish that I know the styles well, then we dirty things up and sell the action more.
By the time the sun reaches its peak, we’re both drenched in sweat. When I take my water breaks, I also hit the vape in my pocket, as much for the nicotine as to mask my citrus scent that gets stronger the more we spar.
If Gabriel notices, he doesn’t say anything.
“Alright, well, I can confidently say you’re in fighting shape. We’ll get to more of the choreography this afternoon. As for now…”
“Lunchtime?”
Gabriel tosses me a towel as he flashes a wide smile. “Quick learner!”
