Cut to the Chase by Lisa Girolami Page A

connection. But simple reactions like that, she thought as she made her way to her director’s chair off set, were the only responses she had gotten from her the night before. It wasn’t that she wanted to literally jump on Paige, really. She was just used to something happening. Some romance would have been great, but she had to admit she’d had a fantastic time simply hanging out and watching the movies.
    She sat down and waved off Helen’s offer of a bottle of water.
    Paige struck a melodic chord in her. If instant attraction existed, Avalon had experienced it, and she jerked a little as a thrill scampered up her spine.
    She didn’t know much about Paige’s personal life. She’d talked about a breakup, but Avalon assumed that someone as amazing as Paige had to be dating again.
    What would whoever she was dating be like? Would she be just like Paige—reserved, serious, and beautiful? Like she was using a pencil on paper, the picture of a gorgeous woman reclining on a sumptuous love seat sketched itself in her mind. Frowning, she imagined thick eraser lines blotting it out, and a new drawing emerged of an ugly, hunchbacked female gnashing her hideous teeth.
    That was better.
    “Avalon?”
    She looked up to see the assistant director.
    “They’re ready for your next scene.”
    Maybe she wasn’t dating anyone in particular. On the lucky chance she wasn’t, would Paige accept a formal date?
    As she made her way to the set, Tawnya fiddling with her hair as she walked, a sudden but strange wave of doubt overcame her. This was a new and strange feeling for her. It sat as uncomfortably as an unripe banana grumbling in the bottom of her stomach.
    Maybe she wouldn’t.

Chapter Seven
     
    "Come on,” Paige heard Avalon say when she’d come back from some discussions with the director.
    It was the last shot of the day. Beyond the klieg lights that brightly illuminated the small area of street where the movie cars sat, the sun that had disappeared over the buildings on Hollywood Boulevard now cast an eerie darkness. The surreal daylight of the set made for ideal photographs in a business where Hollywood often altered time and space.
    “Where?”
    “Just come.”
    Avalon led her to an Audi TTS. Crew members scurried about, adjusting lights and reflectors, measuring distances from the camera, and calling out orders and remarks.
    “Mack, this is Paige. Paige, Mack, our best stunt man.”
    She shook his hand, though she didn’t know why.
    Mack reached into the backseat of the car and pulled out a helmet. “Here.”
    She took it. “What’s this?”
    “A brain bucket,” he said.
    “But why am I holding it?”
    “I’m not sure, since it should be on your head.”
    Avalon took it from her. “You’re going to be on a ride with us.” She began to put the helmet on Paige’s head.
    “What?”
    “You wanted good shots, so you’re gonna get some from close up.”
    “In this?” The car looked dangerous. As she allowed Avalon to help her into the helmet, she nervously sized up the car as if it had just challenged her to an after-school fight. Its polished red paint job covered what Paige thought must be a monster engine. “This looks fast.”
    Mack nodded, almost indifferent. “265 horsepower, 258 pounds per foot of torque, an inline four-cylinder, spark-ignition engine, double overhead camshafts, and an S model turbocharger. It’s a canyon carver.”
    “We’re driving through a canyon?” She knew she sounded ridiculous, but she was having trouble processing this.
    “No, silly,” Avalon said. “He just means it rips.”
    “I can get some great shots from the curb.”
    Avalon pulled her aside, almost intimate in her manner. “Consider this a form of tornado chasing. Don’t think about it. Just go with it.”
    She bit her lip to trap words that would beg them to let her back out. Mack positioned her in the backseat and belted her in. Avalon climbed into the driver’s seat, and Paige was glad she couldn’t