| Belle heard her name being called and then she was being introduced to someone named Brian. She looked up to see who she would be starring with for this video shoot and she froze. It was him, blue eyes who she had difficulty getting out of her mind for the past two hours, telling herself she was not interested and not ready to have her heart broken again. Kane hadn’t been the first one to do it to her and she wasn’t keen to feel it again. This was only for four days and she wasn't in to short term relationships or weekend flings. She smiled weakly at him again and looked at the ground as the director was talking. “Now that you all know each other, we will get to work. In this scene you will all be in pairs, except you two,” he said to Brian and Belle. Thank goodness she thought. “Oh and to begin with you too AJ, “ he said to AJ who had already sat himself down with his girl. “Now Brian you will see Belle and there will be an instant attraction and you will try to get to know her a little better. Belle, you will talk to him, but you have put up a wall between the two of you. You aren’t ready to have your heart broken again. I want it to look convincing, I know you can do it sweetheart.” He winked at her. Belle stood rooted to the spot with her mouth open. The fact that she hated being called sweetheart by anyone she didn’t care for went over her head. Had this man read her mind? He must have a psychic gift because this was almost what she had just been thinking. She nodded slowly at him and looked at Brian. He was smiling at her. “Belle! That means beautiful,” Brian said to her and she felt herself blushing. “It’s very true,” he said and she went even redder. Brian chuckled and held out his hand. She looked at it as if it was a foreign object then realised he wanted to shake her hand in greeting. Would that be a good idea, she wondered, but she couldn’t be rude, she had to take it. As soon as his fingers touched hers she knew it wasn’t a good idea. Sparks flew between them and she knew by the look on his face he felt it too “Nice to meet you Belle,” he finally said, in a somewhat strangled voice. They noticed the director getting agitated. “I think we better get into position.” Brian said and she nodded again. She hadn’t spoken one word to Brian yet. Belle sat down in position and watched for a while as Brian was put in position. She looked across at the storyboard near the cameraman and nearly laughed aloud nervously with what she saw. This song was called “I’ll Never Break Your Heart” How had she not realised that before now? Music began to play and she schooled her features into a suitably sad expression. She had been told while filming her movie that she had a natural flare for acting, so it wasn’t difficult for her to act the part of the heartbroken girl. Her own personal experience helped. The camera stayed mostly on Brian and AJ for the first part of the shoot, getting their singing parts on film many times until the director was happy with what he had gotten. Everyone else had to stay in place for background video, the men singing to the women and dancing with them now and then. Everyone followed director’s orders but Belle sat waiting, still looking sad and was beginning to feel the cold seeping into her bones. “Now Brian, sit there and look longingly over at Belle.” She heard the director say and she looked hesitantly up at Brian sitting at the next table. “Belle, keep your head down for now, until I give you my signal.” Funny, she hadn’t even got the directors name yet. She usually did that as soon as she arrived on set. It all went perfectly. Brian coming to Belle, pretending to make small talk while she hesitated. She acted pleasantly in their small talk, getting it all right, but the director wanted this scene shot several times. Brian’s charm in each case was working it’s magic and she found herself liking him more and more each time. She was going to have to be strong to keep him at bay. Or more importantly, keep her own feelings at bay. “Okay girls, that’s a wrap for you today. Tomorrow we will go out on the snowfield. I trust you have your scripts for the scenes. We will be working harder tomorrow and starting earlier so be prepared.” He dismissed them without a second glance and Belle stood and started to walk towards the hotel, stopping to look back at the scene. “Now guys, we have some more scenes to shoot before you finish,” the director was saying, but Brian was watching her as she walked away. It almost looked like longing on his face and Belle thought she was imagining things, thinking of all the scenes they had shot today. He kept watching her and raised his hand to wave. Belle waved back at him before turning and escaping to the hotel and the safety of her room. She didn’t want to admit it, but Brian was getting under her skin. A night in with room service and the TV sounded good to her. ********** “Brian, will you listen to me?” Nick said to him later that night in their room. He flung a wet towel at him to get his attention. “Huh? What?” he said peeling off the towel and giving him a dirty look. “I’ve been talking to you and you haven’t heard a word I’ve been saying.” He looked disgusted. “Sorry, what did you say?” “I was talking about how cold it is out there.” Brian nodded. “And how hot the girls are so you don’t feel the cold.” Brian nodded again, but he really wasn't listening. “You AGREE with me?” Nick asked amazed. “What?” Brian asked him, his attention back on Nick. All he had been thinking about was Belle. Her hesitant smile, her beautiful eyes, the way she spoke to him in an accent not dissimilar to his own. They really hadn’t had the chance to talk yet, but he wanted to. He wanted to get to know her a whole lot better. Hopefully tomorrow they would have more time. He had a gut feeling she wouldn’t put in an appearance in the hotel tonight. Something was on her mind he was sure of it. Maybe she had a boyfriend. Instant jealousy shot through him at the thought of her with another guy. But by her behaviour today it sure looked like someone missing someone. He hoped he was wrong. “You are agreeing with me that the girls are hot?” Nick continued and Brian quickly changed the subject. He didn’t want him to get wind of how he was feeling about Belle. At 16, Nick would just tease and Brian really didn’t feel up to that! |