But… I guess I had kind of hoped that things would change because we’d finally hooked up.
Not that I thought there was anything wrong with her. I had just hoped that she would be able to carve out the tiniest sliver of life for me to squeeze myself into. I could be a great protector to her. A sort of anchor in the very choppy waters of Hollywood. But if she didn’t want that, didn’t feel that she needed that, it would do me no good to pine like some sort of high school boy. We were adults; I needed to act like one.
Still, I didn’t think there was a rule about adults taking out all their disappointment, irritation and maybe slightly rankled feelings on a punching bag.
“Alright, well let me know if you change your mind about that talk,” my trainer said, reminded me that he was still there because I had completely forgotten.
“Yeah, I’ll do that. I just spent a little too long outside of the gym.”
“I’m sure ya did. For now, how about you maybe hit the ropes? Get some of that pent-up energy out with some old-fashioned cardio.”
“Right, right. I’ll do that.”
I went about taking off my gloves and unwrapping my hands, setting them on the bench that I had pretty much claimed as my own in the two years that I’d been training at the place. It helped that I spent nearly eight hours a day there, five days a week.
Rolling my shoulders, I crossed over to the equipment wall and grabbed a jump rope from the hook they hung from. It was a bit funny that something so simple from everyone’s childhood was still a quite effective exercise, but sometimes there was nothing wrong with a classic.
But I only went through maybe one circuit before the doors opened and I recognized my agent strolling in with that purposeful walk of his. The man was plenty polite, but he never came to the gym unless he had a serious gig for me.
“Hey there, Mickey? How’s it going?”
“Well enough,” I said, twisting the rope around my knuckles as he crossed over to me. It seemed that even now I couldn’t sit still. There was so much fire and energy inside of me I felt like I might burst if I stayed too still. “You got a fight for me?”
“Not quite. You know how these months are. Not exactly the primetime season.”
“Yeah, I’m familiar with the normal schedule of things.”
“Right, of course you are. No, I’m actually here because we landed a commercial gig for you if you’re interested. About a week of shooting-ish, maybe as little as three days. Some sort of over dramatic, period-piece costumed thing for a video game. Big battle, lots of shouting, and a very pretty offer. Interested?”
Normally I would say no to something like that. I hated getting all dolled up and sitting in the make up chair. I hated all the loitering around and redoing things because one little thing didn’t turn out exactly right.
But… I didn’t mind acting. I liked the rush that came from executing a well-choreographed fight. Honestly, it seemed like I could use the distraction too. Anything was better than moping over Amber all the time and putting myself in a shitty mood.
“You know what? I’ll take it. Sounds like a good opportunity.”
“I thought so myself. I’ll go ahead and give them a call and I’ll get the contract over to you along with the script ASAP. You’re a winner, Mickey.”
“Every now and then,” I answered with a crooked smirk. “I’ll see you around, Chris.”
“See you around.”
He went to shake my hand, but I was already grabbing my rope again. Thankfully he took that as a cue to leave and headed out with a wave. I watched him go, hoping that I would soon be back to normal.
A glint on my finger drew my attention to the ring that was still there. I hadn’t taken it off, even though I knew I was being an utter moron. But seeing the ring made me feel… better? No. Not better. It just made me feel something.
Something good.
And perhaps it would be better if I just didn’t question that.
Amber
“Alright, let’s talk through this one more time,” I said, holding the mini-white board in front of me as I pointed to the different symbols and arrows on it. “Both sides start out at opposite ends of the shot in battle-ready stance. Red side, you’re the ones who are going to charge first. The producers will do two tracking shows, one horizontally beside you, the other straight through the center of you. Blue team, you will be needed for the background of that center one. Then we’ll do the inverse of all that for the blue team.
“After that, there’s going to be close ups and b-reel footage, and we break for lunch. Are you all with me?”