Time To Pretend

Chapter Two: Not What It Looks Like

He woke up in his bed, an empty bottle of bourbon laying in his sheets beside him. His head pounded when he attempted to sit up but he ignored it. His moan of exhaustion fills the quiet room as he runs his hand over his tired face. Season two filming ended and the hiatus had been much too long for Alex's liking. Seeing Vera yesterday for the first time since filming was worth the wait. After filming, she went back to his trailer with him and he didn't remember much after that.
"Nestor?" Vera calls out. He scrunched his eyebrows with confusion. What was she doing in his trailer?
"V? What're you doing here?" he calls back, getting out of his bed. He ignores the fact that he is only wearing pajama pants and limps his way into the living area of his trailer. He grits his teeth as he fights through the pain in his torn calf muscle. It must be cold out. His muscle only throbs anymore when the weather changes.
"I brought some muffins." she says, holding a bag and wearing a soft smile. Her dark hair is pulled back into a messy bun that only made her more attractive.
"Thanks. Did you...stay the night?" he asks, taking the bag from her.
"No. I left shortly after I made sure you fell asleep. You drank quite a bit." she says with a small laugh. He smiles, taking a bite of the muffin.
"Hey, what's the fun in being responsible and sober." he mumbles sarcastically, getting himself some orange juice.
"Want anything? A drink? Maybe an apology for anything stupid I might've done last night?" he asks, smirking at her.
"Just water is fine." she says with a smile.
"Just the water." he repeats, pouring her a glass. He hands it to her and looks her up and down while he drinks his orange juice. Her jeans cling tightly to her body while whatever shirt she is wearing is covered by a rather large grey sweatshirt that says Syracuse.
"Is it cold out?" he asks.
"Like you wouldn't believe." she says, setting her water down.
"That would explain the pain." he says.
"You're hurting? Anything I can do?" she asks.
"Just take it easy on me today while you're bitching about Norman." he says with an evil grin. She playfully punches his shoulder with a smile on her face.
"We should go." Nestor says, pouring his juice out and finishing his muffin in one bite.
"It amazes me that you ate that whole thing in two bites." she says.
"What can I say? I'm amazing, babe." he says with his mouth full. He walks back into his room and changes into jeans and a t shirt, pulling a jacket on over.
"Ready?" Vera asks as he walks back out. He nods and they walk outside, the cold, bitter air nipping at their exposed skin.
"Jesus it's freezing." Nestor mumbles, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. A short silence follows before Vera breaks it.
"So how are you and Shannon?" she asks, referring to Nestor's wife. His wife and whoever Vera was dating at the moment was always an awkward topic but it always seemed to come up.
"We're good. Yeah." he says, nodding. He racks his brain, trying to think of who she was dating right now.
"How are you and..." he trails off, trying to come up with a name. Any name.
"I'm not dating right now." she says.
"Oh really?" he asks with surprise.
"I've come to a realization." she says.
"Let's hear it." he says with a smile.
"Well today I am nobody's and I am perfectly fine." she begins.
"Uh huh." he says.
"And someday, I will be somebody's and I will be perfectly fine." she says, the words making a feeling of jealousy enter his chest. He didn't want to think about her being with someone other than him. It was selfish, he knew, but he couldn't help it.
"Okay." he says, trying to follow.
"And that's when I realized that my well being is not defined by being someone else's possession." she says.
"So that's why I have taken a break. I need time to be myself and learn to fall in love with me." she says with a shrug.
"It's stupid-"
"It's smart." he says.
"Poetic." he adds with a smile. She smiles at him, nudging him with her shoulder. They arrive at the studio and go their separate ways to prepare themselves for filming.
They waited around on set for the crew to finish setting out the props and equipment. In the meantime, Nestor made small talk with Vera.
"Can I get you some coffee?" she asks.
"You don't have to-"
"I'm going over there anyways. Want some?" she asks.
"Sure. Thanks."
"Cream, sugar?" she asks.
"Cream." he says.
"But you knew that." he adds with a suspicious look. She smiles and walks to the coffee cart. He was right. She did know. She just wanted him to talk more. She loved his voice and she felt as though he didn't use it enough. Nestor ends up walking to the cart in order to save her the trip back to him.
"Your coffee." she says, handing him his cup.
"Thanks. Can I get a little spoon?" he asks, wanting to mix in the creamer.
"Sure." she says, walking around him to hug him from behind.
"Lovely. This is lovely. But what I meant was a spoon for my coffee." he says, trying to compress his laughter. She released him with embarrassment, quickly grabbing a spoon and handing it to him.
"Yeah I know. I knew that. I was just..." she trails off, letting the awkwardness hang over them. He mixes his coffee before taking a sip of it and smiling. She had a way of making the best cup of coffee with the worst quality coffee.
"It's delicious." he says with a smile.
"Thanks. So after work, do you want to grab dinner?" she asks.
"Sure. We can order take out and watch a movie in my trailer." he offers, cleaning the spoon off with a napkin.
"What movie?" she asks.
"Not sure yet. You have any in mind?" he asks.
"Whatever you want to watch is fine." she says. He smiles, knowing exactly what he wanted to see.
"There's one movie I have in mind. I haven't seen it yet. I heard it's pretty scary." he says.
"What movie?" she asks. Before he can answer, they are called to set to begin the day.
Nestor didn't have many scenes for the day so he spent most of his time behind the camera, learning how to direct and preparing for the episode that he gets to direct this season.
"Did you learn a lot?" Vera asks, coming out of her dressing room in her jeans and sweatshirt again.
"I did. Ready to watch the movie?" he asks, walking out with her.
"Yes. What movie is it?" she asks.
"I'm not telling. But you have to promise you'll watch it. You won't say no?" he asks.
"Sure. You think I'll bail out because I get scared? I'm not easily scared Carbs." she says with a smirk.
"Sounds like a challenge." he says, unlocking his trailer.
"If you feel the need to try, you'll be wasting your time." she says, sitting on his couch in front of the tv.
"I'll order the chinese while you set up the movie." she says, taking out her phone.
"Okay." he says, rummaging through his cabinets for the movie he bought a while back for a specific reason but never watched. He puts it into the dvd player before walking into the kitchen to pour them both a glass of wine.
"What movie is this?" she asks, hanging up her phone and watching the opening movie trailers.
"You'll see." he says, handing her a glass. He sits beside her, close enough that their legs are touching.
The opening scene pops onto the screen and Nestor smiles while Vera turns to glare at him.
"Really, Nes? The Conjuring?" she asks.
"Oh come on. Please? I haven't seen it yet." he says.
"You don't like horror movies." she states.
"But I have to see this." he says.
"Why?"
"Because you're in it." he says as if it were obvious. She sighs and sips her wine, watching the movie unfold. As the movie continued, Nestor got increasingly frightened and began to remember why he hated horror movies. At every jump scare, he would flinch so violently that it would just about move the entire couch, making Vera hide her laugh in his shoulder.
"Stop laughing. That was horrifying." he says.
"I'm sorry." she whispers with a smile. There is a knock on the trailer door, making Nestor jump again.
"Jesus." he sighs.
"Our food!" Vera says, jumping up and jogging to the door. She grabs the food and pays before shutting the door.
"Can we be done with the movie?" Vera asks, handing him his food.
"Fine. But only because I don't want you sleeping alone and having nightmares." Nestor says, clicking off the tv. She smiles, taking a bite of her noodles. They turn and face each other on the couch as they eat.
"Tell me something." Nestor says, taking a bite of his food.
"Like what?" she asks.
"Anything. Tell me a secret. A fear you have. One of your biggest worries." he says with a shrug.
"Oh I'm sorry. I forgot we were 8 year old girls at a sleepover." she says teasingly.
"Yeah, we have a pillow fight planned after boy talk." he says with a smile.
"Boy talk. Okay. My first boyfriend was in high school." Vera says.
"What was he like?" Nestor asks.
"He was...your average jock. Every girl wanted to be with him and I got lucky enough to date him for a few weeks." she says, a hint of sadness in her voice.
"What happened?" Nestor asks, setting his empty container aside.
"He...he had me convinced that sex was...just a thing you do. Everyone did it. I had never had a boyfriend before so I believed him and...well he broke up with me right after." she says sadly.
"Like the next morning?" Nestor asks.
"No like as we were still naked in bed. It was the worst sexual experience ever too. It lasted about three minutes and I was uncomfortable the entire time. Neither of us knew what we were doing." she says.
"I'm sorry." he says. She smiles softly and begins to laugh.
"What?" he asks.
"I just...I remembered what else happened."
"What?"
"He...he was very small and the condom...it slipped off inside me. It took me like an hour to find it. Though I was very emotional and crying so I probably wasn't very focused. I mean I lost my virginity and my first boyfriend in the same night, so..." she trails off, blushing.
"Shannon was my first." Nestor admits.
"First time?" she asks.
"First everything. First girlfriend, first kiss, first...sexual experience."
"So you've never been with anyone else?" Vera asks with surprise.
"I know. It's embarrassing." he says.
"No it's cute. Really." she says.
"I mean I wish I could've only been with one guy. I feel like every guy I date expects sex. Like I am being used for my body. And I wish I respected myself more but I seem to have the worst luck with guys." she says sadly.
"Your naked body should only belong to those who fall in love with your naked soul." he says, watching her blue eyes flicker up to his with an amount of pain displayed in them.
"You." she whispers. He looks at her with confusion.
"Guys like you don't exist." she says, shaking her head. He grabs her hand, wishing she had had better experiences with guys.
"Boys suck." he says with a smile. She giggles, nodding in agreement.
"Yeah. Boys suck." she mumbles. She slowly reaches behind her, grabbing a pillow. She looks up at him innocently, smiling. He smiles back and that's when she hits him in the shoulder with a pillow.
"What the....what was that?" he asks with surprise.
"I believe I was promised a pillow fight after boy talk." she says with a smile. He chuckles, grabbing a pillow and hitting her back.
"Oh you're in for it now." she says, jumping up from the couch. They chase each other throughout the trailer, hitting each other with the soft weapons. He finally corners her in the kitchen, an evil smile on his face.
"Any last words, Farmiga?" he asks.
"Oh yeah, I forgot, do you have any mascara I could borrow?" she asks, smirking at him. He smiles before swinging the pillow at her. He accidentally hits the open bottle of wine, sending the liquid all over her clothing while the bottle shatters on the ground.
"Shit." he mumbles, dropping the pillow.
"Don't move." he says, picking up the big pieces of glass. He finally gives up and grabs her hips, picking her up and carrying her out of the circle of glass.
"Here." he says, setting her down in his bedroom.
"I'll grab you a shirt to change into." he says, grabbing a t shirt.
"Do you happen to have pants?" she asks, looking down at her soaked jeans.
"None that would fit you." he says.
"Underwear?" she asks. He gives her a look before grabbing a pair of his boxers and handing them to her.
"I'll clean up in the kitchen." he says, walking out. She strips off her wet clothing, pulling on his boxers and shirt, letting his scent consume her. When she walks back out, he is dumping the last of the glass into the trash.
"Well, no more pillow fights." he says, turning around and looking at her. He smiled, liking the look of her wearing his clothes.
"What?" she asks, looking down at her clothes.
"Cute outfit." he says jokingly. She rolls her eyes.
"You're asking for it Carbs." she says in a warning tone.
"I can handle it." he says. She runs at him, jumping onto him and he catches her, swinging her up onto his shoulder.
"Hey!" she squeals, hitting his back. He carries her into the living room, setting her down and begins tickling her sides, making her squirm even more.
"Nestor! Stop. Please! Truce!" she says in between giggles. His front door swings open making both of them stop what they're doing and look up at the intruder.
"Shannon." Nestor says with surprise, his arms still around Vera's waist. Shannon takes in the scene, Vera wearing Nestor's shirt and shorts which have ridden up showing part of her butt. Nestor's arms around Vera's waist while Vera had her hands on his chest. None of it looked very good.
Nestor seems to realize that he and Vera are still touching, and he quickly steps away from her, looking like he just got caught stealing cookies from the jar.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know I was intruding on a love affair. I'll leave you two to it." Shannon says, walking out.
"Shit." Vera whispers.
"I gotta..." Nestor begins, gesturing to the door.
"Yeah. Go!" Vera says, watching him run out the door after his wife.