Connections | ✔️

Fifteen

Valerie P.O.V.

The next few days went by blissfully as Carter and I went on a picnic 'date' on the beach. I thought it was a date, at least. He expertly ploughed a bright yellow beach umbrella into the sand, whilst I stood there watching him like a creeper. Don't blame me! It was super hot seeing him doing some manual labour. He also packed a massive beach towel that could fit both of us onto it comfortably and a small picnic basket filled with mini salad rolls, Kombucha and chocolate-covered strawberries that I devoured whole-heartedly.

Carter had a pair of sunnies on his face, as well as a hat in an attempt to not be spotted by fans. Shaking my head, I laughed at him and said that it was still a little obvious as to who he was. He simply chuckled and said that he wanted to try give me his full attention today without being interrupted like we were a few times last weekend. I didn't mind the disturbances too much, I either took pictures for them, or I was the random friend that stood to the side pretty much as they fawned all over him.

"Thankyou, Carter." I smiled genuinely. It was really nice to hear that he wanted to make the most of our time together. He was surprisingly quite sweet.

"Of course Val, I want to spend time with you," he responded, like it was no big deal. I don't remember the last time I felt like someone wanted me. I guess my face fell, as I became enveloped in my thoughts about New York, because he soon frowned and nudged me with his elbow.

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

"Oh uh nothing," I shot back quickly and plastered on a smile.

He raised his eyebrows skeptically. "...You sure?"

"Mhmm," I nodded. "Nothing... nothing concerning." I convinced him. I wanted to make the most of our time together too, and keep my past, in the past.

We sat there people-watching, making up random background stories for them. The stupidest one, was about a woman who had lost her memory after being hypnotised by a monkey in the African jungles and is now dedicating her time to teach the seagulls how to attack and steal people's food, before going home to watch crime documentaries in her nudist cat cave. All she had really been doing though, was throwing her fries to the birds. We both laughed at the ridiculous story both our twisted minds put together. I'm glad I made the decision to stop being scared and finally open myself up to being with him, it felt so good. All is well, for now.

~

On one of my days off work, Ell had invited me to come on set with her again where she would be doing a promotional photoshoot for the show. A blank white canvas had been put up for the shoot as well as a huge lighting setup, with multiple crew members running around busily. I watched as Ell got her hair and makeup done before heading for wardrobe to get changed and then onto the set. Ell moved fluidly through different poses, looking like a total natural as the photographer snapped away.

"Hmmm no, this doesn't really feel like her character. I'm not getting the right aesthetic!" one of the production managers exclaimed as he looked through one of the monitors, halting everyone's movements.

"Can you put her in something else?" he turned to one of the stylists.

"Well I think you need to remove the scarf, and then just undo one of her buttons. That'd make her look a little more chic without overdoing it." I piped up unexpectedly from my position at the back. All heads in the room swerved towards me with curiosity and apprehension. Oh woops. Should I have not said anything?

The stylist squinted at me inquisitively with a hand on his chin, before nodding his head. "Darling, you have a good eye," he commented approvingly. Phew! He proceeded to then fix up Ellana's outfit before they resumed shooting.