Enrique Viramontes is a Mexican immigrant who has come to Los Angeles in search of a better life.
Marshall Cromwell is a returning war veteran who has come home but leaves his small town to become an actor.
At first, the two get off on the wrong foo...
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Marshall
Today was the first day on set for me. It was still surreal the fact that I got the role. My mom and brother were so happy. Mom said she was going to brag to all her mom friends and my brother was going to brag to all his Yale friends that I am in a movie. They even said that I might get an Oscar, which sounds far fetched, but not impossible.
I was expecting to walk into the writer’s room peacefully but some idiot Mexican had his eyes closed and bumped into me. I lashed out at him and may have said a few slurs. I might have been harsh but he should’ve had his eyes opened. I hope I never see that guy again.
I made my way through the large crowd and searched around.
“Excuse me. Can you tell me where the director is?” I asked a random worker.
“Who the hell are you?!” He said rudely.
“The main actor? Marshall Cromwell?” I said like he was the most idiotic person in the world.
“Right. Sorry sir. He’s that way.” The man quickly pointed. I rolled my eyes and turned to go in that direction. There he was, laughing while talking to some people. He was the most powerful person on this set. He can fire me on the spot if he wants to. I stood behind the group of people until they were finished.
“Hello, sir.” I said. I extended my hand.
“You must be Marshall. Pleasure to meet you.” He said. He gripped my hand tightly, enforcing his authority figure.
“I am. And you must be…?” I said.
“Victor Fleming. Director of this film.” He said. I remembered his name for directing The Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind. HE’S directing this film.
“Come join me. Let’s go get your script.” He said. He put his arm over my shoulder and we walked side by side.
“It’s very busy today.” I said, noticing everyone walking around.
“Yep. It’s day one. If you’re slow in Hollywood, you get left behind.” He said. I took note of his words. Afterall, this man is a legend. Any advice from him is gold.
“Here you are. Welcome to the cast, Marshall.” He said. I ran my fingers over the paper. Nice paper! I read the words on the paper.
‘The Lonely War Hero’ Marshall Cromwell- Sebastian Ritz
I smiled at my character’s name. I am responsible for bringing this person to life. His fate relies on how I act. I must be the best.
“Marshall!” A female voice said. I turned and saw a woman walking to me.
“It’s time to film a short scene. Hurry up!” She said. She grabbed my hand and dragged me to the set. The set was set up as a small frame with it decorated as a lavish house. I was dragged and placed in a chair.
“Claire. You know what to do.” The woman said. Before I could ask, I was sprayed in the face with water. A woman began to clean me up. My face was washed and my hair was fixed.
“Voila! You’re a new man.” Claire said in a French accent. I admired how amazing I looked.
“MARSHALL! ENRIQUE! ON STAGE! NOWWW!” A loud voice said. I recognized it as belonging to Victor’s. I immediately made my way to the stage so I didn't make a bad first impression. I was on stage and saw no one else.
“We’re gonna be shooting some scenes. Just go with the flow. Marshall. Your servant will be coming in. You’ll read off the cards. Ready? Action!” Victor said before I could respond. I sat on the couch and waited. Then my co-star came in.
What the fuck!?!
In came in that Mexican who bumped into me. I narrowed my eyes at him when he saw me. When he laid his eyes on me, he began to feel nervous and started sweating.
*
The scene ended. And during that time, I arrogantly would respond to my co-star, whatever his name was. I decided to approach the director.
“Victor. Who was that guy I was filming with? Was he a stand in or…?” I asked.
“Stand in? Oh no. He’s your supporting actor. You’ll be filming with him for the next few months.” He said. I groaned. Seriously? Him? Out of all people. They brought one of THEM in here.
I knew I was getting too angry. I needed to calm down. I went to a table with food and grabbed a cup of water and drank it down. I looked to my right and saw HIM standing there, reading through his script.
Looking at him now, he doesn’t look bad. He’s a bit shorter than me. And his face looked young but you knew he was in his early twenties. Simply put, adorable.
If I was going to be filming with him, we might as well be friends or at least on good terms. I decided to put my cup down and approach him.
"Hey, you!” I said, walking up to him. He looked up from his script and his eyes began racing.
“Hey.” He said in a soft voice. His voice was much different than when he was on screen. On screen, his voice was loud and expressive. But here, in front of me, his voice was soft.
“I want to apologize for how I was today. I didn’t mean to call you those unkind words. I guess I was just angry.” I said. I rubbed my hands on my pants to remove the sweat. Why was I nervous?
“Oh. Well. It’s okay. I should’ve paid attention.” He said. His slight accent was amazing. He stayed quiet and went back reading his script.
“Hey, wanna read our scripts together?” I asked, holding up my script and moving it.
“Sure! Here, let’s sit.” He said. He pulled out two chairs and we sat.
For the next few hours, Enrique, which was his name, and I read our scripts. I could tell we had good chemistry. During some scenes, it’s like we knew what the other was going to do. A lot of improversation was done and we planned on asking the director about these changes. The day came to an end and we were told we would be meeting the rest of the actors the next day. They also advised us to read the script whenever we can.
I called my mom and brother and told them about my day. I mentioned the script, the director, and how hectic it was. And then I mentioned Enrique as my co-star.
“Slow down, brother. You sound like you’re in love.” My brother laughed when I went on a tangent about my co-star.
Later that night, I sat in bed and thought of Enrique. I had completely forgotten about Casey at this point. I really enjoyed Enrique’s presence. His accent was great. His laughter was contagious. His skin was glowy.
I’m not sure why I had these thoughts. Maybe I just like being around him. But as friends. Right?
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ooh they met. finally. and they good now. so uh, my birthday is coming up. i'm having double uploads for my two current stories. meaning you'll get a total of four chapters for this story this week!
college is coming up soon and i'm so scared. i literally don't know what to do.
