The Golden Age ✔️

9. LIMELIGHT

“All of them? Even…”

“Yes, even your undergarments.” The photographer said. Marshall turned to me and began undressing.

“I’m going to go get a cup of water.” I said. I walked away, leaving Marsh to undress himself. Why did I decide to stay? Now I have to see the man who I’m falling for completely bare. I took my time getting water. After I was done, I went back to the set.

Upon entering, I saw him. He was sitting on the couch, and he was naked. His pecs and abs were shiny. I think they might have put oil on them. His muscular arms held his head up and the other head a cigar. And his… stuff… was hanging out. I saw it and was impressed by its size. I gulped and felt my face heat up.

Marshall was grinning and posing. He looked sexy, I will say. I live with this man! He turned and Marsh made eye contact with me. He didn’t say anything, just stared. He moved his pecs and I choked on my saliva. I turned away.

“Enrique. Want to give it a go?” The photographer asked me.

“N-No. I’m okay.” I said, still feeling flustered after seeing Marsh. I turned back again and saw Marsh getting up. His… stuff… began swinging around. He put on a robe and began to dress back.

After changing, which I may or may not have been watching intensely, he came up to me.

“Liked what you saw?” He whispered in my ear. I blushed and pushed him back. I touched his pecs briefly and felt just how strong they were.

“Shut up.” I said. We entered the car and didn’t talk about it. But I knew that his body will forever be worshiped by my excited brain.

The next day, we had an urgent meeting at MGM studios. Judging by how frantic the phone call was, it wasn’t good. 

“This is bad. This is really bad!” A voice said. I determined it to belong to Victor.

“Is everything okay here?” Marshall asked. His loud booming voice made me quiver, in a good way.

“No. it’s not.” Sarah said. Marshall, me, and the rest of our co-stars sat in the room. Some other people like the sound engineer were also in the room.

“We have a problem.” Victor, the director said.

“Is it about one of us? Or…” Chloe asked. I panicked, hoping that my stripping past wasn’t going to be an issue.

“No. A financial one.” I sighed in relief. What? No! This is bad too.

“MGM studios has decided to cut our funding in half. They needed some spare money to fund a new movie.” Victor said, running a hand through his hair.

“Why our movie?” Chloe asked, pursing her lips. Victor looked at me.

“That's not the point. We need to focus now. Some of you may be laid off. Some of you will get a pay decrease. I really didn’t want this to happen. But if we want The Lonely War Hero to continue, we must make sacrifices.” Victor finished. 

I felt guilty.

“We could,” I said but then raised my voice higher. “We could raise money.” I said. Everyone looked at me. Some laughed at my idea. I looked at Marshall and he was thinking.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Victor said. “Listen up! I’ve decided that we will each raise money in different ways. Let’s try to pull in… $4,000 by the end of the week. If we all work together, I’m sure we can do something!” Victor said. Everyone agreed. So when I say that idea, people laugh at me but when he says it, it’s genius? Got it.

The meeting ended and I began walking back to the car.

“You okay?” Marshall asked.

“No. I feel like the reason they cut our funding is because of me. Because of my skin color. I know Victor didn’t say what the reasoning was. But from the look in his eye when he looked at me, I knew it was my fault.” I said. Marsh rubbed my back in a comforting way.

“Even if it was about you, at least you gave a solution to fix this. If you didn’t speak up and reveal your idea, we would’ve shut down production. You saved us, En.” Marsh said a nickname and I blushed. 

“Thanks, Marsh.” I said. Marsh hugged me from my neck and brought me closer to him. I took a whiff of his scent, becoming adjusted to him.

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kill me already

bye! i love you all!