It was raining heavily that morning. The sky was a dark shade of grey as if it had swallowed every last bit of sunlight attempting to brighten the city. The plane had just landed, but Jenna was still asleep. The loud droplets of rain against her window seemed to act as a lullaby rather than a distraction. Her colleagues noticed she wasn't yet awake but decided to let her rest, knowing how much she had been stressing about this day.
She had always been excited to begin a new project. Her maturity and professionalism were her strongest weapons against countless hours of working on a shooting set. Even in her early youth, she was acting like professionals that had twice her age. She loved her job, she enjoyed every second of it, even when her muscles were aching and her feet were sore. Her enthusiasm never left her defenseless against difficulties. She knew how incredibly lucky she was to have been given a chance to explore her passion. She was appreciative and kind. Hardworking and devoted. Rare qualities for an actress of her age.
She knew Tim had offered her this opportunity for a reason. A reason she didn't quite understand yet but was entirely grateful for. She felt like she couldn't disappoint. It was a big project and she was right in the middle of it, the main character, the star of it. She'd always found that ironic, how the star of this story was a darkness-infused character, absorbing the light around her. Just like the sky of Bucharest was swallowing the sunlight that morning.
"I can't believe she slept through that landing", Emma said in a low voice, in an attempt not to wake her friend. The other two young actors in the airplane cabin looked at her and nodded simultaneously.
Seconds later, Jenna shifted her position, sitting up in her seat, a puzzled expression on her face. Her eyes were red and her cheeks looked paler than usual. The fatigue was obvious on her face. She ran her hand through her hair and exhaled loudly. "I am starving", she said in a sleepy voice.
"We have lunch scheduled with the rest of the crew in 2 hours", Hunter said. Jenna exhaled in frustration. Hunter pointed at the reclining table next to Joy, "...there is also a banana left from breakfast if you want", he said.
Jenna focused on the table and her eyes took a hearty shape. She jumped off of her seat and grabbed the fruit, eager to fill up her growling stomach. The rest of the cast watched in amusement as she was hungrily eating the fruit. They all had a dozen of inappropriate jokes to make about the scene but decided not to voice them. She had a lot on her plate already, both metaphorically and literally, and they were sensible enough not to make her feel self-conscious about that.
A few more minutes passed before the flight attendant informed them they could exit the plane. The drive to the hotel was short, but it allowed them to take in a good view of the city. Jenna thought it was pretty but creepy as hell. The weather made all the buildings stand out sharp, soaking under the rain. They reflected the grey colour of the sky in their grunge look.
Upon arriving at the hotel, Jenna skipped the drinks her colleagues decided to have at the lounge and made her way to her room to prepare for the upcoming lunch. She entered her room, left her bags on the side couch, and fell face down on the bed. It took her a minute before finding the courage to get up and jump into the shower. She adjusted the water to a warm temperature to calm her down and stood there for a good 10 minutes, the water streaming down to her toes, thinking.
She thought about her parents, and how she'd already missed them even though it had only been a day since she'd left. Something about being on the other side of the Atlantic made it feel much more. She thought about how she'd have to stay in this creepy-looking country for several months to come. She wondered if the weather would always be that gloomy.
She then thought about the lunch and meeting the rest of the crew, the rest of her colleagues. There were several people amongst them whom she had never met before. She'd already met Luis Guzman and Catherine Zeta-Jones during the casting process and she had found them to be funny, pleasant personalities to be around. She felt a sense of relief knowing they'd be at the lunch, as they were exactly the kind of people she would like to create a friendship with. They were mature, because of their age, but immature at the same time (especially Luis) because of their inner children whom they didn't seem to have murdered yet like many other adults their age. Then there was Percy, another person whom she'd met during casting. She was happy to hear he'd gotten the role as she liked how professional and devoted he is.
There were some people she'd never met and she was both excited and nervous to meet. Christina Ricci for one was making her feel nervous and a bit tense. She was, after all, the definition of Wednesday Addams to everyone's eyes, as she'd portrayed the most iconic young Wednesday yet. She knew she'd have to work hard to live up to the standard she created.
Then there was Gwendoline Christie. Jenna was very excited to meet this one. The English actress had a career that she was very fond of. Her ability to successfully commit to such complex roles as she had, made Jenna very happy to work and learn from her. She had also portrayed Brienne of Tarth, a character whom Jenna truly, very liked. Very, very excited to meet this one indeed.
With that last thought, she took a deep breath and focused on finishing getting ready for the lunch. She left the shower and focused on her skin, making sure she didn't miss any step on her routine. She felt like she had to make a good effort to look good for this. The biggest challenge was choosing what to wear. She had packed comfortable clothes as she knew they'd be spending the better part of the day shooting, and she wanted to feel comfortable during the little time she'd have for herself. Her nerves had started to kick in and she had only 20 minutes before she had to meet the others at the lobby to leave.
She took a deep breath, grabbed her phone, and dialed the best person she knew could help with this kind of crisis, Emma. She waited impatiently until her friend picked up her call and reassured her that she had everything she needed for this "emergency". A few minutes later, Emma was knocking on Jenna's door, her arms loaded with clothes.
"Oh my god, Emma. This is just for lunch, not the Golden Globes.", Jenna said looking at the very sparkly and very... revealing dress her friend had brought.
"You said you needed something nice! Well, this is very nice!", Emma replied with a big grin on her face. She placed the clothes on the bed as if they were precious art exhibits at a fancy gallery.
"... Anyway, I'll keep the black shirt and the leather skirt.", Jenna said and picked the clothes up from the bed. Emma pouted slightly at the choice, wondering why wouldn't she pick the sparkly dress. Then again, she knew Jenna long enough to know better. She made a mental note to keep this dress for when the brunette would need it for the Golden Globes.
Jenna managed to match her comfortable black sneakers with her outfit which made her happy. She and Emma made their way to the hotel lobby to meet with Hunter and Joy as they were supposed to take the same car to the restaurant.
The universe, however, had other plans. As Jenna and Emma marched out of the lift, they stumbled upon a tall figure. The brunette was caught off guard by the person standing behind the lift door that she stepped backward, tripped and fell flat on her back in the lift. She let out a low cry for help as she hit the ground. Several heads turned toward the noise and that's when she realised how many people had witnessed her clumsiness.
"Jenna, what the hell?!", Emma said and extended her hand towards her friend to help her back on her feet. "Sometimes I genuinely think you have two left feet.", she said as she was pulling Jenna up from the ground.
"I... I didn't expect to... Well, there was someone-", Jenna managed to say before she was suddenly interrupted by the figure in front of her, who had just turned around and realised what had happened.
"Are you okay, darling?", the tall blonde woman said and stooped a few inches lower to meet the eyes of the brunette. She had an expression of genuine worry on her face.
Jenna was caught off guard for a second time. She had just bumped into Gwendoline Christie, freaking Gwendoline Christie of all people. Great first impression, she thought. She tried to act cool in an attempt to ease her embarrassment. "Yes, I'm okay, thank you. I hope I didn't startle you.", she said and smiled softly.
Gwendoline furrowed her eyebrows at the younger woman in front of her. "You just fell on the floor and you're worried you might have startled me?", she said with a questioning expression on her face.
"Well... I... Am... Jenna.", the brunette responded and her cheeks flushed red at her own awkwardness. She extended her hand toward the taller blonde woman. Gwendoline smiled lightly and accepted the gesture, taking the younger woman's hand in hers. A warm feeling spread through both of their bodies at the touch. An energy spark, as if they had plugged their hands into a power source.
"It's a pleasure.", Gwendoline said and smiled a toothy smile. "I'm Gwendoline, but you can call me Gwen."
YOU ARE READING
Crimson Cheeks
Fanfiction*this is a Jenna x Gwen story* Cold weather, warm hearts. The perfect circumstances for an unconventional love story to erupt.
