The Girl Behind the Camera (A Leonardo DiCaprio Fanfic)

Chapter 17 Pt. 2

 “Hello there.” Jim said with not exactly what I’d call a smile painted on his face, but it wasn’t anything like the hard, stern expression I had seen on him that day on set. His face was now much softer, his eyes a bit brighter.

 “Hello, nice to see you.” Leo said happily with a grin, reaching out to shake Jim’s hand. It was so weird seeing them together. I had never truly understood their relationship.

 “And who’s this?” Jim asked, eyeing me. I mean, the guy had never been my director or any form of authority to me really, but when he looked at me like that, I felt as helpless a tiny bug under a microscope. I lightly pressed myself tighter to Leo.

“This is Melanie Hale. From ‘A Star’s World Magazine’.” he answered, smiling wide. Whenever Leo talked about me like that he got this look, like he was really proud or happy or something. Was he trying to show me off or something?! Why would he do that? He’s the one worthy of being shown off… God if only everyone back home could see me now. I wonder if they’d care.

 “Melanie, nice to meet you.” Jim said, lightly taking hold of my hand. I was so intimidated. He was being so friendly but I still felt as nervous and judged as a small child in the principal’s office.

 “Oh it’s nice to meet you too.” I said with a grin, trying my best to appeal to the people in which I held in such high esteem.

 After greeting an array of various cast members, Leo and I took our seat at the table. Now I could tell you that I had a wonderfully glamorous time with all of these beautiful celebrities sipping on glasses of champagne, but then I’d be lying. Despite the cheerful expression on my face, and my polite, friendly words, I felt anxious and miserable. I was happy with Leo there by my side, but I just couldn’t stop the thoughts that were flowing through my head. I just kept staring at all of these fabulously dressed, talented people and desperately wondering what the hell I was doing here. It made absolutely no sense! I was just some lowly, hick with a camera who had blindly stumbled upon a gold mine. And now that I was here, I was scared and confused. I had been given an opportunity, a love, that I did not deserve. Leo could do so much better than me… I don’t know what I was thinking when I called him that night… I don’t know what I was thinking when I kissed him that night… Who did I think I was? I know he told me I was pretty, and who knows, he may have actually thought that, but I still wasn’t as good as what he deserved. He deserved a girl like Kate, or whoever it was that he had been with before maybe… but not me. And realizing this, was terrifying as well. I loved him too much to lose him. I was just too invested to let him go now… but they always say if you love something to set it free, sure it’s usually a stray dog or a cat, but I think it applies to people to. But the matter of the fact was I felt completely shitty amongst this room of dizzying laughter, teary eyes, and farewell speeches. I was the ugly duckling packed within  a room of gorgeous swans and that only made my anxiety grow more. Leo cast reassuring glances and smiles in my direction every now and again, but it was no use. I knew what the truth was, whether he had realized it yet or not.

 It was still about another hour before it was time to leave. Kate gave a beautiful speech about how thankful she was for her experiences and how much she loved all of the cast, and of course she mentioned all of the shenanigans that her and Leo pulled off set. Even Danny Nucci, the man who played Jack’s friend Fabrizio, gave a speech saying goodbye to everyone and spreading his love. He also gave quite the description about the day they had been filming the, “king of the world”, scene. He remarked that even though neither of them felt like kings that day, since they hadn’t yet eaten and Danny really had to go to the bathroom, that because of Leo and the rest of the cast’s collaborative talents, each and every one of them could feel like kings now. Then of course Leo gave a beautiful, intelligent, eloquent speech with many thanks to both Kate and Jim. Everything that came out of his mouth was just so damn special to me. All of these lovely speeches further and further proved to me that I did not belong.