Back on the I-105 freeway...
Inside bus 2525 there is tension in the air. Sandra twists away from the steering wheel to face Jan and Keanu, standing behind the yellow line. In Jack Traven's uniform of cargo pants, white tee, and blue, button-down shirt, Keanu's hands are clasped in front of him as he listens to his director speak. He is cool as ice, very rarely letting anyone know what is brewing inside. Most would not notice the tightness of his jaw or the white of his knuckles as he alternates between squeeze and release of his fingers. Sandra's eyes find his fists, then his jaw, then his fists again as she observes the conversation. He is a team player, through and through, but he is also passionate about his roles and will fight when his instinct tells him an action is out of place.
"It's really kinda ludicrous,"* Keanu starts.
"Yeah..."
"That I leave a man with a bullet hole in his chest, kind of reclining...on a bench." He motions towards 'Sam', who is sitting on the bench with a red corn syrup mixture splattered all over his shirt.
Keanu fought for his role of Jack to be the opposite of the typical action hero, beefed up and unfazed by violence and loss of innocence. His Officer Traven performed his job because he wanted to do right. He wanted to protect and serve. He was tenacious because of his empathy, yet he must now just go about his business while this man lies bleeding out on a seat. He laughs at the absurdity. Behind them, a low hum of casual chatter from the rest of the bus cast can be heard.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Jan empathizes, but is unmoved. Officer Traven wouldn't win this battle.
Sandra is drawn to his integrity. Before meeting and working with Keanu, she expected he would be like all the others: actors often either didn't care enough about a project to bother to fight for a direction or they would throw huge tantrums over minor things like the color of a shirt.
The assistant director, Dallas, directs the set designer to lay several duct-taped letter T's throughout the bus. Each character on the bus is assigned a different color of T to mark their places. Light screens are checked, makeup touched up, and cast members find their spots.
"Okay, everyone in their place?" Dallas calls out. When satisfied they are ready, he turns to Jan and gives him a thumbs up. The bus takes off and gains speed on the abandoned freeway.
"Action!" Jan's voice booms through the megaphone.
Keanu is holding a cell phone as Jeff Daniels walks his character through the next movement.
"Alright, check the speedometer. Has it been fucked with, or loosened, or any wires, do you see any wires?"**
Keanu kneels by Sandra's feet and lays his hand on her knee. "Excuse me, ma'am."
Sandra fights off a startle reflex. This wasn't part of rehearsal.
He lowers his head down near her calf to investigate. His hand is warm and the skin on his palms is a little rough. He continues through to the access panel scene. "Alright, Harry, we're in. Passenger relay," he hands the phone to the actor playing 'Stephens'.
"Okay, we've got a wad, pretty big..."
"There's a pretty big wad," 'Stephens' repeats to 'Harry'.
"...I think I can reach the circuit wire."
'Stephens' repeats, "He can reach the circuit wire."
"No! No, no, don't, don't do that! That's a decoy, classic." 'Harry' continues, "What else?"
"Fuck me ..."
'Stephens' pauses before responding in a comically awkward tone, "Oh darn." Everyone on the bus laughs.
"Cut!"
Even Jan is amused, but he knows they'll need a reset for the intensity of the scene. "Okay, good time for a break. Grab some lunch and we'll resume in an hour." On his walkie talkie, he directs crew members to set up for the next action scenes.
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Sandra and Keanu walk toward craft services to grab some lunch when he strokes her upper back, sending a tingle down her spine. "I forgot something. Save me a seat, I'll be right back."
She orders a cheeseburger and fries for herself and a turkey and cheese sandwich and fruit cup for him. She barely had a single bite before he returns, carrying a magazine. He sets the copy of Architectural Digest in front of her at the table.
"What's this?" She inquires with delight. It's one of her favorites.
"It's for you." He sits down next to her. "You said you're working on renovating your cottage. I thought this might give you some inspiration."
Sandra cocks her head, a soft glow pouring from her eyes as she flips through the thoughtful gift. "I don't remember telling you about that," she mumbles under her breath as she skims through this newest release.
"I do," he notes, taking a giant bite from his sandwich. "Thanks for the sandwich, by the way."
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Back on set...
Sandra and Keanu are standing together, chatting on the street while people carrying walkie talkies scramble around to set up the scene. "I think, in this next scene, Annie is gonna whip out her karate to take out the bad guy and save the handsome officer before they run away together," Sandra lifts her chin up with confidence.
"Oh that's how it'll go?" The corners of his mouth turn up.
"That's what I'm talking about."
"How will you take out the bad guys, what's your signature move?"
Sandra fills her lungs and crouches down before popping up with her hands in hooks above her head and one knee raised to her chest. She looks like she stepped out of a Karate Kid promotional poster.
Keanu snickers. "The crane kick? You've perfected your crane kick?"
"You don't want any of this, Keanu-son. I mean, Jack-son. Bring it on..."
They play kick and slap each other until Dallas hollers at them to take their places so they can finish their day. Giggling, they oblige.
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Rap, tap-tap, rap tap.
"Come in."
Sandra opens Keanu's trailer door to find him sitting at his table, writing in a notebook. "Whatcha working on?" She asks, craning her neck to see over his arm.
Keanu playfully covers it with both hands. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"I would, actually." She reaches over his shoulder trying to move his hands. "Is that an ode to Sandy? Don't be shy," she teases him.
"Oh it's an ode, alright, but not to you," he winks, squaring his shoulders to block her advance.
"You should know that I'm a black belt in wrestling, too. Just ask Gesine."
"A black belt...in wrestling... You know that doesn't exist, right?"
"Whatever, what are you writing?!?" She reaches over him and wraps her hands around the notebook.
"Mind your beeswax, Sandy," he slips it out from underneath her and bolts over to the loveseat where he plops down.
"Is that a love letter or something? It's okay, I won't tell the paparazzi." She follows him to the loveseat, leaning over its arm, getting a stronger grip on the journal this time.
"You're just going to have to use your imagination." He pulls it over towards the middle of the seat and under his opposite arm like he's guarding a football.
This time, though, she's like a dog to a bone refusing to let go. Her body tumbles over the arm with the book. She lands on her side, half on his lap, her face smushed into the seat. "I'fe gaht yeh now. Wha're ya goin do now?" Her words are muffled by the leather but her laughter echoes throughout the trailer.
She feels Keanu go limp and takes her chance, pulling the notebook out of his hand entirely. "A-ha!" She rolls over to her back and looks up to see him staring at her, with a stern look on his face.
Suddenly feeling embarrassed, she pulls herself off of his lap. She looks down at the notebook in her hands and back up at him, staring right through her. "I'm sorry. I-I was just playing. Here." She hands it back to him.
The life seems to come back to Keanu's eyes as he accepts the notebook and the apology. He chuckles a little and gently pokes her in the shoulder. "No apologies, but, thank you."
They sit for a minute, Sandra, still breathing heavily from their wrestling match. Keanu changes the subject. "Whatdya have going on tonight?"
"Nothing. Well, um, actually, some-something. Something I was gonna mention actually. Uh, Gesine, she and Ray, that's her boyfriend, Gesine is cooking dinner tonight and we're going to play some cards and, sh-she thought maybe you might want to come over? We want to play euchre and you need four people. You interested? She's a great cook."
Instinctually, Keanu smiles, but just as quickly it fades away. "I can't. Not tonight. I'm sorry, I have...plans."
"Oh! Yeah," Sandra fails to hide her disappointment. "Of course, sure. It was last minute, so...no biggie. Another time?"
"Sure. Another time."
Why does it feel like he's placating me? She wonders. Sandra stands up and wipes her palms on her pants, not making eye contact. "Okay, then, I've gotta go. Gotta, gotta go chop some veggies and stuff. See you tomorrow?"
Keanu nods his head, "Yeah. Tomorrow."
"Yeah. Big day, lots of car crashes, right?"
"Yeah." Keanu stands up and takes a step forward to hug her. Humiliated, she turns away from him before he can reach out.
"Alright, see ya then," she tosses a feeble wave behind her.
"Sandy, wait—" The door is open and she slips out before he has a chance to respond, leaving him standing there with his arm outstretched.
He sets his hand against his forehead and exhales. What am I doing?
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
NOTE: Still rewriting some of these parts til it feels right.
*Quotes from interview, everything between the lines is fiction.
**Lines from Speed, depictions between the lines is fiction.