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MASON MARTINEZ
"Awh so you're a daddy's money kid then?" Evie teases, flipping the next page on her book in the back of the car.
Arthur shrugs his arm as he takes a right on one of the side roads. "No, I just happen to have beach houses in different countries. No biggie."
I see her refrain from laughing in the rear view mirror, her eyes are down on whatever book she's reading and a pair of black sunglasses are perched on the top of her head.
"We will each have our own small house along the beach and there is a slightly larger house for filming. That's where we will discuss and practice the scenes." Arthur explains, closing over the roof to the car.
He could deny it all he wanted, but he is rich. No matter which way you word it, the kid was loaded.
"So I have my own beach house?" Evie asks and he confirms. "Mhm, as Mason has explained, we will film throughout the town, on the beach, in the house and just around the general area. But he's the director, not me."
I can tell we're getting closer as the smell of the sea starts to waft up my nose. I've always loved that smell, as a child, it indicated that summer was finally here and I could bid school good fucking riddance.
After another twenty minutes, the car finally comes to a stop at the largest beach house.
The rest of the filming crew were arriving tomorrow, but for now, it was just the three of us. Arthur takes out Evie's bag for her and I drag mine behind the two of them as they chat away to each other.
The house was painted a pale blue and was a lot bigger than I remembered from the photos, with a large porch and a hammock in front of the window on the right.
Just as we neared the door, the landlord came bustling out with six different keys for all of us. Arthur gave the lady a tight hug before disappearing into the house to scout out the area.
Evie glanced at me as if I'd know what to do, so I took our keys and went towards the house with her following behind me.
She dropped her bags at the door and I did the same whilst looking around the room. It was cozy inside, but the windows made it airy and smell vaguely of the sea.
"You wanna see your own houses?" Arthur asks as he strolled into the hallway where Evie and I were awkwardly standing.
She nodded, so I did the same, allowing Arthur to show us out to the back of the house. It felt strangely comforting to have the sea right outside. The main house had a decently sized pool in the garden with a shed off to the left for floaties.
The back door sat directly opposite the tiny gate that opened out to the small strip of sand. If you walked maybe forty steps then you'd be able to feel the ocean at your feet.
Arthur continued to explain every detail about this house, until finally, finally he went through the tiny white gate and we were walking along the beach.
I couldn't pay attention to a single thing he was saying, my skin burned from the heat in the best kind of way. We were filming in Greece, but it didn't feel like it.
It felt like our very own island with sand, water and just us living here. The boardwalk was visible at the end of the beach, as well as little shops and a couple diving areas.
Even Evie was excited at the sight of a little ice cream shop right outside the house. Arthur was staying in the main house as he owned it, but the rest of us were staying in mini cabins to the left of his.
All of our houses were sat on the beach, but they were much smaller. There was no complaints on my end, having a space to myself is much better than sharing one with the entirety of our crew.
"I'll let you guys look around while I say hi to some of the old crowd, they'll be wondering how my life is shaping out." Arthur and his dad used to live here until he was ten, then he moved away but his dad managed to keep all these houses.
We waved to him and then it was just us, again. She glanced up at me and I looked at her. "My keys?" Evie waved vaguely to my hand as I nodded.
She holds out her palm for me, but apparently, my brain didn't let my hands know to just drop them in, as I lower them onto her hand. Our fingers brush and the small contact makes both of us pull away.
The keys drop to the floor with a loud clanging noise that vibrates off the wooden porch like nails on a chalkboard but ten times worse.
Both of us leaning down to get it doesn't ease the tension either, she sucks in a sharp breath when my hand hovers over hers. I raise my eyes to her and she's already looking at me.
Except the tiny moment is over when we stand up simultaneously and lightly bang heads. She holds her forehead to soothe the pain.
"I'm gonna get ice-"
"Yeah, I'll see you later." Both of us mumble an excuse and go our seperate ways. She slams the door behind her and I walk off to the left to get to my house.
They are right next door to each other with connecting porches, we have a wooden bench along with some flower pots lying underneath the fence of the porch.
Except none of that really matters, it's the view that makes this entire ordeal. The waves lapping against each other and all the sandcastles dotting the sand.
Every inch of this place sends a shiver up my spine, because right here? I'm finally home.
I leave my suitcase in the bedroom and check out the rest of my house for the summer. It's cold from all the open windows but it'll feel like home in no time.
Right when I get settled into an armchair in the living area, two loud knocks are rapped on my door. I reluctantly push myself upwards and make my way over, opening the door before the person can knock again.
Except the person is on the floor, with a cat. "Evie?"
"Did you know that this place is filled with cats, I mean, there was one just living in my house?" She starts to explain, stroking the cat while sitting cross legged on the floor.
"Apparently, they have all adapted to the beach life and live in the forest at the back of our houses." The cat purrs while Evie talks, rolling on to its back for easier access to its stomach.
"And, there is a playground a couple minutes away." She adds finally, standing up and letting the cat walk round and round her legs.
I didn't tell her I knew all of this already, it was nice letting her talk. I've never been a talkative person, so I enjoyed listening. But I'd surveyed every inch of this place before deciding to film here.
Instead of letting her know that, I pointed to the ice cream stand a couple meters away from us. "Ice-cream?" She looked to where I was pointing, then back to me and nodded.
The cat left us alone and joined the rest of its friends.
"What's your favorite flavor?" I ask as we walk down the steps to our porch and along the sand. She's wearing a pair of flip flops and a tiny black bikini under some dungarees.
But not the kind that are for little kids and resemble a farmer, no, not at all, she wore them in a way I'd never seen before. She made them look cool and..summer-like.
Her hair fell loosely around her shoulders while she talks, swaying with every movement her head makes. Her eyes never met mine, always looking at the sea or towards the ice cream stand.
"I like Oreo, or a vanilla, but you can never go wrong with chocolate. I'll eat whatever flavor." She answers uneasily, fiddling with her fingers.
"What's your favorite?" Evie asks as she surveys the flavors at the counter. The old man behind it is smiling at the two of us, waiting patiently for our orders.
"I like vanilla." I reply, handing the old man some money but he refuses. "No, it's on the house for newcomers."
He guides the money back into my hands and turns to Evie. "What can I get you?" I check the name tag on his shirt, Stanley.
She gets the vanilla as well, but asks for one scoop instead of two. I didn't mean to notice, but I did. I also didn't mean to notice the lack of toppings she asked for. Or the fact she asked for no toppings at all.
So I did the same, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable or left out. I knew that wouldn't help, but my subconscious told me to do it anyway.
She gave the old man a smile, the kind that could change a sinner to a saint. I just nodded my head and lifted the corner of my lips, not a full smile but it was something.
Neither of us talked, in a way, it was comforting. We sat beside each other on the bench outside our house, keeping a little bit of distance between our arms so there was no weird contact.
I finished my ice cream first and snook a glance at hers, she'd barely made a dent but I didn't comment on it, instead, I distracted her.
"Did you like New York?" She shook her head before talking. "I think that place was eating me alive, piece by piece, the busy streets and the constant 'hustle and bustle' was just too much for me."
Neither of us discuss it, but we get up and start waking towards the playground, almost subconsciously.
"So filming a movie in Greece with no acting experience seemed like the better option?" I muse and she nods. "Better than living with my parents in a cramped apartment."
We walk side by side, avoiding looking at one another until we reach our destination that's crawling with children.
I watch as she strolls ahead and ignores all the stares from kids and judgy parents, waiting in line for the swings.
I also wait, being totally honest, going on the swings doesn't sound like the worst thing in the world.
A little boy takes his time, pushing his pet rock on the swing and then trying to get higher up than his friends, once it starts to get darker and Evie tries to turn back, I stop her.
My hand encloses her wrist that we both glance at and I quickly let go. "They'll leave in a minute, just wait." I said, crossing my arms and leaning against the beam of the swing set.
She stays, like I asked, and stands opposite me on the other side. Eventually, the boy and his friends scamper off and leave us alone in the playground.
We each take a swing and sit in silence, again, you'd expect it to be awkward, but it's like the silence is our common ground. We seem to bicker when talking too much, and I think she quite likes being the key speaker.
"How long are we filming this movie anyways?" She breaks the silence first, kicking her flip flops into the sand and letting it run through her toes.
"For the next couple months, just the summer, really." I tell her, lightly kicking sand at her feet.
She smiles, almost like the one she gave to the ice cream man, but not quite as large or life changing, more like laid back and relaxed type smile.
"Wait, you're telling me we only have one summer? To film the entire movie?" Her face drops when the realization sets in and a cold chill runs up my arms. Goosebumps.
I nod and her mouth falls open. Now is as good a time as any to break the news... "That's why I need you, to be the main lead."
.....
Authors Note
I know this is different to what I usually write, but for some reason it's incredibly refreshing. I hope you enjoy as much as I do. It's slow currently but I have to ease into the plot :) Opinions -
Make sure to vote by clicking the orange star on the bottom left of your screen!
Lots of Love Babies, mommy el <3
Words - 2159
Date - 09/07/22 (last kiss ref)
Reads - 53.0K