Paige gestured for some women scurrying on set to come over. She lightly pushed me into their view. "We have our new girl. Put her into hair and makeup, okay?"
They both nodded and huddled close to me in our walk. Closer to the edges of the set, were various trailers all set up together. They motioned me to a smaller one, where an entire team of hair and makeup lay there.
I plopped down on the chair, bracing for the second makeover whirlwind of that day alone. I sat as they just about reapplied everything the other makeup artists did back there. They re-slicked my hair back aggressively. When that was done, I was stripped of all my other clothes, and put into a red sundress, and non ankle-tortuous shoes.
When I emerged and was brought to the set, to my surprise, but not surprisingly, all four members of Dilemma were waiting for me.
I made eye contact with Andre first whose eyes widened at first, but then softened into a mischievous smirk. Of course, it did. What did he have to be mischievous about? I quickly looked away, shaking the weird sensation that began to occur.
All four of them were wearing regular clothes, I guess to blend in with the kind of music. It was a far cry from their attempting to be edgy rockstar attire.
We all waited as the final touches were made to the street set. I stood right across from all four of them, wondering if I should do something.
"You're the girl from Finding Solstice, right?" Dorian wondered. I humbly nodded.
He wasn't too tall, but he had this commanding presence of someone who knew what they were doing. He had an afro picked to a perfect spherical shape and a perfectly shaped beard.
Soon a man rose from the 'Director' chair and approached us, headphones around his neck and a smile on his face.
He clasped his hands together. "Are you guys ready? Here we have—
He gestured to me in confusion, trying to muster up my name.
"Ezra," I finished.
"Ezra!" he repeated. "Will be the subject of your music video. She is the love interest. All four of you will try to flirt with her, but in the end, she'll choose one man."
They all ooh at the process as I stand there awkwardly.
It was that kind of music video? I mean, I should have known. What else would they need a girl for if not to drop their jaws at? Was I jaw-droppable? Nah. All of their songs were about love, partying, or being or something. I wondered if this would be realistic.
Before I knew it, someone's voice pierced into my thoughts, telling us it was time to start filming.
"Choose Me" was okay, but it was incredibly generic. I know that this would go triple platinum at every single retail store.
The first section they shot was of me walking down the street. The boys were all placed in individual locations like an apartment, a city bench, a restaurant, and down the street as well. I held a rose in my hand and was instructed to keep on smelling it periodically.
They took shots of me walking past each and every single member as they all ogled at me. It was so strange. They took so many shots and every time, trying to get the perfect moment, the perfect example of authenticity. It became less of a novelty and more tedious every single time.
Andre took it upon himself to wink at every cut, and I wanted to die a little more inside every time.
In between cuts, stylists would run to the scene and nitpick me just before the next shot. But by the time they had started, it had taken two hours to film just one.
The next was the band members walking behind me, all trying to woo me into their clutches, and I was supposed to simply smile and walk in front of them.
I walked and felt immensely silly just walking and doing nothing, but I said yes to this, anyway.
Suddenly, my foot hit a wedge on the sidewalk and then I suddenly tripped over. A scream tore from my throat just as I was about to get a face full of concrete. But then firm hands caught me.
I fearfully looked into the eyes of Andre, shaking as he clutched me just above the ground. Woody fumes entered my nostrils. A smile spread all across his face as he slowly raised me up, closer and closer. I swallowed a gulp.
Nobody yelled a cut or anything. I turned to the director.
"Cut!" the director yelled soon after.
Andre rushed up to me as everyone dissipated. "You know when they say break a leg, they don't mean it right."
He emerged into a bout of giggles, and I deadpanned at him. "I'm fine. Are they going to keep it in?"
"Probably," Andre answered. His eyes lowered on me. Actually, they heightened on me, because I was slightly taller than he was. I just noticed this now. "So, are you following me?"
"What?" I blurted.
He laughed again. "I don't know," he chuckled. "It seems weird we've run into each other for the second time."
"Luckily, you don't have coffee," I mused.
"Luckily, you're not crashing into anyone," he snarled. "Luckily, I'm coffee-free for today." He held both of his hands up in a statement.
"I believe you," I assured. "But if you ever spill coffee on me again, I can't guarantee your safety."
"Ooh," he joked. "I'm so scared. Security! Security!"
"You should be scared," I said, growing bolder.
Andre laughed through the banter. "I can't promise anything. It seems like we find ourselves in lots of situations together, don't we?"
"I guess," I shrugged.
Maybe Andre was the one following me? Wouldn't that be rich? He had barely heard of me until yesterday.
For the second last shot, I was supposed to hand my rose off to Morri and pull him away with me. To be honest, he was the member I knew the least of, but he seemed kind enough. When they all stood in front of me, feigning anticipation, I handed it off to him and grabbed his hand with a huge smile. We walked together when the shot was finished.
"Let's try that again," the director said. "Action! Have more chemistry."
I faced Morri again with a smile on my face. From an objective perspective, he was cute. He had curly brown hair and golden tan skin. He kept on smiling at me.
"Fall in love with me," he joked, leaning in and I giggled.
"She's just acting," Andre whispered. It was so quiet I could have missed it if I wasn't paying attention only to the general direction he was in.
This time, I trained my eyes to look more in love. Then I handed Morri the rose again and really clasped his hand, gazing into his light brown eyes. We both walked off together. I leaned into him and he into me.
"Cut!"
I pulled away. "How do you think that was?"
"Good," he agreed.
We all stood idly like little video game characters, waiting for the final scene to be finished. It had to have been at least six hours. I didn't have my phone on me.
"How's the show?" he asked.
"Good," I gave a generic reply. "It's stressful."
"My parents aren't giving you too much trouble, are they?" he joked.
I shook my head. "Of course not. I trust they know what they're doing. The only person giving me a hard time is my manager Lennon."
He snorted back a laugh. "Of course she is. She gives everyone a hard time."
My eyes widened. "You know her?"
He gave me a knowing stare. "Do I know her? She's my older sister."
I raised an eyebrow at my sister. Morri had light brown skin, curly hair, and dark brown eyes. Lennon was decidedly the opposite of that.
I guess he saw me attempting to put it together in my head. "Half-siblings," he reiterated. "Brian is our Dad."
That made a lot more sense.
Out of the slightest sliver of the corner of my eye, I spotted Andre staring at us in my peripheral vision. I wondered what his deal was.
In the last shot, I wasn't in it, so I stood behind the crews as they prepared for the last scene. It was just Dilemma performing their song in front of a camera, playing the instruments. The song was okay. Knowing how hungry D-1s were, I know they would eat this up like lunch.
"Cut!" the director yelled. He began talking with nearby crew members.
"Why don't you come into the shot, Ezra?" he asked. "It will enhance it a bit more. I want you to dance around them while they play the music."
I nervously walked up into the frame, feeling the flat lights break against me. Andre eyed me the moment I stepped on. I turned back to the director, who gave me a thumbs up.
The music started playing. I froze before walking around the band as they played. I smiled and did that basic two-step. I wanted it to stop.
All of a sudden, an arm pulled me into them. I was suddenly in front of Andre, who stared me dead in the eye, singing into his mic.
My breath suddenly hitched in my throat. I kind of smiled back at him, trying not to push it into a grimace. His grip remained steady on my arm, eyes on mine.
I slowly danced into his grip. Something about this moment felt captivating.
"Cut!" the director yelled.
Andre released me at once. I released him too.