Elvis didn't talk to Priscilla at all yesterday and he was determined not to talk to her today or tomorrow either. It wasn't as if he didn't want to talk to his Lisa Marie, because he did, but his daughter was still a little too young to understand the merits of a phone conversation. She would be three in less than six months and most certainly could find more than enough to talk about, though he still struggled to fully understand some words here and there. When she was put on the phone, however, Lisa would merely scream "Hello, Daddy" into the receiver before taking off to explore her bright little world. Sometimes he would envy Loretta for actually being able to have full conversations with her children in Nashville but as of right now it made things easier.
It meant that he didn't have to call- and he wouldn't until she did because now she was pouting and thinking of ways to get back at him.
He often wondered if their marriage was beyond saving, if it was even worth it. If it wasn't for his daughter he would already be long gone.
Sleep refused to come last night, leaving Elvis physically and emotionally drained as he arrived on set. Loretta greeted him with her usual bright smile, but it faded when she noted the dark circles under his blood shot eyes.
"Bad night?" she asked with a mixture of caution and empathy.
"I look like...I don't look good, do I?"
The words slipped out of his mouth when he had been meaning to respond with only a brief yes that was to indicate that he did not want to talk about it.
"Everyone's got those days," Loretta said.
"Ain't that the truth." He managed a tired version of his trademark smile. "Maybe they'll be pleased. My characters supposed to be all tired and havin' a string of bad days. Maybe they'll just decide to go ahead and film the scenes of me in jail."
His smile disappeared at her serious expression. "But you're alright?" Loretta asked.
"Yeah, I am. Or I will be. Everyone's got problems, you know?"
"You can say that again." Loretta glanced over to where Tom Parker stood leaning against a trailer with a cigar in his mouth. "That man must support some big tobacco company all by himself with all the cigars he smokes."
"Do you smoke?"
"No."
"I don't much. Wanna go to the cafeteria to get some more coffee while we torture ourselves?"
She let out a brief laugh. "I don't see why not."
The children had the day off as Maybelle, who was under eight, was only allowed to work four days a week for eight hours each. Since most scenes with the children contained both of them neither was required to come in today. Adult only scenes meant that the production staff was going to be even tougher on them than they would be with the children around.
They got one bottle of Pepsi along with two cups of the cafeteria coffee, which was the vilest concoction Elvis had tasted in his life (and that should mean something). He wouldn't even think of drinking it if it weren't for the energy boost it provided. Somehow a cup could keep one going for hours, substituting when his pills didn't do the trick. Elvis suspected that it was spiked with something, but so far there hadn't been any evidence of it doing harm to anyone so he drank it regardless.
They grabbed one of the little tables spread out in front of the cafeteria. California was hot even in the fall, but it was early still. A pleasant breeze was blowing; not strong enough to cause their scripts to fly all over the place but certainly strong enough to slightly tousle their hair.
Loretta was the first to speak.
"I had to practice how to put my hair up with them hair pins the way they want me to in that scene for hours yesterday." Her face fell and she huffed out a sigh as she admitted, "And I still don't know how to do it right."
"Maybe you won't have to do it when they realize that," Elvis offered.
She had told him that she was prone to headaches- massive headaches the way it sounded- and having that mass of hair piled up on top of her head while filming couldn't possibly help with that.
Two distinct wrinkles formed in between Loretta's eyebrows as she shook her head. "This is Arthur Hillbrook, honey. There's only two ways and one is his way and the other the highway."
"Even he's gonna have to see that it's gonna look stupid if you don't know what you're doing."
"They're gonna show me again today." She picked up her coffee cup and took the tiniest sip. Laughter belched out of Elvis at the the way her face scrunched up.
"I don't know how you can drink that when you almost throw up cause you have to carry a bucket of fish."
"I'm one amazing person, Loretta dear. There's many interesting things about me." His crooked smile indicated that he was only joking and she immediately caught on.
"Bet there is. You think Miss Walker took Clayton and Maybelle to the beach?"
"I'd hope so. She promised right in front of us." Elvis choked down as much coffee as he could manage in one go before taking a big swig of Pepsi to rid his mouth of the taste.
They sat in silence for a while, both pouring over their own script.
"Are they really gonna make us kiss?" Loretta asked after a few minutes.
Elvis glanced up at her with a frown. "I don't know," he admitted. "Sometimes we'd really kiss in the movies and sometimes we wouldn't. Since they're even having us sing live I guess we'll do it for real."
"I don't mind the live singing. I do that a lot anyway."
"But you would mind havin' to kiss me?" Elvis smirked, tilting his head to the side as his eyes stared straight into hers.
"Well..." She toyed with the edge of her script. "Not because of you...the only man I ever kissed on the mouth is my husband."
"If you don't wanna do it then you won't have to," Elvis declared.
"Well, I don't know. Doo, he would..." she trailed off, leaving Elvis to fill in the blanks.
"Cilla would too. But if we did have to I just wouldn't tell her. I mean, it's not like we're just doing it all for fun. It's work."
"It would still feel like I'm stepping out on him in a way," Loretta admitted. "I did tell Doo that I wasn't gonna kiss no one."
But it wouldn't be so. Elvis didn't know the full story, but he had a bit of an idea about what her husband did to her and that was enough to assure him that she should not feel any guilt over this.
It wasn't any of his business though, so instead he said, "Then you're not gonna do it. What could Hillbrook do to you, fire you? I'm not gonna kiss you against your will."
She managed a weak laugh at the remark. "Now..."
"Well, it's true. It's like we always tell the kids. You don't gotta do anything that you're not comfortable with and if Mr. Hillbrook and Colonel Parker are gonna yell then they're gonna yell."
"I ain't scared of either one of em."
"So we got that settled. Let's not worry about any of that till we have to." Elvis reached across the expanse of the table to give her hand a quick squeeze.
"Sometimes it feels like..." Loretta spoke up again, pausing to think of the best way to convey her feelings. "...like...do you ever forget that it's a movie and not your life?"
"When you're filming a movie it becomes your life for that time."
"That's not what I mean."
"Do I ever feel like I'm married to you and the kids are ours for real?"
"Yeah." She chuckled at how absurd it sounded coming out of someone elses mouth.
"Yeah, I do."
"Are you just sayin'?" She eyed him skeptically, wondering if maybe the response came just a bit too quick for it to be genuine.
"Why would I be sayin' it if it ain't true? Really feels like I'm Sam McCall sometimes. Guess it kinda shows you what your parents been through back then."
"Did your parents migrate?"
"Nah. Not really. We moved to Memphis when I was thirteen if that counts. But times was hard for folks that didn't have money when we was little kids."
"Still is."
Elvis nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Just in a different way."
"Is that how you'd feel like with all of your movies sometimes?"
Elvis let forth a laugh. "Did you see some of em? Some of em were so bad all I was really feeling was 'When is this finally over'? Still tried though. Cause I don't do no half things."
"We got that in common." Loretta picked up her coffee cup and held it out to him. "You can finish that if you want."
Elvis considered for a moment, then waved his hand to dismiss the offer. "Nah thank you, honey. I still gotta finish up mine. Maybe you can give it to one of the extras."
"I'd just feel sorry for em."
Elvis finished his coffee and then stood up. "Gonna get myself a donut," he informed Loretta. "Want anything?"
"No, I'm fine. I had breakfast."
"So did I. But I'm not a skinny little woman," he teased, grabbing both their coffee cups before walking off.
"Are you gonna throw that out now?" Loretta called after him.
"No, I thought of somethin' to do with it." Elvis turned briefly to shoot a grin her way before striding into the cafeteria building. The Mafia had set themselves up on one of the large tables. They were enjoying card games and a near endless supply of donuts while he had to work- Elvis couldn't help but feel more than a little envious of that.
His friends greeted him, exchanging a bit of meaningless small talk before getting himself a donut.
"Here." He placed Loretta's coffee cup in front of Red, who just happened to be closest, on the way out. Unsure whether the Mafia had tried the coffee before, he walked toward the door as slowly as he could without arising suspicion. Elvis was just reaching for the door handle when Red spewed the liquid over the table.
"What is this stuff?!" Red yelled while the rest of the guys protested over the fact that he had soiled their cards and donuts as well as Lamar's shirt.
"Coffee," Elvis said with a crooked grin.
"E, you're an old bastard," Lamar griped while wiping at his shirt with a wad of napkins.
"Yeah," Red agreed.
"Got ya." Elvis walked out of the cafeteria with a spring to his step.
~*~
"You better be ready," Arthur Hillbrook said to his lead actors, not bothering to disguise his rotten mood.
Elvis glanced over at Loretta, who just shook her head.
"Don't tell me that's a no," Hillbrook groaned. "We're already behind so we better do some catching up."
"Maybe we wouldn't be behind with a better female lead," Tom Parker remarked from his corner, mumbling due to the cigar stuck in his mouth.
"Not in the mood for that today, Parker." Hillbrook turned back to the actors. "What are you waiting for? Get yourselves set up."
"Did you figure out the hair thing?" Elvis whispered toward Loretta as they got into position.
"I don't think so but you keep your mouth shut, yes?"
Elvis suppressed a small laugh. "Yes, ma'am."
Leaves and twigs brought into the studio for realism's sake poked Elvis through the thin fabric of his overalls. His hands swiped at his knees as if it would make any difference at all.
"Grace should've made Sam some better overalls," Elvis muttered.
"Well, that was the best she could get a hold of and Sam shouldn't be such an ungrateful man."
"The jalopy was the best he could get a hold of too so maybe Grace shouldn't be such an ungrateful woman."
"Is this something that you have to ease into, yes?" Hillbrook asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. Elvis steeled his jaw, then glanced over at Loretta, who looked as though she did not appreciate his tone any more than he did.
Colonel Parker sauntered over, saying, "He did lots of film kisses before. He shouldn't have to ease into anything. I can't guarantee for her-"
"Parker, is this a scene that needs a technical advisor?" Hillbrook thundered.
Elvis ran his fingers through his hair, which was luckily already tousled for the scene, which was meant to be taking place in the early morning when they had just woken up after spending the night in the woods after their car broke down.
"Did they tell you anything more about the kiss?" Loretta asked Elvis.
"What is there to tell?" Hillbrook answered in his place. "It's a stage kiss."
"So, we're really supposed to be..."
Hillbrook narrowed his eyes. "How exactly did you think you were going to do it?"
"She's never done anything like this before," Elvis promptly came to Loretta's defense.
"That is why I'm asking her what she imagined. It won't look real if you just push your heads together and act as if. Now there won't be any..." Hillbrook paused to swallow. "...tongue if that is what you're worried about. It's just acting, no real emotion involved. Just like everything else you did here."
The Colonel snorted. "You try and convince her-"
"Take five," Hillbrook barked at the Colonel, then turned back to the actors, his tone somewhat friendlier as he said, "Just take a moment to get yourself used to the idea. Talk or something."
He hurried off the set, fingers tugging at his hair. Elvis stood, dusting off his pants before clamping his hand over Loretta's skinny wrist to pull her up. "Come."
Confusion seeped through her arteries like fine rain, but she followed, letting Elvis drag her off to the side and away from any spectators.
"Elvis, I'm not tryin' to-"
"I know. We're gonna fool em."
Loretta's brows shot up. "They'd notice."
"Betchya they wouldn't."
"He said it won't look real."
"Hillbrook don't know as much as he thinks he does."
Somehow his southern accent, along with the not so grammatically correct speech patterns of his youth seemed to come out more around her.
"I didn't know that was gonna be in the script," Loretta reasoned. "So I'll just tell Doo-"
"That's the only reason you're so worried about it? Him getting mad at you?"
She didn't respond at first, only stared at him to the point where he felt the urge to squirm. "Well I...sometimes I'd wonder what he would do if I went stepping out on him the way he does on me."
"It's not you though. It won't be you and me kissing. It's Grace and Sam kissing." A grin formed on his lips before he added, "Cause even during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl folks still had to get it on. Thankfully too cause otherwise we wouldn't be here."
Loretta shook her head and gave a small eye roll, but he still managed to coax a smile from her. "So we'll just do it."
"Or we can trick em."
"We'll just do it," she declared, leaving no room for discussion. "I just wasn't prepared for it. Or any of this really."
"You'll get used to it," Elvis offered, though he knew that it wasn't much of a consolation. "You ready?"
"As ready as I'm gonna get."
Elvis laced his hand through hers as they walked back onto the set without thinking. He in fact did not even notice until Colonel Parker's widened eyes zeroed in on their joined hands. Elvis fought against his first instinct, which was to drop her hand on the spot. The Colonel was the main contributor to the often rather unpleasant work environment.
It was all one cycle and it began with Tom Parker.
Elvis flopped down on the ground, pulling a face at the bothersome foliage underneath.
"Are we ready?" Arthur wanted to know.
"Yes," Elvis and Loretta said.
Elvis noted that Tom was nowhere in the vicinity of the set and idly wondered if Arthur had decided to ban him. Seeing the way Loretta's eyes scanned her surroundings, he was certain that she was aware of it as well. He thought he saw relief flitting over her face.
Ten takes later it was starting to seem as though they would never get to the kissing part of the scene. Arthur was being particular today, stopping them over the way Loretta would say a certain word or the placement of Elvis' hand.
After a while Elvis and Loretta were simply waiting for one person or the other to interrupt them. Both were stunned when such an interruption did not take place.
Elvis, being the one with more acting experience, managed to snap out of it first. He dipped down his head, one hand on Loretta's coiled shoulder as his lips landed on top of hers. Loretta closed her eyes and tried not to think of Doolittle as her hands moved to encircle his back.
She had flat out refused to sit on Dean Martin's lap not too long ago. They gave her a hard time about it but eventually said that she didn't have to. If she had pushed harder they might have removed this scene or settled for some sort of compromise. This wasn't real though, and nobody would mistake it as such.
But that didn't change the fact that Elvis Presley's lips were on top of hers as they pretended to engage in a passionate kiss. Try as she might, she couldn't channel her inner Grace McCall now for she was still Loretta Lynn and he was still Elvis Presley and Doolittle wouldn't care if it was acting or not.
It lasted only a few seconds but yet it seemed to last forever. Then a yell of 'Cut' caused them to break apart.
"Now we won't have to do that ever again," Elvis said as he stood up, offering Loretta a hand.
"Well, that wasn't the worst thing I've done." Loretta frowned when Elvis' face fell at her words. "I didn't mean..." she trailed off when his frown was replaced by a mile wide grin.
"I got ya, didn't I?"
She tried not to smile but the corners of her mouth twitched regardless. "You sure did."
And with that, the leftovers of the strange moment were erased.
~*~
I hope you didn't see this coming? Though you probably did. But I couldn't help myself okay? Just pretend that she'd totally do it and it's totally not cliche. And yes an entire chapter had to be devoted to this. Yes, she really did refuse to sit on Dean Martin's lap. I couldn't help myself with that either. I'm pretty sure it was after 1970 though because I found the footage of it but let's just pretend here that it happened earlier in 1970, before the movie.