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T r u s t
B u i l d i n g
Bryan, one of the main characters of Moments of Devotion, was on the set with a few of the designers fixing his clothes for the camera. It was just the second day of filming, but we were about a few takes in since Mr. McKnight; or someone from one of the production departments would see a problem and call for a cut that meant that we were getting a break very soon. I stood beside Leandra as she was growing annoyed at the fact that we were still making changes to some scenes.
I couldn't help but shake my head as I held a water bottle in my hand until Bryan's agent strutted in front of me.
"Do you have any more water bottles like that for my client?" She raised a brow, pointing to my bottle.
"Sure, I'll get you one," I said, giving her a forced smile until I walked away frowning at her rudeness, and went towards the ice cooler to retrieve a Fiji water for her client. I grabbed the water bottle and headed back to where I was to pass it over to the agent. "Here,"
Instead of telling me thank you, she walked off, and I fought so hard to keep my mouth shut. The disrespect was unnecessary entirely, and I bet it was because of my title.
"Calling for a one hour lunch!" Mr. McKnight announced.
"Thank you, God!" I exclaimed, turning as everyone glanced at me as I realized that I said it out loud, but they didn't even say anything. They laughed and went to their areas as I had to wait for everyone to eat until I was able to do so.
I made sure to set up a timer for my one hour break in case someone needed me because I didn't want to have Leandra popping up on me randomly as she did before.
"Hey," Bryan called, tapping my arm.
"Yeah?"
"I wanna' apologize for the rudeness of my agent, you don't deserve it, and I saw it," He stated, placing a hand over his chest to show that he seemed to be sincere. As his agent walked over to him with the water, he continued to give me a sympathetic look.
"It's fine. I don't appreciate the unnecessary disrespect," I innocently smiled. "But I do, however, appreciate your apology when it's not your fault. Thank you!"
"Now Bethany apologize to her," Bryan nudged her.
"I apologize for my rudeness," She said, giving me full eye contact.
I nodded my head, watching them walk away towards the food as I heard him telling her that she couldn't treat people that way, especially since he hired her as family. It made me respect him a lot for taking up for me as I waited in the middle seeing everyone getting their food as I left the film studio going to the clock-in spot to clock out and took a seat in the lobby.
I knew it was going to take a while for everyone to get their food. So, I just pulled my cellphone out and stared at the text messages from Johnathan Strong about reminding me to get in contact with an entertainment lawyer, as well as ask Mr. McKnight for an opportunity and also to see if I worked on my portfolio yet. I had to search for an entertainment lawyer that was willing to work with me.
I'm sure the internet had websites to go to get in contact with one. So I searched Los Angeles entertainment lawyers on google, and a bunch of websites popped up. I clicked on one of the websites and copied down a few names to my notes in my phone as I also made sure to set a reminder to research the lawyers on FindLaw to check out their records on discipline, etc. I know it was going to cost to get an entertainment lawyer, but if I needed them, then I was going to do what I need to do.
While I was checking out the different websites, I felt a tap on my hand as I looked up, seeing Malik holding an extra sandwich that caused me to slid my phone into my back pocket.
"Here you go, sunshine," Malik said, passing the wrapped sandwich to me before taking a seat next to me. "You've been working hard, you good?"
"Thank you," I smiled, kissing his cheek as I unwrapped my sandwich. It was a loaded toasted sandwich with turkey ham, tomatoes, lettuce, pepper jack cheese, pickles, and my favorite condiment, ranch. "But I'm okay, I like working, and I'm getting used to it so it kinda' doesn't bother me, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I get it," He nodded his head, taking a bite of his sandwich. "This sandwich is good as hell. I feel like I need to sneak another one,"
I agreed, chewing the sandwich as I found it to be better than subway sandwiches. I didn't feel myself being nervous as I ate in front of him, I loved eating food, and I couldn't be bothered by it since I was taught manners growing up. As I sipped my drink, I wiped my face with a napkin as I found myself wanting to know more facts about him since he intrigued me just as much as I did to him.
"Did you have a happy childhood?" I asked, staring at his long natural eyelashes and his acne-free face as I took notice of his neat hairline showing that he recently got a new hair cut, and I watched him lick over his round lips that caused a blush to appear on my face and to turn my head. "Like... how was it, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I had a decent childhood," He answered, wiping his face with a napkin and hands as he stared at me, and it lingered for a while until I looked away, blushing like an idiot while he smiled, gently grabbing hold of my hand to put in his lap. "I grew up close to my cousins. We went to elementary and high school together. I was always a very active kid growing up, so I stayed playing sports with my cousins in our backyard or playing games,"
I nodded my head, scooting closer to him as he explained his childhood memories. He pulled me closer to him, wrapping his arm around me as I was now laying my head on his chest, and it made me relax as I entwined our fingers.
"We often played games like hide and seek, tag and other games," He added, reminiscing about the things he did way back then. "I'd never forget when we had a pool party for my birthday, and I invited mostly all the neighborhood kids because we were all cool with one another. I had my parents buy pizza, soda, and cupcakes because I wasn't a big fan of cake, and we listened to a bunch of Ludacris, Lil' Wayne, and T.I. that were my favorite artists back then, and we stayed outside all night,"
It made me reminisce on my childhood memories with my old friends and my family. I also grew up having a good relationship with my cousins, but as we grew up. Things changed, and we no longer speak to one another.
"Do you still speak to them?" I wondered, holding our hands together as I examined how big his hands were and how small mine was.
"Yeah, I spoke to them recently, but it's not the same," He admitted, putting his chin on top of my head. "We're all busy with our careers and families. How was your childhood, though?"
"I was close with my family as well," I stated. "I had one cousin that we did everything together, like shopping, gossiping, playing games, and sharing birthday parties. We were like sisters, and we were inseparable like I remember we would often go to the nails salon and get matching colors on our nails, even us calling each other every school night to match our school uniforms, but as you said, we all grew up and focused on our own lives,"
"I noticed that every time you mention your family, you are quick to change the subject," He lifted me from him and locked eyes with me. "Are you and your family still speaking?"
"No," I sighed, looking down at my fingernails as I found my eyes to well up. I didn't want to cry in front of Malik, especially when we were still getting to know one another, but I wanted him to understand and trust me, so I took a deep breath and decided to tell him. "My extended family moved whenever I was in middle school, I lost contact with them, and my bond with my cousin was no longer. While they were gone, I lived with my immediate family, and I remember things changed. I was ready to leave whenever I turned eighteen."
"I can understand why it bothers you," He replied, holding my hand. "From being so close with your family members and them leaving; possibly made you feel alone especially when you were like sisters with your cousin and the loneliness eventually turned into sadness being away from your family...I don't want you to feel bad for not having that relationship with your family, so we can even change the subject if you want to because I still would like to know what makes you so beautiful and what goes on in the head of yours..."
I laughed, grabbing hold of his face as I kissed him. I knew that we were still at the production company and we could get caught, but I didn't care at the moment. I took a deep breath as I found myself feeling better that he didn't want to push the family issues that I had, but one day-- I was going to be able to talk about the problems without it bothering me.
"So...Breanna Amor Davidson," He uttered, picking up my face as he rubbed my bottom lip with his thumb. "Why are you so beautiful?"
"I don't know," I shrugged.
"You are," He smirked, grabbing hold of my hands. "But what is one thing you always wanted to do?"
"If this question has anything to do with our second date, I can't tell you," I said.
"For real?" He smacked his teeth. "I just wanna' make sure whatever we do, that you'd enjoy it, you like being adventurous, indoor and outdoor things, so I want to do something that'll have you thinking of only me...I want to set that standard before any other guy,"
I furrowed my brows as my mouth curved into a grin. It was cute that Malik was willing to work on the relationship that we were building and to fight off any competition-- whether there were any that caused me to lean over and kiss him again as he had to be extra and make it last longer.
"You are a lot, King," I muttered, calling him by his middle name. "That's what I'm going to call you from now on. Well, until I find a nickname for you, or unless you like Moonshine?"
"I'd rather king," He frowned. "You only want to call me that cause I call you sunshine,"
"And why do you do that?"
"Because you are a big bundle of energy," He confirmed. "You have a light to you, you are simply a ray of sunshine in my life, and I just want to keep you there, and I want you to let me love you,"
"Okay, Mario," I rolled my eyes playfully, trying to keep the butterflies from arriving in my stomach.
"I'm serious too," He smiled.
"Well, Sunny Bunny it is," I beamed, touching his face. "Because you are a sunshine in my life now too,"
"No, ma'am," He frowned, removing my hands from his face as he entwined our fingers together again. "Anything but that....uh...what you wanted to be when you were younger?"
I tried to think of my childhood memories, and I instantly screwed my face up.
"I wanted to be a Disney princess," I answered him. "A type of princess where I would marry a prince and have him rescue me, but that all changed once I watched the cheetah girls,"
"That's better than mine. I wanted to be Spider-Man," He chuckled, setting his drink down as he opened his sandwich. "I'd never forget when I was younger; I almost broke my damn neck trying to climb on the wall and hang from it like I had his powers. I almost fell until my pops ended up catching me,"
I tried to picture a young Malik hanging from the wall like he was Spider-Man, and I couldn't control my laughter until I saw the blank expression on his face that caused me to cover my mouth.
"I'm so sorry, sunny bunny," I apologized, trying to touch him, but he just moved over. "Okay, I'm for real, but I imagined you as a kid hanging from the wall, but I'm super glad that your dad caught you because you here now, thankfully, and you're able to talk to me,"
"I guess that is a good thing," Malik shrugged his shoulders before wiggling his brows.
I looked around the lobby wondering why the work crew wasn't in here with us yet. It felt like a couple of minutes has passed, and we're just talking to one another.
"You think they forgot about us, sunny bunny?" I asked him.
He remained silent.
"Sunny bunny?"
Still silent.
"Moonshine?" I called him, scooting closer to him.
He still didn't budge.
"King?"
"Yes, ma'am?" He smirked, staring at me.
"You're annoying," I mumbled, standing up from the sofa.
"No, no, stay please, sunshine," He reached for my hands.
"I want to know where our crew is at,"
Picking up our food, he followed me as we walked out of the lobby into the entrance as I saw the crew seated at the table without a care for us is missing.
"Dang, I see how it is..." Malik asserted, ambling towards their table.
"What's up, love birds?" Terrell greeted us, holding a mischievous smile on his face.
I tried to hide the smile that was forming on my face as I just put my head down and stared at the food in my hands.
"Hey, y'all!" Tatyana waved, turning in her chair. "We didn't know if yall wanted to be alone. Yall, are more than welcomed to join us..."
"Now, Tatyana..."
She giggled, keeping her mouth shut since I had some tea on her, but I wasn't going to tell anyone else about her relationship.
"Sit down next to me, Bre," Malaysia patted the seat next to her.
"I thought we'd all meet in the lobby?" I raised a brow, looking around the table for Raheem, but I remembered he was the film director, so he was probably eating with Mr. McKnight and the rest of the production crew.
"Oh yeah, ain't that's our new Lil' spot for lunch?" Malik nodded his head in agreement.
"Oh right," Terrell stood up, shaking hands with Malik as he smiled at me. "Lil' bit and pup,"
Malik flicked him off, leading the way to the lobby as I got pulled in the back by Malaysia and Tatyana as the guys all walked into the place that we set.
"So, are you and Malik together-together now?" Malaysia questioned, holding excitement in her eyes and facial expressions.
"Uh...we're going somewhere," I shrugged my shoulders, trying to hide the smile from forming on my face. "Well, not yet, at least, we're dating, and I can't lie to yall... I like him,"
"I already knew it," Tatyana added. "I'm so happy for yall. The date confirmed everything that you needed to know."
"It did," I smiled. "We're taking things one step at a time. I want us to know a lot about one another before we get in our relationship,"
"I just knew my brother was crazy about you, him asking me those questions," Malaysia replied. "I swear he was so attentive and observant when it came to you,"
As we entered the lobby-- I took my seat and grabbed my drink to take a sip. I thought things would get awkward around the work crew from my relationship with Malik, but it didn't matter, and they seemed supportive, although it was mainly about us.
"I'm tired," Tatyana sighed, taking a deep breath. "I don't know why today feels longer than usual,"
"It does, and the fact we kept stopping the scene; to fix something," Terrell sighed, rubbing down his face as he drank his water. "That was some annoying stuff,"
"Yeah, we have to make sure every single thing is close to perfect," Malaysia confirmed, taking a seat across from us. "It could be the tiniest thing that could ruin the making of a film, so that's why shooting for movies take so long to come out,"
While they were discussing the process of the movie, I was finishing my cold sandwich and drinking my water until I grew curious about something.
"How long do y'all think shooting the movie will take?"
"We've already gone through the pre-production stages," Malik answered. "And we're now in the production stages; we have the post-production stage that completes the movie process, so I'd say a couple of months or even a year."
Wow, this was going to be an even longer process.
"So, does Mr. McKnight and the rest of the production crew mainly focus on one project at a time?" I wondered. "Especially if it takes a couple of months to a year, making a movie?"
"It depends on how far we are in a project. I think," Malik answered.
I nodded, hearing my timer go off since my break was officially over. I hugged all my colleagues and headed back to the clock-in area to clock into the system. Then I moved over to my desk to retrieve my iPad to check out the next tasks that I had on my list.
I had to help assist Malaysia and her department team with building the set for the next scene for the girls being in the dorm-room, but before, then I had to go around each department to deal with trash and recycling also prepare the extras for the next scene. I moved towards the hall closet, opening the door as I pulled out gloves and also; grabbed the nearby rolling trashcan.
I got to the main area first and walked around the room, being sure to not interrupt them; from their computers. The workers in the central area worked on the sales along with writing. Mr. McKnight made sure to hire a lot of black writers in the production company and pay them well for it. That's one thing that I could say about Mr. McKnight was that he always looked for a way to give black people an opportunity as it made up most of the company's success.
I collected all the trash from each desk and made sure to insert things into the recycling bin. After I left the central area, I headed towards the waiting area where the extras were, and I moved down the room. Most of them threw their trash while I grabbed the things to put into the recycling bin.
I made sure that I retrieved the trash from each department in the company building and then helped the janitor, Mr. Wilson, take it to the outside trashcan. Completing that task, I moved on to the film studio again to help Malaysia out for the next scene.
. . .
Once I clocked out, I was ready to talk to the entertainment lawyers that I had listed. I dialed the first person on the list and waited until the voicemail machine was telling me to leave a message. I knew that I should've contacted them earlier for the lunch break, but I was busy talking with Malik and hanging with the crew.
Once the button to leave a message came on, I took a deep breath before speaking.
"Good evening," I greeted the law firm, being sure to speak professionally. "My name is Breanna Davidson. I'm looking for an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles, California, and I would like to set up a meeting with Jaquan Chandler, one of the entertainment lawyers at your law firm. I'm available from Saturday to Sunday though I do get out of work on Friday extremely early, my cellphone number is 225-320-4133, my email is Breanna.A.Davidson@gmail.com, I'll be sure to send this in an email as well,"
I hung up and pulled out of the parking lot; and headed towards Terrell's home. Although, I've been staying at Terrell's place for a good minute now. I still didn't find it right to call it my; home as well. I couldn't stay comfortable with the idea of living there and, that is why I was working on my acting career.
Once I made it to Terrell's home, I parked the car and stepped out of the vehicle, then locked the doors with my keys. I headed towards the front door turning the knob as the door was open, and entered the house. Shutting and locking the front door behind me, I went upstairs to Terrell's room.
He was knocked out with his mouth wide open as I laughed and shut the door for him, then moved towards the room that I was staying. I closed the door and went towards the laptop that I bought recently, and took a seat at the desk so that I could get started on my portfolio.
I clicked on Microsoft word and proceeded into; creating my template instead of using the app's template. I considered myself a very creative person, so I didn't see a problem with; creating my template. I grabbed the black leather portfolio and looked inside at my photos as I placed a hand underneath my chin on how I wanted it to be.
An idea soon popped up inside my head as I thought about creating a template that was similar to a website. So I needed to ask for my pictures to add to my template. I pulled my cellphone from my pocket and unlocked it before going to Johnathan and I's messages to send him one.
Me: Hi, Johnathan. I'm sure you're busy, but can you send my modeling pictures from the shoot? I'm designing my portfolio, and I need to add it. Thank you!
I couldn't wait to get this finished so that I could focus on the acting part.