FEELINGS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Chapter Six

The next day, the last scenes were not going to be shot until the evening. Jack took Regina around the town and took her for a walk in the pretty fields of flowers.

"Isn’t this beautiful? I mean, I wish people would stop hurting the environment. That way, places like this won’t disappear," Jack said. Regina just looked at him and grabbed his hand. She kissed him and he kissed her back.

*****

Rose was with Judy, talking. They were walking around.

"I tell you, this has been fun, except for the last few days. You and Jack don’t spend any time together anymore. Why?" Judy asked.

"Well, we have been tired, and the workdays lately have been short. These past six months have been fun, and I can’t believe today is the last day. I’m sort of sad," Rose said.

"I hope we get to work together on another movie, Rose. You sure are the nicest actress I have met."

"Yeah. I hope we get to work together again. It has been fun."

"I just want to know one thing, Rose. If Jack wasn’t going out with Regina, would you tell him that you love him?"

"What are you talking about, Judy? I don’t love…Jack."

"Rose, don’t lie. Well, if he breaks up with her one day, will you tell him that you had a crush on him when you were doing this movie?"

"No…I mean, I don’t have to tell him anything. I’m just glad that we are almost finished filming. That way I don’t have to deal with Regina looking at me like she hates me. When all this is finished, I’m going straight on a vacation."

"Did you forget about the premiere? When the movie premieres, you and Jack have to go. You are the stars of the movie."

"Yeah. That will be a long month, but we still haven’t finished filming and I heard Randy takes a long time in pre-production. That gives me time to forget," Rose said, smiling, and kept walking.

While she was walking, she was thinking that there could never be anything between her and Jack. They walked to a park that was nearby and were walking around when, suddenly, Rose stopped. Judy looked at what Rose was staring at. Jack and Regina were sitting on a bench in front of them. Judy realized why Rose had a long face. Jack and Regina were laughing and kissing. They were hugging and looked so in love. Rose felt her heart sink. She looked down at the ground with a sad face. She looked at them one more time, turned around, and started to walk away.

"Hey, Rose…" Judy was about say something.

"I told you, Judy! Now you see. He loves Regina, and please don’t bother me anymore with how I should get with Jack," Rose said, and walked away faster.

*****

That night, the movie was finally going to be finished. Rose was getting ready, and Judy was doing her makeup. Rose was smiling, and Judy knew something had happened to her.

"Okay, Rose, what happened? You look too happy, and after what we saw at the park, you can’t possibly be happy," Judy said.

"Oh, my. You won’t believe what happened to me today. I bumped into my old high school crush! He is here in town, and he invited me to lunch. He is so funny; I just had a great time. That is all."

"Oh, my gosh! Is he cute?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, he is not that bad. I’m glad I bumped into him; he made my day so much better. We promised to call each other."

"So, did you forget about Jack? I’m sorry I brought him up, but I just wanted to know if you have moved on. I want you to. After I saw what I saw today in the park, I realized you were right. So, did you get him off your mind?"

"Ugh…no, I didn’t. He was all I was thinking about the whole time I was with Ben."

"So, his name is Ben? Look, I’m sorry, Rose, but I’m glad you bumped into Ben. Maybe he can help you get Jackie off your mind."

"Yeah. Maybe you are right. I did forget about him a few times. After this is over, I’m going to call Ben," Rose said, smiling, and stood up to go to the set. Judy followed her and stopped behind the cameras. Randy started to talk to Rose. Judy was standing there when she felt someone coming. It was Jack.

"Hey, Judy, how are you?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh, well, a bit tired, but I’m okay. Not as okay as Rose, though."

"What do you mean?"

"That girl has a smile as big as the moon! She bumped into an ex-boyfriend. He invited her to lunch and they seemed to have a lot fun."

"A…boyfriend?" Jack asked with a worried look on his face. Judy saw this and smiled. Her plan had worked; she wanted to find out if Jack felt something for Rose. He seemed jealous.

"An ex, but he is gorgeous and oh, my gosh, is he funny! Rose is happy, and I can’t blame her. That Ben was sexy!"

"Okay, okay. Let’s not get too excited here. Who is this guy? And who talks to their ex? Rose can’t fall for this guy; I mean, why did this guy dump her in the first place?" Jack asked, sounding mad.

"Oh, you don’t know him, but he is cute, and that can excuse anything. Aren’t you happy for Rose? She finally found someone, and someone cute."

"Yes…yeah, I’m…happy for her," Jack said, and had a sad look on his face. Judy felt horrible now; Jack looked like someone had just ripped his heart out. But at the same time, she was glad she had made him feel like he had made Rose feel.

Jack slowly walked to the set, where Randy was talking to Rose. Randy looked at Jack and told him about the scene. Jack agreed and walked to Rose, who was sitting on a bench, going over her lines.

"Hey, weirdo, how are you?" he asked, and sat next to her. She gave him a short smile and went back to reading her lines.

"I can’t believe this is our last day together," he said, desperately trying to make conversation.

"Yeah. Me, either," she said, not looking at him.

"I think I’m going to miss this place. I’ll miss everything about this movie."

"Yeah. Me, too."

"I’ll miss you, weirdo," he said, and finally got her attention.

"Really? Well, I’ll miss you, too, creep. I hope everything goes well for you. I know we will still keep in touch, but it won't be the same," she said, and smiled at him.

"Do you promise to watch my movies when they come out?"

"Ha ha ha. Okay, sure. Why not? But you have to watch mine, too," she said, laughing.

"Uh…dang. Okay. If that is what it takes, I’ll watch your movies, too," he said, laughing. This was the first time they had laughed together in a long time.

"You are such a jerk, Jack Dawson."

"I know, but don’t you just love me?" he asked, and really wanted to hear her answer.

"Uh…not really. Maybe just a little," she said, smiling, and he smiled back, not knowing why her answer disappointed him.

"Okay, guys. Time to shoot. People, get in your places, please!" Randy yelled. Jack and Rose stood up and went to their spots.

"Okay, people. This scene is a happy one, so let’s make it happy. It’s the last scene we will do. I just want you all to know that it has been a pleasure to work with you all. If I ever get the chance to work with you again, I know I will have a good time. All right. Enough with this cheesiness, and let’s get to work," Randy said, and got in his chair. The cameramen were ready.

"Action!" Randy yelled.

Jack and Rose said their lines, and she cried like she was supposed to. He got closer to her and hugged her. He kissed her eyes and forehead. He got closer and kissed her lips. He didn’t wait for her to close the space between them. He kissed her with so much passion that even she was overtaken by it. He wouldn’t let her go. He just kept kissing her. He put his hands on her face and pulled her lips even tighter to his. She struggled to breathe, but kept kissing him back. She could feel his tongue touching her lips. She had no idea what had gotten into him. He finally let her go, but kept his hands on her face. He breathed hard as he tried to catch his breath. He could feel her breathe, as she was trying to catch her breath, as well. He put his forehead against hers, looked into her eyes, and before she could finish catching her breath, he started to kiss her again. The scene said they were to kiss two times, but nobody expected it to be this passionate.

"Uh…cut!" Randy said, confused. Jack didn’t immediately let Rose go. He kept kissing her, but she pulled away.

"Guys, I don’t understand. I struggle for you two to do a love scene, but you over kiss each other when I don’t ask for that," Randy said, laughing.

Jack and Rose were still trying to catch their breaths. He looked at her as if saying he wanted to keep going. He licked his lips and smiled. Rose had no idea what had gotten into him.

"All right. Let’s do that second part again, but please take it slow," Randy said. Jack smiled when he said again. They got in their places and bumped their foreheads together like before. "All right. Action, people!" Randy yelled. Jack slowly kissed her, and she kissed him back. They kissed for a few moments, then let go of each other. They said their last line and hugged.

"All right! Cut! That was great, people! That is a wrap! Thank you all for putting up with me for these six months!" Randy said, laughing, and hugged some of the crew people. Jack and Rose walked towards some of the crew. Rose hugged Judy and hugged Randy. Jack did the same.

After an hour of talk and saying good-bye, Rose went to her trailer and packed her things. She made sure she had gotten everything and walked outside with some of her luggage. She found Jack at the bottom of the steps.

"Hey, weirdo, want me to help you with that?" he asked, pointing at the luggage.

"Uh…sure, creep. It’s your muscles you are pulling," she said, smiling. He grabbed some of the luggage and followed her to her car.

"My God. What do you have in these things? Dead bodies? I think I did pull something," he said, and she laughed. She opened her car’s trunk, and he lay all of her luggage in it.

"So, where is your stuff?" she asked.

"I already put it in my car. I don’t have this much stuff as you might imagine. I’m a poor guy!"

"Oh, shut up! You get paid more than I do!" she said, and pinched him. He laughed and looked at her. He smiled and then had a serious face. He started toward her. This made her feel awkward, and she turned away.

"I guess this is it, Jack. It was fun working with you. I wish we could do it again, but I know that is, like, so impossible. I’ll miss you," she said, smiling, and slowly hugged him. He hugged her back and buried his face in her neck. He could smell her perfume, and it made him almost lose his mind.

"I’ll miss you, too, babe," he said, and kissed her neck and pulled away. She looked at his blue eyes and looked at his lips. She wished she could stare into those eyes forever and she wished she could kiss him. She hated this feeling, because she knew she shouldn’t feel this for him. He looked at her, smiled, and hugged her again. He looked at her and stayed silent for a moment. He straightened his face and had a deep look in his eyes. She turned away and walked to her car.

"I…I have to go now. My plane is going to leave very early in the morning tomorrow. I guess I’ll see you at the premieres, and hopefully sometime soon. Bye, Jack. I’ll miss you, and I hope we see each other again soon. Bye." She smiled at him. He closed her door and smiled at her. She turned her car on and put on her seatbelt. Something inside him wanted to stop her and tell her everything, but he didn’t, and instead he waved at her until her car disappeared into the night.

*****

He returned to his apartment, where Regina was waiting for him. She was on the couch, watching television, when he entered the apartment. He had a sad face and was walking slowly.

"What’s wrong? Jack, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. I’m just a bit tired, and it was a sad night. I’ll miss everybody that I worked with. Tomorrow we are going back home, Regina. So, pack your bags and get ready for tomorrow," he said, and went to his room and fell on his bed.

Ben…who the hell is he? Why would she talk and go out with an ex-boyfriend? That is just weird. I wouldn’t do that. Ugh. I wonder if she still likes him, he thought to himself while staring at the ceiling. Regina entered the room and lay next to him. She started to kiss his neck for a little while. He was not paying any attention to her and kept staring at the ceiling. She got to his lips and he kissed her back, but then pulled away.

"Regina, I’m sorry, but I’m tired. I can barely stay awake," he said.

"No, it’s okay. I understand, baby. I was not really in the mood, either. I just thought it would be relaxing for you. But I guess you need to rest," she said, looking annoyed, and got off him and lay on her side with her back to him. He frowned and closed his eyes. He slowly fell asleep.

*****

For the next four months, Rose spent her time with her family and decided to go on a vacation. She enjoyed her time with them, but she still missed Jack. She would send him letters and would try to call him, but Regina always said he was busy. She would never tell him that she had called. He read her letters and sent some to her. Little by little, she sent fewer letters. It wasn’t that she didn’t care anymore; it was that she was tired of living a lie. She knew that Jack and she could never be together, and it was too painful and complicated to be just friends.

*****

A few months later, Jack and Rose were called by the movie studio, saying that the premiere would be in a few weeks and asking if they could show up. Both agreed to be there, and knew they would probably see each other.

Chapter Seven
Stories