12/30/09 Keely Jo Cook

Keely parked her 2002 black Audi TT convertable on the brown, crushed grass in between a sleek Mercedes and a tiny BMW convertable. She had to sit for a minute, in awe. There it was, on her right. The school from the movie. And she was parked on the lawn of that school. It was a hard reality to grasp. But, as much as she would love to sit and stare, she had to get to work. She glanced at her clock. Ten minutes. Sighing, she turned down her radio, and flipped down her vanity mirror. She fixed the smudged black eyeliner around her ocean blue eyes, added an extra coating of powder to her cheeks and forehead, and added another coat of clear cherry lip gloss to her full lips. Examining her heart-shaped face, she ran her hands through her waist-length straight, jet black hair, making the blue low and purple high lights dance. She pulled her lips back to examine her perfect white teeth to make sure nothing unwelcome was present.
Snapping the mirror closed, she opened the door and steped out into the thick, grey mist. She popped open her purple purse-size umbrella to shield her from the clingy wet and silently thanked herself for not spending the two hours she'd debated on the day before for curling her hair. She threw her keys into her small pink Juicy Corture purse after locking her car, and made her way over to the tan trailer clearly labeled "CREW" in big, bold black letters on a sheet of white plastic covering what she assumed was the window. She watched her feet once she found her general direction and concentrated on dodging the puddles, and then scolded herself for wearing her new black suede mid-calf high, four inch heeled boots over skinny jeans, which were now going to be covered in mud. She knew that was a "perk" of her getting this job, being one of the few willing to work on location in Forks, Washington. She smiled to herself.
A loud thump made her look up quickly, and noticed the trailer marked "ACTORS" in the same fashion as the "CREW" sign, sway gently. Keely's stomach did an unexpected flip. She had to admit, she was nervous. Usually, she loved her job. She figured she'd gotten the best of both her passions- interior design and rubbing elbows with celebrities- but this time, her admiration and minor crushes on the celebrities themselves gave her an extra obsticle. It wasn't a guaranteed fact of actually meeting the actors, but it was a high possibility.
She started to climbed the five wooden stairs to the trailer under a large blue tarp extending between the two trailers, and then a third at the end marked "MAKE UP". The door to the "ACTORS" trailer opened, and out stepped Rob, grinning at something behind him. She froze mid-step. She watched him for a split second, then forced herself to continue up the stairs as he turned to descend his. With her hand on the door handle, her heart skipped a beat when she heard his voice.
"Hey." Her arm muscles tensed to pull the door open. He couldn't be talking to her. "Hey! Hi!" He called. He was talking to her. She hesitated. Cool, she reminded herself. She turned and smiled at him. "Hey," he said, quieter when he'd seen her face. The door closed with a muffled bump behind him as he stared at her.
"Hello," she said, and gave a small wave, and closed her umbrella and shook it over the railing.
"Make-up," he stated, and threw a hand to the trailer in the back.
This really couldn't be this easy, could it? Her eyes held his. She couldn't believe she wasn't more than twenty feet from him.
"Work," she said with a small smile, and tilted her head to the trailer behind her. He nodded slowly.
Seriously? She was expecting something completely different from him if by chance she'd ever be this close.
The door to the "MAKE UP" trailer opened, and a large woman with even larger bright red hair stepped out onto the landing, surrounded by a white light. "ROB!" She screeched. He turned to the loud woman, then back to Keely and grinned sheepishly as he skipped down the steps. He waved her back in as he crossed the damp dirt, and stopped below Keely and looked up at her.
Damn it, she'd forgotten her gum. She gave him another small smile. Why did this feel like a scene from Romeo and Juliet, just so unromantic?
"ROB! Get your ass in here now!" The lady called. Rob hesitated, then turned and walked quickly to the back trailer. She swept her eyes over his back, long hair all mussed as if he'd been running both hands through it repeatedly, a ratty flannel over a white t-shirt, brown belt, faded dark blue jeans and casual brown shoes.
She grinned before she went inside. The room was full of various equipment, stacked high to the ceiling in some places, boxes labeled in messy black sharpie handwriting. Three flourenscent lights lined the faux-popcorn plastic ceiling, the two windows on the opposite wall were covered, and her new boss was in the center, behind a brown aluminum desk with an appointment book open in front of him, and his computer humming quietly on his right side. He had a large stereo on the other end of his desk, but it wasn't playing. An old black spiral corded multi-lined office phone sat next to the radio.
"Miss Cook?" He asked. He was an older man, probably mid forties, his sandy blond hair greying and balding slightly and receiding slowly from his forehead. Small intense brown eyes behind glasses evaluated her, over a slightly beaked nose and thin lips, hidden by a thin mustache. He had a butt chin. Those annoyed Keely slightly, but she orderd her eyes to stay on his. "Good. You're on time. Here's your budget, locations of stores around, and the area of the set that will be yours." He reached under his desk, then handed her a few sheets of paper.
"Thank you, Mr. Bailey," she said, as she reached across the desk and took the papers from him. Warm, fresh out of the printer.
"If you need anything, you know where to find me. Oh, and here." He opened a drawer and pulled out a set of silver keys and a black American Express card. "You'll be needing these." He handed them to her.
Keely nodded. "Okay, thanks." She turned and exited the trailer, silently hoping Rob would be outside, but she knew that make up could take hours- especially when it required pasty white skin and amber eyes. Once outside, she sighed and risked a glance to the end trailer. It was quiet. She popped her umbrella up and made her way back to her car and got in.
Looking at the sheets, the first one was a rough hand-drawn map of the shooting grounds, and where her set would be. That would be her first stop of the day. Another sheet had a the addresses of a couple of party rental stores. The next sheet had the measurements of her set, and the final sheet had her deadlines. When she had to have her set ready by, and when she had to have it back to the way it had been, and the numbers of the moving crew for rearranging the furniture. She would give them a call later on in the day when she knew more about when she'd need them.
She started her car and turned on the wipers- as it had started to actually rain- and made her way slowly to her location. This was another chance for her stomach to clench and flip. Her set was the Cullen house. Gah! Just saying it made her hands shake slightly. Her job, was to set the scene for Bella, Edward, and Alice's graduation party, during which the vampires and werewolves join together against Victoria. She had three days to set it up as close to the book as she could get it. She had her worn copy of Eclipse on the passenger seat, ready for her reference when she needed it at the store. At a stoplight, she grabbed her notebook from the floor in between the seats and set it on her lap, and was ready to add to the notes already written down as she drove.
She came to the final turn, the lane where she'd have to decorate the trees, except the first two. She counted every other tree, and counted how many lighted tree wraps she would need. When she pulled into the clearing of the house, the lot was empty and dark. She was the only one here. That surprised her. At least it would be quiet for her to work quickly. She parked, and took in the house. It really was huge, and gorgeous. Wow. She felt the keys weight in her plam, and bounced them. She grabbed her purse, notebook and umbrella. Jumping out, she popped her umbrella, locked her car and dashed up the porch steps. She took a second to look around, then unlocked the house.
It was dark and a little chilly, but everything was where it should be. The white couch, the grand piano, entertainment center. Of course, the famous glass back wall, looking out across the stream. Wow, she thought again. She found the lights, and it was even more amazing. She set her purse down on a small table by the door, and drifted to the piano. Sitting on the bench, she caressed her fingers across the keys lovingly. Suddenly she wished she knew how to play. She looked around, and started calculating. The piano and couch would have to be moved. She wondered if there was a room that had a desk already here, from the last time this was used. She'd have to have a table for the turntable/CD player. It was starting to form in her head. She'd need the red and purple lights, probably from a couple rows of lights in a couple different places. The table for the music, another table for the food, a couple of large speakers there, and there..this would be easy. She'd need to find a catering company, and she could get a recommendation from the party store for some CDs if they didn't have any there. She wrote quickly the things she'd just thought of. She felt pretty confident that this would go smoothly. With a last wishful sigh, she rose from the piano and went back to the door, and turned off the lights. Locking the door behind her, she prepared herself for the short trip to the only address in Forks, Jerry's Rentals Sales and Service. Should be interesting.

Chapter Two