No More Love to Give - Complete

Episode Eight

~~~~~Trinity~~~~~

                It was difficult but Trinity was somehow managing. Ignoring harsh rumors about who she was made things difficult when working on the set with Jeriah’s staff. Lucky for her, there was something to draw her attention away from that frustration. Or maybe it was unlucky, since it involved opening the book on a part of her, she wanted to leave closed. All of the bitter emotions that she closed off years ago, when she finished Tantalizing Love, came rushing forth as she looked over the screenwriter’s summary of the plot for the movie.

                Staring at the first page, Trinity felt as though these crashing emotions should have faded back then, never to resurface. Looking around the café she was sitting in, the feeling of being watched washed over her like a wave, knocking common sense away. It left her feeling raw and exposed, to the point of shaking. Rather than wither under the weight of the emotions she was feeling, she packed away her laptop and left, her course set for home. On the way, a phone call interrupted the rush of emotions she was feeling.

“This is Trinity.” She mumbled, so distracted that she did not check her caller first. “What is it?”

“Hiya Miss Faith. It’s Jeriah.” Jeriah’s voice replied, cheer evident. “I wanted to see…”

“I’m sorry, Mister Coster, but I’m really not up to chatting right now.” Trinity replied, annoyed that she did not just reject the call. “We can talk later.”

                Before giving him time to formulate a response, she hung up; making sure to turn off her phone; before returning her attention to the scenery outside her window. Once she arrived home, she paid the driver, picked up the packet the screenwriter gave her, and walked inside. Instead of opening it immediately, she sat it down on the coffee table to make a glass of whiskey. Taking a seat on the couch in front of the coffee table, Trinity glared hard at the packet, wanting to get it over with, but resisting picking it up.

                Sighing aloud, she grabbed the packet and opened the first page. Grabbing a red pen for notes, she began to pour over the text in front of her before rubbing at her eyes. The raw emotions of her own words bit back hard, making her throat close slightly. After her second failed marriage, she took all of her hopes and dreams for love and tucked it away into this book. Trinity’s throat felt dry, so she stood and walked to the kitchen for water before leaning against the island counter, her eyes wistful, as she thought back to her difficult past.

~~~~~Jeriah~~~~~

                Jeriah was overseeing a scene when he saw Trinity walk in, her eyes slightly unfocused. Approaching her, he smiled brightly, hoping to pop off his usual flirty remark. As he got closer though, he realized that a large amount of makeup was unusually caked under her eyes, and she seemed slightly jumpy. Thinking that odd, he slowed himself down. Thinking back on the length of time he knew her, which admittedly was short, she never once seemed the type to look over her shoulder.

“Hey gorgeous! We’re working on a kissing scene now, if you came to observe.” Jeriah said letting his hand run up her wrist to her shoulder to rest. “If you have an issue with the actor’s and actress’s performance, we could show them how it’s done ourselves.”

“…huh? Oh, Jeriah.” Trinity seemed to finally realize he was standing there and met his gaze carefully, her own still unfocused. “Did you say something? Sorry, I was slightly out of it.”

                Well that is odd, he thought thinking back over what he said. Shocked he continued to look at her before turning his focus to the scene to watch it play out. There was something off about her response that made him think over what could possibly be the cause. As the scene continued to play, Trinity’s gaze turned sharp as she watched over, apparently finding some issue that had gone previously under the radar.

“Cut!” Jeriah said looking over at her to see her take. “Don’t move just yet.”

                Jeriah was surprised when she walked directly onto the set, eyes fierce. Her focus was not on the actor and actress but something behind them. He followed after her, curious as to what caught her attention. When he walked around behind the actors, she was staring at the wall, where a portrait was hung that was supposed to be of the female lead of her story. Was there something wrong with the portrait? Was it not to the actress’s likeness to fit in the set?

“This is positioned wrong from the angle of the camera. It should be a little to the left, so right before they kiss, you can see it on the screen.” She mentioned her notes. “Also, you two don’t carry the weight of the love the characters share in this scene. It needs to ‘feel’ real to be real for the viewers. Jeriah, I know he’s just a stand in, but are you sure we can find the right actor to play him? If the female isn’t good at expressing heart, this scene won’t play out right.”

                The male lead was the only actor they were missing, so in an effort to get some scenes shot, they were focusing on the female’s portion of the story. The actor today was one of the side characters, but he knew Trinity was right. Ignoring her previous sign of exhaustion, he mulled over her options. Making a decision, he grabbed her wrist, and gently pulled her body against his. Smirking at her annoyed face, he decided to pursue what she had ignored earlier.

“Then, Miss Faith, show them what the actress should look like in this scene.” He said with a bright smile. “Maybe she’ll figure it out once she sees what she’s supposed to look like.”

                Cutting words aside, Jeriah knew she was passionate about her work, so he hoped to use that as an excuse to get closer to her. It also served to show the actress exactly what she could be doing to better portray the character Trinity had designed. She seemed annoyed but looked over at the actress who had apparently taken interest. The actress playing Trinity’s main character was personally selected by her, but was still learning in this industry.