Chapter 35

It's the last day of filming and while Shayla couldn't attend, I hoped she would drop by before it was time for everyone to leave. We had gotten all the necessary takes. Now all was left were the photos and closeup shots of Tatiana. The plan was to pick up Tatiana after Bill picked me up, but after much thought and reflection, I decided it best that Bill picks her up after he dropped me off. It made sense for temptation reasons, but Bill was still at my neck about picking her up at all. He felt that since she was a single woman, that she should find her own way to set. While that is true, I find it rude and inconsistent on my part. I try not to say one thing and do the complete opposite. It just didn't make sense to me. As I watched the playback screen, the area was suddenly filled with the familiar scent that Tatiana wore. I thought nothing of it, I just know that she's here now. Frank was watching the playback with me telling me what areas we needed to fill in. I heard the familiar click-clack of Tatiana's heels speed up until her arms were suddenly wrapped around my neck and her lips were planted on my cheek.

"Hey!" She smiled, breathlessly. Frank was as stunned as I was, but decided it wasn't his business and walked away. "How come you let Bill pick me up without you being in the car, huh?" She playfully punched my arm.

"I didn't think you would notice..." I shrugged.

"Oh, I did," she laughed. "Bill grilled me about you. I was actually mad that you let me ride with him alone!"

"What'd he say?" I wondered.

She rolled her eyes and did her best impression of Bill, "you know he's a married man, right? What are your intentions with Michael? You know Michael and his wife are like my kids and I've very protective of them!"

I laughed at her nearly perfect yet cute impression of Bill, "yep. That sounds like him alright."

"You set me up, didn't you? You knew he was going to grill me like that."

I held my hands up in surrender, "I swear to you, I had no idea."

"Sure, you didn't," she winked. "I know what you're up to Mr. Jackson. You wanted Bill to ask me all the questions you didn't have the guts to ask." I looked around the set, which only made me look guilty although it was very far from the truth. "I knew it! You know, if you wanted to know something, all you had to do was ask. I'm an open book." I can tell... "Tell me something, Michael," she leaned in close to my ear and mustered up the sexiest voice she could find, "what is it about me that you like so much?"

I cleared my throat and stood up, "LaToya!" I waved to her. She looked at me confused. I turned to Tatiana, "I'm going to go talk to my sister. Maybe you should look at the playback screen and tell me what needs to be added or changed," I hightailed it over to LaToya.

"What's going on, Michael?" LaToya asked me.

"Tatiana is too much for me," I laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't see her kiss me on the cheek a couple minutes ago? The girl is aggressive. In the beginning, it was all harmless flirting, I promise you, but she's taken it to a totally different level."

"Tell her to back off! You're a married man. There's no reason she should be all up on you like that. Do you want me to do it for you? You know I will!"

"No, I got it. How am I supposed to tell her though?"

"Tell her you're a married man and she needs to back off! What's so hard about that?"

"I don't want to be mean..."

"That's not being mean. That's stating facts. I don't know what you're so scared of. You've got to set boundaries, Michael. If she doesn't know, then she'll continue to act the way she's been acting." Once again, I heard the familiar click-clack of Tatiana's heels as she walked over.

"Hey, LaToya," she hugged me from behind prompting LaToya to cut me a look.

I unwrapped Tatiana's arms from around me, "Tati, we have to talk."

"What about?" She looked between me and LaToya.

LaToya opened her mouth to speak, but I held my hand up to stop her, "let's go to my trailer."

LaToya shook her head, "that's not a good idea, Michael."

"Why not?" Tatiana asked her. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry about her. Come on, Tati," I grabbed her hand and led her back to my trailer. As we walked back to the trailer, all eyes were on us. I tried to ignore the stares, but who could ignore it when everyone knows I'm a married man and they're literally watching me take another woman to my trailer? Word better not get to Shayla about this. I opened the door to my trailer and allowed Tatiana to go in first and locked the door behind me. "Tatiana, we can't continue to do this..."

"Do what?" She sat down on the couch.

"This. At first, it was just harmless flirting. I didn't think it would get this far. Trust me, you're a beautiful woman. Absolutely stunning, but, I'm married," I sat down beside her and held up my left hand to show her the gold wedding band on my ring finger. "I shouldn't have even done that..."

She nodded her head slowly, "I understand."

"It's nothing against you. It's just that I made a vow to my wife and I want to uphold that promise I made to her. I'm sure there's someone out there for you."

"Michael, we haven't even done anything," she giggled.

"I know, but it's the minor things that could eventually lead up to major things... The cheek kissing... The affection you've been showing me. It's all too much. I was just being friendly on my end, but I think you've taken it a bit too far."

She sighed, "you're right. I have. I thought you liked me. I can be pretty aggressive if you haven't noticed."

"Oh, I've noticed..." I nodded. "I just don't want you to get the wrong idea about me or about whatever you thought was going on between us."

"I get it," she nodded. "I'm sorry. I meant no disrespect toward you or your wife. Please tell your wife that I'm very sorry."

"I will... Thank you... This, um, this doesn't mean we can't be friends though," I grabbed her hand.

She smiled, "I'd love to be your friend," she pulled me in for a hug.

Frank opened the door without knocking, "will you guys quit fornicating and get out here for these photos?"

"Frank, make sure you knock before you open the door," I warned. I don't know what kind of control this guy thinks he has around here or in regard to me, but this was out of line. Tatiana excused herself from the trailer. "And I don't see what's funny about fornication. You just crossed the line with that one."

"What?" He shrugged. "You didn't think that was funny?"

"Would your wife find it funny if I accused you of fornication?"

"At least my wife doesn't see me flirting with another woman in front of her," he challenged. "Come on. They want you and Tatiana to take these photos." I reluctantly followed him back to set. I thought we took enough photos for the video. What's all this about?

"Michael," Joe called me over to him. "We need you and Tatiana in a couple of shots together. Go over to that car and pose or whatever. We've just got to have something," he pointed to a black car clear across the set. While I thought it was weird, that specific area did, in fact, have a great amount of lighting. I took Tatiana's hand in mine and led her over to the car with the cameras following us. As soon as we got over to the car, Tatiana had no idea of what she wanted to do.

"Shy?" I smiled.

"Me? Shy? No," she waved off the ridiculous idea. "I'm nervous about what to do with you in these pictures, Mr. Jackson," she flirted. "I don't want to be too much for you."

"It's just for the video. Just be your character and take it from there," I suggested. She is quite enticing.

"If you say so," she leaned against the car and pulled me into her by my collar. As she stared into my eyes, the cameras flicked with shot after shot. She tore her gaze from me and aimed it right at the camera lens. The camera flickered again with repeated shots as I stood stuck at her overt aggressiveness. Her eyes met mine again, "was that too much?" I shook my head no as I cleared my throat and took her hands from my collar. The cameramen took it upon himself to continue taking photos no matter what he caught us doing. I caressed her face with my right hand. Her eyes closed and her lips parted in a slow yet sexy fashion. While I wished she was doing that for the camera, I very much so knew she was doing that specifically for me. The lustful thoughts that ran through my mind made me guilty all over again. She brought her right hand up to my shoulder and gazed into my eyes again. I took my right leg and planted my foot against the car. She again looked at the camera as I continued to admire her beauty which I'm sure the camera was definitely documenting. The camera not only documented every photo, but it was also documenting my guilt. The guilt that was building up inside of me as I continued to admire Tatiana's beauty and toned figure.

"Michael!" Frank yelled. My guilt was instantly replaced with irritation from the sound of Frank's voice. "You two get over here for this group shot."

"You ready?" Tatiana asked me. I nodded, taking her hand in mine as we made our way back over to the crew. Somehow, she left me absolutely speechless. The way she took hold of that camera and channeled the character so effortlessly. I don't even know if she was paying attention to me as much as I was paying attention to her. If anything, I was just her prop. My focus was more on her than the camera. She wasn't my prop as I was hers.

"Michael and Tatiana, you two get in front. Here's the clapperboard, Mike. Hold this. Everyone else get behind them and smile," Joe directed. Tatiana put her hand on my shoulder, and I held her close by her waist. "Three, two, one, smile!"