The Making of…

Chapter 19

This is The Life

Viggo paddled the boat back to the jetty and I hopped out, waiting for him to climb out before I made my way back to the beach where the others were seated.

“Come on Ki, go get your guitar!” Elijah urged me as I approached.

“Fine…” I sighed, turning to walk through the forest to where our trailers were parked. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

I jogged most of the way to my trailer and picked up my guitar, before slowly walking back with it slung on my back. Beneath the trees it was almost dark, and a little eerie, which was why I had run on the way, but I didn’t want to risk damaging my guitar by running again. As I walked, I thought I heard a noise, like a twig snapping in the woods just ahead… I shook my head and sighed.

“Idiot…” I scolded myself in a whisper, “It’s probably nothing.” I walked on determinedly, before I heard it again, in the same place. “I bet it’s just a squirrel…” I murmured, trying to keep my spirits light and stop my mind from playing tricks on me. I continued walking, confidently holding my head up as I approached the thicket where I had heard the noises.

“RAH!”

I screamed loudly, really loudly.

“Jesus Christ Orlando!” I shrieked as he doubled over with laughter, leaning against the tree he’d just leapt out from behind. “I hate you so much!” I screamed, my hands clutching my chest trying to calm my frantically beating heart.

“It was totally worth it!” He giggled as I punched him in the arm.

“Idiot! I thought you were a rapist or something!” I wailed, feeling incredibly stupid for allowing myself to get so scared. He only laughed harder as I stormed off.

“Aw Ki, I’m sorry!” He called after me.

“No you’re not.” I answered, already making plans to get him back.

“Yeah, you’re right, I’m not.” He chuckled as I span on my heel to face him.

“Well you best be on your guard. All day. Every day. Because I’m going to get you. In the most unexpected way possible.” I growled in my most menacing tone. “Keep on your toes Bloom.” I smirked at his bewildered expression and turned, walking quickly back to the beach where I was met by the confused faces of everyone there.

“Did you scream Ki?” Billy asked.

“Yep.” I sighed, sitting down in my chair and setting my guitar at my feet. “And I’m so flattered by the fact that not one of you came to rescue me.” I added in a teasing tone as Orlando appeared out of the trees behind me.

“What happened?” Dom asked.

“Well, Orlando must have a death wish, because he thought it would be a good idea to jump out and scare me in the middle of the dark, creepy forest…” I mumbled as the others laughed, a few people gave Orlando high-fives, whilst Viggo just smiled at me sympathetically, but I could see he was holding back laughter.

“So Ki, are you going to give us a few tunes?” Elijah asked.

“Oh I don’t know Lij… I’m pretty shaken up.” I replied in a sarcastic tone.

“Aw come on!”

“Alright then…” I sighed, picking up my guitar and held the plectrum in my teeth as I re-tuned it. I strummed a few chords once I was satisfied and looked up at the guys. “You’d all better sing along with me, ‘cause I’m crap on my own.” I grinned, “So, any requests?”

“Well what do you know?” Billy asked.

“A crapload of Coldplay.” I replied with a smirk, beginning to strum the first few chords of ‘Yellow’. Most people seemed to pick up on it immediately, and the guys really threw themselves into the song.

“Look at the stars! Look how they shine for you!” Billy and Dom roared with enough force to deafen the country. I had to stop singing I was laughing so hard, but my right hand kept strumming, and my left continuously formed into the shapes of chords that had been embedded in my memory, as natural as breathing. It seemed that I didn’t have to worry about being embarrassed about singing on my own, as I couldn’t even hear myself over the guy’s combined voices, that is, until we came to the end of the song.

“It’s true, look how they shine for you, look how they shine for you, look how they shine for you…” I sang softly, amongst everyone else, when suddenly, they all cut their voices simultaneously, leaving me singing the end solo before I could take on what was happening.

“Look at the stars… Look how they shine for you… And all the things that you do…” I finished quietly, blushing at my unexpected solo. The sounds of the last chord vibrated throughout the body cavity of my guitar, until it fell silent. I looked up and smiled as Billy and Dom whooped and clapped, soon joined by everyone else as I blushed furiously. “Stop it…” I insisted, pretending to be grumpier than I actually was as they called for another song.

*

After a while, I left my guitar in Billy’s capable hands, after he’d promised to look after it. I sat for a few of his songs, before standing and walking to the shore of the inlet, picking up a few stones and skipping them across the calm surface of the water. I slowly ambled over to the jetty and walked to the end, tossing the last of my stones out towards the setting sun. I sat down again in my spot and watched as the sky was illuminated with fiery pinks, reds and oranges, and listened to the lively singing on the beach behind me.

“Mind if I join you?”

I looked behind me and saw Viggo standing on the jetty.

“Sure,” I smiled as he sat down at my side. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, it just seemed more peaceful over here is all.”

I breathed in deeply and turned back to watching the sunset as the reds and oranges faded, leaving the pink stains on the clouds that melted into pale lilacs, then to deeper purples, and at the very age of the sky, the dark navy blue of night was beginning to creep in.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I whispered, half to myself. Out of the corner of my vision I saw Viggo smile as he turned to look at me. He said nothing, but his eyes didn’t wander from my face, as if he was analysing me. I blushed slightly, hoping he wouldn’t notice as I let my hair fall into my face in an attempt to hide my reddened cheeks. Why did my heart seem to flutter when he looked at me like that? I sighed and watched as the dying rays of the sun began to slip below the horizon of distant mountains.

“Hey Viggo! Ki!” A familiar voice called from the beach. We turned simultaneously to see Peter waving us over.

“It must be time for the scene.” I murmured as Vig stood and pulled me to my feet. We walked back to where the cameras where being set up, and the floodlights began to illuminate the area. We were about to film the scene where the Fellowship camps by the river for the night, and Boromir and Aragorn have an argument. Elijah and Sean got to have a bit of ‘Frodo and Sam Time’, and Viggo and I got some ‘Aragorn and Rana Time’. Most of the characters in the Fellowship seemed to go in pairs, Frodo and Sam, Merry and Pippin, Legolas and Gimli and Rana and Aragorn. I felt a little sorry for Boromir – he didn’t really have anyone. Neither did Gandalf, but he was a wizard after all – also at this point, the Fellowship presumed him to be dead. As we were about to start filming, the boats were dragged up onto the shore, and I went to sit by the small fire that Rana was supposed to be trying to strike up, whilst everyone else went to their positions. I was just in the background of most shots, as I only had a few lines, but Pete wanted some close-ups of me as I listened to Aragorn and Boromir fighting. Once Elijah and Sean had done their shots, Viggo and Sean had to film theirs as they crept around a convenient fake rock that had been brought down. Sean had to shake Viggo and behave pretty violently towards him, and once the cameras had stopped rolling, he quickly apologised.

“Sorry man.” He grinned, playfully punching Viggo’s shoulder.

“No problem.” Vig replied with an easy smile as Pete instructed me on what to do for my shots. We filmed a few close-ups of me listening, and then Viggo came over for our talking scene. We got it done pretty quickly, and once Peter was happy, he sent us back to our trailers, instructing us to get a good night’s rest, as we would still be working in the boats for a few days.