The Making of…

Chapter 37

So Cliché…

He rapped lightly on the door, two sharps taps. I walked towards it and reached out a hand, grasping the handle and pushing it down as my heart pounded in my ears. I took a breath to steady myself then pulled the door open. Viggo stood there in a clean navy shirt and a dark jacket and jeans, self-consciously brushing a strand of his hair out of his eyes.

“Hey.” He smiled naturally, making me forget why I had been nervous.

“Hi.” I smiled in return, slipping my bag onto my shoulder and stepping across the threshold, quietly closing the door behind me.

“Ready to go?” He asked.

“Yeah,” I nodded, “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He grinned, walking down the steps from my trailer and I followed. We walked towards the car park but passed both our cars. “It’s not far.” He smiled after noticing my confused expression. He guided me along the road and we walked in silence for a few minutes. He didn’t seem to find the silence awkward, but I found myself trying to think of something to say, which was odd, as we were both normally content with silence. “You look really nice.” He said softly, pulling me away from my thoughts. I blushed and smiled.

“Thanks, I got attacked by Raven.” I joked weakly as he smiled and we once again slipped into silence. As we walked on, the streets started getting busier as we were getting close to the centre of Wellington. We dodged groups of people who were hanging around outside clubs and bars, and I tried not to get jostled as we walked beneath a series of neon signs advertising stuffy little nightclubs. Out of the corner of my eye I could see people being turned away at doors by bouncers, and a group of grumpy-looking young men who had just been rejected elbowed their way past me. I stumbled and almost tripped, but Viggo had already caught my arm.

“Are you ok?” He asked as I straightened my dress.

“Um, yeah… Thanks.” I smiled nervously as he gently pulled me away from the crowds and on to a quieter street. We walked on before he stopped abruptly and I walked straight into his elbow. “Ouch.” I grumbled, rubbing my bumped nose.

“Sorry,” He smiled, “Here we are.” He gestured to the small building we stood in front of. Small, dimly glowing blue lights decorated the red brick outside walls along with a few potted plants. He took my hand – prompting a blush to rise to my cheeks – and lead me through the door. Inside there were more blue lights, and more potted plants, and more red brick walls – it seemed like a consistent theme. Viggo released my hand as he said something to a waiter, and we were shown to a small table that stood beside a small, polished wood dance floor, which was positioned in front of a low stage. Viggo pulled out my chair for me as I sat down and I smiled shyly at him as he walked around the table and sat down. There was a candle sitting in the centre of the table, a plain tea light flickering in a small blue glass jar, and the dim light from it cast an eerie glow that illuminated the table. The restaurant was quiet, with only a few couples sitting at the tables around us who were murmuring quietly amongst themselves, apart from two people who appeared to be trying to suck each other’s faces off - which is exactly what I need to see before I eat dinner, not. I turned back to Viggo and raised an eyebrow as he laughed quietly and picked up a menu.

We ordered our meal and I shrugged off my jacket as I began to warm up. Viggo reached across the table, and I looked at him in surprise, until I realised that he was just brushing a strand of my unruly hair behind my ear. My skin tingled where he touched me and I felt my cheeks redden.

“Viggo?” I murmured quietly.

“Yeah?”

“You’re about to set your arm on fire.”

“Oh shoot…” He muttered, retracting his had quickly and shifting the candle to the side as I laughed to myself. Nothing kills a moment like a potential fire-hazard. He smiled at me sheepishly, only causing me to laugh more. Our food arrived and as we ate, a band was setting up on the stage.

“Ooh, music!” I grinned as I chased a meatball around my plate, before stabbing it with my fork and popping it my mouth. I spotted Viggo staring at me and I glanced up, but he quickly looked away, back towards the stage. I bit my lower lip and looked back down at my empty plate. “Well… I’m full.” I sighed.

“Really?” He turned back to me and smirked, “Because this place does a killer chocolate cake.”

“Damn it Viggo…” I sighed dramatically, “You know me too well.” I ran one hand through my hair as our plates were taken away and he smiled to himself as he folded and unfolded his paper napkin, whilst I fidgeted with the thin straps of my dress. The band on stage started playing and I turned my head to watch them, propping one elbow up on the table and resting my head on my hand. A few couples got up to dance – girls in flouncy dresses giggling flirtatiously as they clung to their well-dressed boyfriends – so cliché. I rolled my eyes and looked back to the table to see a slice of chocolate cake being placed in front of me. “There is no way I’m going to be able to eat all this…” I mumbled.

“Alright, I’ll have it.” Viggo smirked, reaching across the table.

“No! Mine!” I grinned, batting away his hand as he sat back and tucked into his own portion. I set about tackling my cake with my fork – Vig was right, it was good. Good enough for me to finish the entire thing and then feel guilty afterwards. I would have to go for a run tomorrow – or risk not being able to fit into my costume! Viggo and I talked for a little while after that, before I noticed him glance at the dance floor, and then back at me.

“Do you want to dance?” He asked.

“No.” I grinned as he raised an eyebrow, “You know I have two left feet. I’m not getting up there so I can fall over and make a fool of myself.”

“Aw, c’mon Ki!” He smiled as I shook my head.

“No.”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t fall.”

“No.”

“Nobody would be watching you anyway.”

“No.” I stressed firmly as he sighed and leant across the table so he could look directly into my eyes.

“I’ll be with you the whole time, and I’ll make sure you don’t fall over, or make a fool of yourself, and I promise that you’ll have fun.”

I sighed and half-closed my eyes. He could be so persuasive sometimes… “Alright, one dance.” I smiled as the current song ended. He stood and walked to my side, holding out his hand for me. I took it and he gently pulled me to my feet as I sent a silent prayer of thanks to Raven for making me wear pumps tonight. His hand was warm in mine as he led me out onto the dance floor, amongst the other couples who were swaying as the band started playing the next song. The music wasn’t too fast, or too slow, so I shouldn’t have much trouble with my uncoordinated feet - hopefully. Viggo took my other hand and placed it on his shoulder, and then slipped one arm around my waist. I smiled nervously as he lifted our entwined hands and laced his fingers through mine. “Sorry if I step on you…” I mumbled shyly as a husky-voiced woman started singing on stage. Viggo only smiled as we began to dance, and all my concentration was suddenly focused on where I was putting my feet.

“You’re thinking about it too much.” Vig murmured, leaning close to my ear.

“I need to think about it too much…” I muttered.

“Just let go.” He smiled, and suddenly spun me out of his arms and back in. I almost collided with his chest but he’d already moved back, so I once again fell into step with him.

“You’re so lucky I didn’t scream back there.”

“Why would you scream?” He asked, amusement dancing in his pale blue eyes.

“Because you surprised me…” I sighed, “Give me a little warning in future.”

“But then you’d think about it too much.” He smirked and I rolled my eyes. He held our hands above my head and released my waist, “Twirl.” He smiled, and I obliged without much thought, and suddenly found myself with my back to Viggo’s chest with his arms wrapped around me. “See? That wasn’t so bad.” He grinned as I spun outwards again and back into our original position, blushing furiously.

“Yeah, well I can’t see myself winning a ballroom competition any time soon…” I mumbled sarcastically, avoiding his gaze so I wouldn’t have to admit that I was actually enjoying myself.

“I told you you’d have fun.” He smirked victoriously as he saw through my terrible façade. I only blushed and sighed as he twirled me around again. I barely even noticed that the song had finished, and I only realised when the tempo changed to a much slower song. I looked up at Viggo in alarm and he smiled gently. “Nowthis is the kind of song you don’t have to concentrate on.” His hand slipped out of mine and moved to my waist, so I brought my free hand up to his shoulders, entwining it with my other hand behind his neck. We were standing much closer now as we swayed to the gentle music – close enough for me to feel Viggo’s warm breath on my face as he exhaled, and smell the fabric softener off his shirt, mixed with the unmistakeable warm and familiar smell of his skin. For some reason, my brain chose this moment to dredge up several memories that would make my current situation awkward. In my mind I remembered every single kissing scene Viggo and I had done together, and if I glanced up slightly I could see his lips – the lips that at times had so gently moved over mine-

‘Stop it.’ I told myself firmly, ‘Those were just scenes. That’s all. It was just acting. Remember that thing you do for a living? Acting? Yeah. It was just that.’ I sighed and looked back down at the floor, and then several other unwelcome memories jumped into my head. The conversations I’d had with Raven – admitting that I had feelings for Viggo… How strong were those feelings? They were certainly stronger than a crush… I suppressed a shudder – ugh, crushes. The plague of the hopeless romantic. I knew what a crush felt like… And this wasn’t it. I also thought that I knew what being in love was like… But more often than not what I thought was love turned out to be something much more meaningless. To me, love had always ended in heartbreak, but was that really love? After true heartbreak, you were supposed to never be able to love again, but each time I’d picked up the pieces and jammed them back into whatever haphazard order they’d been in before, and I was always relatively alright in the end.

Maybe my view on the whole thing had just been twisted and contorted. Maybe true love wasn’t just something for the movies; maybe it was just something I hadn’t experienced yet, which brought me in a full circle back to my original point… Was I in love with Viggo?

I bit my lower lip and blushed at the idea. There was no way in hell that I was going to admit to myself that I was falling for him. Or should that be had fallen? Whatever it was, I wasn’t about to act on anything. After all, I didn’t even know if he felt anything for me…

***Viggo’s Point of View***

I glanced down at Kira as we danced. She seemed to be deep in thought – so deep that she hadn’t noticed that six songs had passed since we’d last spoken a word to each other. Not that I minded, there was no reason to fill the silence with small-talk, I was just happy to be able to spend time with her.

‘Listen to yourself… You’ve fallen for her so hard that your brain splattered across the floor and you’re oozing dopey little love hearts.’ The sarcastic voice in my head piped up and I sighed quietly, just as Kira stepped a little closer to me to lean her head on my chest as we danced. She was totally unaware of the battle that was raging inside me. Should I tell her the truth? Should I tell her how I really felt? I wanted to. I knew that much, but could I? Any time I was given an opportunity to tell her, the words would fail me. Why was this so hard?

‘Because you’re afraid, that’s why.’ I shook my head slightly, silently cursing my own cowardice. More than anything I wanted her to know the truth about my feelings - and maybe, by some miracle, she might return them – but I was too frightened of losing her as a friend. Were the possible rewards worth the risk? Endless questions swam through my brain, questions that I either couldn’t answer, or couldn’t bring myself to answer.

The slow song we were dancing to ended and the band announced that they had finished for the night. I looked around and noticed that the restaurant had almost cleared of people, and after checking my watch I could see that it was getting towards the small hours of the morning. Kira stepped back and looked up at me, and I realised that I still had my arms wrapped around her.

“I thought I was only supposed to be dancing one dance.” She smiled accusingly.

“Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun?” I smiled back, releasing her from my arms as she let her arms drop from where they had been wrapped around my neck. The places where she had been warming my skin now felt cold and incomplete, and I instantly missed the feeling of holding her in my arms. We walked back to our table and she picked up her light jacket and bag whilst I paid the bill, and then we walked outside. It was a cold, clear night, and as we left the warm building behind us Kira shivered a little. Without thinking about it, I shrugged off my jacket and placed it over her shoulders. She glanced up at me gratefully and moved a little closer to my side. The streets were virtually empty, apart from the odd crowd that would stumble out of a bar as it closed. When one of these groups passed close to us, Kira would walk even closer to me, so I slipped one arm around her shoulders and held her protectively to my side. Her hand found mine where it rested on her shoulder and she shyly laced her fingers through mine – an action that sent my heart racing. It was the little things like that which made me wonder about her feelings, but I didn’t want to get my hopes built up. I’d learnt that when you let that happen, they can quickly be shot down.

We walked along the dark roads back to where we had been filming earlier in the day. I lead Kira through the car park, but she stopped walking once we reached an open area.

“Look.” She whispered quietly, her free hand pointing up to the sky. “The stars are really clear tonight.”

“Yeah.” I smiled looking up and tracing the familiar constellations with my eyes, my breath making clouds in the cold air as I exhaled. Kira leant against my side as she stared up at the sky. I glanced down at her face, seeing the small smile that curved her smooth lips and her eyes alight with wonder. Now would be the perfect time to tell her. In a film, this would be the part where the hero confesses his undying love for the heroine, and she would throw herself into his arms and they would passionately kiss just as a shooting star streaked across the sky behind them. So cliché.

I didn’t say anything though. There would be other chances, and this moment was perfect already, so why ruin it?

We stared up at the sky for a few more minutes, before thin wisps of could began to cover the stars.

“Oh well…” Kira sighed as we started walking back to her trailer. As we reached the steps her hand slipped away from mine and I lifted my arm away as she shrugged off my jacket and handed it back to me. “Thanks Vig.” She smiled, “Tonight was… Amazing.” She blushed a little and I smiled.

“No problem.” I murmured quietly as she turned to walk up the steps. My heart ached to see her walk away. I didn’t want her to go. “Kira?” I called after her, taking a step forward as she turned back, her eyes questioning as I took her cold hands in mine. I leant forwards and gently kissed her cheek. “I’m glad you had fun.” I whispered in her ear. Her hand slipped out of mine as I pulled back, and to my surprise, she wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly.

“I did.” She murmured and I curled my arms around her and closed my eyes. I felt her fingers gripping my shirt as she momentarily buried her head in my shoulder, before pulling away, smiling gently as I reopened my eyes. She turned and walked up the steps to her trailer, slipping her key into the lock and opening the door. “Goodnight Viggo.” She whispered, turning to me as she walked inside, and firing me one last smile before she closed the door. I smiled to myself as she flicked on a light in her trailer and a dim orange glow seeped through the closed curtains. I pulled on my jacket that still smelt faintly of Kira, slipping my hands into my pockets as I walked back to my trailer.