(Lydia)“Your shooting begins today, right?” Ruby asked. She was making paper boats with Mabel and Miles. They were planning to wait for it to stop raining so that they could go outside and sail them in the puddles.“Mommy’s a movie star!” Miles exclaimed, raising his hands up.“Haha, yeah,” I laughed, planting a small kiss on his head.“I’ll be back in the evening,” I told Ruby, putting on my overcoat.I grabbed my umbrella and prepared to leave.But just as I was getting my car keys, the doorbell rang.“Thomas?” I asked, opening the door. This was a strange time for him to come over unannounced.Thomas looked directly into my eyes. He was dripping wet, having run up from his car to the front door.It was pouring outside.“What are you doing here?” I asked him.“I’m here to drop you off at the studio,” he said.“But I—““No, Lydia,” he said firmly, “It’s too stormy for you to go there on your own.”“I don’t—““Come on,” he said, grabbing my hand, “You’re getting late”.***I leaned t
(Lydia)Was it possible to love someone so much that you could forgive any crime that they committed against you? Was it possible that the same person who became the source of so much pain to you could also become the source of such incredible peace and such immense joy?That was how I felt about Thomas.I had always wanted to lead a life of passion. I had always to pursue all that had really meant something to me.Thomas was among those parts of my life. If soul mates were real, Thomas Lombardi was mine. And then there was work.I had always felt deeply passionate about my work, and that is why I had excelled in my career so far. But, unlike Thomas, my career could not hurt me.And that is why I spent the next few days deeply immersed in work.***The first day of shooting was fun.“We’re rolling,” the director had said, signaling for me to begin.My heart was pounding. I had taken a deep breath and stepped up towards Nathan.“Do you know,” I said to him in the British accent of my c
(Thomas)Of all the things in the world, the only one that I had ever chosen with all of my heart was love. I had joined the family business simply because that was what Mother and Father had wanted me to do. And I had been happy to do whatever it was that they wished. I had studied business and built a profitable business.Of all that I had in my life, the only thing that belonged to my soul was my relationship with Lydia.Even in the time that we had spent apart, I had always been intuitively drawn towards her. But I had shoved my gut feelings deep down. I had ignored them.And, now, I was paying the price.I wanted her more than words could describe. That day, when she had thrown her arms around me in the car, I had finally felt that same feeling of peace and joy that I had always had around her.But then, she had pulled away again.It had broken my heart.But Lydia was afraid. I understood.She feared that her heart would be broken again.But just as my intuition had once identif
(Lydia)For the past several days, Nathan had been trying to chat me up – in the cafeteria, during rehearsals, and on set.“We have incredible chemistry,” he said, winking at me.I smiled. “I would just like to be friends, Nathan.”I turned my gaze back towards the sheet of dialogues that I had.“Is there a special guy in your life?” he asked.I looked up at him and chuckled. “Nathan!” I exclaimed, “Stop it! We have to work!”“Where is this guy, then?” Nathan persisted.I shook my head.But later, I had a sinking feeling in my heart. Why, in fact, had Thomas not made any effort towards me in all these days? He was coming to see Mabel and Miles every single day. How come he did not approach me and try to have a conversation with me? Had he given up so easily?By the evening, when we wrapped up for the day, this thought had festered into my mind. It was a devastating idea.“What’s up?” Nathan asked, stepping into the make-up room, “Why are you sitting here all alone?”“Oh, it’s nothing,
(Lydia)“Oh, no, no,” I said, clasping my hands over my mouth.What have I done? I thought to myself.“Thomas!” I yelled, running towards the door. I hurled it open again. He was nowhere to be seen.I ran out into the street and glanced left and right. He was nowhere.I heard a rustle in the bushes but ignored it. I could deal with whatever pest problem that this was later.I darted back towards the house and picked up my bag from the floor. I pulled out my phone and dialed Thomas.“Come on, come on,” I said, “Pick up!”It went unanswered.“Why aren’t you answering the phone, Thomas?!” I exclaimed, agitated.Just then, I heard a car pull up outside.As I dialed a second time and held the phone up to my ear again, Ruby and Jack walked in through the door. They were both chuckling about something. The twins bounced in behind them.“Mommy!” Miles exclaimed, “We went to an adventure park!”“And I sat in a spinning teacup, Mommy!” Mabel said.Ruby turned to look at me and her face fell.“L
(Thomas)“What happened?” I exclaimed, darting into the hospital. Sarah was sitting there with Dr. Esther, her face pale and dark circles around her sockets.“Please drink some water, miss,” the assistant said to Sarah. With shaky hands, she picked up the glass and chugged the water down.“It’s okay, Sarah,” Dr. Esther said softly, “Please have a seat, Mr. Lombardi.”I slowly sat down in a chair beside Sarah.She began to cry as she stared at me. “You had me locked up here?” she sobbed, “How could you do that to me, Thomas?”“He didn’t do this to you, Sarah,” Dr. Esther said softly. Her voice was low and comforting.I stared at Sarah, aghast.I did not know what to say.“I’ll die without you, Thomas,” she said.“Don’t say that,” I said to her, “You’ve always been my friend.”Memories of the two of us from childhood began flooding through my mind: Sarah in her little pink skirt and white T shirt stepping shyly into my house, Sarah jumping and cheering while I played football with Jack
(Lydia)“The camera’s rolling,” the director said, “And … go.”I picked at a lock of my hair and twirled it as I batted my lashes. “I didn’t really want to talk about this, you know,” I said, looking away from Nathan. He took a step closer to me and placed a hand on my elbow.“If you don’t want to talk about it, Mary,” he said, “Then there is absolutely nobody stopping you. But one needs to be brave to love. One needs to lay themselves bare and run the risk of getting hurt in order to experience the full joy of love.”I turned around and looked Nathan in the eyes.***One needs to lay themselves bare and run the risk of getting hurt in order to experience the full joy of love. The dialogue had struck me when I had read the screenplay. And, now that we had recorded this scene, I could not help but think more about it.I poked at my steamed rice and peas, not feeling hungry at all.“Hey!” said Jane, dragging a chair up next to me.I looked up and smiled at her, grateful for her presence
(Jack)I put my hand on Ruby’s and squeezed it. She looked at me morosely. “How could this have happened?” she murmured.I grimaced. I did not know what to say.“Sarah has been struggling all these years,” said Ruby, “And she’s never let anyone know.”I rolled my eyes. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly put it that way,” I said, “She has tried to cause serious harm to everyone around her and close to her simply because of her obsession with Thomas.”“Stop it, Jack, Don’t be so cruel!” exclaimed Ruby. She slapped me lightly on the back.“The girl’s been going through Heaven knows what for so long,” she said, “She used to be in my dorm building, you know. Her room was across the corridor from mine. I sometimes caught sounds of her crying to herself. And I did once knock …“Sarah had opened the door, her eyes red and brimming with tears.“‘Oh, honey,’ I had said, ‘What is it?’“‘It’s nothing,’ she had replied, shaking her head.“I had walked into the room.“‘What happened exactly?’ I had asked he