The Extra

"Hopefully see you next week, too," Abi said as they rubbed antiseptic gel on their hands at the ward exit, "I've got an early flight to catch in the morning."

"Off anywhere nice?" Walker asked, holding the ward door open for her.

"No, not really. Although it's LA, I won't be allowed much time to go off sight-seeing, it's just a short trip for work," she smiled.

When Walker closed the door and started along the corridor, Abi tucked her arm through his as they walked along, without seeming to give the gesture a second thought. Walker certainly wasn't complaining. They comfortably adjusted their strides to walk along together.

"Er, what kinda work do you do, anyway?" he asked, "If you don't mind me asking."

"Oh, I work at the studios as well as you and Bill," she smiled, "But not all the time. In fact I haven't been there for almost six months."

"You a casual, like me, then Abi?"

"Not casual at all, Walker," she smiled up at him angelically, "You will find that I never do anything casually or by halves. If something interests me, I'm into it enthusiastically, one hundred percent. I can tell you that I am always the first person to arrive in the morning at the make-up department."

"Ah," Walker grinned, thinking she must be a make-up artist, anyone as beautiful as her belonged in the beautician trade. "The Studio only need me for hand shots, doing any of the intricate stuff, then cutting to one of the actors, rather than the whole of me. So I guess I won't be needed for make-up."

"Oh, I don't know," Abi smiled, "I could do you a mean manicure, next time you are in."

"I might take you up on that."

When they parted, as she went one way to her car, he the other direction, Walker would have liked to have kissed her on the lips, but they only exchanged a chaste kiss on the cheek. Walker swore his trusty old Land-Rover floated like an airship on his way into work.

"You old fool!" he muttered to himself, "You're even old enough to be her grandfather's slightly younger brother!"

***

Abi thought that she had seen Walker somewhere before, but really couldn't think where. She liked him, right from the first point of meeting. There was a relaxed inner strength about him, covered with a veneer of gentlemanly, shy, quiet charm, yet confident in himself that he didn't need to show off or pretend to be anything other than nice, a combination that put together in a tall, handsome shell really appealed to her. She understood that he was probably eighteen or maybe even twenty years older than her but that didn't put her off him at all. The immature young men who continually hit on her only tended to leave her cold and unimpressed. She recognised too, that Walker also appeared to be taken with her at first glance but acted shyly around her, which made her smile and feel a warmth comfortably spreading through her body. He was the sort of gentleman that she was certain would always be relied on to treat her like a lady and care about her feelings before his own.

She thought that he had probably already determined that he wouldn't have any chance with her at all, romantically. Perhaps that was why she hedged on telling him the truth that she was about to become one of the stars of the show. Making him think she was just the make-up girl, was part of a silly game, knowing that diversion wouldn't last a day once she returned to the show, so she would soon have to own up to her little subterfuge. But she was comfortable with the thought that they could laugh about that later. After all, wasn't courtship a game of bluff and pretence on either side, until lovers get to the point where the trust develops between them and allows them to lay their gloves and hearts on the table? Yes, that could happen, she thought.

And she really liked the fact that he wasn't pushy, and she quickly came to the decision that, if they continued to get on together well and became more comfortable in each other's company over the next few meetings, she would almost certainly have to be the one that made the first move to escalate their relationship from new friends to future lovers.

She laughed, thinking positively that the very thought of a continuing courtship with this man held the promise of a considerable amount of fun and laughter. Sure, it meant danger to both their hearts if it didn't quite work out as she hoped, of course, but she was determined to make the learning process between them as much pleasure as she could.

Chapter 3. Bull

TWO DAYS LATER Abi was on a soundstage in LA with her co-star Bull Donald. He was a large and handsome man, a former college football star if his publicity handout wasn't over exaggerating. He was about 55 and married to one of the hottest stars in Hollywood, but he still had a bad reputation for hitting on his leading ladies.

Fortunately, Abi had thought, back in January when they started principal filming together, the leading lady in this film was Uma Thurman, so there was no chance that Bull would bother either of the principals in this movie. Abi only worked with Uma on two days, firstly during the read through of the whole script in LA and followed five or six weeks later by a day's studio work in Toronto. Bull was pretty much ever-present in the film. The filming had only been for 33 days altogether, spread over a two month period, with the first scenes being shot out of sequence in the snowy mountains of Montana. Bull was in his element in the mountains, as he loved action.

Now the cast were gathering in LA, filling in voice dubbing on the film they had shot on location over four months previously. The photography had been edited and now they were re-recording the sound. Some of the time Bull and Abi were together in the studio, sometimes they recorded separately, with one actor waiting with the other actors for the current recording to finish. Bull was pretty well in most scenes, a third of them with Uma, almost half with Abi.

This was a romantic comedy and was curiously coincidental, Abi had to admit to herself. The gentlemanly Walker was now constantly in her thoughts, especially held up in regard, in stark contrast with the old rogue Bull Donald. The film was about a developing relationship between an older man and a much younger woman, a theme common enough in film, but in this one it was the sweet innocent young woman that held the power in the relationship.

The difference between this plot and the situation she would like to develop with Walker, was that in the film the relationship was between a mega-rich and powerful man and an innocent girl. Abi felt she'd have to be careful with Walker not to overwhelm him with her current wealth and potential fame, which was presently confined to her home country, but this film plus a second very different film, which she also filmed during her six month sabbatical from the show, had the potential between them to launch her career internationally.

The first two days on the sound stage they were running to scripts as per schedule, the last day they were doing any revisions or retakes once everything has been checked and synced. All the while they were standing by, Bull kept avoiding her, but she just smiled contentedly through the recordings, happy that he was aware of the clearly defined boundaries between them that she had established some months ago at the outset of primary shooting.

Back when they were on location, Bull had tried to work his usual charm offensive on Abi and received a resounding smack on the cheek for his trouble, which took some considerable make-up work to disguise enough for him to appear on camera. It also made it difficult to make facial expressions during those two or three days, so his performance was even more wooden than usual. This time around though, he behaved himself, especially as his lovely and equally successful wife was present with him on the last day of recording.

Bull's wife was Crystal Macintosh, a beautiful A-list actress. Abi was delighted to find that Crystal was friendly and charming. The famous actress seemed to give the impression that she was pleased to meet this rising young British star and complimented her on the way she had played her character with a convincing Californian accent.

"Call me 'Crys', Abi, I have seen the rushes of the film in its raw state and I think you've done a wonderful job of playing the role and the subtle way you made Bull look good in the scenes you shared."

"Thank you, Crys, I appreciate your opinion, I really do."

"Maybe we can work together some time," and she leaned in, whispering, "I mean it, we could have a ball and create some great performances."

Although the American actress was well-known for her string of successful romcoms, recently she had taken on several more challenging roles and Abi was a real fan of her recent work, including a portrayal of Catherine of Aragon two years earlier that won a Golden Globe and therefore must have only marginally missed out on an Oscar nomination. They sat at the back of the viewing theatre together, away from the two or three other actors who came and went as they did their pieces, watching Bull at work on the microphone. They could compare what he was reading to his lip movements on the screen, with Crystal laughing behind her hand at his numerous retakes.

"The poor guy. He truly hates doing all this voice recording work," Crystal admitted to Abi, "He prefers doing the macho action stuff on location. This voice acting in the studio, trying to match his voice to the action, without all the original adrenaline pumping, just wears him down. Anyway," she turned to Abi, "I like what I've seen you do on this movie so far, you are going to be a sensation once this is released."

"Ahh, thank you, Crys, coming from you that's a real compliment," Abi smiled sweetly, "I appreciate your kind words. I do have some brilliantly funny one-liners in it, though."

"You deserve it kid," Crystal smiled back, "anyway, what I want to know is, how did you manage to tame 'The Bull'?"

"Tame the Bull?" Abi asked, puzzled.

"My husband has a well-known reputation in the business," she said bluntly, "of screwing his leading ladies."

"Oh!"

"Don't worry, Abi, I've learned to live with it. I was his leading lady once upon a time."

"Ah, I didn't know that, nor did I fully appreciate his reputation at the outset. Well, all I did to tame him, Crystal, was give him a good, hard slap."

"That all?"

"Yes! My fingers hurt for ages, and Bull spent two extra hours in make-up for the next three days covering up the imprint of my hand." As she spoke, Abi opened up the photo library on her cell phone and showed Crystal a photo of Bull sitting in a make-up chair before the clear pink handprint on his face was covered up. She used her thumb and finger to zoom in so the face filled the screen, the quality of the photo was excellent.

"Ha ha! That's priceless!" screamed Crystal with laughter, as she got her own cell phone out of her slim handbag, "I've got to have a copy of that. Can you pass it across? I think I'll have it framed. And after that he didn't come back for more, Abi?"

"No, I hit him with my right hand and told him that I hit even harder with my left," Abi giggled, "I had to squiggle my signature with my left hand and fork up my meals left-handed for a few days to keep up the pretence that I hit him with my less-favoured hand."

"That's why you are the first class actress in this movie, my dear," Crystal laughed with her, and tucked her arm into Abi's, "And he is just ... The Bull!"

Just at that moment The Bull in question stepped out of the booth to see his hot wife Crystal Mackintosh and that young bitch Abigail Anderson arm in arm, and Crystal told Abi that the look on his face was priceless. Abi and Crystal looked at each other and laughed even louder.

Chapter 4. On Set

W

WALKER'S FIRST WORKING day, as the latest technical advisor appointed to the "High Street" set, was actually a Saturday, when no filming was taking place. He had a little trouble getting through the gate as they did not have the normal weekday security staff on and everything was solidly chained up. He flashed his newly-issued pass and someone must've phoned Julie, because he was soon, and very apologetically, waved through. Bill had already told him where all the mains switches for the workshop were, as some of the machinery needed three-phase power. Plus he was now in possession of all the keys to the workshop and stores.

Walker had the whole two days of the weekend to himself. He wanted to check and log where each piece of the required furniture was and at what stage each was up to. He had a check list and running schedule of all the pieces that were needed. First thing he did before the inventory check was to top up the gelatine glue pot and its water jacket and heat it up to get the traditional flexible animal glue ready for use. He finally worked through the list and satisfied himself as to the quality of the covering cloth and padding for the upholstery, before starting to glue up the frames for the remaining chairs and clamping them overnight until they dried.

He cheerfully whistled a jolly tune as he worked, putting a solvent-thinned layer of shellac on the already made unsealed chairs with bare wood and rubbing down the other chairs with an abrasive fad. He was able to apply a second coat on the new chairs and a softer layer of pure shellac on the already polished chairs. He left these chairs to dry off overnight, checked off his progress on the production list and locked up satisfied with a productive day's work.

The next morning, it really wasn't necessary for Walker to have to walk past the make-up department, as it was a little out of his direct way to the workshop. For some reason, Walker wanted to go that way just to check out exactly where it was and how far away it was from his temporary workshop. He had the good grace to shake his head at his actions as he walked by the locked-up department. He knew he was heading for a raft of heartache, feeling as he did about this girl, but he simply couldn't help himself. He felt he needed Abi to put him straight, even if it broke his heart. If she didn't, he knew he was obliged to stay close to her and cultivate a deep but platonic friendship and forever keep his true feelings for her buried out of her sight. That way he could enjoy being near her without her being offended by showing anything deeper than being plain friendly to a friend of mutual friends in the shape of Bill and Doreen. He was certain now that Abi was a family friend rather than actually related to Bill and Doreen.

He returned on the Sunday and carried on with alternative layers of shellac and abrasive coatings, before he made a start on upholstering the chair frames. He worked quickly and steadily, finishing in time to start cutting the inlays for the dining table and additional fold out leaves. As he worked, he wondered if he should call on Bill and see if he could find out if Abi had a serious boyfriend or not.

And these were the thoughts of a man twice her age, thinking he had any chance with a beautiful girl, who clearly spent several hours a day in close intimate company painting the skin of famous TV soap stars, and maybe even international stars in Los Angeles. Anyway, he thought, how does an old man broach asking such a beautiful young girl out on a date without making a complete idiot of himself?

Monday morning was a day Walker spent setting up and shooting scenes, including a short one in the open workshop set, which, according to the illusion of television, was supposed to be immediately behind the furniture showroom shop. For this scene, Walker had to brief a couple of extras, who came in already made up and prepped in working aprons. He organised one neat-fingered old chap in cutting dovetail joints that Walker had already marked and cut extremely thin guide cuts to follow. The other chap, much younger than the other, Walker soon ascertained was quite cack-handed, so he had him rubbing down some waste wood with some worn-out glass paper. These two guys were only going to be seen, unobtrusively and slightly out of focus, in the background of the scenes to be shot.

The main star of the scene was a handsome but quite arrogant young man, whose age Walker guessed to be about mid 30s. Apparently, he had been working on the show as the workshop foreman and son of the shop owner, for a number of years and thought he had picked up enough woodworking skills to not need Walker's 'interference'. The actor had long hair, which kept flopping in his eyes while he worked. Walker suggested that if he was supposed to be doing this job every working day, he would habitually have his hair tied up in some way.

A pretty young girl from the make-up department, that Walker had seen a couple of times before, came and quickly brushed and secured Gavin's hair up in a neat top knot, before disappearing again. Walker didn't have a chance to quiz the girl whether Abi was back from her trip yet. Walker again tried to prepare the actor for the scene, doing a simple task of glueing up a tiny inlay and then inserting it into one of the prop chairs that was destined to be broken up in a later shot. This was what the director wanted. However, the encounter with the clumsy actor did not go well.

"Look, son," Walker said to the actor, involving the young assistant director in charge of the shoot, after two awful takes, "Just paint the hot glue on this piece in shot, then put the brush back in the pot in shot. When the camera pans to the glue pot, simply drop the glued piece, pick up this dry section and just push that piece in place and wipe with a cloth. If you do it quickly and smoothly, no-one will notice that it is still dry."

Both looked doubtful.

"Look, I'll show you."

Walker picked up one of the inlay strips, glued it up deftly, replaced the brush in the pot, dropping the inlay at the same time onto the floor, which was already dressed with shavings and odd offcuts, picking up another dry piece of inlay out of shot, turning his body half a turn and slotting the inlay into the chair, before immediately wiping over with a cloth. All in one seamless take.

"I can do that," grinned the actor, with the director nodding his approval, although in the end it took the actor Gavin Lacey half a dozen takes until he was as smooth in his action as Walker's first effort.

The scene was finished and Walker was then free to wander about the studios for a while. He popped his head into Make-up, but there was only one older woman in there, busy touching up one of the extras who had clearly mucked up his face during lunch. Walker smiled, he had done the same when he first started, before he learned to discipline himself not to scratch his nose when it itched, once the make-up was in place.

Monday was a early start for filming, so Walker finished early. Walker visited Bill in hospital that evening, keeping him abreast with his progress at the studio. Bill remarked how quickly he seemed to be picking it up.

"Yeah, time goes so quickly, I had forgotten how much I used to enjoy working with wood. I only left the job in the first place because I was married too young and we both wanted to buy a house, so I started doing a second job, working long hours at weekends at rush jobs on building sites because there was no overtime in the joinery shop. Soon I gave up the joinery and started working on putting up film sets which paid really well. I was always volunteering to do the night jobs and weekends for the shift ratio payments."

"You're not still married though, are you, Walker?" Bill asked, and continued after the younger man sadly shook his head, "What happened?"

"We were childhood sweethearts, friends since we were yah-high. I thought we'd always be together, and we both worked hard saving to get our own place, planning to have children. But once out of school and living together we kept arguing. The more money I made, the more she wanted to spend and then she dropped the bombshell that she didn't want kids, preferrin' to party at weekends, which I was too shattered to enjoy, and have great vacations every year. In the end she partied and I departed."