Keep rolling

"Lights, camera, action!" yelled Dave.

Shooting had been slow but steady in the last couple of weeks. Everyone tried to do their best to satisfy the star actress' every desire, and finally 'The Model Criminal' seemed to one day see the light of day. In this particular scene, Lauren and Tom were sitting at the bar of a seedy club, discussing the protagonist's next move.

"But what if you are wrong?"

Lauren shot Tom a serious glance, then leaned closer to the fightened man. "You should have realized by now." she hissed, with contempt in her voice -- most of which was genuine. She threw her luscious brunette locks behind her back. "I am never wrong."

"What about the ones who seek to destroy you? Like... her?" asked Tom concerned. With 'her' referring to one of the protagonist's bitter rivals from another model agency.

Lauren took a shot, then slammed the glass on the bar and snarled at Tom. "I've already taken care of her. As will I do with all my enemies. Remember that..."

Tom inched away from the anxious beauty, like he was afraid to get on her bad side. Then he 'accidentally' knocked over his glass full of beer (coloured water), in hopes of wetting the white top that stretched over Lauren's generous bosom. Alas, the actress managed to jump back just in time to avoid most of it.

"Shit, Tom! You messed up again!" she yelled, totally out of character. "I can't believe it!"

"I'm... sorry. It...it was an accident..." stammered Tom.

"Sure was. Just like your choice of career..." said Lauren angrily, wiping away what little got on her sleeves. "That's it! I'm done for today!" she yelled at Dave the director. "If you can't keep things under control, I'm not going to waste my talents on you. Maybe tomorrow."

Bob the producer buried his face in his hands. Another disaster. A scene ruined, and they still got nothing to show for it. Just like all their previous attempts. Lauren had proven to be more cunning than they had anticipated. She had reflexes like a wild cat, keen observation skills, and a seemingly foolproof wardrobe. No matter what they cooked up, she always had a countermove. They were fortunate she had such a low opinion of them that she never once preceived any of these little 'accidents' to be deliberate.

"I am terribly sorry." rushed Dave to his star actress. "Won't happen again. I can promise that."

"Whyever am I still working with such losers like you?" sighed Lauren, like the guys could not hear her at all.

"Because... Because we take good care of you." groveled Dave. "Here, if you wish to take the day off, visit this place." he handed Lauren a small brochure.

Lauren took it. "Luxury spring resort & spa & massage?" she read the brochure.

"You absolutely deserve it." nodded Dave. "You know, prepare your mind and body for the last few scenes before tackling your next grand project."

"I'm always prepared." smiled Lauren confidently. Though she liked Dave stroking her ego. She was the only thing keeping this movie together, after all. And even if they messed up, she had various other award-winning directors competing for her attention. As it should have been. "But I do feel a bit tense after working with you all. Alright, I'll visit the place. Toodles." And with that, the young beauty left for the cars.

"What are you doing, Dave?" asked Bob the producer.

"Yeah! Not only did she refuse to work, you even rewarded her for it!" shook his head Tom in disappointment. Another day, another failure. And they were rapidly running out of time.

"Except..." started Dave, then glanced towards the brunette beauty's limousine leaving the sets -- making sure she was no longer within earshot. "Except I never actually said 'cut'."

Bob and Tom looked at each other puzzled.

"I came up with this backup plan a few days ago after our various other fails." started Dave as he got closer to the two. "It means, the cameras are still rolling, right?" he grinned. "Thus..."

"Thus Lauren cannot stop us from filming if we don't let her catch us film her." finished the sentence Tom once all the pieces fell into place in his head. "It is so simple, yet ingenious. After all our attempts, all we really needed was to catch her off guard."

"Exactly."

"But we can't invade her privacy. We can't film her outside the sets..." started Bob, but Dave cut in.

"That's right! She is going to the sets of another scene. She had already approved the Spa scenes -- after having me get rid of the most interesting bits. I've already booked the place for the shooting. It was to happen within a few days, but she doesn't have to know we moved on to shooting those scenes today. Not that she ever attended a morning meeting or anything. And if she decides to not follow the script and let's say, improvize..."

"We could get some nice shots about what she's got under all that clothing." said Tom, trying to convince the producer.

"If she finds out..." sighed Bob, rubbing his head.

"She won't. At least not until it's too late."

"She's gonna sue the living crap out of us."

"She cannot stop the cameras, and she doesn't have a say in the final product or which 'scenes' we would be using in it." explained Dave. "All we gotta do is not get caught. At least not until we have something worth showing her fans."

"Who knows, maybe once she finds out about what we have, we can coerce her into being a bit more... cooperative in the future." added Tom with a malicious grin.

"Fine," relented Bob with a sigh. "But how the heck are we gonna be able to get close to her with cameras and crew without being noticed? And what about the other actors in those scenes?"

"Don't worry. I have a plan." winked Dave as the three moved towards the van. They only had this one chance. Failure was not an option.