I'll Be Undone

[sweethoney]

hey there! (:

took a hiatus from here to get my life/school sorted out but now everything's hunky-dory and i'm back to writing! <3

enjoy~

(no sneezing in this first part, my apologies!)

************

Egypt had always been a rather unremarkable presence on set. It wasn’t by any defect of her own. Even the brightest people managed to fade into the background in Hollywood if they weren’t spitting lines into a camera lens. Truthfully, if she’d ever really had the desire to be an actress the world of film would have opened up to her in the blink of an eye.

She had an old timey beauty about her with a pair of big liquid eyes almost a touch too big for her face and a perfect, luscious mouth. Her body was soft and curved and almost begged to be held, the arcs and bows of her smooth arms peachy in complexion and her sweet tiny knees like scoops of vanilla ice cream. But her dream had never been to act. She kept her beauty reserved and reigned in. And so rightfully, she managed to dissolve into the chaos instead.

You had to be constantly moving when a film was being shot. If you stood still too long someone was bound to snap at you or fire you. Even if you had nothing to do, you damn well better pretend to be busy –a trick Egpyt had perfected over the last few months. She was an intern on set. A job that was never a walk in the park. She dealt with keeping the actors, agents and directors happy. And they were hardly ever happy.

The job had given her a multitude of titles. Coffee runner. Hair sprayer. Shoe strapper. Dress clipper. Script printer. Safety-pinner. Peace maker. Toilet un-clogger.

It wasn’t a glamorous life. And a far stretch from the future in the director’s chair she someday hoped for herself. But she wasn’t stupid. Hollywood was all about steps on the seemingly insurmountable ladder. You had to start at the bottom to get anywhere. It wasn’t all bad. All right, it was all bad –but there was one factor that made it bearable. One devilishly handsome, disarmingly rugged factor.

During those precious moments where Egypt found herself with nothing to do, she always pretended to be busy somewhere near wherever the cameras were pointed. Because they were always pointed at him.

Cameras loved Jeffery O’Connell. It wasn’t any mystery why. He was the essence of all female desire. A deep gravel voice, broad heavy shoulders, a strong jaw, a full masculine mouth, deep eyes, dark thick hair –Egypt was even enticed by the grooves of muscle in his forearms. And the way he could fill out a flannel shirt. And his European nose. And the dark stubble across his face.

Everything about him was damn beautiful. All the female personnel on the set of the movie waited with baited breath for him to appear in the morning out of his trailer. It was practically a battle to see who would get him his coffee first. He was very private and pensive, but always a gentleman. He said please and thank you in a warm, native Southern drawl that made Egypt’s knees weak and held the doors open for people, never raised his voice or copped a Hollywood attitude.

She’d talked to him once. Or, perhaps talk was a stretch. She had been carrying a stack of scripts and bumped into him –he’d steadied her with a warm hand and apologized. Their eyes had gotten tangled for a heated moment. Blood rushed in her ears. Then, he broke away and went about his business.

She seriously considered not washing the shirt he’d grazed his hand across. And then thought better of it. She wasn’t that pathetic.

Was she?

Regardless, when she wasn’t running around like a chicken with her head cut off, she “busied” herself someplace with a vantage point to ogle at him. His acting was superb. He threw his calculated emotions into everything. If he was private and reserved off set, he unleashed all his capacity for emotion for his characters. He was animated and striking, forever irresistible.

And painfully unobtainable.

Or so she thought. Her months of ogling had only won her a brief brush in a hallway because she’d been clumsy and bumped into him. And that was the end of it. Until a rather fateful noon of a rather hectic day of setting up equipment when the set settled into a graceful quietness -the calm before the storm. Egypt first noticed the swirl of the first clouds when she saw a fellow staff member sprinting for the trailers. Another bustled in another direction. Across the way she saw the red face of the director and his angry waving arms. She caught a hold of someone who's eyes were alarmed and seemingly knowledgeable.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked.

The man turned to her with a crease in his brow, "Jeff's missing."

[Evergreen]

you're brilliant. i love you. you know that. but i had to post and tell you that your writing is superb.

Her body was soft and curved and almost begged to be held, the arcs and bows of her smooth arms peachy in complexion and her sweet tiny knees like scoops of vanilla ice cream

that line made a picture in my head. i'm happy you're back! <3333

[sweethoney]

HDKJhsdhsdadj. I LOVE YOU SO MUCHHH. you're wonderful and you flatter me so~ that made me smile so much.

HAPPY TO BE BACK BABEEEE

*******

Egypt searched everywhere. There was no corner of the set she left unturned. The whole place was exploding with mounting tension. It was strange how one man could start such a frenzy. But with a face like his, it sort of made sense. The fabric of the whole institution unspooled with his disappearance. Strategic as always, Egypt figured this was as good a chance as any to prove herself. She would find Jeffery O'Connell and she would return him safe and sound and be crowned savior of the day. The director would notice the creative sparkle in her eye and let her sit next to him. He'd teach her all his tricks, refer her to one of his friends and she'd be directing the next award winning blockbuster within the week.

A girl could dream, couldn't she?

Regardless, Egypt deduced thinking outside the box would be the most helpful. His usual hang out spots were empty, and the other interns and any available personnel kept retracing their steps in hopes he'd magically show up the second time around. So Egypt ventured out into other territory. She started at the place across the street. No sign of him. She doubled back and hit the empty trailers. Nothing. Finally, she ended up in the parking lot. The parking garage was wide and rather empty. Her black glossy heels clicked across the asphalt and echoed darkly. It was silent except for her soft breath and the swish of her long red hair against the shoulders of her blazer. It was no wonder when she heard the slam of a car door it nearly scared her right out of her skin.

Her eyes zeroed in on the sound and there she found him. In all his glory -dark haired, rugged and irresistibly handsome. The window was rolled down on a company truck and he sat in the drivers seat buckling his seat belt. She was momentarily weak kneed by their proximity. This meant she'd have to say something to him now. It would be so much easier to just let him go and pretend she never saw anything -save herself the embarrassment of tripping over her words in front of him. But she remembered she had a job to do. And hopefully someday a job that would pay the bills as well as fulfill her passions. She swallowed her pride and jogged forward.

"Mr. O'Connell!" she called out.

His head snapped up. He froze and she neared. She came up to the window in a rush of vibrant hair and flushed cheeks. He was so much more breathtaking up close. She could see the grooves of what were dimples in his cheeks when he smiled and the warm, inexplicably arousing hollow of his throat from the unbuttoned top of his shirt. But she also noticed with her closeness how tired he looked. His vibrant eyes were low. His mouth hung heavy, his face looked pale -something was wrong. She couldn't put a finger on it, but she'd spent enough time ogling him to know.

"Where...where are you going?" she asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

He paused, playing an inner tug of war with some idea. He lifted his eyes to her and shrugged.

"Gettin' out of here for a bit," he said simply, "You wanna go for a ride, darlin'?"

"Do I want to what?" She blinked.

He looked impatient, "I'm running away for the day. And you can either go back and explain to all of them how you let me go, or you can just come with me."

Egypt blinked once more and opened her mouth. Words escaped her. Below his line of vision she pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. And then, as if it couldn't get any more un-nreal she watched his eyes glass over.

She'd fantasized about Jeffery O'Connell sneezing more times than she was proud to admit. She'd never seen it happen. He was always so composed and reserved. He never so much as coughed a day on set. But she'd be damned if she hadn't tried to envision that sturdy, Adonis face twisting and succumbing to a sneeze once or twice. But her daydreaming was nothing compared to the real deal. She watched it happen in slow motion. His hand that was on the wheel came back toward his face and curled loosely into a fist under his flaring nostrils. His eyes pinched in the corners and the hollow of his throat flexed with hitching breath that was wouldn't have been audible had she not been listening for it. He let it come with a sudden, desperate crumpling of his face. He turned away from her into the truck and the sneeze wrenched him sideways.

​"HUH'urschoo!"

He sniffed pointedly and turned back to her, a little bleary eyed. Before she even had time to collect her dropped jaw he patted the seat beside him in the truck.

"Well?" he asked with a defined croak to his voice, "You comin' or not, Red."

A nickname. Dear sweet Jesus, he'd invited her to escape with him, sneezed, and given her a damn nickname in the span of three minutes. There was no way in hell she was going back to the set.

"Yeah, why not," she said breathlessly.

She ran around the front of the truck and heard him sniffling all the way until she reached the passenger door. He unlocked it for her and she slid in beside him. He didn't look at her as she closed the door, but waited for her to clip her seatbelt before he through the truck in reverse and pealed out of the parking lot.

[SweaterWeather]

Oh man. They ran away together! This is so lovely!

A nickname. Dear sweet Jesus, he'd invited her to escape with him, sneezed, and given her a damn nickname in the span of three minutes. There was no way in hell she was going back to the set.

^ Looking forward to more!

[tma]

Yum!!!

[ellwren]

Love it! Looking forward to more!

[elements]

oh yes!!!!!!!!!!

[Prongs]

You.

Are.

My.

Hero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I love you.