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Maya fiddled with the paper script, aimlessly flattening and re-creasing the pages Nick dog-eared to memorize his lines.
Go home, the director had said. You don’t appear until later. You should take a day off!
Days off were rare—she could relax for once! But no, taking a day off meant less time to hang out with Nick, even if it was after shooting wrapped for the day. Plus, she wanted to see how the story was supposed to play out.
“B-Because I’m madly in love with her!”
Maya felt a twinge of warmth in her cheeks. She smiled softly as he continued his monologue, impressed at how charming he was despite truly making Mia’s life difficult in the trial.
It was weird being the outsider, seeing him be so passionate and protective for someone that wasn’t, well, her. Even though this case was staged to take place in the past—before her character would even be relevant—seeing Phoenix swoon over anyone felt weird.
Though Dahlia Hawthorne was simply a character, any onlooker could notice the admiration in the eyes of virtually every man in the room.
Lily—who had been cast to play both twins—was a gorgeous, brilliant actress. The way she spoke was often disarmingly sweet, just like the way she said ‘Feenie’ just rolled off the tongue.
And while there was no real sense of ego on set or in the green room, Maya decided it was natural to feel rather plain in comparison. It was one thing that Mia had been perfect for her role. It was another to consider the casting directors were dead set on hiring real sisters. Maya knew to not take that luck for granted.
She wondered what it’d be like to hear Phoenix praise her in the same way, even if it was just the characters talking. The stupid meta-ness of their names matching their characters’ really threw her for a loop at times.
“Hey, Maya?”
“Eek!” It was just like him to scare her out of her daydream. She dropped the papers she was holding for him in her surprise.
“S-sorry,” he apologized quickly, picking up the pages of the script. “Was I bad…?” He trusted her intuition above his own, so he figured it was good to ask sooner rather than later.
“What are you talking about?” Maya asked, genuinely surprised he’d suggest as much. She knelt down to help gather the rest.
“You keep making these pained or confused faces…” he started to explain.
“No, Nick,” she laughed. “You’re passionate. It’s incredible—I really can believe that your character still has feelings for Dahlia even after all this.”
“So… that made you blush?”
“I wondered how it felt,” she admitted, looking away. “To be loved like that.” She placed the somewhat mangled pages into his hand, choosing to not look him in the eyes as she stood up.
For you to love me like that.
He stared at her, blinking slowly, trying to figure out what to say as she quietly dusted herself off. Why didn’t he have cool lines to say to her when they were off camera? “I’m not sure myself,” he finally said, lamely. Phoenix’s heart was practically beating out of his chest.
“We’re going to run that scene for a second take in a minute!” the director announced. “Hurry it up!”
Snapping back into reality, Maya nudged him. “You know your lines?”
They stared down at the crumpled mess that once was the episode script.
“Yeah, thankfully.”
“Alrighty, you should probably get back to the set before Dee kills you.”
“…Do you want to get take out tonight?” Phoenix blurted out, his own cheeks flushing red right above the face mask.
Maya stared at him, trying to figure out why he seemed so antsy. “Sure,” she said, smiling at the suggestion.
Phoenix returned to the witness stand, ready to run the testimony again. Maya watched intently as the scene continued, hanging onto his every word. She was waiting for one line in particular to come up.
“Because I’m madly in love with her!”
He said it differently this time, she noticed. It made her blush, seeing him declare it so openly. The secondhand embarrassment made it difficult to keep watching. Perhaps it was because she was standing right behind the camera, but it was like he was looking directly at her when he spoke.
Maya sat outside the dressing room, swinging her legs back and forth aimlessly. “You did great today,” she said to the closed door. “It’s rare I get to see you act without being on screen too.”
A laugh came from the other end, slightly muffled.
“Y’know I messed up earlier,” were the first words out of Phoenix’s mouth as he swung the door open. He held the knitted sweater he was just wearing balled up in a fist.
“Not even! You barely had to retake anything today.” she said doubtfully, raising an eyebrow. “Also, gimme that, it might crumple.”
He laughed again, silently thankful she was looking out for him. “Thanks, Penny would kill me.”
“See… Earlier, I was trying to ask you if I could take you out, not get take out,” he explained, a hand habitually grazing the back of his neck sheepishly. “We could get dinner…”
“On a date, right?” a voice interrupted. “Not in a boxing match.” Mia approached them from the other side of the set, with Lily following closely. They shared a giggle as Phoenix’s face went red again.
“Yes?” Phoenix said, unsure.
“Be nice to your girlfriend,” Lily teased.
“I mean I, uh…” he babbled. “We’re um… Well…”
“Woah,” Maya added, looking at him. “Are you still in character?” Her eyes widened exaggeratedly.
Despite his entire face reddening by the second, he was thankful to play along with the excuse. “Maybe? It’s been a long day.”
Mia rolled her eyes, amused. “You make good choices now, okay?”
Phoenix’s eyebrows knit together, still trying to compose himself. “You got it, Chief,” he added with a small smile.