AN: A spin-off from my chapter-story "Chasing Dreams". You don't need to have read that first to understand this one. It can stand alone.

“And… cut!”

The cameras stopped rolling, the lighting dimmed, and Caitlin Tyler closed her eyes, breathing a sigh of relief. That had been the most difficult scene they’d filmed that day, and she was relieved it was the last. She always found emotional scenes tricky, and this one was no exception.

Pulling the hairgrips out of her long, dark hair, she shook her head, attempting to prevent the headache she could feel starting in her temples. At least now she could change out of this ridiculously revealing evening dress into something more practical. Taking off her shoes, she padded barefoot back to her trailer. The one good thing about shooting on location in Fiji was definitely the weather, but even that didn’t make up for the loneliness. She and Melina spoke on the phone every night, but it wasn’t the same as seeing each other in person. Until Caitlin had landed this role, the two women hadn’t been apart at night since the day they’d moved in together, just after Melina left school.

Reaching the trailer, she was surprised to find the door unlocked. It was a habit of hers to lock it when she went on-set in the mornings, but perhaps she’d just forgotten that day. Unconcerned, (there wasn’t anything worth stealing in there, after all) she walked in, only to find Melina perched on the bed, waiting patiently for her.

“How… how did you get here?”

“Classes finished really early today, so I decided to fly out here and see you. I’ve got three weeks off, after all.”

Caitlin had almost forgotten, being so wrapped up in filming, that it was almost Easter.

“Why didn’t you say something about it last night?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise. Actually, I’ve had the flights booked for a few weeks now – Dan lent me the money for them. He told me to say hi, by the way.”

“You’re a devious pair and no mistake.” But Caitlin was smiling.

“I must say, I like the dress, Lyn.”

“You wouldn’t if you’d been wearing it all day, I can tell you that much. Let me get changed, and then can we find somewhere to eat?”

“Sounds good to me – the food on the plane was awful.”

Caitlin hurriedly stripped off the dress and hunted around for some casual clothes. Melina sat there, enjoying the view.

“If I wasn’t so hungry, I’d say stuff the meal and stay here instead,” she laughed. “But I’m starving, so I’ll just have to wait until later.”

“There’s this great little restaurant about ten minutes away. We all went there on the first night, but nearly everyone just wants pizza and burgers now, so I tend to go there on my own.”

“Wonder what they’ll think of the two of us.” Melina sounded subdued, which was unusual. Then again, the two had faced plenty of criticism, and even some outright hostility, due to their relationship. Melina had actually left home as soon as she could, just to get away from her disapproving parents. Caitlin, on the other hand, was lucky. Her dad just wanted her to be happy, and if that meant Melina, so be it. As it was, the younger blonde had spent so much time at the Tyler’s house that she was practically family already.

The short walk down the beach was uninterrupted by Caitlin’s colleagues, who were probably all napping before going out and enjoying the nightlife. They strolled hand in hand, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. They hadn’t actually been on holiday together yet – this was as close as they’d managed, so they wanted to make the most of it.

The restaurant was unusually busy, but that meant no-one paid much attention to the two young women dining together, for which they were grateful. They chatted, mainly about what they’d been up to lately – Caitlin’s film and Melina’s medical training.

“How are you finding medical school, anyway?”

“A lot harder than I’d expected, but it’s much more rewarding as well. Last week, I was on a placement in the hospital, and it confirmed that this is definitely what I want to do.”

When they left the restaurant, arms wrapped around the other’s waist, they caused a few raised eyebrows and inquisitive looks, but nobody commented.

“Can you show me the film set?”

“It won’t look anything like you’d expect.”

“I know. That’s why I want to see it.”

Caitlin didn’t expect anybody to still be around, but the director was sitting in front of a computer, reviewing the day’s work.

“Bit early, aren’t you, Caitlin?”

“Just showing Mel around the set.” Melina waved at the director, who didn’t smile back at her.

“Ok. Just don’t break anything, or you’ll be the one explaining why something needs replacing first thing in the morning.” He stood up, stretching. “I’m off now – can you lock the door when you’ve finished?”

“No problem.”

No sooner had the door closed behind him than Melina and Caitlin were in each other’s arms, kissing.

“I’ve been wanting to do that ever since I saw you in that dress. Why don’t you wear stuff like that back home?”

“It’s just a costume.”

“I like it, though.” Mel’s hands slid up underneath Caitlin’s T-shirt, pulling it off.

“We shouldn’t do this here, anyone could walk in.” The protest lost any force it may have had when Caitlin’s hands started tugging at Mel’s shorts.

“What happened to your sense of adventure?”

“I think I lost it.” She indicated a sofa, which would be much more comfortable tan the wall they were currently leaning against. “Along with my sense of propriety and my modesty.”

Where hands had touched, lips soon followed, and before long they were too wrapped up in each other to care where they were, or worry about who might see them. It had been too long, far too long, since they’d been together like this – a whole month, and that was unheard of for them. Slow, teasing pleasure could wait – this was all frantic urgency and desperate need, as clothes were almost ripped off, and kisses were fiercely passionate.

Afterwards, they lay in a tangle of limbs, unwilling to move, even to find a more comfortable position.

“You know, I’ll never be able to act out a scene on this set without remembering this.”

“Not quite what you thought you’d be doing on a film set, hmm?”

“Definitely not.”

“At least nobody else knows about it, so there’s no need for you to get embarrassed.”

“There won’t be, if we leave now and go back to my trailer. The crew can arrive hours before we actually start doing anything.”

“I guess we’d better go, then.”

They scrambled around, trying to find their clothes, and pull them on in the semi-darkness.

“Mel, where’s my bra?”

“No idea, Lyn. Just leave it – it’s too dark to see properly.”

Caitlin allowed herself to be led off the set, still worrying about where her bra might have ended up. With any luck, it would be removed from the set in the morning, and there wouldn’t be a fuss made about it.

…………………

The next morning, Caitlin was greeted by the sound of raucous laughter as she approached the set. Coming closer, she realised what all the noise was about – a lacy bra (hers, from the night before) was hanging from one of the decorative chandeliers. She wasn’t entirely sure how it had got there – Melina must have really thrown it hard, but it was definitely hers. Fortunately, nobody knew to whom it belonged, since there was a lot of loud speculation. Deciding to ignore it all, she sat down and started reading through her script, reminding herself of the first scene they were shooting that day.

They’d almost finished the film – they’d be done in another week or so. It had certainly been an interesting experience, mused Caitlin, and not one that she was likely to forget any time soon. Melina had made sure of that.