Angie called the loft with much trepidation Tuesday night after she got back from the Adirondacks. "Hi Rollie, I'm back," she said as she tried to sound lighthearted.
"Are you okay? I mean if you wanted to take some extra time, Ange, you know you could have?"
Angie tried not to sound too down, thinking maybe he didn't want her back. "No!it's okay. I'm all right. What time tomorrow?"
Rollie sighed, "We have to be there for 8:00 a.m. I'll load up the van tonight with everything we need." Angie thought he sounded tired.
"Okay. So I'll be there around 7:15 – 7:30?"
"Sounds good."
"All right. See ya tomorrow."
Angie hung up the phone, her fingers still lightly touching the receiver. That wasn't too difficult, she thought. But tomorrow would be the real test. Stay strong Angie, she told herself. Rollie doesn't love you. You've made a complete idiot of yourself and now you have to live with it. I just hope that you didn't ruin the best friendship you've ever had. Friendship? Hell, Rollie is family! At least she hoped she hadn't ruined that!but if she did, she had made up her mind to leave. Leave Tyler/FX, leave New York and go someplace far away and start a new life. Angie couldn't take it if Rollie left her. That's why she had to do the leaving. Maybe, she thought, it would hurt less that way.
"Bye Ange." Rollie hung up the phone.
Well, that was kinda weird, he thought. He and Angie had always been pretty good at gauging what the other was thinking but this time, he had no idea. Her voice, while still trying to sound cheerful, had an unmistakable sadness about it. It had been almost a week since Loubar had raped Angie using his face. Rollie figured she was covering her feelings but wondered if she would be able to do that when they saw each other tomorrow. He also wondered about his own feelings. How would he handle seeing Angie? The events with Loubar had been an awakening for Rollie. He no longer saw her as a young girl, or just as Manny's daughter. Rollie was beginning to realize that Angie was a woman. A woman he now realized he had very deep and strong feelings for, but still wasn't quite sure what those feelings were. Were they the strongest bonds of friendship? Was it lust? Rollie shook his head, he was certain it wasn't just lust. Could it be that he wanted more from Angie than just friendship? Whatever it was, or was going to be, Rollie knew he had to handle things delicately. A man wearing his face had brutalized Angie. She may hate him, or blame him for what happened. Rollie blamed himself as well. If he hadn't gotten involved with the police, and hadn't risked their lives they might never have met someone like Victor Loubar. But he had. And he wasn't quite sure how he was going to set things right between them.
Rollie was in the kitchen staring into a cup of coffee when Angie arrived the next morning.
"Hey!" she said, cursing herself for sounding breathless.
Stop it Angie! Be strong! She couldn't help it though. Every time she saw Rollie, her heart did summersaults. It had been this way since she first saw him when she was 11 years old. But she wasn't 11 anymore and that was before she had ruined things!her and that bastard Victor Loubar!
"Hey yourself," Rollie answered He had watched Angie's face go from somewhat tense to a flash of anger. Was it being back here at the loft?
"Listen Ang, you don't have to meet me here if it's too hard for you. We could meet at the studio."
"What? Why? I'm fine. Really. It's nothing," Angie realized the reason Rollie thought she might be uncomfortable, "But if it's easier for you!"
"No. I just thought that you!"
"Well, I'm okay," she insisted, "Shall we get going?"
"Yeah."
Except for a few brief remarks about the weather and traffic, they drove mostly in silence to the studio. Once they arrived at the studio, there was plenty of work to do to set things up for the first shot.
Rollie set to work setting up the effects for the fire scene. His shoulder still hurt and every once and awhile he winced in pain, but he wouldn't let Angie handle the heavy equipment. He did get some help from some of the crew though, which pleased Angie. Angie would control the settings from the van, while Rollie would handle the explosions. Angie would later enhance the shots with more added effects with the computer. The shot went well and the team had a brief break while the next shot was set up. Rollie and Angie wouldn't have time to go out to lunch because they had to ready the smoke and flame effects for the next shot. As it was, they wouldn't have much of a break either.
Angie called Rollie through the earpiece "Rol, I'm going to get some sandwiches. Any preferences?"
"Pastrami with mayo, if they have it. Otherwise, surprise me."
Rollie was just getting back to the van when Angie returned with the sandwiches and two big cups of coffee. Rollie took a seat and sat outside the van.
"Some new apprentice sent a couple of the spotlights crashing onto the set," Rollie told her. "So we have a bit of a break for lunch after all."
"I feel sorry for the apprentice," Angie said. "That's not a good way to start a new job." Angie sat on the van's steps. She reached over to hand Rollie his coffee. Their hands touched briefly, and both looked nervously at each other and then away. Angie reached into the bag and handed the sandwich to Rollie.
"Your sandwich, Sir."
Rollie smiled "Thanks, love," he noticed as Angie looked away nervously "Ange? How about we!" before he could finish asking what he was going to ask a tall redheaded woman came up to the FX van.
"Rollie Tyler? I have been trying to reach you for days," the woman exclaimed breathlessly, "You have been playing hard to get for too long!"
Angie rolled her eyes. She could tell an actress a mile away. She could tell a bad one two miles away. She put Annette in the latter category. She recognized Annette from the set of Red Storm. She was tall and gorgeous. And Angie was certain some parts of her were fake, just Rollie's type, Angie was sure. Annette had been so obvious in her flirtations with Rollie that she was actually surprised that the two of them hadn't got together. But then, maybe Rollie needed time and space just like she had.
Annette had sashayed right past Angie, barely even noticing her. Rollie stood and tried to stop Angie from leaving but Annette had stepped in front of him, placing her manicured hands on his chest.
"I think it's about time you and I hooked up, don't you?" Annette purred. It was a statement more than a question as she took his face in her hands and devoured his lips.
Angie got up to excuse herself. She didn't need to be around for this show.
"I'll see you later, boss."
As she walked away, she kept telling herself, you're not jealous!you are not jealous. From a distance Angie had seen Annette kiss Rollie. She quickly turned away. You're not his type, Angie, you never were, she reminded herself.
Rollie gently pulled Annette's arms from around his neck and pulled away from the kiss. "Annette!it's nice to see you too."
"Nice? Rollie Tyler! I should be mad at you. I have called you fifty-thousand times and you haven't returned one phone call!"
"Well, I've been kind of busy," he replied truthfully. He moved over to the van and picked up his PDA, and started fiddling with it. Annette moved closer, not noticing that when she did, Rollie moved away again.
"Well, we're here now. I can think of few interesting ways to spend a lunch hour than just eating a sandwich from the commissary."
Rollie looked up from the PDA, grasping the meaning of what she meant. "I'm sorry Annette. If I've led you on!" he looked at Annette with his deepest puppy-dog eyes, "I never meant to. I'm sort of interested in someone right now."
"Rollie, darling!I'm not interested in anything serious, you know that," she leaned closer, "And frankly, my dear, your reputation is such that I knew that wouldn't be a problem. If you have a little girlfriend on the side, I'm okay with that. That doesn't mean that you and I can't have some fun. The little girlfriend doesn't have to know anything about it, unless of course, you think that she might want to join in?"
Rollie choked on his own air when he got a mental picture of what she was suggesting. Annette quickly handed him his coffee.
"Sorry, Annette!but that's not possible," he coughed quickly adding, "I'm a one woman man. I'm sure you'll find someone else to tickle your!fancy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do." Rollie turned his back to Annette, who stood there completely bewildered and open mouthed.
"Rollie? Rollie!!" She stammered.
Rollie didn't turn around. He kept right on working, wishing she would go. He wasn't interested in her now, though when she had flirted with him before on the set of Red Storm, he hadn't discouraged her. But that was before Loubar. A lot has changed, he thought, looking in the direction Angie had headed.
"We could have been so wonderful together, you know? You and I. It's you're loss," she said finally before stamping off in a huff.
Rollie shuddered at the thought. Ugh.
Rollie scanned the lot for Angie. Finally he spotted her chatting with one of the key grips. They were laughing and were standing pretty close to one another. Rollie suddenly felt jealous. Just then Angie spotted him and waved. Rollie waved back and smiled weakly. How would she feel if she knew he was jealous? Would she care? Rollie headed back to the van and Angie showed up a few minutes later.
"Ready to get back to work Ang?
Angie nodded. "You bet," Angie hadn't seen Rollie pull away from the kiss. When she returned to the van her manner was more subdued. She looked around.
"So, where's what's her face?" she asked, trying not to show her jealousy.
Rollie smiled "She left, in a huff, actually. I told her I wasn't interested," Rollie handed her the canisters they would need for the smoke effects. "Who was that you were talking to?" he asked, trying not to sound jealous.
"That was Kyle," she answered, "He's new to the business. This is only his second day on the job. He's the apprentice who dropped the lights. Poor guy," she laughed, "I tried to help him feel better."
I bet, Rollie thought. "You two were looking pretty chummy there," Rollie cursed himself. Why did he say that?
Angie smiled and shot back, "No more than you and Annette. At least he's got a reason to be on the set," Oops. Angie! You are letting you're jealousy get the better of you!
The two were saved from anymore embarrassing blunders when the director came up. He wanted to discuss details of the next shot. Rollie told him they were all set. He and Angie just needed to set the canisters in place, and the timing and the strength of the smoke would be controlled through the Ambler. He explained a little bit about how the effects would work.
The director, Richard Owen, was enthusiastic about the whole deal. As Rollie explained it to him, he got more and more excited.
Finally, he clapped his hands together and exclaimed, "This is going to be great!" he placed his hand on Rollie's shoulder, "You know, I have heard great things about Tyler/FX and I can see that I won't be disappointed."
He turned to Angie, who until now he hadn't noticed. Angie chuckled to herself, boys and their toys. Owen's eyes ran up and down Angie's body, a slow smile curving his lips
"And who might you be?" he asked.
Angie reddened and stiffened slightly. The counselor had told her that she would experience some apprehension or tension around men. Hey, this guy is cute. Try to enjoy it, she told herself. Do not let Loubar win!
Rollie cleared his throat. "This is my partner, Angie Ramirez," he looked over at Angie who was now clearly enjoying the attention, "Angie? This is our director, Richard Owen."
Angie held out her hand to shake the directors, instead he took her small hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it lightly. Again, Angie reddened.
Owen looked at his watch and sighed. "Well, it's very nice meeting you Ms. Ramirez. I'm sure we'll see more of one another," He turned back to Rollie. "Now, I'm quite definite that Tyler/FX is right for the job. If either of you have any questions or concerns!" he looked at Angie again. "Please don't hesitate to contact me." The director turned and walked back to the set, Rollie's eyes burning a hole in the back of his head.
"Well! Let's get back to work, shall we?" Rollie looked at Angie, whose eyes had followed the director.
"Yeah." Angie answered without moving.
"Ange?"
"Yeah?" Angie realized she hadn't moved. She blushed "Sorry Rol. It's just unusual that's all."
"What is?"
"That. You know. I guess I'm just not used to being hit on twice in one day."
Twice? Rollie thought, well that confirmed it. "What do you mean?"
Angie bowed her head as she placed the canisters into position. "It's just!I'm not the kind of girl that usually gets hit on like that. I mean," she looked down at her breasts, "Guys usually go for the women with big breasts," she held her hands in front of her chest to illustrate her point. "And I'm not, well!you know," she said, surprised that she was talking to Rollie this way.
Rollie smiled. "Angie, most guys aren't just interested in breasts. Though I admit, we do spend a lot of time thinking about them," he winked at her, which brought a blush to her cheeks. Rollie smiled again, which brought a smile to Angie as well. Rollie's face grew serious. "Ange? I was thinking, maybe we could!?" Once again, the question Rollie had been about to ask was interrupted. This time, it was by a delivery person.
"Angela Ramirez? Excuse me; is there an Angela Ramirez here?" The delivery boy asked.
Angie spoke up. The delivery boy handed her a long white box tied with a red ribbon and bow. She reached into her jeans pocket and gave the boy a tip.
Rollie looked over at her, his question forgotten. "A secret admirer Ange? You've been holding out on me," he tried to sound light hearted but Rollie felt a twinge of jealousy.
Angie looked surprised herself. Suddenly she thought of something. "If this is some kind of joke Rollie Tyler!" she narrowed her eyes at him.
"Hey, I had nothing to do with it," he promised. "Open it and see who it's from."
Angie looked at the box in her arms. Suddenly she was nervous. Who would be sending her flowers? Finally, and carefully she opened the box, even squinting her eyes and backing away slightly from the package before she opened it, afraid that maybe it was a bomb. Inside were two-dozen red roses. Angie gasped. "Wow!"
Rollie looked over her shoulder. Even he was impressed. "There's a card," he whispered in Angie's ear. Rollie thought he saw a shiver pass through her. The thought brought a smile to his face.
Angie looked at the card. It read; Have dinner with me tonight? Paul.
"So? Who sent them?" Rollie asked.
"uh!uh!uh!" Angie stammered
Rollie smile faded. "Whoever it is has you really tongue tied," Rollie felt a stab at his heart.
"It's!it's just a guy I met when I went away this past weekend. I really didn't expect to see him again."
"Well, you must have made quite the impression then, Angela," Rollie said as he put his headset on.
"It wasn't like that Rollie. We were both up there to escape, I guess. Anyway he invited me to dinner and I accepted. But that was all it was," she said, giving him a stern look. Angie didn't know why she was offering an explanation to Rollie, "We actually talked most of the night away. He was pretty nice."
Yeah, I bet, Rollie thought. "Well!we've still got plenty of work to do," he reminded Angie "We should check the timers and the settings. The smoke should build gradually, and start at position 14."
"Right."
Rollie grabbed his PDA and started to walk away towards the other end of the set so that he could cue Angie from there.
As Angie put the flowers in the van and put her headset on she called to Rollie "Rol, what was it you were going to ask before?"
Rollie turned, a wistful look on his face "It's nothing that won't keep."