Page 69 of Let’s Make a Scene

There’s me and Jack bickering while we walk uphill in our coats, our bodies curved in toward each other.

There’s Jack laughing with Simon, while I watch him in the background, something like yearning in my face.

Me trying to blow a stray hair from my wig out of my face, and Jack reaching over and tucking it behind my ear.

Me laughing myself silly while Reckless Ed charges around with Jack on his back.

Jack kissing me in the rain, and the way we look after cut is called, like we want to jump each other there and then.

He catching me in his arms when I faint, his face a mask of anger and worry as he cradles me to his chest, yelling for help.

There’s some shaky footage of dubious quality of me singing karaoke, that has everyone in the crowd wolf-whistling, especially when it catches Jack’s face for a moment, his eyes glued to me with a hungry intensity that can’t be denied.

“They were so determined not to get along,” Hattie’s voice comes through the speakers, “but it was clear as day that the pair of them were mad for each other from the start.”

Now the film cuts to face after face in quick succession.

“Totally into each other,” says Liam.

“Jack was out of his mind in love with Cynthie from the beginning.” Arjun laughs.

“The two of them lit up the screen.” Mark, the cinematographer nods. “It was mad to watch. We all knew it was special.”

“You could always tell they were going to end up together.” Hilary from wardrobe sighs. “It was so romantic.”

“You can’t fake chemistry like that,” Logan says.

“They really challenged each other,” Hannah says thoughtfully. “It was the most alive I’d ever seen Cyn.”

“The attraction between them was intense.” Patty smirks. “The air was basically buzzing with pheromones whenever they were near each other. You couldn’t miss it.”

“I think they were the only ones who didn’t see it.” It cuts back to Hannah.

“Those dummies.” Arjun laughs.

Then, the footage gets a bit shaky, and it takes me a second to recognize that it’s from the charity gala.

Jack and I posing for pictures. He looks down at me, and I know that’s the moment he noticed the necklace I was wearing, but all anyone else sees is the way we stare at each other, a slow, dawning recognition.

My cheeks go pink; Jack’s throat bobs. It’s almost painfully intimate.

And then it’s time for another compilation, only this time Brooke had cameras following us, so there’s so much more.

Dozens of clips flicker across the screen.

Of Jack sitting off camera watching me perform with a smile on his face.

Of me with my chin in my hand nodding at something he says.

Of Jack running lines with my feet in his lap.

Of me gazing with such naked lust at the sight of him on the back of a horse that the crowd laughs.

Our hands touching at any opportunity. My head on his shoulder.

Laughing and joking with Patty and Liam.

Jack giving me a piggyback through the mud so my shoes don’t get ruined.

Me handing him a coffee while he looks like I’ve saved his life.

Jack twirling me into an impromptu slow dance.

He watching me. Me watching him. He watching me. Me watching him.

It goes on and on.

Then I’m there on camera.

“What part of working with Jack do you enjoy the most?” Brooke asks. It’s from an interview we did only this morning.

I watch the smile curl on my lips, finding it hard to believe that I ever thought I could hide the way I feel about Jack from anyone, let alone myself.

I smile like I have the best secret in the world.

“Honestly?” I laugh. “It’s everything. He’s fantastic at his job, but he’s so much more than that.

Working with him is… the most fun I’ve ever had. I just love being around him.”

Now Jack’s face replaces mine and Brooke asks him the same question.

He blows out a slow breath. “I don’t know where you start,” he says.

“Her passion, her intelligence, her dedication. The way her skill pushes everyone around her to be better. Mostly though, it’s the pure joy of it.

Working with her, knowing her, has changed my life forever, for the better in every way. ”

“It sounds like you’re really in love with her.” I can hear the smile in Brooke’s voice.

Jack’s own smile grows. “Oh, yeah,” he says, sincerity in every line of his beautiful face.

“I’m so in love with her it’s ridiculous.

You know, people think Edward and Emilia’s story is the height of romance, but they have no idea, none at all.

” He shakes his head. “What you all saw on-screen doesn’t hold a candle to what happened in real life.

The story of me and Cynthie? That’s the real love story. ”

The screen goes black, and Jack’s words hang in the still, warm air. I don’t even realize that I’m crying until I feel Jack’s thumb come up to my cheek, brushing the tears away.

“Don’t cry, love,” he murmurs.

I look at him, and the rest of the world simply disappears. It’s just the two of us, and he’s looking at me with so much emotion in his eyes that it hurts—it physically hurts—like something inside my chest is cracking wide open.

Transformation.

“It is real, isn’t it?” I whisper. “This thing. Us . It was always real.”

“Always was.” Jack’s voice is steady. “Always will be.”

And like a key turning smooth in a lock, I hear the words, and I believe them.

“I love you, Jack.”

“I know.” He tucks a strand of hair tenderly behind my ear.

“Did you just quote Star Wars during our big romantic climax, you dic—” I don’t get any further because then his mouth is on mine, and somehow I’m kissing him and laughing and crying all at once, and my hands are around his neck and he’s pulling me in tight against his body.

I can feel his heart beating, can hear my own in my ears, perfectly in sync.

He kisses me like I’m the most precious thing in the world, and distantly, dimly, I’m aware that the crowd is cheering for us, but none of that matters now. There’s no need to perform anymore.

Right now, there’s no one but us.

And this isn’t the happily ever after moment. It isn’t the perfect ending to our story at all. It’s the perfect beginning.