8
October 1999
About three hours later the flood of people finally stopped and all the
people in the department collapsed on their chairs.
Slowly they all pulled themselves up and went outside with their carry
cases to join the other makeup people who had been covering touchups outside to
help as they were called. Tess
waited with Carrie and was pulled in a few times to work on different fix ups
and discussed alternatives as the different cast member were filmed and
photographed.
When she heard her name called out just after coming back from lunch she
picked up her case and went over to where she was needed to see Orlando sitting
a chair next to Elijah Wood and Sean Astin.
As he turned around his eyes locked directly into hers as he smiled
brightly at her. Tess discussed the
changes with the film crew that they were looking at making to his makeup before
she turned to him.
“Don’t worry, I swear it won’t hurt a bit,” she said quietly as
she set about making the changes.
“I’m sure you’ll be gentle,” he replied jokingly.
“Only sometimes, sweetie” she teased back before mentally pulling
herself up short. She could not
believe that she said that to him. She
quickly looked at him and could see he was a little surprised but not freaked
out as he grinned back at her. She
turned as she busied herself in her makeup case on the next chair giving herself
time to compose her thoughts before she turned back to finish the changes.
After they were approved he stood up to prepare to take up his position
again in front of the cameras for further tests as Tess picked up her work
sheets to make notes of the changes.
“Tess, this is Sean, you already met Lij, Sean this is Tess from
makeup.” Orlando made introductions as they all said hello to each other
before he was called away.
Tess stayed and talked to the two boys before she is called away again to
work on further changes in the different races.
The day continued with bursts and lulls as they all tried to finish
perfecting the look of Middle Earth until just after four in the afternoon they
were told that they were finished for the day and the crew would be given their
work assignments the day after tomorrow including a list of who was to start on
Monday and where.
“Also when everyone has put their things away and changed we are having
some drinks in catering to kick off this little production,” called out one of
the production heads loudly.
Tess walked into the catering area with Carrie and grabbed herself a beer
from one of the ice filled bins and as she looked around the room at the large
number of people who were filing in from the different departments.
Everyone mingled around chatting and getting to know each other as the
drinks flowed. Speeches were made
from the department heads as well as Peter Jackson who thanked everyone for
their effort and their continuing hard work over the next fifteen or so months.
After he had finished and everyone went back to party mode Tess continued
to relax with her friends as they moved around the room. They finally sat down at a table as they watched the room and
Carrie surveyed the area for prospective men and started to give scores, much to
the amusement of Tess and Beth. Tess
was startled when she felt someone sit down next to her and she quickly turned
around to see a vaguely familiar face smiling back at her.
Suddenly it registered who it was sitting next to her and she showed her
surprise.
“My God, Orlando, is that really you?” she asked, as she looked at
sweet-faced man with brown eyes the colour of mahogany and a totally unexpected
short dark brown Mohawk.
“Hi, Tess, yeah this is me, without the elf help,” he answers shyly
with nothing to hide behind anymore.
“I personally didn’t picture you with a
Mohawk.”
“Oh, that, no, I don’t normally have one.
I had to shave the front sides off for the wig so I thought I would make
it look like it belonged.” He
answered as he ran his fingers over his head grinning
at her.
“It’s cute.” Tess tells him which caused him to blush as he looked
down at the ground, suddenly feeling a little shy.
She noticed that he had changed into a pair of loose fitting jeans and a
yellow T-shirt covered by a lightweight black jacket.
He
turned around quickly to Carrie and Beth to say hello so they would not think he
was rude as Tess looked over at her friends who were sitting opposite her and
Orlando and noticed that they were trying hard not to break into giggles over
his turning up at the table to talk with Tess.
Tess kicked Carrie under the table as she turns back to him to try and
talk calmly so she did not have to look at the mad women in front of her.
Suddenly
from the other side she hears a loud noise as someone jumped up on the table and
she quickly turned to look up to see Elijah walking over the table to attack
Orlando who has broken out into fits of laughter as he is pushed off the bench
and onto the ground with Elijah standing over him swearing madly at him.
“You
put fucking hair gel in my shoes, you bastard,” Elijah snarled at him.
“Well
with those bloody big hairy feet of yours I thought it might help. Besides, it
made your shoes certainly smell better.” Orlando
is still on the ground as he is being fake kicked by Elijah.
Orlando grabs his shoeless foot and twisted it around until Elijah lost
his balance and crashed onto the ground next to him.
Orlando jumped up next to Tess and out of Elijah’s way so he could get
away quickly if need be.
“I’ll
get you back for that, you little British fuck,” Elijah threatened him still
on the ground before he started to get up.
“Mate,
there is nothing little about any of my fucks,” Orlando taunted back before he
remembered that there are ladies sitting right next to him.
“Sorry, ladies.”
“Don’t
worry about us, darling,” Carrie answered, “I’m sure we’ve all heard
just about everything before. Although
with those sort of bragging comments someone might want a test run.” Carrie
looked directly at Tess as she says this and watched as both Orlando and Tess go
three shades brighter.
“I’ve
actually heard of some women falling asleep during it, if truth be told,”
Elijah uttered as he quickly jumped around to the other side of the table behind
Beth and Carrie. “Hello, nice to
see you again, you wouldn’t let him hit me would you?”
Elijah
is using every ounce of his boyhood charm to gain protection from Orlando who is
still standing on the other side of the table trying to decide his next move.
He looked down at Tess who was in fits of laughter along with just about
everyone else watching these two nuts muck up.
“I
have to go and sort this little shit out. I’ll
talk to you later, I hope.”
“Sure,
but don’t bruise the hobbit’s face otherwise Carrie might have to bruise
you.” Tess warned him.
“I
may be small but I can pack one hell of wallop is you mess up my canvas,”
Carrie tries to give him a serious and mean look which only causes everyone to
laugh more.
“I
promise you all the injuries will be easily hidden,” Orlando swore with his
hand on his heart. All of a sudden
he jumped up onto the bench seat and across the table as Elijah squealed like a
girl and took off at a sprint. The
girls continue to watch as they see Orlando catch up and crash tackle him to the
ground.
“I
swear that boy has absolutely no ass,” Carrie said after they turned back to
their drinks “Oh, I found something out too, he is actually older than he
looks.”
“What
are you talking about?” Tess was not sure what she was on about.
“Your
little elf, Orlando, he’s nearly 23.
Well, he will be in January.”
“How
the hell did you find out that?” Beth asked as she turned to look at Carrie.
“I
have my sources.” Carrie looked and felt extremely smug about her little piece
of information. “So he’s not
illegal, Tess, he just looks it.”
“I’m
still 2 years older than him. And he’s not my elf. Besides, he would probably
prefer a nice little bit of 19 year old ass.” Tess was not going to let them
push her into a relationship that would probably not work and end her work in
New Zealand.
“Maybe
he’s looking for more than ass. Maybe
he wants a brain as well. ”
Carrie challenged Tess’ argument. “Also
I might add, it’s more like 15 months than two years.”
“Look,
he’s cute, in fact very cute, but I’m not looking for romance at the moment. I just want to concentrate on getting settled and working.
If either it happens later on, with anyone, then I’ll be more than
happy.” Tess declared ardently as she stands up.
“Now I’m off for another beer, anyone else want one?”
“Yes,
thank you,” Carrie replied apologetically.
“I’m sorry darling, I don’t mean to badger you, but you’re just
too beautiful to be alone. You look
like you could do with some lovin’, and if it happens to be from a pretty
young thing like that, all the better. I
think I just want you to be happy.”
“But
that’s just it Carrie, I am happy. Right
now, with who I am and what I’m doing with my life, I am very happy.
I don’t need to be two people to be happy. I appreciate what you’re trying to do but just give me time
to find my feet here.”
“Ok,
Tessy, I’m sorry.” Carrie told her as she hopped up and leaned over the
table to give her a hug.
“I’m
just going to get those beers, won’t be long.” Tess slid out from the bench
to go over to the ice bins.
Everyone
started to disband after a few hours as nobody had eaten since lunch and went in
search of food. Carrie and Tess joined up with others from makeup, wigs and
prosthetics to grab a bite to eat before heading back to their places to work on
their run sheets so they were prepared for the first day.
They did not realise then but this was to become an epic, life changing
shoot, both professionally and personally for many involved and not just Tess
and Orlando.