We Must Move On
4 November 1999
Chapter 1
Tess looked at her watch again, wishing the day would hurry up and finish. Although she enjoyed her job completely and loved watching the whole process of making a movie, today her mind was like a sieve, unable to hold onto any coherent thoughts for long. She had done everything to take her mind off what she wanted to be doing but nothing had worked. Every time her eyes would catch sight of him or they spoke all she could think about was that she wanted to make love to him…now. She had thought about talking to him about it when they had had lunch earlier but decided it would be better to wait until tonight when they were alone.
During these first weeks on set Tess had discovered that the ethereal quiet, patient elf was the polar opposite of Orlando. His energy was electric and Tess had always found it funny that the second the cameras were off Orlando was either moving around or fidgeting. But one of the things that had drawn her most was the way he seemed to be so completely open and honest with everyone. His genuine and sweet nature along with his quick and easy sense of humour had already made him many friends.
But over the last few days Tess had gotten to know another side of Orlando, a gentle and romantic young man with a very open heart. When she would look into his expressive brown eyes there was nothing hidden; the person he was, there for all to see. She had also happily found out that he could sit still when given enough incentive. As they had spent more time together and got to know each other on a more personal level she found herself believing that there was a chance of a future for them.
On the Monday as Tess was getting her gear ready for the morning rush Carrie touched her on the arm as she pointed to the door. As Tess turned around and she saw Orlando smiling brightly at her she was quite unprepared for the feelings that welled up inside her. Her heart seemed to skip a beat as she walked over to the door where he was waiting for her.
Orlando suddenly felt nervous as he realised that every pair of eyes in the makeup trailer were trained on him and Tess. He looked down into Tess’ eyes and all thoughts were gone except how beautiful she was and he took her hand as he lowered his head to lightly brush his lips over hers.
“Hey, Angel,” he whispered to her with a smile.
“Hey, Babe,” Tess replied, both of them already beginning to feel comfortable with their nicknames for each other.
The little sighs and giggles from behind Tess reminded them that they were not alone and Orlando pulled her outside. They moved away from the door and ducked around the back of the trailer before Orlando spun her around to softly press her against the wall. Without their audience this time their kiss was stronger and deeper as their arms encircled each other.
Since then they had spent every spare minute together, both on and off the set. When they left in the evening they would go somewhere quiet for dinner and talk late into the night. Tess who hardly ever slept would reluctantly call an end to the evening when she noticed that Orlando would start to yawn and his eyelids grow heavy. After their sensual and drawn out goodbyes at her front door Orlando would finally go home for a few hours sleep before a new day would begin.
Now four days later Tess knew she wanted to go further and had no doubts that he did too. In the early hours of the morning as she was lying awake in bed she had decided that she was going to tell him today. Now all she wanted was the day to end.
Tess picked up her brush pack to check that Carrie had returned the brush she had borrowed earlier and turned around to sit down. As she was digging around in the bag she hooked the strap on the arm of the chair and watched as she flicked the contents all over the ground.
“Oh, fuck it,” Tess mumbled as she dropped the bag on the seat and bent to retrieve the brushes.
“Tess what’s the matter, that’s about the sixth thing you’ve dropped today?” Carrie asked as she helped her pick everything up.
“I’m sorry, I’m not concentrating.”
“No shit. You’ve been off with the fairies all day,” Mel stated as she handed two brushes to her, “or should I say, elves?”
Tess’ cheeks reddened as she looked away, hoping that neither Mel nor Carrie would notice.
“Finally decided did we?” Mel asked casually.
“What are you talking about?” Tess tried to sound calm as she busied herself straightening her make up case.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about, young lady,” Mel replied.
“What in the world are you two going on about,” Carrie asked, completely perplexed by the half spoken conversation going on around her. Suddenly it dawned on her what Mel was asking Tess. “Oh my God, you’re going to…”Carrie lowered her voice to a whisper, “sleep with him, aren’t you?”
“Shh, someone could hear you,” Tess hissed as she looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear their conversation before turning back to Carrie, “and yes, big mouth.
“Does he know?” Carrie asked as she looked towards Orlando who was discussing the scene with Viggo, Brett and Peter Jackson.
“Do you really think he would behaving that calmly if he knew,” Mel asked as she grinned mischievously at Tess
“God, you make it sound like a religious experience,” Tess laughed as she glanced over to Orlando.
“Hey, it may well be, then again it could all be over in two minutes, you can’t tell by looking at them, can you?” Carrie answered.
“So, what made you decide now was the time?” Mel asked quietly as some other members of the crew walked past.
“I don’t know it just feels like its right to be with him.” Tess looked over towards him again, running her eyes over his body. “Besides, that body’s driving me crazy.”
“I bet he’s thinking the same about yours, Hon,” Mel joked before Tess punched her arm.
“Yeah right,” Tess shrugged, noncommittal about her looks as she always was. Her father’s hurtful words throughout her life still ruled over her psyche in many regards. “Anyway, we have to move on at some time, I know I’m not the only one having trouble with control issues.”
“Male hormones be damned, us girls are just as bad, aren’t we?” Mel laughed. “Well, I’m sure everything will be fine.”
“Hope so,” Tess said as she again looked over to Orlando. As she was inspecting the line of his back as it curved in above his slender hips she began to think again what he would look like undressed. She sighed softly as her gaze travelled up to see he had turned his head to look straight at her. She blushed as she bit on her lower lip before smiling at him, knowing he had just caught her checking him out.
Orlando grinned at her, knowing she had been studying him while he was busy. It was only fair as he had done it plenty of times to her over the weeks and she had admitted the other night to doing it too. Actually catching her was certainly quite satisfying; knowing that a girl was sexually attracted to him was always a big plus for most guys, including him. Although now he was feeling self-conscious, hoping he had not been doing any disgusting guy things, like scratching himself, while she had been looking.
As they waited for the crew to finish their work Orlando allowed his mind to wander to their time together over the last few days and how much he loved being with her. He had seen from the beginning that behind the beautiful face was something more, something hidden and protected. Tess was quick to laugh or joke and showed a spirited nature to the world, but Orlando could see that she was cautious about how much of her private self she gave up.
Being able to spend time alone with her away from the distractions and interruptions of the film and everyone else he had been able to see another side of her. She had showed him that she was a gentle and warm, almost serene person in her ways but without appearing weak or gullible. Even though he was sure she could keep up with him when it came to things like sports and stuff he had seen that there was soft and feminine side that he knew was there but found even more appealing when he was the beneficiary of her tenderness.
His thoughts were interrupted by the call to his place on set and as he walked up he glanced back at Tess who was busy fixing Billy’s makeup. He remembered when they were having lunch earlier Tess had seemed distracted, in fact she had been like that all day and Orlando was wondering what had her attention. His mind quickly ran to the possibility of him having done or said something wrong but then thought that towards him she was as affectionate as ever. He would ask her tonight at dinner if she wanted to talk about what was bothering her and hopefully she would open up to him and he might be able to help.