The Stranger (Closed for heartofcourage)

As usual the new surroundings, the long drive, it all took their toll on most of the crew and cast, but the director and cameramen felt the need to discuss and Dave stayed around to make sure everything was ready for the next day. He killed the generator and kept a small fire going for the guys to see by, it was late when they finally went to bed, Dave was bushed by then. He made certain that the fire and coals was dead and after doing a check on everybody, he went to the tent, he climbed up, closed the tent flap behind him, stripped off his shirt and sat down onto his bed, he undid his shoes, slipped them off along with his socks. Then he laid down, an arm over his eyes, sleep starting to crawl over him, he was most certain that Jennifer was asleep and he was aiming to do just that.
 
Jennifer was already peacefully asleep by the time Dave crawled into the small space. She let out a little sigh and turned towards him as she felt him settling in. Within just a few short moments, she was snuggled up against his side, her head resting on his shoulder. It was nice to have someone else to share her bed, even if it was just because he was doing his job. It had been far too long, Jen thought to herself sleepily as she let herself drift back into sleep.

The next morning dawned way too early for her, but she was up as always with a cheerful smile on her face as the costume department got her taken care of. Soon, she found herself in the makeup chair, an army of people making her look camera ready as she tried to study over her lines one last time before they started to shoot.
 
He woke to find Jennifer partially draped over him, he carefully untangled himself, giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek, after a quick shower, he got dressed and got breakfast and coffee water ready. By the time the crew started to stir, he had already eaten and was on his second cup of coffee. The Producer, Director and main camera operator came over and started questioning him about locations they needed. Dave was actually quite interested that they didn't need that much location.

After the grilling, he got up from his seat, he noticed that Jennifer was busy getting her make-up done along with some of her co-stars, he leaned against the Jeep, watching the bustle with a small smile, as it became clear that everything was getting together, he broke down the tent and secured it to the roof. Luckily with the locations, they could take the bus along and Dave waited for everybody to get aboard so that they could start.
 
Once Jennifer was finished with her makeup, she grabbed a bottle of water and made her way towards the buds that would take them to their first location. She spared a smile for Dave as she passed by, wanting nothing more than to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him into another toe curling kiss like they had shared the day before. This was business though, she told herself as she focused on what she had to do that morning.

“Good morning, Dave. I hope you slept well.” She said as she swept past him, a grin on her lips as she climbed aboard.
 
As the assistants and crew which could fit into the Jeep had their seats, he found himself next to Jennifer once more,

"Very well thank you, like we say around here, slept like baby kangaroo, warm, snug and out of it."

He grinned at her and then they were off, the first location was close and he parked out of shot, the bus stopping next to him, it seemed like an ant's nest as everybody rushed to get their gear set up. He first walked around, rifle in hand to make sure that all was well and then made sweep in the area to make sure there was no snakes around. When he was done, he sat down on the bonnet, the rifle resting on his lap
 
Jennifer took to the camera like a duck to water. She listened to each suggestion from her director, but put her own flavor on the performance that she was giving. It was tiring work to be constantly on point, doing the best that she could because the crew expected it of her. Every so often though, her attentions was pulled towards the handsome ranger that was sitting on the hood of his vehicle, watching over every one of them while they worked. She smiled towards him, hoping that he saw what she was sending his way.
 
Though he was keeping a sharp eye out for any of the more natural threats, he also kept an eye on the cast and crew, it was hard to keep track of it all. He of course did see the smiles that Jennifer sent his way, but always made sure that he wasn't looking her way when any of the production crew looked his way.

When they finally called for a break, Dave was feeling a bit gritty, he was glad that most of the people had remembered to keep in pairs if they did leave, but the smokers among them really had him on edge, he could not allow even a small brush fire to start right now. He had been pondering a way around this when the call for break came and the catering staff popped into being with refreshments.

He took a sip from his water canteen and watched as the cast and crew ambled to the hastily erected tables. Well then, why wasn't he told that there would be help? He grinned, that made his work load even less. He slid from the bonnet and almost collided with Jennifer, whom had walked over to him.

"Oh hi, almost didn't see you there in your very nice outfit."

He smiled at her,

"I can see why they have all those rave reviews about you, quite the actress you are."
 
Jennifer smile and laughed softly as he made mention about her acting. She had always been a humble girl and she actually blushed after he mentioned it.

"Nah, I'm just doing what I love. If other people like it too, then so much the better." She said to Dave, admiring the way that he looked while he was on the job. "But didn't we already figure out that you've never seen any of my films? I think we need to remedy that tonight."
 
He looked at her with a slight frown,

"Tonight? Don't tell me that you travel around with a portable DVD player and some of your movies."

He pretended to apply make-up,

"That is just SO prima-donna..."

He chuckled and ducked away from the good-natured slap directed his way,

"Let's go see if they have anything drinkable, you should hidrate, this sun will suck the water right out of you and you will not realize it."

It turned out that there was a wide variety of Pops, juices, coffee and tea, Dave decided to stick to the water in his canteen. Unfortunately the break was over way too soon and as they started up again, he went out to make certain that everything was still safe.
 
"I might have a movie or two, but if you don't want to see them..." She commented, grinning at Dave as he teased her before reminding her to take care of herself in the hot sun.

She nodded, knowing that she needed to keep herself hydrated in the elements. She chose a bottle of water, giving another to her assistant to hold until she needed it. Still, she couldn't help but sneak a peak at Dave every so often until the director gave the announcement that they needed to be back on set. She had no idea what it was about that man but he was invading her thoughts all the time!
 
By the time the producers called for the end of the day's shooting, Dave had a new respect for the work that went into the creation of a few minutes in a movie. He still had no idea what the movie was about, but he doubted that he would miss it, he was particularly worried about Jennifer, it seemed like this part focused on her and even through the sunscreen he could see that the sun had burned her, also according to him she did not drink enough water.

After packing up and every got into their vehicles he persuaded Jennifer to drink more water and to slip on a light jacket. Of course all of this seemed silly, but he was glad that she did as he asked, once they got to the camp and have unpacked most of the things, Dave pulled the producer and director aside, giving them a brief walk-through about proper sun protection and how regularly sun screen has to be applied on a warm day. After getting the catering staff to help him to start preparing dinner, he found Jennifer,

"Hey there, first I want you to go grab a shower, make sure that no creepies are hiding out, then I want you to come straight back to me. I want to apply some after sun to that nasty burn you got going there."
 
Jen actually laughed a little as she was told to shower and then come back to him for after burn cream. She had barely noticed the sun at all that day as they shot, but it seemed that he certainly had. He'd been watching...when he wasn't doing his duties.

"I'll be back in a jiff." She said, giving him that easy and joyful grin that she was known for.

Stopping by the camp, she grabbed a fresh pair of shorts and a t-shirt, her favorite shampoo and a bar of soap. It wouldn't be the Ritz, but she was certain that it could be much worse. Once the shower was done and she was sure that there was nothing creepy crawly that remained, Jen did as she was asked and made her way back towards Dave.
 
As it turned out quite a few people found that the sun overpowered their sun screen and he was quite busy handing out soothing gels from his medical kit. Usually used for burns, it did the job with sunburns as well. He noticed Jennifer coming towards him and chuckled,

"You do know that if I am to get to your shoulders you will be showing off a lot of skin very soon?"

He picked up his personal aloe vera gel and motioned her to follow him, he made sure that people could see them, but not see too much if he positioned himself correctly.

"OK, now it will burn like fire, but tomorrow you will not even know that you got burnt."

For starters he applied the gel to her face, ears and neck, he knew it burned, but she seemed to weather it with just an extra few blinks of her eyes, then he motioned for her to turn around,

"Just keep covered what you wish to cover."

He pulled the back up slowly, giving her time to adjust herself and then started to apply the rest of the gel to her shoulders and back, he gave a low whistle,

"If your back looks like this I don't want to see what kind of red you're hiding under the front of that t-shirt."

He lowered the t-shirt's back and when she turned back to face him, he handed her the gel,

"You take care of that, I swear that I can smell burning rice."

He gave her a smile,

"I'll see you later, I'd like that gel back."

He headed off towards the kitchen
 
Jen gritted her teeth and bore the pain that came with the aloe. She hadn't realized that she'd gotten that burned by the sun while they were shooting. Dave worked quickly and efficiently, but he was done too quick. He placed the bottle in her hands and left to take care of some burning rice. It had been a long day.

Jen crawled into their tent atop the jeep and took care of her front. Then, she settled into the sheets and settled back to take a quick nap. The heat, the long shooting day, it all caught up to her as she let herself drift off.
 
A bit of water saved the rice from actually burning, he said nothing as he moved through the kitchen, just adding a few touches here and there. Dinner would be ready in a few moments, he sat down and watched the group as they sat around, most of them wincing from the sunburn. Well he did warn them all had he not?

He noticed that Jennifer wasn't among the group and he wondered where she had disappeared to. Soon enough the announcement came that the curry and rice was done, along with it there was a salad and he waited for everybody to finish helping themselves. When Jennifer still didn't show up, he got up and looked around the campsite and the areas directly around it. Finally he peeked into the tent, there she was, fast asleep. He got in and tucked her in, making sure that the netting was secure to keep out the mosquitoes and then got out.

A few hours later when everybody was in bed, he sat with his feet on the wall of the fire pit, reclined in a camping chair with a cold beer in one hand, this was more like it. He smiled as he sat alone in the dark with just his thoughts and the night sounds for company.
 
Jen's sudden nap ended when she woke up with a start. She looked around the unfamiliar spot for a moment before she remembered where she was. She had been tucked into bed, secured with the mosquito netting. It seemed that a sneaky someone had come looking for her.

She rubbed her eyes with her hands for a moment before she reached for her shoes. Pulling them on, she slipped from her bed and went to find Dave. He was lounging by the fire pit, everyone else already in bed.

"You could have woke me up." She said with a smile on her face as she settled down beside him in another camp chair with a long sigh.
 
He looked up as Jenny came closer, he smiled at her words and took a sip of his beer,

"First thing about sunburn, let the person sleep, hydrate as much possible and when the nausea is passed, let the person eat. So you slept a few hours, you didn't miss much except people eating and comparing skin."

He placed the beer in the holder in the armrest, he picked up his canteen, freshly filled with cool water and held it out to her,

"Since you're on the hydration cycle now, I'd like for you to drink some water and if you can manage it I will get you some curry and rice. It's not warm anymore, but should hit the spot all the same."
 
"Anything you have will be absolutely perfect." Jen said as she took the canteen and took a few swigs from the bottle before she let it settle back into her lap. "I've been on some tough shoots in my career, but this one has been one of the most difficult."

"Of course, it's all made better my a nice, handsome guy who takes good care of me." She laughed softly as she looked over at Dave. "I haven't had that in a long time."
 
"Well that is quite sad to hear, a woman such as yourself are not really meant to be alone...well apart from it being a choice of course."

He fished out some of the left over food, luckily it was still warm enough, he spooned it out into a plate and placed the rest away again, returning to where she sat with the plate and cutlery,

"So among the mob of adoring fans and the social elite there haven't been a guy honest and caring enough to actually woo your feet from under you?"
 
"No one even worth my time." She said honestly as she tucked into the food. "I've had my fair share of men who are interested, but they always turned into stalkers or jerks or fame hunters."

Jennifer stopped eating for a moment and sighed, looking up at Dave for a moment. "It's a lonely life, honestly."
 
"And then you meet probably the only man who doesn't know you. I can see the tabloid headlines already..."

He held his hands up and motioned in the air,

"Bushman meets starlet and changes her tyre, story on page three."

He gave her a smile and relaxed into the chair, taking a sip of beer,

"I kinda know what you mean, my problem again is that nobody actually gets my passion. Oh sure many support what I do, but almost nobody would spend a week in the field trying to prevent poachers from coming into the reserve."

He motioned with his head to the huts,

"Sounds like we will have to skip that DVD, the director mentioned that they needed a sunrise shoot, so tomorrow you will need an early start. Something to do with wanting to shoot the ending already."
 
"He likes to shoot out of sequence. Once we're done here, we are going to London for a few days. Then another location and then another." She said softly, wrinkling her nose at the thought of all the travel.

"I've been thinking about a break though." She confessed to him, glancing in his direction for a long moment. "A nice long vacation where I don't have to think about work."
 
"Vacations are always good to recharge batteries, you should really consider taking one if you feel the need for it."

He looked at her and found her gaze lingering on him,

"Any ideas about where you'd like to go? I prefer the coast myself. Get away from it all, but then again I enjoy my work..."

He grinned,

"Apart from when the CEO decides to punish me and give me a bus full of Japanese tourists with the need to photograph every animal no matter how dangerous. I guess the last vacation I went on was about three years ago."
 
"The coast, huh?" Jennifer asked, looking at him with a smile. "Well, maybe when all is said and done, I can convince a certain handsome ranger to join me on a vacation to the beach."

Jen reached over and placed her hand gently on top of his, giving him a sincere smile. She was enjoying her time with Dave. He made her laugh and made her feel incredibly important.
 
He turned his hand gently and gave her hand a gentle squeeze,

"I believe the certain handsome ranger you have in mind will be honored to go with you."

He smiled at her in the half-light and finished the last of his beer,

"Well time for me to hit the sack, tomorrow promises to be a very long day and hopefully we will be able to finish up early."

He leaned closer to her,

"I have a little something I want to show you, I believe that the crew can get along without me for an hour or two."

He smiled, raised her hand and gave her knuckles a soft kiss,

"I'll just check the camp out quickly, you have time to finish the food and drink more water."

He got to his feet, picked up the rifle wher it had leaned against his chair and walked off
 
Back
Top