are unplugged, the mics aren’t on, the drums have been padded with pillows, and the cymbals are stacked. I don’t care what you sound like as long as you stay in sync with the music being piped in. Lastly, think of this more like making a movie than a music video. Your job is to evoke emotion from the viewer. To entice them to follow you and buy your stuff. But don’t overact; it has to be believable.”
The door opens and four gorgeous women stride in. They’re wearing what I thought I’d be given—short skirts and slutty tops.
“Ah, the eye candy is here,” Ronni says.
I lean over to Crew. “I thought it was going to be the five of us.”
He appears to be as clueless as I am.
“What’s this about?” I ask. “Are they supposed to be backup singers?”
Ronni belts out a harsh laugh. “This song is about fast cars and fast women. It’s sexy. So we needed a lot of sexy.”
I sink back in my chair. “Great.”
Crew takes my hand under the table.
David’s assistant arrives and hands him a bunch of large poster boards. He puts them on easels around the room. “These are storyboards. Ronni and I have worked for weeks to perfect them. There’s one for each scene. Study them so you’ll know what we expect from you. I have to speak to the extras.”
“Extras?” I look at the four slutty girls. “I thought that’s what they were.”
Ronni laughs. “They aren’t extras. They play a big part in the video. David is going out to brief the hundred or so people who will stand in front of the stage and pretend to be your diehard fans.”
I cross to one of the storyboards. There is a sketch of four women surrounding a man in his car. Another one has them in bed with him.
I look at Ronni. “Seriously? This song is about one woman.”
“That all depends on your perspective. Too late to change it now. We’ve put a hundred hours into pre-production. Do what David asks and maybe we’ll be out of here by midnight.”
Crew nudges me. “So much for those dinner plans.”
I cross my arms. “Like you’d want to go to dinner with me after having those four draped over you all day.”
He tries to hide his amusement. “Who’s acting jealous now?”
I lean into him. “Try not to forget who’s yours at the end of the day.”
His blue eyes dance with happiness. “Are you saying you want to be mine, Bria Cash?”
“If you want me.”
He shuffles his feet. “Let’s get this over with, then.”
Garrett eyes the storyboards. “Some guys have all the luck.”
I punch him in the arm and walk away.
Two hours later, we’re finally shooting. We do the stage scene first, with the five of us playing and singing like we’re performing at a concert. All one hundred extras swarm the stage, with the four sluts front and center.
Everyone acts like they’re at a concert, but they are completely quiet. A hundred people are dancing and mashing, but no sound comes from them other than the shuffling of their feet.
David has us go through the song seven times. Then the slutty girls crawl up onstage, one at a time, and surround Crew. They push me out of the way, and I’m supposed to act all pouty and mad. They glide around him in circles, taking turns touching his neck and chest, and two of them slide their hands under his shirt.
And then they do it three more times.
I don’t have to act pouty and mad. I am pouty and mad.
Between takes, I don’t miss the huge smile on Ronni’s face when she looks at me. She loves what this is doing to me, and there’s plenty more to come.
“You’re doing great,” Crew says between takes.
“As if you’d have time to notice with eight hands groping you.”
He gives me a sympathetic look. “It’ll be over soon.”
I look at the clock. “Like in ten hours.”
“Places!” David calls. “Crew, I need you in the R8.”
I see the excitement on Crew’s face. He gets to sit in an Audi R8, something he will never do again unless we make it big.
It’s harder to watch this scene, because I’m barely in it. All I do is walk past the car and sing a few lines.
Liam pulls me aside. “You don’t have to watch, you know.”
“Yeah, right. Kind of like trying not to look at an accident on the highway.”
“He’s acting, Bria. They’re all acting.”
“I’ll bet some of them wish they weren’t.”
Elsie