34 The Paparazzi

Looking at my phone, I realize I need to get back to work. I grab an armful of red roses and look at Frank.

"Shall we?"

By the time we finish unloading all 1001 roses in front of the trailer, Will walks out and is ready to film. He's the spitting image of what he looked like yesterday down to the fake cuts and blood on his face. These shoes are hurting me so I lean against the trailer while I wait for him to come down. Will stands in front of me and braces an arm on the wall I'm leaning against. He stares at me. The silence feels awkward. Right as I work up the nerve to crack a joke, he breaks the silence.

"This is becoming a disturbance to our work, Astra."

"I'm sorry, Will. I'll talk to him."

"See that you do."

Hearing a click, I keep my head in the direction of Will but my eyes dart in the direction of the sound looking for a threat. There's an unfamiliar person with a camera taking our picture.

"Will, is there anyone on set that we didn't meet yesterday?" I whisper to him.

"No. If they didn't meet you when I was doing introductions, you gave them a rose. Why?"

"Don't turn your head but there's a man with a camera at your 10 o' clock, and he's taking our pictures as we speak."

He looks in the direction of the man, and then leans in close to whisper in my ear. Why did the temperature rise all of a sudden?

"That man is not from here. He most likely snuck onto the set. Go get Frank."

Nodding in agreement, I walk away from the trailer only to notice that he starts following me. Pausing, I pretend to get a phone call and turn my camera on. Turning the camera to his direction, I start taking pictures of the guy while pretending to talk to my dad. I walk through the set and try to think of a plan. Clearly this man took compromising photos of us and is now trying to get a picture of my face. I pull my out of the bun and let it hang in front of my face. It obstructs my view but at least he won't be able to take my picture. Walking around the set, I see Johnny and Joy over by the coffee station. She's pestering him for candy, and he's giving her the runaround. I make a beeline for them.

"There you are, Johnny! I've been looking all over for you!"

"You have?"

"Do you mind giving us a minute, Joy?"

"Okay, but I want that chocolate."

"I don't have chocolate, but if you go to Will's trailer with your mom I have some red roses for you."

"Really?"

"Yes, but you need to go now before someone else sees them."

As she skips off to her mother, I think about how to let Johnny know about the intruder without alerting the guy who's lurking near us.

"There's a problem with the way Will's angles are coming out."

"You have got to be kidding me. The boy looks fine."

"No look." I say while pulling up the pictures.

While I do so, he puts his glasses on to get a better look.

"He should look like this, but this is how he's coming out on the camera. Can you fix it?"

Lowering my voice, I try to explain what's going on as quickly as possible.

"This man was taking pictures of us. I tried getting security but he's following me."

"That won't be a problem. I'll go talk to the rest of the guys now and make sure to fix this."

Knowing he's got the message, I feel like a weight has been taken off of my chest.

"Thank you so much, sorry to be a bother."

"Not a problem. Stay right here, and I should be able to get to you within five minutes."

While I wait, I make a cup of coffee that I don't need and try to keep an eye on the guy. He keeps trying to take photos of me but I hide my face with my hair and the cup of coffee.

Joy comes back to me with an armful of roses and her mother in tow.

"I like the red ones today but next time you should ask for pink."

"Now Joy, what do we say to Astra?" Her mother says gently.

"Thank you, Ms. Astra"

"It was my pleasure," I say.

I switch between talking to Joy's mom, and watching the guy who doesn't do as good of a job of hiding as he think he does. Behind the paparazzi, I see Johnny pointing out the guy to Frank and a couple other guys and they start to surround the guy. In the background, they're shooting the scene between Perseus and Chiron. I sure hope this guy goes peacefully. I'd hate to see the scene ruined. Suddenly the paparazzi realizes he's surrounded until he looks my way. We stare at each other for a few seconds and then we both have a realization at the same time. There's a hole he can escape from and it goes right through Joy's path. She's standing next to the coffee table. This could end badly. He takes off and I try to warn her.

"Joy move!"

Admiring her new roses she doesn't hear me. I kick off my shoes and hit the ground running, hoping I reach her in time. I tackle her to the ground and shield her body with my own and just in time. Right as I do I hear a crash and feel hot liquid hit my back. He actually threw the table with a child there. Looking up, I see that security got the guy and that he's no longer a threat. Joy starts to cry, so I help her up and give her a hug. I feel her arms hit my back and I want to hiss but I keep quiet.

"Are you ok Joy? Are you hurt anywhere?"

She shakes her head and I let out a sigh in relief. Her mom runs up and gives her a hug and starts to check her over making sure she's ok. Knowing that she's safe with her mom, I stand there looking at the paparazzi and I am absolutely pissed.