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The producer chuckled. "Oh, right. Michael, this is—" You introduced yourself before he could. Michael repeated your name quietly to himself, almost like he was making sure he'd remember it. "It's nice t'meet you," he smiled. He reached out to shake your hand.

You took it, his hand completely swallowed yours. Instead of giving one quick shake like a normal person, he held onto it for another second... then another... his thumb absentmindedly brushing across your knuckles before his hand slowly slid away.

"...Nice to meet you too, I uhm know who you are." you answered, trying not to overthink it. Michael grinned. "Oh," the producer added casually. "She's my girlfriend. I invited her to see the set." Michael blinked. "...Your girlfriend?"

"Yeah." There was the smallest pause. "...Oh." His smile never disappeared. "Well," he nodded politely. "Hope you're enjoyin' everything." Then he walked away, the producer didn't think twice about it.

He quietly repeated your name under his breath again. Girlfriend. Producer's girlfriend. That was... unfortunate, for the producer not him. About an hour later everyone broke for a short rest.

The producer had wandered off to discuss something with another crew member, leaving you standing by yourself near one of the massive lights. "...Hey." You turned around.

Michael, again. "So..." he smiled, rocking back on his heels. "Whaddya think so far? Like the music video?" "I do," you nodded. "It's really cool seeing how much work goes into all this."

He beamed. "I know, most people don't realize. It’s really a lot." That somehow turned into a twenty-minute conversation. One question became five. "What kinda movies do you like?"

"Oh, horror mostly." His eyes lit up. "No way." "What?" "I love horror movies." "You do?" He nodded excitedly. "'Specially the old ones, I uhm — that’s how Thriller got made." You hummed.  The conversation kept going. It was surprisingly easy talking to him.

He was funny, awkward too. A little dorky, honestly. Then he made his move. "I actually..." He rubbed down his thigh, trying to sound casual. "I got a movie theater at my house." "Oh?" "Yeah."

He looked around before turning towards you more. "...You should come watch one sometime." You smiled politely. "That sounds fun." Before either of you could say anything else. 

"Michael?" Your boyfriend walked back over. Perfect timing. Michael looked between the two of you. Then, without even the slightest bit of shame...

"Hey," he smiled at the producer. "I was wonderin' if I could borrow your girlfriend for a movie date." Silence. You stared your lips pressing into a flat line. Your boyfriend stared at you then at him a bit confused.

Michael stared right back like he'd said the most normal sentence in the world. "...A movie date?" your boyfriend repeated slowly. Michael let out the tiniest giggle. "Oh!" He waved his hands in the air. "No, no. I meant... like... invite her over t'watch movies."

Another pause. "...Not a date." He absolutely meant date. He hadn't stumbled over his words the first time. He'd said exactly what he wanted to say. Your boyfriend narrowed his eyes for a second before sighing.

"...I mean..." He looked at you. "You wanna go?" You shrugged, it’d be rude to say no. "Yeah." Michael smiled far wider than he probably should've. "Great." The rest of the afternoon somehow got even worse or better. Depending on who you asked.

Every chance Michael got, he wandered over to wherever you were standing. "Hows my makeup?" he'd ask after makeup artists had spent fifteen minutes fixing it. "It looks nice." "Really?"

"Yeah, it really does." Five minutes later:

"Did that dance move look okay?" "Well it looked difficult."

"It is! But I really wanna do somethin’ different" He laughed at almost everything you said and you knew damn well you weren’t that funny.  If he needed to guide you through a crowded part of the set, his hand somehow always found the small of your back.

If your hands brushed while someone passed equipment between you, he'd linger for just a second too long before pulling away. Whenever your boyfriend got called off to deal with something… Michael magically appeared.

Almost like he'd been waiting. The thing you noticed most, though...was the way he looked at you.

Those ridiculously big doe eyes never seemed to leave your face whenever you were talking. Most of the time they were soft and curious, but every now and then, usually after saying something that was just a little too flirty, they'd darken ever so slightly before he'd smile to himself.

By the end of filming, the crew had started noticing. Your boyfriend… was trying very hard not to notice. By the end of the recording, Michael had completely stopped pretending he was just being friendly.

The poor crew had watched him drift toward you every chance he got, whether it was between takes, while makeup artists fixed his hair, or when everyone broke for lunch. If he disappeared, someone usually joked, "Check wherever she is," because without fail that's exactly where he'd be.

Your boyfriend had started noticing too. He tried not to think much of it. Michael was naturally affectionate, everyone knew that. He hugged people, complimented people, asked a million questions. That was just... Michael.

At least that's what he kept telling himself. As everyone began wrapping up for the day, Michael wandered over once again, hands tucked into the pockets of his military jacket.

"So..." he smiled, looking directly at you. "Can I have your phone number?" You stared at him for a second. "My phone number?" "Mhm." He nodded. "I wanna call you." Your boyfriend looked up so fast he nearly dropped the clipboard he'd been holding.

"...Excuse me?" Michael glanced over at him with that same innocent smile. "I said I wanna call her." "I heard what you said." "Oh." Michael looked back at you. "We didn't get t'finish talking today." You laughed awkwardly, unsure whether he was joking anymore.

"I don't know..." "C'mon," he said, pouting just enough to be dramatic. "I still wanna hear about those horror movies you like." "Michael." "I'm bein’ serious." 

Your boyfriend finally stepped closer, folding his arms. "...You're asking my girlfriend for her phone number while I'm standing right here."

"Mhm." He nodded once.  There wasn't an ounce of embarrassment on Michael's face. In fact, he looked genuinely confused as to why that mattered. 

"I'll probably be on the phone awhile too," he continued, reaching out for a pen, his staff handed it to him and he held it out to you. "So I'll pay your phone bill."

You blinked. "...You'll what?" "I don't want you gettin' charged because I'm usin' the phone." He said it so sincerely that for a second nobody spoke. Your boyfriend slowly turned to look at you, a brow raised.

" He just offer to pay your phone bill?" Michael nodded matter-of-factly. "It's only fair, I have a habit of talkin’ a lot." Against all common sense, you reached for the pen because you weren’t going to say no! He was so kind today.

Your boyfriend watched in complete disbelief as you scribbled your home landline onto a scrap of paper before handing it back to Michael.

He looked down at it with the biggest smile you'd seen all day, carefully folding it before slipping it into his pocket like it was something priceless.

"I'll call soon." "Not too late," you teased. "I'll try." He looked at your boyfriend then, smiling just as politely as he had when he'd first introduced himself that morning. "Dont think I eva’ told you thanks." "...For what?" "For lettin' me borrow your girlfriend all day." Your boyfriend's eye twitched. "You weren't borrowing her."

Michael let out a quiet little giggle looking your boyfriend up and down before turning on his heels. With one last wave, he walked off toward his trailer, humming lyrics to himself like he'd just won something.