gem's archival

It was around midnight when Michael had just finished a studio session and truthfully, he was just about ready to collapse into bed and cuddle up next to you and be wrapped in your scent. Tonight’s session was way too tedious and monotonous than usual. Not much progress had been done despite the long hours that were given up and it frustrated him. Burnout wasn’t something that Michael could afford but when he couldn’t even write a single line, he knew he needed a break.

It was normal for him to come home during late hours of the night and you were fine with it, opting to wait until he got home despite him protesting and telling you to get some sleep. ‘I don’t sleep well when you’re not here, anyway’ is what you would always say to him. It would usually result in a little petty argument about you not taking care of yourself and you spinning it to him not doing the same but it would always end up with you cuddled up in each other’s arms. And right now, as Michael walks to the front door, it’s all he can think about.

When he nears the door, he pauses for a moment, noticing from the window that the light in the kitchen is turned on. His brows furrow in confusion because you would usually be in bed right now curled up with a book. It was slightly unusual. Nonetheless, he pushed the door open and walked in.

Immediately as he sets his hat on the hook, the scent of baked goods greets him which led him to walk to the kitchen. There, he sees you standing over the oven with a hand on your hip, wearing an apron. Your hair was up and away from your face and your brows furrowed in concentration, clearly you hadn’t noticed that he was there. He watches from the doorway as you grab an oven mitt and check on whatever’s baking in the oven. He smiles and chuckles when you curse, seeing that the goods weren’t done yet and slam the oven back shut.

He clears his throat and calls out, “Baby.” You look up from the oven and jump a little, seemingly startled by his sudden appearance which makes him giggle. “What are you doing?” he asks as he walks towards you, hands reaching out to rest on your hips.

Your hands come up to rest his chest as you look up at him, smiling sheepishly. “Baking apple tarts,” you say as you reach up to gently toy with his curls.

“At midnight?”

“…Yeah?”

He chuckles at the ridiculousness of it all. “Why? You’re usually in bed by now.”

You shrug, pulling away to check at the oven again. “I was in bed but I was reading this cook book and decided, why not try one of the recipes?” you bent over, keeping your eyes on the treats in the oven. In your concentration, you don’t notice the way Michael’s eyes trail over you. The apron was tied quite tightly around your waist and it accentuated your form in a flattering way; it was hard for him to keep his thoughts appropriate at the moment.

You were blabbering something about the supposed recipe you were using when he slightly tilted his head, his eyes wandering to the curve of your ass. Whatever you were saying went in one ear and out the other as he mindlessly nodded and hummed along to your words. When you’ve suddenly gone quiet, his eyes snap to yours and he finds you staring at him with a straight face. He smiles sheepishly.

“You were saying?”

“Mike.”

“I’m sorry, okay? You just look really good in that apron.”

He grins at you as you scoff, straightening yourself up. He stretches his arms out and wraps them around your waist as he embraces you from behind, bringing his head down to gently nose at your neck. When you tilt your head to the side to give him more access, he starts to place soft kisses up to your ear. “I missed you,” he mutters before he rests his chin on your shoulder, his hands caressing your sides.

You turn your head to place a kiss on his cheek. “Missed you too. How was tonight’s session?”

He groans, squeezing slightly around your waist. “Way too long. Didn’t really get anything done. Just wanted to come home.” He slouches against you, a deep sigh exiting him. You turn in his arms to face him but his hands remain on your waist.

Your hand raises to caress his cheek and you say, “You should go to bed. You’re exhausted.” He immediately shakes his head and brings his hand up to cover yours, placing a kiss on your palm.

“No, I wanna stay here with you. And try your tarts.”

You snort. “They’re not done yet. You can try them in the morning.”

He waves his hand in dismissal and moves to lean against the kitchen island behind him. “I’ll wait right here then.” He was stubborn, of course. He didn’t want to go to bed without you. Besides, it was what he was looking forward to the entire time he spent in the studio. The last thing he wanted right now was to sleep in cold sheets.

You stand there, staring at him as he smiles at you. He waves his hand, urging you to continue what you were doing. “Well go on, do your thing.” You chuckle and shake your head at his stubbornness, taking the oven mitt off your hand and placing it on the counter behind you. You walk towards him and bring your hands up to his shoulders. His arms immediately wrap around your waist in response.

“They’re still baking. Might take a while.”

He hums, eyes trailing down to your lips as he bites down on his own. “What do we do while we wait?” His voice drops and his eyes come back up to yours, but they’re darker now. Lidded. His hands were now slowly trailing underneath the string of the apron and the shirt you were wearing to feel at your soft skin. Your heart starts to race a little as you look up at him.

“What do you suggest?” You ask as you tilt your head and smile at him which makes him chuckle. His eyes drop to your lips again and go back up before he finally leans in and presses his lips against yours.

The kiss was slow at first, but when he introduces his tongue, it went deeper. He squeezes his hands on your waist before they trail down to your thighs. You gasp slightly when he lifts you up and onto the kitchen island, the cool temperature of the marble contrasting with the warmth of your skin. Michael stops to stare at you for a moment, admiring.

“You’re so pretty,” he says, making your face heat up. Despite years of being together, he still had that effect on you. You roll your eyes to dismiss the compliment which makes the both of you giggle. You then reach out to tug onto the collar of his shirt to pull his lips back onto yours.

He sighs into the kiss and tilts your head back with his hand slightly to deepen it. The kiss goes on for what felt like minutes before his lips start to move down your chin and to your neck. You let out a whine when he starts to nibble and bite. “Michael,” you let out as your hands tighten on his shoulders. He hums into your neck in acknowledgement. You let out a soft chuckle and say, “I thought you were tired?”

He huffs a laugh out, looks up at you for a moment and says, “Never too tired for this.” And then his head goes back down to kiss and suck on your neck again making you gasp and wine.

“Mike-”

His hands move to undo the string of your apron and then-

Ding!

He pulls back abruptly. “What was that?”

You take a moment to catch your breath and let out a laugh. “The tarts.”

Los Angeles today was fairly sunny. The trees were gently swaying in the wind as the sun casted soft rays on the pavement. It was nice. Calm, relaxing. A stark contrast to the internal uneasiness and anxiety you were feeling. Press tours weren’t usually a big deal for you given that you’ve done plenty in your acting career since you were a teenager, but for some reason, you couldn’t shake this discomfort in your chest as you look out into the streets of LA in attempts to keep your mind off of it.

“You holding up okay there, kid? You’re unusually quiet.”

You turn from the car window and face Savannah, your manager, as she looked back at you from the passenger seat. You smile and let out a sigh, “Yeah… just a little nervy, I guess.” You shrug, nibbling at your bottom lip as you fiddle with your hands, a nervous habit that you did whenever you were under stress.

Savannah raises a brow and chuckles, “I don’t think I’ve seen you this nervous since your first horror film. Everything okay?” She asks this with genuine concern laced in her voice.

You let out a big breath, looking away from her and back at the car window. You raise a hand to gently scratch at your cheek, “I’m fine, Sav’, it’s just… I don’t know… something about this press tour feels freakishly daunting to me. Y’know with all the reshoots that we had to do and stuff… I guess I’m just scared that they’ll ask stuff about shit I can’t control.” As you say that, Savannah stares at you, studying your face with her brows slightly furrowed. You bite your lip in anticipation, slightly intimidated at the way she’s looking at you. You couldn’t lie to Savannah; she always saw right through you. She’s been your manager since you were seventeen on Broadway just starting out. Essentially, she knew you better than anyone. An older sister you never had.

“…What?” You blink.

“So are you gonna tell me the truth or…”

“Sav’!”

She calls out your name in the same tone, “Kid, you’ve been doing interviews since years ago and you’re telling me you’re scared that journalists are gonna do what journalists have always done?” She scoffs; you frown. “Yeah, exactly. So, tell me what’s going on.” You groan and lean your head on the car window, struggling to put into words what you’ve been feeling these past few days.

“You’re nervous about seeing him again, huh?”

Immediately, you raise your head and deny, “No! I don’t even know who you’re talking about.” You cross your arms and of course, Savannah sees right through you.

“Oh, do not even try that with me.” When you start to protest, she cuts you off right away, “Hey- Jaafar’s a good kid. Handsome too, so I totally understand. What I don’t understand is why you’re nervous about this all of a sudden. Haven’t you guys been texting or calling or facetiming or whatever it is you kids do?” She pulls out her tablet, scrolling through whatever your itinerary is for today as the driver informs you both that you’re nearing your destination.

You recall all the times you’ve spent losing sleep because of both the meaningless and meaningful conversations you’ve had with Jaafar late at night which sometimes bled into early morning. Yes, you have been keeping touch with him even months after shooting had ended. He even sent you a text earlier today saying he was looking forward to seeing you again after months. It doesn’t make sense really, the two of you were close, too close at times, so why were you so nervous?

“Yeah, we’ve been keeping in touch. It’s just weird since we haven’t seen each other in a while… maybe things changed, y’know?” You fiddle with your fingers, picking at a piece of stray glue on your press-on nails.

Savannah hums in understanding, still tapping away at her tablet. She looks back at you, “I get you, but trust me when I say you’ve got nothing to worry about.” You sigh, looking back out the car window as they finally reach the studio.

“I hope you’re right.”

—

Jaafar had arrived to the studio twenty minutes early unexpectedly, a slightly jittery feeling in his fingertips. He walked onto set dawning a white silk shirt and black slacks but despite his dapper appearance, there was a somewhat nervousness evident in his steps. He looks around, searching for that one familiar face and smile. In his pursuit, he doesn’t even notice the steps approaching him from behind.

“She’s not here yet.”

Jaafar jumps slightly and turns to find one Colman Domingo giving him a knowing smile. “Oh my gosh, I didn’t see you there,” he breathes out, chuckling before moving to give the man a hug. “Good to see you again.”

Colman reciprocates and gives him some pats on his back. “Same to you. How you feeling?”

 Jaafar steps back and bites his lip lightly, “Ahh- nervous? I haven’t done an interview like this in years.” Colman chuckles, patting his shoulder. The two grew to be very close since the start of filming, Colman providing a sort of guidance to Jaafar as he feels out the acting and film industry.

“Well, I think you’ll do just fine. But if you need anything, you can come to me.” Jaafar nods, grateful for his words.

“Thank you for that, Colman really.”

“Though, I don’t think you’ll need much of my help once she gets here.”

Jaafar blinks. “Once… who gets here?” He questions, though he already sort of knows who he’s referring to.

Colman tilts his head and deadpans at him, “The woman who always somehow manages to get the shy and reserved Jaafar comfortable and laidback on set,” He mentions your name, “Who else would I be talking about?” He laughs, patting his shoulder again, not noticing the slight redness that crept up on the apples of Jaafar’s cheeks as he smiled and snickered. Just then, the door to the studio opens.

“Speak of the devil.”

When Jaafar turns to look, his breath hitches. There you were, wearing a pretty white silk off the shoulder top and a black flowy skirt stopping just below your knees. Your hair was done beautifully, cascading down your back. At first, Jaafar didn’t know what to do as he stood there staring, admiring. It was only when Colman stepped forward to greet you that he broke out of his trance.

“Colman! Good to see you again!”

“You too, sweetheart, you too!”

Jaafar watches with a smile as you and Colman share a hug and laugh. You were a gem, that he knew. You always had a way of connecting with people and making everyone feel included and to Jaafar, that meant everything. When you and Colman step back from the hug, your eyes shift to Jaafar’s, and he almost instantly melts. You smile and step forward. “Hey, you,” you greet, arms stretching out to give him an embrace.

“Hey,” Jaafar replies, grinning as he reciprocates your embrace. Immediately, his nervousness, as well as yours disintegrates. It was funny how just a simple hug between the two of you would be enough for everything to start feeling right again.

When you pull back, you pause abruptly, eyes shifting to his outfit. Jaafar’s brows furrow in confusion when you point to his clothes and then to your own. He looks down at what he’s wearing, and then back at you.

Ah.

He sees it now.

“We’re matching!”

—

Jaafar was the first to sit at the couch for the interview. And when he does, he looks up at you and pats the empty space to his right. You, of course, gladly take the seat and make yourself comfortable. “You look beautiful, by the way,” Jaafar utters, eyes glazing with admiration. Your face heats up slightly, a bashful smile making its way on your lips.

However, you try your best not to let his sweet words get to you. Jokingly tossing your hair back, you say, “Thanks. And you couldn’t have at least tried to match my energy?” to which Jaafar snorts and snickers at.

“We’re literally color coordinated right now.”

“Yeah, and I should fire my stylist for that.”

He bursts out laughing and it makes you let out a chuckle as well.

Soon, the rest of the cast joins the two of you. Colman sits directly to your right, while Juliano Valdi and Nia Long take the two remaining spaces beside him. The interviewer arrives, introduces herself, and kickstarts the interview with questions ranging from how the cast is feeling now that the movie is finished, and what it was like getting into each other’s roles.

You all answer each question thrown at you with grace. Colman is charismatic as ever, cracking jokes whenever fit. Nia is radiant and glowing, and Juliano of course, is always quite the charmer. You were more relaxed despite being a nervous wreck in the car earlier. The same goes for Jaafar and it’s interesting how the two of you seem to be more at ease and level-headed when with each other.

The interviewer then switches the topic up, straightening up from her seat as she addresses you and Jaafar. “Now, I’ve heard that the two of you had phenomenal chemistry during the making of the film. How was it working as each other’s love interests? Especially since this is Jaafar’s first role as well.” As the question was asked, Coleman and Nia give each other a knowing look but it goes unnoticed by the two of you.

You turn to Jaafar and find that he was already looking at you in expectance. Hesitating, you ask him, “Do you want to…?” as you gesture towards the interviewer. It was a question you immediately knew the answer to. It was easy, of course it was. Everything was easy with Jaafar you’ve come to notice. Even the emotionally demanding scenes you had to film with him felt simple. Uncomplicated. Effortless.

“You can go first.” Jaafar says, a comforting smile spread across his face as he briefly caresses your knee.

You let out a slightly shaky breath at the contact and nod, looking back at the interviewer. “Well working with Jaafar… honestly it was like a breath of fresh air because I usually take a while to connect with my co-stars if I’m playing as their love interest. Y’know, I’d usually be shy and it would take a few more reads before I’d feel completely comfortable with the other person. But with him…” You shift your view to Jaafar again and almost lose your composure when you see the way he was looking at you. He was looking at you like you were the only person in the room. Like nothing else mattered. It flusters you and your immediate reaction was to nudge his shoulder, laughing to hide the effect that he had on you.

“Stop! Don’t look at me like that!”

Jaafar lets out a chuckle and raises his hands slightly in playful surrender. “Sorry, go on.” He says, still chuckling, leaning back against his seat. The interviewer smiles at the interaction between you two, while Colman and Nia share yet another knowing look to each other as they watch with fondness.

You sigh as you fix your posture. Clearing your throat you say, “Anyways, yeah… it was different with him… with Jaafar… because everything clicked almost… instantly, really. Like even in the initial chemistry read, there were times where we would just go off script and start improv-ing and bouncing off of each other’s lines so easily.” You chuckle as you’re reminded of the chemistry read. It was where everything started between you two. You remember how it was Jaafar to initially have gone off script which flustered you at first but everything seemed to fall right into place as it went on.

“And Jaafar’s also just such a great actor. Like, it wouldn’t even cross your mind that it was his first time acting because in my experience, every scene that I did with him was… It- it all just felt so… effortless with him because he somehow always just knows what to do or say. It was like…” You pause for a moment. “Like we already knew each other for so long.” Your eyes meet Jaafar’s again. He’s still smiling at you with so much fondness. And this time, you smile back at him.

The moment is interrupted by the interviewer asking, “And Jaafar, how was it for you?”

Jaafar clears his throat to answer, “Honestly, she’s being too nice.” He chuckles when you scoff and start playfully protesting ‘there he goes with that’ while you shake your head in denial. The rest of the cast laughs, as well as the interviewer who was watching with amusement. Jaafar then adjusts the way he’s seated and leans forward slightly to further answer the question, “No but seriously, it was all her. If it wasn’t for her, I would’ve been a mess on that set. She doesn’t give herself enough credit, seriously.”

Immediately you speak up, “I feel like you don’t give yourself enough credit.”

And instantly Jaafar shakes his head, saying your name, “You are one hell of an actress and the only reason I was even able to… to do well in our scenes was because of you and… and how you just make the scenes seem so natural and… almost comforting.” He stares at you with that look again. The look that says ‘you are the only one I see right now’, and it wraps you in warmth, like a blanket.

For a moment, you forget that there were cameras rolling and that you were doing an interview as you stared into his eyes. And when you do remember, “Now you’re making me cry,” you say as you jokingly fan your eyes with your hands. The room erupts in laughter and Jaafar playfully wipes at your eyes with his fingers, making you burst out laughing as well.

When the room calms, Colman speaks up from your right, “You know what, and I mean this sincerely, in all my years of acting, I don’t think I’ve ever seen two actors have so much chemistry right off the bat. I’ve watched them act out a few scenes and rehearse on set and sometimes I feel like I’m interrupting a special moment.”

Nia chimes in with her own input, “Exactly! I sometimes felt like I wasn’t even supposed to be watching because every scene with these two felt so intimate and real.”

And all of a sudden, your co-stars start their own conversation about how yours and Jaafar’s performance gave the film so much more life because of how the two of you seemed to fit each other so well. The way they spoke about it made you slightly bashful and nervous as you looked down at your fingers, picking at your nails almost too harshly. Unbeknownst to you, Jaafar notices and reaches a hand out to pull one of yours away from the other gently.

“You still do that,” he says, loud enough only for you to hear. He then reaches for the small pillow he was leaning against on the couch and hands it to you. With a thoughtful look, he utters, “Don’t want you getting hurt.” You give him a smile as you take the pillow and start fiddling and playing with its tassels.

“Thanks,” you reply. He nods, squeezing your wrist slightly before looking back at your co-stars.

When you put your attention back to the unfolding conversation, Juliano was the one currently speaking. “You wanna know what I’ve seen behind the scenes? I was on break from, like, practicing my dances and stuff so I went to go get some snacks from the break room. When I walk in, I find these two-” he points to you and Jaafar, “they were taking a nap on one of the couches and Jaafar was leaning on her like this-” He leans onto Nia to his right, acting out how Jaafar had supposedly looked, mouth open, snoring. The room erupts in laughter, your jaw dropping in slight shock and Jaafar covering his face in embarrassment.

“Oh my- I didn’t know you were there!” You exclaim, laughing as you stared at the boy smiling mischievously back at you.

“I wanted to take a picture but my mom said to leave you guys alone so,” he shrugs, grinning, happy to have made the people around him laugh.

Nia, Colman, and the interviewer give their own comments about the story told. Things like ‘how adorable’, ‘that’s very endearing’, and similar phrases showing their amusement for the dynamic that you and Jaafar have. And when you look to your left to see Jaafar’s cheeks still slightly reddened with bashfulness as he looked down at his lap, you reach out to place a hand on his forearm, squeezing slightly. His gaze shifts to yours and you mouth ‘you okay?’ to which he nods in response, his hand moving to cover yours for a moment before it settles back on his lap.

—

The interview continues and stretches for a few more minutes with questions about the movie and the creative process of it all being thrown. Soon, it ends and the interviewer stands to shake each of the cast members’ hands. When your manager calls you over to discuss a few concerns, Jaafar’s stare lingers a little, gaining the attention of his other co-stars.

Juliano is the first to speak, “You should ask her out.”

Jaafar looks down at the boy, chuckling, he says, “You think I should?” The kid nods vigorously in response, muttering something about it being ‘painful to watch you two’ which makes Jaafar laugh and shake his head. He sighs, “I don’t know, she seems very busy recently.”

Immediately, Juliano makes a face, “So are you! But if you guys really like each other, you’d make it work.” The kid even crosses his arms in a smug way.

Jaafar gapes at him slightly. “Am I speaking to a grown man right now? What’s going on?” he laughs, which makes the boy grin up at him, giggling slightly. What the two of them didn’t know was that Nia and Colman were listening in to their conversation from a few feet away. The latter walks up to them.

“Kid’s got a point.”

Jaafar turns to face Colman, sighing. “What if she says no?” The man only snorts in response, shaking his head. He pats his shoulder as they look back at you still talking to your manager. When you feel their gaze on you, your head turns to their direction. You smile and wave before turning to say something to your manager. Soon, you were walking towards them.

“I think you’ll be okay, Jaafar.” Colman says, walking away and calling Juliano over to give you two some space. Jaafar looks back at them as they walk away, his gaze catches Nia’s who was giving him a knowing look. He sees her mouth ‘good luck’ as you near and he silently curses at himself, the nerves suddenly getting to him.

You touch his shoulder and he turns almost way too quickly. You chuckle, smiling. “I just came to say bye. Savannah just told me I have a flight to catch.” Jaafar is disappointed, of course, but he nods in understanding nonetheless.

“Oh, okay. Yeah- for sure… uh… text me, alright?”

You nod, still smiling at him. You then reach out for a hug which Jaafar immediately returns. “I’ll see you next interview?” You ask when you pull back, looking up at him in expectance. He nods and hums in response, not really trusting his own voice at the moment because of how nervous he was all of a sudden. “M’kay, well I gotta go say bye to the others.” He nods again, watching as you slowly walk away.

But before you can even take more than five steps, he suddenly feels this surge of courage erupt inside of him. “Actually,” he calls out. You turn abruptly; eyebrows raised at his sudden call.

“Yeah?”

“…Do you wanna go out sometime?”

You pause. He bites his lip in anticipation.

“When?”

“Uh, this Saturday night maybe?”

“…Sav’?” You call out to your manager who raises her head and looks in your direction. “Am I doing anything this Saturday night?” Savannah looks down at her tablet for a moment, scrolling before she looks back up at you and to your surprise, shakes her head no. You nod and sigh in relief before turning back to face Jaafar who was looking at you expectantly. You grin up at him, “Saturday night sounds good.”

Jaafar lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in and nods, a huge smile threatening to split his face. “Saturday night then. I’ll text you the details?”

You hum, “I’ll be waiting then.”

Jaafar is the one who reaches out for a hug this time. In your embrace, he turns his head to mutter in your ear, “I’ll see you Saturday,” and pulls away to gaze into your eyes. You giggle as you look up at him and say right back,

“I’ll see you Saturday.”