reputation precedes me
So what is my only friend up to today?
nothing much! we’re still doing reshoots and it sucks.
hbu?
Just started prepping for a new project.
tell me about it!
oh nevermind, gotta go, ttyl
Hope peers through her windshield at the gate just down the street. Her stomach is twisting and turning, she is miles outside of her comfort zone and suddenly regrets driving to the studio.
She had done it out of pure boredom and maybe some compassion for her only friend. Boredom because she has two movies in post production and her next project starts in two months. Compassion and pity because Josie keeps complaining about her reshoots and seems genuinely upset over her work schedule.
So here she is, after only a few days of texting Hope is doing things she usually would never do for reasons she can’t quite understand.
All she knows is that her friend is frustrated and she might be able to change that.
After one quick phone call with Emma and some persuasion later she’d gotten all the details for her plan to see Josie on set.
It’s not even been a full week since they met each other at the bar, but Hope is in desperate need to come face to face with her colleague again. She can’t really explain why, there’s just something about the other woman that intrigues her and the friendly charm that radiates off of Josie has Hope craving more than just text messages.
Hope is still staring at the gate and overthinking her intentions. What if she comes off as clingy? What if she disturbs the production? What if Josie doesn’t want to see her in person? What if this whole idea is not something friends typically do?
She sighs and almost puts her car in reverse, but a text message comes through.
I’m bored out of my mind! Tell me about your project!
It’s exactly what Hope needed to hear and without any more hesitation she drives up to the gate rolling her window down in the process. The gatekeeper acknowledges her and approaches her window.
“Ma’am?”
He is tall and objectively quite handsome, but his blond hair is too short for Hope’s taste and his warm brown eyes do not have the distinct color scheme Hope is hoping to see soon. He’s young and she knows immediately that there are multiple ways for her to play out this conversation.
Hope plasters on her signaturesmile that oozes confidence and privilege. Work smarter, not harder.
“Hi.” She reads his nametag. “Marcus. I’m here for the ongoing production of ring of life.”
Marcus tenses at that and eyes her suspiciously.
“Are you on the list?” He points towards his tiny hut. “I can’t just open the gate for anyone.”
Hope chuckles at that. She sighs and takes off the sunglasses and hat she usually wears when out in public. Marcus seems young enough to be familiar with mainstream media and his posture and looks scream that he probably only watches action movies.
And Hope has been in a few of them over the years, playing the movie’s stereotypical eye candy or damsel in distress. She’s not necessarily that proud of her rather one dimensional roles in those action flicks, but at least gained some recognition and enough money to pay the bills from the experience. There is a good chance he knows her face and name. This might be easier than expected.
“But I’m not just anyone, right?” She says with her voice in a lower suggestive tone and winks at him.
He freezes and gawks at her with newfound interest. “Hope Mikaelson?”
“Busted.” Hope tries her most innocent smile. “So, Marcus, how do you want to do this? Do you want to see my ID? Call somebody in there? Send me away?”
She pouts at the last statement and hopes she won’t have to deal with this man for much longer. She really just wants to see Josie.
Marcus is still caught off guard and the visible movement of his Adam's apple makes him look a little nervous. Hope tends to have this effect on people.
“Yes, I need your ID, please.” He shakes his head subtly as if trying to get his thoughts sorted. “What exactly are you doing here? I didn’t know you were part of the show.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t really get into the details.” She hands her ID over. “It’s classified.”
A few minutes pass as Marcus scans her ID and works up the courage to ask her for a photo. It’s awkward, because she stays in her car and he has to uncomfortably crouch down to get both of them into frame. He smiles like a child on Christmas morning and won’t shut up about one of Hope’s first action movies.
He is about to let her in when Hope stops him.
“Would you mind radioing somebody in there so I don’t get lost? I would really appreciate it.”
Hope really questions how he got his job, because apparently all she has to do to get in is wave her name and status around. The studios she works at usually have a whole process and it takes forever to get in if you’re not listed on the production notes.
He hadn’t even called anyone for permission and that seems rather unsafe and irresponsible. She had been prepared for much more questions and potentially taking advantage of the fact that she knows the executive producer and has her number saved.
She decides to mention it to somebody on set. She parks in a huge parking lot right behind the gate and soon a production intern picks her up in a golf cart. The girl seems surprised and nervous just like her colleague and asks a million questions about why Hope is on set. Some members of the crew have been informed and people are eager to meet her and show her around.
It’s a miracle that Hope makes it to Josie’s trailer without being spotted by the brunette, words travel fast in this studio and everybody has heard about her surprise visit already, so Josie must have too.
The trailer is empty, which throws Hope off of her game a little. She had been expecting to barge in on an unsuspecting Josie not an abandoned tiny room.
The inside of the trailer is nothing special. A couch right to the left side of the door, a desk on the opposite wall and a kitchen area to the right. It’s your average production trailer. Except it’s not.
There are so many smaller details making the place ten times homier and cozier and they definitely all have to do with the person who has been spending lots of time in this room.
Photos are pinned to the wall above the desk, polaroids and normal drug store prints. Hope gets closer to get a better look. It looks like most of them were taken during filming and in different locations. Josie goofing around in a weird outfit with another girl, Josie holding some expensive looking camera equipment, a group shot in front of a huge sound stage, people napping in their casting chairs and many more memories captured on this wall probably only meant for Josie’s eyes.
Hope feels like she’s invading her friend’s privacy and stops staring at the pictures, or more like stops staring at how beautiful Josie looks in this one photo taken at a table read.
Hope decides to wait for Josie and awkwardly stands in the corner furthest away from the door. From her spot she can make out a few more details that give Josie’s regular presence away.
Scripts are piled up on the desk, a fluffy blanket and pillow give the couch some more purpose, a reusable Starbucks cup sits on the small kitchen counter right next to multiple unfinished water bottles.
Hope perks up when she spots a ukulele stowed away in the corner behind the door. She is not surprised, maybe she had been stalking her friend’s instagram account and just maybe she is aware of the talents Josie has apart from acting.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
“Lizzie, I swear if this is some sick prank you’re playing, I’ll un-sister you.” Josie is furious.
Lizzie is quiet on the other end of the phone, thoroughly confused by her sister’s tone.
“Hello to you too, Josette.” She sounds offended. “Would you mind being a little more specific?”
Josie sighs, she has almost reached her trailer door and doesn’t feel like being played by her sister.
“I’m talking about Hope.” She climbs the three steps up to her door. “People here are going nuts saying that she’s just casually on set visiting. When she clearly isn’t, I would have seen her already. How much did you pay them to mess with me?”
Josie opens the door and takes her first step into the room. “Can you please, for the love of God, let me have one crush in peace?”
She throws the script she had been carrying under her arm in the general direction of her couch. What she doesn’t expect is protest coming from the very same spot.
“Is this how you greet visitors in the States?”
Josie freezes where she stands in the middle of her trailer. Her eyes go wide and she almost doesn’t register Lizzie’s voice coming out of her phone. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She slowly turns towards her couch and dies a little on the inside. Hope is just casually lounging there eyeing the script she had just been assaulted with curiously.
Josie takes in the other woman carefully. She’s not quite sure if the scene in front of her is real or a fever dream created by her tired and overworked state. Hope looks good. Like really good. Her hair is wavy and looks so soft, she really wants to touch and feel for herself. Hope is barely wearing any makeup, but still manages to look like she just stepped out on a red carpet. She’s wearing dress pants again, this time paired with a forest green button up.
Her blue eyes twinkle with mischief and that’s when Josie realizes that she had just openly admitted to having a crush a few seconds ago with Hope in earshot.
Oh no. How obvious had her talk and confession been?
“Hope?” Josie stares holes through her visitor.
“In the flesh.” Hope stands up with the script in her hand and walks past Josie to place it on the pile of scripts sitting on her desk.
“Josie? Hello?” Lizzie’s voice fills the awkward silence left by Josie’s surprised gawking.
Josie still has the phone raised to her ear and manages to squeeze out an excuse. “Ehm. Sorry. Pretend this never happened. See you later.”
She ends the call and slides the phone into her back pocket. They look at each other for a few uncomfortable seconds before Josie decides to treat Hope like any other friend. She leans in for a hug.
“You’re here?”
Hope reciprocates and chuckles. “No, I’m a figment of your imagination.”
Josie scolds her with an annoyed look and guides them to the couch.
“What are you doing here?” They sit down, their legs brushing together slightly. Josie pretends not to notice.
“Well, I figured my friend could use some company and entertainment.”
Josie can feel herself blush at the statement and averts her gaze. She realizes how unorganized her trailer is and it only turns her face a darker shade of red. She clears her throat.
“How did you even get in here?” Hope’s lips curl into a self satisfied smirk and Josie eyes her suspiciously. “What did you do?”
“Oh I just had a very pleasant conversation with Marcus.” Hope innocently tugs a strand of hair behind her ear while her eyes tell a completely different story and sparkle with mischief.
Josie groans and starts massaging her forehead.
“Oh not poor Marcus. It’s his third week on the job and he’s already letting in complete strangers?”
“In his defense, I can be very persuasive.” Hope looks down to where their thighs touch and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Josie who isn’t sure how to react.
Should she put some space between them?
She doesn’t do anything. Her love language is physical touch and she is always very touchy-feely with her friends, so she’s not going to change that just because of Hope.
Also yes, Hope is definitely persuasive. One stern look and Josie is sure she’ll crumble to pieces and offer her the world.
She thinks it’s time for a change of subject.
“Since you’re here to, I quote, entertain me.” Josie forms air quotes with her fingers while referring to Hope’s earlier statement. “Show me what you got.”
Hope stiffens next to her and seems a little uncertain all of a sudden. Josie is about to ask her what she has on her mind when Hope seems to work herself through whatever has been bugging her.
“I suppose I could tell you all about my next project?” She searches for Josie’s gaze and sends her a weak smile. “I just got the script.”
Josie is confused by the sudden change of demeanor and furrows her brow. This feels weird. She doesn’t press further though, she might be wrong. They’ve known each other for a little over a week and that makes it impossible for her to be able to read Hope this well. Her mind is clearly playing tricks on her.
“Right Your new project!” Josie sits up enthusiastically forgetting how tired she actually is. “I have an hour before I have to get back out there.”
Hope seems to be back to normal as she crosses her legs and gets comfortable right next to Josie.
“I don’t know if you’ve seen any of my movies before.” Hope fiddles with a button on her button up. “So there is this trilogy…”
“Tribrid Tales?” Josie chimes in.
She immediately covers her mouth with both hands and hopes it hides her blush as well as her telltale lips. Her friend raises a challenging eyebrow. How is she so good at that?
Hope also has her signature smile back.
“So you’ve seen my movies?”
Josie keeps her hands where they are and mumbles through them. “Some. Maybe.”
She feels so small and dumb all of a sudden. Hope is going to think she’s a mega fan or stalker. Why can’t she just keep her mouth shut?
She almost shrieks when Hope reaches out to cup her hands and takes them away from where they are currently hiding her embarrassment. Josie holds her breath as Hope casually tugs on her hands and pulls one of them into her lap where she starts drawing patterns on Josie’s warm skin with her thumb.
“Why did you do that?” Hope asks, all of her focus on their hands.
Josie has to remind herself what breathing is and how it works. Instead of paying attention to their hands she looks straight ahead and swallows thickly.
“I don’t want to freak you out.” Hope keeps playing with her hand. “I don’t want to look like a fangirl or stalker or something.”
Hope frowns at that, her eyes not leaving her lap. “Why would I freak out?”
Josie squirms under the touch and question.
“Well I’ve seen a lot of your movies and interviews. It feels like I already know you and we’ve skipped a step in the regular getting to know process.” Josie sighs. “You always say that you don’t have any friends and I feel like I might scare you off, because I kinda know a lot about your career already.”
Hope forms Josie’s hand into a fist and then unfolds it.
“Oh. So you googled me?”
Of course that’s all she takes away from the conversation. Josie huffs frustrated and tries to pull her hand away, but Hope won’t let her.
“I googled you, too.” Hope confesses.
Josie laughs out loud. “You did not!”
“Sure did.”
She tries to meet Hope’s gaze, but the other woman is still entranced by their hands.
“What are you doing?” Josie asks.
Hope tenses a little and for a second Josie thinks she’s going to let go. Instead Hope intertwines their hands and squeezes.
“Remember our audition?” Josie nods. “I noticed that squeezing your hand made you a little less nervous. When you came in earlier you gave me a hug and you unconsciously always make sure we touch or are super close. I think that physical touch is important to you and I hope it makes you less anxious around me.”
Josie gulps and places her gaze on the floor. She should really vacuum in here is all that comes to mind.
When she speaks is more of a whisper and she’s not sure Hope hears it at all.
“What makes you think I’m anxious around you?”
Hope responds by letting go of her hand and tracing patterns onto her forearm.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s the staring, or it could be the fidgeting…”
“I do not fidget!” Josie interrupts.
Her face is heating up and giving her away.
“Maybe it’s the blushing…” Hope says teasingly and Josie is pretty sure she now resembles a tomato instead of a human being.
“There it is.” Hope smiles. “It’s cute.”
Josie is pretty sure she’s going to explode. She has never been this flustered. Since Hope is still holding one of her hands hostage she has no other choice but to resort to her last option for hiding.
She tugs her head into her shirt. She pulls the neckline all the way over her forehead and only leaves her hair out.
Hope starts shaking next to her, trying to hold in a laugh.
“Hey. It’s okay.” She reaches out and tries to get Josie’s full head back. “I don’t blame you, I mean I’m Hope Mikaelson, movie star, model and on the shortlist for sexiest woman alive. I would probably blush in my presence too.”
Josie laughs and it gets too hot in the thick cotton shirt she’s wearing for her role. Reluctantly she pops her head back out. The makeup department will throw a fit, because she definitely ruined her face during all this.
“There she is!” Hope squeezes her hand again.
Josie feels the need to explain herself a little, but she’ll not share the whole truth or correct Hope.
“Yes. You’re just very intimidating. I mean, you’re Hope freaking Mikaelson. I’ve seen you in so many movies and now you’re sitting right here in my trailer.”
Hope’s smile falls and her eyes lose their twinkle. “Crazy, how the world works these days.”
Josie feels like she ruined whatever moment they’d had before and her heart breaks a little when Hope releases her hand.
They sit in silence for a couple of minutes and then Josie watches in horror and amazement as Hope changes her entire attitude within seconds.
It’s like the movie star stepped into a role. She sits up straighter, runs a hand through her hair and takes a deep calming breath.
Hope clears her throat, her smile back in place, it looks a little different than before..
“You were talking about a crush?” She looks past Josie towards the kitchen area. “When you came in you said something about a crush.”
Josie is perplexed. What had just happened?
It looks like Hope is a different person entirely, like she had a few moments to think and decided to approach their entire conversation differently. There is no trace of the teasing and concern she had uttered before. Even her voice sounds different. It’s in a lower pitch. Like something is weighing it down.
“I … I don’t think so…” Josie stammers. She doesn’t know what to do with herself.
“Are you sure? I recall something about having a crush in peace…” Hope keeps digging.
She stands up and leaves Josie alone on the couch longing for their legs to brush or their hands to touch again.
“Yes….” Josie desperately tries to find Hope’s gaze. “Maybe.”
“Well, as your friend I would be more than willing to offer some advice.” The way Hope says friend sounds like an insult.
It rolls off her tongue like a curse and doesn’t remotely sound the way it had when she’d used it before. What’s going on?
“Hope…” Josie finally has the guts to confront her friend.
A knock on the door interrupts them.
“Josie we need you on stage 4 in 5.”
Josie sighs and mutters “Okay.”
°°°°°°°°°°°°
twitter user 1: why are there photos of hope mikaelson on set?
twitter user 2: Hope Mikaelson followed Josie Saltzman on instagram earlier this week. what does this mean?
twitter user 3: are y’all seeing those bts photos?
twitter user 4: hell yes, this is the news I needed.
twitter user 5: wait is hope going to be in the new season?
twitter user 6: why is hope mikaelson on set for ring of life?