Nora is as shocked as her friends and family when she quits a perfectly good job to become an extra in a Hollywood movie being filmed in Dubrovnik. She hopes it will help her move on from a painful break-up and give her breathing space to find out what she wants to do with her life.
To Nora’s delight she discovers that she loves every minute in her new “temporary” career. It doesn’t hurt either that the handsome assistant director, Ivor, takes more than a passing interest in her. But then events take a dramatic and unforeseen turn when Lucas Winter, world-famous actor and Nora’s teenage heartthrob, unexpectedly arrives on set…
The Stars Among Us is inspired by the author's real-life experience of being an extra on the set of HBO's Game of Thrones. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Lindsey Kelk and Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
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“Coming,” she said, listlessly getting out of bed.
She opened the door not knowing who to expect, but she definitely hadn’t
expected to see him. Lucas Winter. The world-famous actor. At the door of her
studio apartment. Wtf!? She closed
her eyes and briefly shook her head, convinced she was hallucinating. When she
opened her eyes after a couple of seconds, Lucas was still standing at the
door, looking at her with his eyebrows slightly raised. At that moment, she
realised that, on top of all this, she was still in the bloody and ripped dress
from the set. The situation seemed so unbelievable that she thought she had
lost consciousness again.
After the initial shock faded, she finally spoke up.
“Umm… I fell asleep as soon as I came in, my head was agony,” she said
clumsily in Croatian, barely finding the words due to her pain and the
unexpected nature of his visit.
“I hit you with my shield and wanted to check if you were alright. And
apologise,” he blurted out in English.
They spoke at the same time and then just smiled at each other.
“Please, you go first,” he said gallantly.
“So, you’re the one who whacked me over the head? Was there a special
reason for that, or did you just take an instant dislike to me?” she asked,
holding onto the doorframe because her headache was getting worse by the
second. This time, she managed to get the sentences out in English, which she
spoke impeccably, but due to the current circumstances she wondered if it
really sounded that way now.
“Of course not. I’m really sorry. We were perfectly coordinated, but I
had to change direction because of a stuntman getting in the way, and you
stopped for some reason… And that’s when we literally bumped into each other.”
“Yeah, my dress got caught on that three-wheeled carriage on the set,”
she said, gesturing at the rip in her costume. “I assume they won’t bill me for
the damage since you almost killed me,” she concluded theatrically.
He didn’t find it funny; he looked truly worried and ridden with guilt.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” she continued quickly, not wanting him to feel
bad. “I fainted because I can’t stand the sight of blood. And since I’ve
already had a similar accident on another set maybe this really isn’t the right
job for me,” she said cordially, remembering how spectacularly she had fallen
on her behind on a different set during her production career.
“Nonsense, you’re really great at this, at least from what I’ve seen.
And I heard they’ll include the scene in the final cut, despite the incident.
They may even mention you on the closing credits,” he said, ending on an
optimistic note.
However, Nora was more interested in the fact that Lucas had, obviously,
been watching her on set.
“Umm… sorry for asking, but why are you here exactly?” she asked after a
short silence, still not completely convinced this wasn’t a hallucination
caused by the concussion.
“I charmed the girls from the production company into giving me your
address,” he said and smiled again, rather full of himself this time. “I wanted
to apologise in person. The director made us reshoot a couple of scenes after
you fainted so I couldn’t come over earlier. I bought hamburgers on the way
here because I assumed you wouldn’t be cooking in the state you’re in.” He
pulled out a paper bag from behind his back. “Speaking of food, I have the day
off tomorrow and would like to take you out for lunch.”
“Why? Because you cracked my head open? Look, I know it wasn’t on
purpose and you really don’t have to feel bad about it. I accept your apology,
but I’ll take the hamburgers none the less,” she said and reached for the bag.
“Hey, they aren’t all for
you,” he said as he confidently entered the room, smiling.
Sanja S.
Jungic's bestselling debut novel, Zvijezde medu nama (The Stars Among Us) was
published in
Croatian in
2019. The novel was inspired by Sanja's real life experience on the set of
mega-popular show Game of Thrones, gaining a lot of press interest.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sanjasjungic/
Website : https://sanjasjungic.com/
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