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Short filmTranscript
00:00the first time i met julian cross he sued me i found out because a man in a navy blazer jogged across a sunlit sidewalk in santa barbara waved a thick envelope like a flag of surrender and said miss lane right as i was framing the shot that would ruin my life click
00:16the sound of my camera shutter echoed off the white stone walls of the mansion across the street bougainvillea spilled like pink confetti over wrought iron gates the ocean glittered behind it smug and blue like it knew something i didn't
00:31yes i said still looking through my lens if this is about donations i have seventeen dollars and a coupon for oat milk i'm serving you the man said out of breath you've been named in a civil action
00:45that got my attention i lowered the camera serving me what breakfast he didn't laugh that should have been my first clue
00:56he handed me the envelope my name mara lane was typed in crisp black letters inside were words like trespass
01:06invasion of privacy and damages there was also a name that made my stomach do a full somersault
01:11julian cross media tycoon billionaire adjacent owner of crosswave studios the man whose mansion i'd been
01:19photographing for a local architecture blog that paid me a humiliating eighty dollars per post
01:25i stared at the gate i was on public property you were using a telephoto lens the man said gently
01:33like he was explaining gravity to a child i swallowed it's a good lens he nodded court dates in three weeks
01:44have a nice day then he left me standing in the california sunshine with a lawsuit and a camera
01:51that suddenly felt like evidence by the time i got home my home being a converted garage in the mesa with a
01:57door that stuck and a window that whistled when the ocean breeze hit just right i was oscillating
02:03between panic and rage i paced i called my mother she said maybe this is a sign to get a real job
02:11i called my best friend tessa she said sleep with him i don't think that's how the legal system works
02:19everything works if you're hot enough she replied then paused wait is he hot i googled him julian cross
02:29filled my screen in a tailored suit salt and pepper hair eyes that looked like they'd seen too much and
02:34decided not to talk about it he wasn't smiling he didn't need to annoyingly i told tessa yes perfect
02:43she said seduce him or cry or both i hung up and stared at the lawsuit again i had exactly 400
02:51in my checking account a freelance career held together by caffeine and optimism and now i was
02:57being sued by a man who probably spent that much on cufflinks i didn't cry instead i emailed his legal
03:03team two days later i found myself standing in the lobby of crosswave studios palms sweaty camera
03:09bag slung over my shoulder like a security blanket the building rose clean and modern against the
03:14santa barbara sky all glass and light and quiet power a receptionist smiled at me you're here to
03:22see mr cross yes i said then added unless he's changed his mind and decided to forgive me and send me a fruit
03:30basket she blinked he's expecting you that was worse the elevator ride felt like a countdown
03:37when the doors opened i stepped into a floor that smelled faintly of citrus and money a woman in a
03:44gray dress led me down a hallway and knocked once send her in a voice said i walked into a corner office
03:51flooded with sunlight floor to ceiling windows framed the ocean no shadows no darkness just blue and white
03:58and the quiet hum of success julian cross stood by the window hands in his pockets he turned up close he
04:06was disarming tall broad shouldered without trying his face held lines that spoke of laughter once
04:13long ago and then something that had come after his eyes landed on me sharp but not cruel
04:20you're mara lane he said yes i said you're suing me a corner of his mouth twitched technically yes
04:30i'm very sorry i'm very sorry i said quickly i didn't realize you realized he said calm you just
04:39didn't think you'd get caught that stung because it was accurate i lifted my chin i thought i was within
04:46my rights rights are expensive he said so are lawyers i took a breath i can't afford this i know he said
04:58that surprised me you know i did my homework he said you're a freelance photographer you've shot for
05:08small publications you live locally you don't have a criminal record and you took a photo of my home
05:13without permission i opened my mouth then closed it okay so what do you want he studied me for a long
05:22moment i resisted the urge to fill the silence with sarcasm finally he said i want you to delete
05:29the photos i already did i said the second i got served i can show you he nodded good and and i want
05:40to know why you were so interested in my house i laughed once sharp because it's beautiful he didn't
05:48smile because i needed the money i said more softly because architecture tells stories because i'm good
05:56at seeing angles other people miss his gaze didn't waver you crossed a line i know i said and i'm sorry
06:04silence again the ocean glittered behind him sit he said gesturing to a chair i sat he moved to his desk
06:15opened a folder i don't enjoy litigation he said it's messy public i value privacy so do i i said
06:24ironically another twitch of his mouth here's the thing mara i could ruin you i nodded i know but i
06:33won't he said my heart skipped you won't not like this he said i don't punch down i exhaled relief flooding
06:43me so fast it made me dizzy thank you don't thank me yet he said of course he closed the folder
06:52i have a problem i frowned is it photographers no he said it's time he leaned back against the desk
07:03i need a personal assistant i stared at him
07:06i what my last assistant resigned unexpectedly he said i'm drowning schedules travel correspondence
07:15i need someone sharp adaptable discreet
07:18i'm a photographer i said you're observant he said quick you handled yourself well under pressure
07:27did i i i asked yes he said and you already know what happens when you don't respect boundaries
07:36that made my stomach flip in a way that had nothing to do with fear
07:40i'm not qualified i said you are he said and you're motivated
07:46i crossed my arms is this blackmail
07:50no he said immediately this is an offer because you sued me i said because you took responsibility
07:59he corrected and because i think you'll say yes i laughed you're very confident he met my eyes
08:07i'm rarely wrong the room felt suddenly smaller or maybe it was just the way his attention settled
08:14on me steady and focused what happens to the lawsuit i asked it disappears he said provided you accept the
08:23position fair salary benefits nda and if i say no he didn't hesitate we proceed my pulse roared in my ears
08:34this was insane suspicious also tempting you're asking me to work for the man who sued me i said
08:43i'm offering you a chance he said you have full agency think about it i stood i don't need to
08:51his eyebrow lifted i'll do it i said something flashed in his eyes surprise maybe or approval good he said
09:01you start monday monday i squeaked he smiled then full and unexpected like sunlight breaking through
09:09cloud cover welcome to my world mara julian cross said let's see if you can keep up as i walked out
09:17of that office heart pounding i realized two things at once i had just saved myself and i had stepped
09:24straight into the orbit of a man who could change everything by friday of my first week working for
09:30julian cross i knew three things for certain one crosswave studios ran on precision espresso and fear
09:37two julian cross did not miss details and three i was already in trouble not the lawsuit kind though
09:45that ghost still hovered but the much more dangerous kind where my pulse changed every time he said my name
09:50mara there it was again calm deep like he wasn't fully aware of what it did to me yes i said spinning
10:01my chair toward him with practiced cheer if this is about the calendar mishap i would like to formally
10:07blame mercury in retrograde it's not he said you fixed that i smiled i fix most things he studied me
10:17from across his desk sunlight washing the room bright and open no corners to hide in no shadows just
10:23honesty whether i liked it or not cancel my lunch he said with the senator i asked yes bold choice i said
10:34already typing should i fake a migraine or a family emergency just tell him i'm unavailable
10:41ah i said the billionaire classic his mouth twitched you're enjoying this job i enjoy competence
10:51i said mine especially he shook his head once almost amused then turned back to the window that was the
10:58thing about julian he never lingered never indulged every movement was deliberate contained like he was
11:07holding something back all the time it made me curious which was dangerous working for him was
11:14intense the days moved fast calls meetings flights contracts i learned his rhythms his preferences black
11:23coffee no sugar windows open whenever possible no meetings before seven he learned mine too
11:30you're late he said one morning by two minutes i said which is still early in some cultures
11:36you're never late he said i froze i overslept he watched me eyes sharp but not unkind
11:45you didn't sleep it wasn't a question i exhaled okay that's unsettling is everything all right
11:54he asked the concern in his voice caught me off guard yes i said automatically he didn't push
12:01he never did that was part of what made him feel safe and part of what made me want to push him
12:07instead the tension crept in sideways it lived in the pauses the looks the moments where our hands
12:16brushed passing a file and neither of us moved away fast enough once during a late afternoon strategy
12:22meeting he leaned over my shoulder to look at my screen i caught his scent clean subtle something warm
12:29underneath and my brain short-circuited you okay he murmured great i said just having a very normal
12:38human reaction to proximity he huffed a quiet laugh you're impossible yet indispensable i shot back
12:47his gaze lingered a beat too long then he straightened go home mara i'll finish this
12:54you don't sleep you don't sleep i said i manage i hesitated you shouldn't he looked at me really looked
13:04and something in his expression shifted a crack gone as fast as it appeared good night he said i left with
13:13my heart pounding the rumors started the second week they always did apparently you're brave a producer
13:21whispered to me in the break room taking that job is this where you tell me he eats assistance for breakfast
13:27i asked she smiled tightly he lost his wife i blinked oh six years ago she said car accident since then
13:40he keeps his distance that night i lay awake in my whistling garage staring at the ceiling julian never talked
13:48about his past he didn't wear a ring but sometimes when he thought no one was watching his eyes went
13:54distant like he was standing in another time grief leaves fingerprints i recognized them the line between
14:02professional and personal blurred the night he asked me to stay late we were preparing for a major
14:06acquisition tension high phones ringing non-stop by nine the floor had emptied you should go i said
14:15yawning i've got this i know he said but i don't want to be alone the words slipped out before he could
14:25stop them we both froze i mean he started it's okay i said softly i can stay he nodded grateful
14:37vulnerable it did something to my chest we worked in companionable silence until midnight when we
14:45finished he surprised me by ordering takeout tie okay he asked i would marry pad tie i said platonically
14:54he smiled really smiled we ate on opposite sides of his desk shoes kicked off ties loosened it felt
15:03normal normal too normal too normal why me i asked suddenly he looked up what you could have hired
15:14anyone i said why the girl you sued he set his fork down because you didn't crumble i absolutely
15:23crumbled i said internally but you stood your ground he said you were honest you didn't play victim
15:31i shrugged i don't like being powerless neither do i his eyes said the silence stretched you don't
15:41need to protect me i added quietly he met my gaze i know that scared me more than if he'd said the
15:50opposite the first crack came a week later a tabloid ran a headline media mogul hires much younger
15:57assistant after lawsuit i stared at my phone stomach dropping i can handle this i told julian standing in
16:05his office i didn't sign up to be a scandal you won't be he said coldly they're already speculating
16:14i said about us there is no us he snapped the sharpness stunned me i know that i said i'm not
16:25stupid his jaw tightened this is exactly why i don't blur lines then don't i said hurt flaring but
16:34don't pretend i imagined the tension silence crashed between us you should take the rest of the day off
16:41he said finally is that an order yes i nodded swallowing the lump in my throat fine i turned
16:49to leave mara he said i paused i never meant to put you in the crossfire he said quietly i looked back
16:58then stop pretending you don't see me his eyes softened that's the problem i didn't sleep that
17:06night by morning the headlines had multiplied social media buzzed strangers debated my character
17:13like it was a sport when i arrived at work security stopped me mr cross asked that you not enter today
17:20the guard said apologetically my chest tightened did he say why no i stood there humiliated hurt
17:30and furious by noon i received an email mara for your protection and mine i've reassigned you
17:37temporarily hr will be in touch jay that was it no explanation no conversation just distance
17:44the message felt like a door slamming shut i packed my desk in silence hands shaking the office buzzed around
17:52me oblivious as i stepped into the elevator my phone buzzed again a text from an unknown number
17:58this isn't over i'm sorry i leaned my head against the cool metal wall heart aching whatever this thing
18:07was between us unspoken unfinished it had just broken apart and i had no idea whether it would survive the fall
18:15i didn't cry in the elevator that was the part i was proud of i waited until i got home
18:23until i locked the door of my converted garage dropped my keys on the chipped counter and leaned my
18:29forehead against the cool metal of the refrigerator i waited until the quiet swallowed me whole
18:35then i cried not loud not dramatic just the kind of crying that slid out of my chest like air from a
18:43punctured tire silent relentless exhausting because julian cross hadn't fired me he hadn't yelled he
18:53hadn't even been cruel he'd done something worse he decided for me the reassignment email sat open on
19:00my phone like a polite betrayal temporary reassignment for professional discretion as if discretion hadn't been
19:06my middle name since the moment i walked into his world i replayed everything every look he'd held too
19:13long every moment he'd trusted me with something fragile every quiet admission that had lived between
19:20the lines of our conversations and then gone protection he'd called it i called it fear three days
19:28passed then four i didn't go back to crosswave hr followed up i ignored it instead i took a last
19:37minute photography gig for a coastal charity gala in montecito oceanfront estate bright afternoon light
19:43white linen and polite laughter it was perfect work forget your life material i focused on faces
19:49captured joy that wasn't mine clicked through the ache you've got a good eye someone said
19:56occupational hazard i replied then i heard my name mara i turned so fast the camera strap twisted
20:05around my wrist julian stood a few feet away sunlight outlining him like it had decided he was worth
20:10highlighting his sleeves were rolled up tie gone jaw tight with something dangerously close to panic
20:16you weren't answering he said i lowered the camera slowly i was reassigned his expression flickered
20:25i know then you know i'm not on call i know he repeated but i needed to see you i laughed once sharp
20:34that makes one of us he flinched not dramatically just enough to tell me it landed please he said five
20:44minutes i studied him the man who could silence rooms who could end careers with a phone call who looked
20:52right now like he was holding himself together with sheer will five i said i'm working i won't waste
20:59them we walked toward the terrace overlooking the ocean the breeze was warm the light forgiving he didn't
21:06speak until we were alone i handled it wrong he said that's not an apology i said i know he said it's a confession
21:16i crossed my arms try again he exhaled slowly i was scared that stopped me of what i asked of losing control
21:28he said of wanting something i couldn't protect my chest tightened you don't protect people by erasing
21:37them i know that now he said i searched his face the cracks were there he wasn't hiding them anymore
21:45you don't get to decide for me i said quietly i didn't agree to be hidden i never wanted to hide you
21:53he said i wanted to shield you and who shields me from you i asked silence then softly you do
22:02the honesty wrecked me i resigned i said his eyes snapped up you did what i quit i said i won't work
22:14for someone who doesn't trust me with my own choices he looked like i'd knocked the wind out of
22:19him mara no i said gently let me finish he nodded i care about you i said but i won't disappear to
22:29make you comfortable his voice was rough i never wanted that then stop acting like wanting me is
22:36dangerous i said i'm not fragile he swallowed you make me feel alive and that terrifies me
22:46i softened you're not broken for that i lost my wife he said quietly and the world taught me that
22:55love is a liability i stepped closer no loss is his eyes glistened i don't want power over you he said
23:04i want you to choose me i let the words settle i need time i said i'll wait he said instantly days
23:12months whatever you need i nodded okay that night everything changed the headline broke at 11 43 p.m
23:22crosswave targeted in blackmail scheme stolen photos insider connections revealed my phone buzzed
23:30non-stop then it rang julian this is connected to you he said my heart dropped how the photographer who
23:41leaked the story wasn't freelance he said he was paid someone followed you fear slid cold down my
23:48spine where are you i asked my house the one i photographed yes i'm coming i said no he said
23:58immediately i won't put you in danger i choose this i said tell me the address silence then quietly
24:07be careful the mansion was just as bright as i remembered soft lights glowing through glass walls
24:15ocean murmuring beyond julian opened the door before i knocked relief washed over his face
24:21you're safe he said for now i said show me everything we worked through the night me analyzing images
24:29angles angles metadata he pulled files made calls trusted me fully this time you see patterns i miss
24:37he said because i look for stories i replied not threats by dawn we had names proof motive when the
24:47authorities left the house felt quiet in a different way not empty peaceful we stood in the kitchen
24:54morning light spilling across marble i should have trusted you he said yes i said you should have
25:02he smiled faintly you're not letting me off easy don't want to i said i want you better he stepped
25:11closer not invading asking i don't want to lose you he said you don't lose people who stay by choice
25:20i said i choose you he said and i choose me i said which means i choose you too
25:28his breath hitched when we kissed it was slow bright real no fear no hiding just two people choosing each
25:38other in the light six months later i photographed crosswave's newest building this time my name was on
25:44the contract julian watched from a distance pride unguarded you changed my life he said later
25:51so did you i said we stood by the ocean sunlight warm on our skin and for the first time love didn't
26:00feel like a risk it felt like home five years later i photographed my husband barefoot in our kitchen
26:07julian i said lifting the camera if you don't stop stealing strawberries i'm documenting this crime
26:14he leaned against the counter sunlight pouring in through the wide glass doors sleeves rolled up
26:20hair just slightly messy in a way that still felt illegal for a media tycoon
26:24you married me knowing i was a thief he said calmly this is on you
26:29i married you knowing you were dramatic i shot back this is just confirmation
26:35he crossed the room wrapped an arm around my waist from behind and kissed the side of my head
26:41still bossy he murmured still powerful i said still obsessed with me hopelessly he replied
26:51without hesitation that part never changed we lived in santa barbara still but not in the mansion
26:57anymore this house was smaller warmer full of light and laughter and evidence of actual life
27:04shoes by the door framed photographs on every wall my camera equipment stacked next to his books
27:10our mornings were slow now coffee on the patio ocean breeze julian reading the paper while i edited
27:18photos on my laptop my bare feet hooked over his ankle like an anchor you have a shoot today he asked
27:26yeah i said architecture series i'm finally getting paid what i'm worth he smiled with that quiet pride
27:34that still made my chest ache i never doubted it we didn't talk about the past much anymore not the
27:41lawsuit not the headlines not the fear we talked about dinners travel the charity foundation we ran
27:49together his resources my eye our shared belief that power meant responsibility sometimes late at night
27:57when the world was quiet and bright with stars he'd pull me close and say thank you for choosing me
28:03and i'd always answer the same way thank you for letting me i took one last photo as he laughed
28:10reaching for another strawberry it wasn't perfect it was real and it was ours if this story made you feel
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