Part 14
Back in the office, Joy prepared everyone to begin shooting. She looked at a shot list on a clipboard that she carried. "From the first version of the ad, we've already got Tim coming in and walking past Mia on his way to his office. Then we've got a close-up of Mia, as she smells the Naked Attraction, and then hatches her devious plan. She goes around the corner, retrieves the ladder, and sets it up here."
She consulted the new re-writes. "Mia, we've also got you climbing up the ladder and messing with the fluorescent bulb until it gets loose and goes dark. In the original script you then called out, "Mr. Johnson?"
Then Tim came out of his office, and you said, "Could you get me a light bulb, and then hold the ladder for me while I change it?"
Mia looked at Tim. "But this time, our gallant boss is too much of a gentleman, and so he insists on changing the bulb for me." She put her hands together on one side of her cheek, tilted her head and fluttered her eyes at him. "My hero!"
Several of the women chuckled, but Joy said, "Well, not exactly. This time you'll climb back down the ladder, and act as if the light went out. Then you'll need to cajole him onto the ladder."
"Goody!" Mia said, clapping her hands together.
"Yeah, goody," Tim said sullenly. He was trying to be a good sport about all of this, in hopes that it would make the girls go easier on him. But he was losing faith in that strategy already, and they hadn't even started filming yet.
Joy said, "So we'll be cutting your 'will you hold the ladder for me' line, and give you a new one there. Is everybody ready?
"Almost," Shawna said. Everyone looked at her. "I think we're going to need to see Mr. Johnson's underwear first."
"What?" Tim said. "Why?"
"They can't be too revealing," Shawna said. "I mean, if you've got thong on under there and Mia reveals your bare ass, that will never work for the tv audience."
The other girls giggled, and Tim flushed. "Very funny. I'm wearing boxers. Plain old boxers."
"Okay," a smiling Shawna said, "but if they're too revealing,-"
"They're not too revealing," Tim said through clenched teeth. "Let's just get on with this."
Joy positioned Tim in the doorway of his office, with Mia standing at the foot of the ladder. She took the first shot of Mia, saying, "We're picking up where you called him, and he's come out of his office to see what you want."
Mia stood with one hand on the ladder, looking at Tim. "This bulb has burned out. I brought a spare from the utility closet, so could you replace it?"
Joy said, "Tim asks if you can change it, and you say..."
Mia put a pretty little pout on her face. "I would, but I'm really afraid of heights. I might be able to make it up one or two steps, but that's not enough to help, since I'm so short. But you're so tall, I'm sure it won't be a problem for you."
"Nice," Joy said. "But let's try that last line one more time. Put a little more helpless, infatuated schoolgirl into it." She put an exaggerated, starry-eye look on her face, and used a breathy, Marilyn Monroe voice, "You're such a big, strong boss. I'm sure you'll be able to jump right up that ladder and manhandle that mean old light with your big, impressive muscles."
All of the women laughed, but Tim just shook his head. "You are really loving this, aren't you?"
Joy winked at him. Mia ran her lines again, and this time she was perfect.
Joy turned to Tim, "Okay, now it's your lines. As you approach the ladder, you ask if Mia can change the lightbulb."
She gave him the signal, and he walked forward, saying, "Do you want me to hold the ladder, while you change the bulb?"
"Perfect," Joy said. "Now you're at the ladder, and Mia has just told you how big and strong you are. So you're very full of yourself, and you start up the ladder."
Tim took a deep breath, and Joy started taping. He forced a satisfied smile onto his face for a moment, and then gripped the ladder. He stepped up onto the first step, saying, "Okay, let me hand the cover down to you, and then I'll get the old bulb out."
Mia was petite enough that by the time Tim was on the second step, his lower chest was already level with her eyes. Joy had placed the camera so that it caught Tim's impressively jutting butt cheek as it came into view as he took another step up.
Mia widened her eyes, staring at her boss' rear end in his snug pants. Joy said, "Tim looks down at you for a moment," and Mia quickly looked away, with an innocent expression. Joy said, "Now he looks up at the light." Mia looked upward, as if checking to be sure that his eyes were on the ceiling, and then she dropped her eyes to his tush, and gave a naughty grin.
Joy said, "Cut. That was great!"
"Good job, Mia," Julie said. "You're like a professional actress!"
Kaitlyn said, "Either that, or she really does want to see what's under Mr. Johnson's pants." More female laughter filled the room.
"Okay, Mia," Joy said, "you move around to the other side of the ladder, in front of Tim, so that you can hold it for him. Then you'll check to be sure that he's not looking, and get onto your naughty trick."
She started taping, and Mia stepped around in front of Tim, putting both hands on the ladder. "I'll hold this for you, sir," she said, looking up. "So you don't fall and hurt yourself."
Joy said, "Now Tim says thank you, and he reaches up and start fiddling with the light." Mia snuck another quick look upwards, and then, with a naughty smile, she took both hands off the ladder, and reached out for Tim's belt. She put one hand on the buckle, and the other on the end of the belt, then, with another glance upward, slowly pulled the belt out of the buckle, freeing it gently.
She gave another look upward, and then carefully grasped both side of his pants, and unsnapped them. Then, she left her left hand in place on his waistline, and with her right hand she grasped his zipper, and slowly pulled it downwards. The top of Tim's pants separated, and the separation grew as the zipper dropped.
Because the camera was on Mia and not on Tim, he was watching her the entire time. It was all he could do to stand there, helpless, while she undid his belt and then his pants. As the pants separated, he could feel them began to slip, and he panicked, grabbing them. "Cut!"
Joy looked up, surprised, and giggled. "You don't say 'cut,' I do."
Danielle and Shawna both stifled laughs, as Tim said, "But you need to get the shots of me with the light, right?"
Joy looked at him evenly. "I was going to do that after Mia pantsed you, but have it your way." She re-set the camera position, so it was focused on Tim from below, from the mid-chest up. "Do you remember your lines?"
Tim just snorted, and reached up above his head. As Joy taped, he said, "First I'll get this cover off..." he pulled the plastic light cover off and handed it down. Mia took it, and he reached back up and rotated the long bulb. "...then I'll take out the bad bulb." He pulled it out, and handed it down.
"Cut," Joy said. "Okay, take that same bulb, since it still works, and lift it back into the shot, then work it back into the fitting. Once it's done, Mia will hand you the cover."
Tim did what she said, with the camera still on only his upper body: he lifted the bulb back into place, rotated it until it was seated, and then looked down. "Hand me the cover?" Mia held it up from off camera, and Tim took it and began to snap it back into place.
"Stop!" Joy said. "Okay, this is your reaction shot. Just as you finish with the cover, Mia yanks your pants down. You look down in shock, and then embarrassment, as you wobble a bit on the ladder, and grab it to get down as fast as you can."
Tim felt stupid, but also strangely grateful, as he mimed having his pants removed off camera, while being able to actually keep them on. His expressions were a little wooden the first two times Joy got that shot, but he was much better on the third time.
"That's good," Joy proclaimed. "Now we'll go back to Mia's POV."
"The moment of truth," Anna said, to appreciative laughter and one wolf whistle, surprisingly from reserved little Pam.
Just then, a hammering at the front door startled them all. On the other side of the glass was Sandy, waving frantically. Shawna jogged over and unlocked the door.
Sandy gave her a quick hug, and the two of them returned to the ladder. "I hope I didn't miss anything good!" Sandy said, and blew a kiss at Tim, standing awkwardly on the ladder.
"Nope," Danielle said, "we were just getting to the first re-shot scene."
Tim thought to himself, "Great! I almost managed to lose my pants with one single woman I know NOT being here to witness it!"
Part 15
"Oh, good," Sandy said. "Is there anything I can do to help? Do you need another set of hands to tug down Mr. Johnson's pants maybe?"
Tim glared at her. "I think Mia can handle that, thanks."
Mia chirped, "You bet I can." She grinned at the women around her. "I'm a born actress."
Tim tried to ignore their snickering. Joy said, "All right, Mia, go ahead and undo his belt and pants again."