Caitlin reacted to Michelle’s sweet-natured message with a heart. She tossed her phone into her purse as the town car pulled up to the building, rolling to a stop at the curb. She was already a few minutes late, which had been her fault—procrastinating at its finest. New York City traffic was also a bit to blame, but that couldn’t be her excuse for tardiness.
Outside of the room holding the thick script, Caitlin foundForbiddenLove’s director, arms crossed, clearly waiting for her arrival. She winced as Mrs. Ryan checked the time on her watch and said, “Ms. Stone, it’s nice of you to join us.”
McKenzie Ryan was known throughout the industry for taking significant risks that often paid off. She had a lengthy list of accomplishments, including Oscar wins for both Best Director and Best Picture. The casts she hand-selected for her projects often went on to win their own awards as well. This might be Caitlin’s only chance to be part of one of this woman’s Hollywood-shaking films. She couldn’t afford to jeopardize it by showing up late.
“Mrs. Ryan, I amsosorry for being late. I swear I’m normally not. I promise it won’t happen again.” Always a perfectionist, Caitlin hated when she didn’t live up to the ideal actress that she aspired to be. The entertainment industry was small, and word always got around whenever an actor became difficult to work with on set. It could end a career.
“Great, I’m holding you to that. Let’s go inside. There’s an empty chair next to Ms. Quinn with your script.”
Caitlin followed McKenzie through the door, the sharp-faced director announcing, “Okay, everyone, let’s quiet down so we can get started.”
Hesitantly approaching the table, Caitlin saw that Gemma’s back was turned toward her. Her body seemed to grow more tense with each of Caitlin’s steps. Gemma’s natural black waves today reminded her so much of the fifteen-year-old she had known that the tension in her chest eased slightly. She pulled out the vacant seat next to Gemma, who returned a half smile from less than a foot away. It wasn’t the adoring beam that Caitlin had received countless times ten years ago, but it was a good start.
“Hey.” Caitlin’s body buzzed from the proximity of this person who had once known it so intimately.
“Hi,” Gemma said in a tone that was new to Caitlin.
The cast began reading the script line by line. The film’s opening scenes were relatively painless as they led up to the moment when Caitlin and Gemma’s characters meet for the first time, outside a theater. That was when things began to get more complicated—both in the script and there, sitting at the table. Caitlin had known, of course, that they were the two romantic leads. Watching it unfold for the first time, however, she was struck by how intense their scenes together would be.
“You look wonderful tonight,” Caitlin delivered the line to Gemma, a little too sincerely, as the scene opened on their first date. She meant it, not just in character.
“Thank you. You look stunning as well,” Gemma responded half-heartedly, and Caitlin sensed her discomfort.
Reading through their first kiss was awkward to say the least, not even pausing for the physical moment between their characters, but Caitlin sensed Gemma becoming even more agitated as they approached the movie’s emotional climax.
They set the scene—Caitlin and Gemma’s characters, Kate and Sarah, would be tangled in bed together. Gemma stumbledthrough her lines. The dialogue fell flat, stripped of feeling, and Caitlin sensed how difficult the moment would be to play on screen if they didn’t confront the tension simmering between them. It stained every exchange, every pause, every glance.
“I told him it’s over. I’ve been losing my mind without you. I made the biggest mistake of my life by choosing him. I’m sorry.” Caitlin’s voice was raw, suddenly sixteen again and standing on the doorstep of Gemma’s parents’ house. Not looking at what was written on the script, she tried to get Gemma to meet her gaze. “I’m in love with you, Sarah.”
“You’re everything to me, Kate. From the moment we first kissed, I knew you were the one I wanted to spend forever with,” Gemma spoke quickly, only briefly looking up from the yellow page and catching Caitlin’s eye. “I’m in love with you, too.” The last line came out as a whisper.
The scene marked the end of today’s table read, and Mrs. Ryan excused them all for the remainder of the day. Caitlin thought that, given the circumstances, the day had gone relatively smoothly. Although she had serious doubts about how their chemistry would come across on screen.
“Gemma,” Caitlin called out, chasing after her as she took a right turn out of the building.
Gemma wasn’t slowing down, so Caitlin jogged, weaving through the busy sidewalk until she was by her side.
“Would you want to grab dinner or run some lines together?”
Gemma turned, and the slight smile from earlier had vanished. “No. I have a date to get ready for. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
Caitlin felt the blood drain from her face as she imagined Gemma dating another woman.
“I thought we could start over. The table read went well.”
“Start over? Just like that?” Gemma snapped her fingers atCaitlin. “When we’re at work, we have a job to do, which means I will be professional. But when we’re done acting for the day, you will resume being irrelevant to my life.”
Ouch.
“Fine, but you do realize that we have to talk about things at some point, right?”
“No, we don’t,” Gemma retorted sharply. “You’ve had nine years to find me, and you never triedonce. So look, I get it. It would make your life easier if I could just act like nothing ever happened. But it did, and I don’t care if that makes you feel guilty, or uncomfortable, or whatever feeling it is that you want me to relieve you of. Let’s just do our jobs so that we can go back to our separate lives.”
Caitlin flattened. Time had obviously not dulled Gemma’s anger, and Caitlin couldn’t exactly blame her for it. She would probably feel the same way if the roles had been reversed.
Gemma dropped her shoulders, her anger deflating into defeat. “Look, the past is the past, Caitlin. You really hurt me, but we’re adults now, and I’m only here for my career. I’m not sure what you were expecting after all these years, but I’m not going to jump into your arms just because you’ve come back now. You didn’t come back for me.”
“I didn’t realize you hated me so much.” Caitlin sighed. She should have known better. She had been drawn to Gemma’s reckless resolve and fierce loyalty from the moment she had met her. She had never expected that she could end up on the wrong side of that fire.
