He had arranged this little get-together for the cast to get to know each other and to see Star. He had to admit, the last time he saw Star, he’d acted a bit childish. But who could blame him? At the time, he was a little sore about the whiskey. He wouldn't have been upset if the whiskey was easily made, but it took at least fifty human years to mature, even with magic.
Anubis was mingling with the cast and had stopped to listen to Aveline Rymer, the actress who would be playing Marilyn Hamilton, talk about her granddaughter, when he was interrupted by his assistant.
“Sir, are you ready to get started?” Tyrek said.
Anubis had given up on telling Tyrek to call him by his first name and scanned the restaurant, and he saw that everyone but Star had arrived. “Give it a few more minutes. We have the entire second floor to ourselves, so there's no need to rush.”
“Okay.”
“Director Ahket.”
Anubis turned in the direction of the voice and mentally grimaced but pasted a smile on his face. It was the actress who would be playing the Rebecca character. She was beautiful, with chestnut-brown hair styled in bouncy curls flanking her voluptuous breasts, hazel eyes, a light brown caramel complexion, and a figure you took notice of when she walked into the room, especially in the black strapless dress that clung to her outstanding curves. Like Star, Sundi Noxx was new to acting but not the industry. Anubis had done background checks on every actor Bianca had hired for the series. She was the daughter of the CEO of Equi-Noxx Entertainment but didn’t want to depend on her father's connections to become an actress.
However, Ms. Noxx knew nothing of her father's schemes, as he went behind her back and hired a guy who didn't work for the company to be her manager. Anubis looked around and didn't see her manager present, which was a relief since he got some weird vibes from the guy when he first met him. He had been utterly aggravated with Ms. Noxx's flirting and was about to fire her, but Bianca begged him not to since she owed Noxx's father a favor. But what really saved her was her acting.
“Ms. Noxx, what can I do for you?”
“Director Ahket, or can I call you Anubis since we will work so closely together?” She smiled coquettishly, flashing a charming smile. He wouldn't deny that Sundi Noxx was a beautiful woman, and if the situation were different, maybe he would fuck her, but his mind was filled with another vision that made him want to rethink his moral compass of sleeping with people he worked with. “I thought we could get to know–”
“I'd advise you to stop right there if you want to continue working on this project,” Anubis said tersely.
She went to speak, but something caught her attention behind Anubis, causing him to turn in the direction she was looking. His agitation disappeared when he saw Star, who looked good and rested, even though he knew how busy Star had been these days. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he'd been delaying the series shooting because he knew how filled Star's schedule was. His eyes followed Star as he introduced himself to a few crew members before coming to Anubis's side.
“Director Ahket, it's good to see you.”
“You as well. I'm glad you could make it tonight.”
Star smiled. “This is important. Plus, I've been dying to read the script.”
Anubis quirked a brow. “Just to read the script?”
“And to meet the crew, of course,” Star said quickly.
“Of course,” Anubis echoed, and they both stood smiling at each other.
“Sir, everyone is here,” Tyrek said, getting his attention. Anubis looked at his assistant, standing next to Sundi Noxx, who he had forgotten was still there.
“Director Ahket, who is this?” Sundi asked.
“Oh, Ms. Noxx, let me introduce you to Star Rueng. He's playing Christen.”
Noxx stepped closer to Star with a hand extended. “Star—can I call you Star? It's so nice to meet you. I'm playing Rebecca.”
Anubis watched Star stare at Sundi Noxx for quite some time before he took her hand and shook it quickly, letting it go. "It's nice to meet you.” He smiled, but Anubis thought he seemed off. Anubis didn’t know if anyone else noticed it, but since he'd worked with Star, he could tell the boy was acting.
Do they know each other?
“Let's eat,” Anubis said, stepping between them. “I asked the kitchen to prepare their specials today and not to rush. We have the entire place to ourselves.”
“Wow, the director is so nice,” he heard someone say, but Anubis wasn't paying attention to who it was. His eyes were focused on Star, who seemed to be deep in thought. Anubis wanted to ask him if he was okay, but he couldn't show favoritism and had to pretend that Star was any other actor, even if he was madly attracted to him.
Fuck, this is going to be fucking hard as hell.
* * *
Sundi Noxx,or this world's version of Sundi Noxx, is sitting across from me.
Star had been surprised when he saw her standing behind Anubis and almost ran the hell out of the restaurant when they were introduced to each other, but he remembered what Chase said. He was the only one that was given this chance. So the person in front of him wasn't the woman who had aided Thornton in his past life, nor was she the one who had hired someone to kill him in his jail cell. Although she wasn't the same person, standing before her was unnerving. His fingers twitched, stopping himself from rubbing his chest where he had been stabbed.
