“I know. I wanted to.” Her voice is shaky. A tear rolls down her cheek so effortlessly. No menthol stick needed.
“Tell me one thing…”
“Anything. Anything at all,” she pleads to him.
“Were you ever going to tell me?” His face is locked in on hers. Every word is sharp. His facial expressions do all the acting—the way his eyebrow arches the whole time, pupils dialed in on the monitor. Lifting the words right off the page.
I can’t believe it’s been a year since I set my sights on him. His bright green eyes. Tousled brown hair. Holden is pulling me right back in.
“Cut!” The director interjects after they stare longingly into each other’s eyes for a few moments. I find myself lost in watching him.
They both walk off set when they hear the director. Except he is walking toward me. My heart is pounding outside of my chest and my stomach is swirling into knots.
“Shit, what do I do?” I say, leaning toward Audrey.
“Talk to him. That seems like a logical first step.” She grins mischievously.
Rolling my eyes at her, I lift myself up from the chair. I step forward. My heart drums as we close the distance. I can no longer see what’s happening around me.
In a little bubble separated from the masses, I nervously ask him, “How are you feeling?”
“I should ask you, big shot. I heard you rewrote today’s scene.” Holden playfully pushes my shoulder back, letting out a smile.
“Yeah, I helped Audrey.” My cheeks are going flush with my title staring at us on my new chair.
“Don’t downplay it. It’s good,” he says, pointing to the chair.
“So, you are acting inAgeless?”
“All thanks to you…”
“Oh?” I twist my body left and right, a sneaky grin on my face.
“Audrey called me a week ago and said it was your idea. I can’t believe you remembered I wanted this script.”
“She did?” I say, hesitantly. My neck flips toward where Audrey is sitting, smiling devilishly. All I can do is shake my head at her parent trap moment.
I should’ve known my inebriated thoughts that spilled over during happy hour would cause this.
“You did really great with your lines. Everyone is going to love you in this.”
“Thanks,” he says dryly. “Can I be honest with you?”
“I would expect nothing less.”
“They offered me the movie originally, but I turned it down.”
“Why?” I demand.
“I just didn’t gravitate toward the script back then. But with the rewrites, and Audrey mentioning you are a part of it, it felt like a no-brainer.”
“You picked this movie because of me?”
“Well, you never responded to my text, how else would I get you to talk to me?”
I find myself unable to contain my smile. It takes so much effort that my cheeks hurt. We stand there, looking at each other in this unspoken silence. Skye isn’t hanging over my shoulder.
As I am about to open my mouth, the director yells, “Alrighty, back to one.”
