Holy cow! If only I had some popcorn and tissues.
“You were the one who left me,” she continued. “You broke my heart into so many pieces that I never fully recovered, Isaac. But none of it matters, does it? You aren’t here to stay. You will never stay.”
Whooaaa there!
That was most definitely not my dialogue. They had turned a perfectly romantic scene into a cheesy one.
She looked heartbroken.
I saw a teardrop fall from her eyes and Jason let go of her wrists as if they had burned him.
“I came back. I came crawling back to you,” Jason choked out. Leaning down, he cupped her cheeks in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “Evie. You’re my only one.”
They both closed their eyes and rested their foreheads against each other’s.
“Take me with you,” she whispered into the silence. “Don’t leave me bleeding again. Don’t let them take you away from me.”
Jason kissed her nose, her eyes, and then drew back a few inches, his hands still holding her face. “Say you still love me, Evie. Give me the words.”
She stood up on her tiptoes and whispered her love for him against his lips. Then they were going at each other as if the world was ending.
Well, mine kinda ended anyway. I was supposed to watch this take place in front of my eyes two more times with two different actresses? What in the world had I been thinking when I’d told Jason I would love to come along?
Someone say cut, goddamn it!
Then it was over and they parted. Bryan thanked them and asked for another take from a different angle. I refused to watch it for the second time. Seeing the same scene in a movie set would be a different story, but in here, with only a few people around…it looked intimate, real. Each and every one of us was an outsider, intruding upon their moment.
Finally, Bryan was happy with what he got, and after thanking Claudia, they sent her away.
I watched the same thing happen with two other beautiful, very well known, very talented actresses. The third one, Lindsay Dunlop, pretty much blew it out of the park. Bryan asked her to do three different scenes with Jason. At the end of it all, they had their Evie, and Lindsay was smiling just as big as Jason.
Even though I wasn’t being specifically ignored or anything, I was still sticking out like a sore thumb sitting in the corner like that. I had a feeling I was just there because Jason Thorn had brought me in. They didn’t care that I was the author at all.
Feeling overwhelmed with the kisses, the acting, the words…I sneaked out of the room—not that I needed to sneak out. No one gave a damn about what I was doing.
I was digging into my bag looking for my phone when someone came around the corner and collided with me. I stumbled back.
A second of shock, then I yelped in pain.
I glanced down at my front and saw that my entire shirt was soaked with some kind of green liquid. It smelled like coffee, but it was green.
Scalding green liquid.
“Jesus! Are you okay?” someone asked.
“Oh, shit! Shit! Shit!” My eyes burning with tears, I dropped my bag onto the carpeted floor. Peeling the shirt away, I started to blow on my skin to find some relief.
Some girl came running to the guy’s side.
“Sir, is everyth—”
“Go get me something to clean her up with,” the guy snapped at the girl.
“Olive Taylor?” He softened his voice for me.
Hearing my name, I looked up and saw Keith, the exec with the bleached teeth, hovering over me.
“Oh. Hello,” I said, my lower lip slightly trembling. I peeked into my shirt and realized my chest was already red.
Wonderful.
The girl reappeared next to us and handed Keith a wet towel.
“Let me,” Keith murmured, taking a step toward me.
I was in too much pain to decline his help, so I pushed my hair out of the way and let him gently press the cold towel onto my skin.
“Thank you,” I murmured. “That feels great.”
He met my eyes and gave me an apologetic smile. He was probably in his mid thirties, but for his age, he looked good—minus the teeth situation. When he slowly reached the swell of my breasts, I swallowed and looked away.
Maybe a wet towel wasn’t the best solution, but it was working. For now. I still had to lose the shirt somehow. It was completely soaked through and right then competing in a wet t-shirt contest was not on my to-do list.
Just as he opened his mouth to say something, someone grabbed my wrist and I was wrenched away from Keith. My head jerked up and I saw Jason pushing me behind his back, glaring daggers at Keith.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing touching her?”
“Jason!” I gasped, a little belatedly. His hand was still around my wrist, but his touch was gentle.
Keith appeared calm, but upon hearing Jason’s tone, he raised his brows.
“Jason,” I said, tugging at his arm, trying to get his attention. “There is coffee all over me, he was trying to help.”
“It is smoothie, Olive,” Keith said looking at me with a small smile.
Hot smoothie?!
Seriously?
“By groping your breasts?” Jason growled. He looked down at me with his flushed face and I frowned up at him.
“Jesus,” he exclaimed when he finally dropped his eyes enough to get a look at me. “Jesus!” he repeated. Looking into my eyes, he asked, “Are you okay, little one?”
“I’ll be fine.” I looked at Keith over his shoulder and decided an apology was in order.
“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going. Thank you for your help.” I looked at Jason, lifted my arm, and eyed my wrist that was still in his grasp. “If you can let me go, I’ll just leave.”
He didn’t let me go, but at least his face wasn’t flushed with anger any more.
Glancing at Keith, he said, “Sorry, man. When I saw you two…I assumed wrong.”
“Understandable. She is your friend.”
Jason’s mouth tightened.
What in the world is going on?
“I hope we’ll see each other soon, Miss Taylor,” Keith said to me and walked away from us.
Jason dropped my wrist and gently brushed the hair that had fallen over my shoulders away from my chest.
“We’re going to the emergency room.”
“No, we’re not. What’s wrong with you?” I asked, genuinely curious. “He was helping me. What did you think he could be doing out in the open like this?”
He had the decency to look away.
“How can I help?” he asked instead.
I sighed. “You should go back in there, Jason. I was leaving anyway.” Again, I peeled the shirt away from my skin. If another Uber was close by, maybe I could make it back to the apartment without being seen by too many people.
“We’re done with the reading.” He put his hand on my back and urged me forward. “Let’s go. I should have an extra shirt in my car. We’ll look at the damage as you change and then decide if we’re going to the emergency room or not.”
“Fine, Mom,” I mumbled, and he gave me a dark look.
“Your car really looks adorable from the front,” I said, once we reached the parking lot.
“It’s a Venom GT Spyder, Olive. It’s not an adorable car.”