I blinked rapidly, no I wasn’t seeing things, it was really her.“Did you say… assistant director?” I asked. Her eyes met mine, accompanied by a gentle unsure smile. I understood why she glanced in my direction before introducing Tami. If she had done her research, then she had probably seen the rumors about me and Pierce.“Yeah, apparently her parents encouraged her to put her degree to use. I can’t tell if she approached O’Malley or he approached her.” She shrugged. “But I have a hunch that says she’s one of the sponsors for this film.”Sophia spoke animatedly while Tami smiled sweetly and listened. I stopped hearing Bianca’s words, the ringing in my ear, overshadowing the noise around me. So far Tami had only wielded Pierce’s attention to hurt me, both of us on set would be bad for me.My mind flashed to my evening with Pierce and I winced. Was this going to be a regular for the three of us?“Okay everyone, grab a seat around the table.” Rhonda announced. I didn’t notice when O’Ma
O’Malley’s words had brewed a new worry for me, and for the dozenth time during my pregnancy I got nervous. As Lily got ready in the room, I chatted with Hannah in the kitchen. I moved my head to the side to make sure Lily wasn’t coming out before I raised my top up to show her my belly.“Look at me, do I look pregnant to you?”“Myra, I just think you have a little Houdini, it’s perfectly normal. A simple google search would tell you that.” she scrolled through her phone. “This is like a cryptic pregnancy.”“Isn’t that like, bad?” “No, I don’t think so…”She tugged on the hem of her T-shirt and my eyes were drawn to the texts scrawled across. ‘I watch you while you sleep.’ A gift from Damien, no doubt. These two were kooky. “You should see a doctor if it’s bothering you so much. They’ll put your fears to rest.”“I know, this week had me choked up with rehearsals. I’m glad it’s over, and I’ve made an appointment already.“My phone rang in my bag and I rushed to get it. With reh
The room went deadly silent. A nurse passed outside the door with a trolley before a word was uttered. “P-pregnant?” Mum asked, wide-eyed.I nodded. Lily chortled. She looked at my sober expression, chuckled again, and resumed flipping her magazine. “I am.” I deadpanned. Lily ignored me while mum laughed, her eyes shining“Tiny? You’re pregnant. Well are you sure-how long have you known?”“A couple weeks.” I smiled. Lily finally put down her paper and frowned at me. “You’re actually serious.”Excitement built in my chest. “Yes. You’re gonna be an aunt soon.”“Oh Myra!” Mum arms went around me, startling me. She squeezed my shoulders tightly. “And I’m gonna be a grandmother.”I chuckled, relief flooding my chest. They were taking the news better than I expected. Lily looked confused for a few more second before she stretched to hug me too.“You’re actually pregnant? No faking.” she whispered on last time. “No faking.” I whispered back.“Boy or girl?”Mum released me so she could
I spared at glance at my stunt double as she did a backflip to escape her ‘enemies’I was in luck today, because the rehearsal didn’t require any emotional acting from us today. Just for the actors to find their groove with the doubles.All I could think about was my sister and mum and Genevieve…Jeremy nudged my shoulder. “You okay?”I forced a smile to my face. “Yeah.”“It’s last days of rehearsals she’s probably worried about it.” Bianca concluded on my behalf. “From next week we start the real thing.” She bounced on the spot. “And we make possible movie history.” Jace added, stopping beside us. He hoisted himself up the speakers we were sitting on, his arms sheened with sweat. While the rest of us had stunt doubles at ATLEAST one point of the film, Jace had opted to do his own stunts. I thought of O’Malley’s admission the last time we spoke. He was counting on this movie being a part of movie history. “Okay people, great job so far. That will be all for today, see you next week
“Nahh, that’s something that takes years of practice.” I argued. “You don’t just wake up one day and think you can perform stunts, this shit isn’t parkour.”Bianca burst into hearty laughter, while Jeremy grinned.“I’m just saying, Take Jace for example, he doesn’t have any training and he’s doing great.” Jeremy argued back.“I’ve always suspected that fucker of secretly being a government spy. That would explain a lot.” My friends laughed. “But I bet, if they needed a scene where he had to act fast, like protect his head from getting hit while, making it look like he did. He would get seriously hurt. Even stunt doubles get hurt.”“Whatever wound he gets would match the next scenes.”“Yeah but they have to be gone in record time. Did you forget we’re quick healing wolves?” Bianca added, waving her hand mystically.“Boy would I kill for that type of skill in real life. It would save me from a lot of dance injuries.”“You dance?” Bianca and I asked simultaneously.I remembered the fril
I watched O’Malley with a worried expression as he was escorted offset by Rhonda. He had managed the whole day without incident, but his body had definitely reached its limit. “This is the best first day ever. We did pretty well today.” Jeremy said with a grin. He did not have any scenes today but O’Malley said it was fine for him to show up. I had swung my bag over my shoulder before Tami in a black blazer and cargo pants jogged into the set. Lucky me, for the entire day, I had no personal interactions with her. But throughout my scenes I could feel her eyes burning into my back. But of course they would, she was the assistant director. She had to watch our every moves. If I kept up with my paranoia, I would turn into my mother. I recalled my conversation with Lily where she asked about of being crazy like mum. “Okay people!” Tami clapped her hands to get our attention. “O’Malley thinks there’s time for us to shoot one more scene before you leave. We’re gonna need M
“There’s no way you want us to eat here.” I started as I climbed out of the car.As the rest of them piled out I took a good look at the restaurant.Even from the exterior, I could tell this was a high class restaurant, with waiters in tuxedos. They probably handed out caviar as a ‘thank you for coming’ gift. I was exaggerating on the last part, but still.“What’s wrong?” Bianca asked before her attention was turned to the building in front of us. “Oh.”“I thought we were gonna get burgers or something.” Jeremy added. We all turned to look at Sophia.“Oh this is so much better. Mr Sakhrani’s daughter and I were friends since highschool, so I get to eat here whenever I want-although Kashvi’s in college across the globe now, but he doesn’t mind.”“I’m pretty sure the problem is more than getting a table here.” Bianca said mildly.Yeah, the freaking cost. A couple walked into the restaurant holding hands. She had on a sparkly evening dress with matching heels and her partner in a tailore
His mother glanced up at him, while his father’s frown deepened. For a minute I forgot we were in the middle of a restaurant. The child garbled happily unaware of the tension around him. Connor’s hand slipped uncomfortably higher up my jacket. I tried to step away but it only pushed his hand further against my side.“Connor…” Pierce growled.“She’s working under Tami Baker.” He said smoothly and air whooshed out of me. I don’t know who looked more relieved between me and Mrs. Blackwood. “You know the new gig she got as an assistant director for Gavin O’Malley? they’re are on the same project.” Connor finished. Pierce’s mother smiled at me for the first time that evening.“You work with Tami? I know she’s just wonderful at her job. Did you hear that Pierce? We should invite her for dinner tomorrow, I haven’t seen her in a while.”“Of course mother, I’ll call her as soon as we’re through with this dinner.”“Oh! We’re keeping your grandfather waiting, let’s join him, shall we?”She spun
I blinked wondering if those words had come from him or me. His hands wrapped over mine on his collar and pulled it higher, around his neck. “I can’t let you go.” He said, as he kissed down my jawline. “What do you mean you can’t?” I asked, as I pushed through the fog that wanted me to stop thinking, to surrender to the feeling of him being close to me. “I mean, I should. It’s better for both of us.” He pulled me closer, nearly lifting me off my feet as he pressed me against the door. “But I just can’t Myra, I think of you walking out of this office, walking out of my life and…it’s not happening.” “You promised.” My eyebrows furrowed and I pulled my head back to look at him. He smiled at me, running his finger over the spot his mouth had been. “You don’t want to walk out either, Myra.” “No, I-I do.” Liar. I shut my eyes to chase away the thoughts. I couldn’t do this to myself. So close to the end. When I opened them, my convictions were evident. “I do.” “And yet your a
The first second I felt dawn break the next morning, I slipped out of Seth’s house after dropping a note to say thankyou, and went into mine to take a shower. Then I spent the last day of my weekend in Hannah’s home who listed the many merits of accepting Pierce’s money.“You don’t have to convince me Hannah, I’m not saying No. That choice was taken away, and in exchange, Pierce will stop bothering me.” Everytime I answered that, she would look at me with a sad expression on her face and whenever I glared at her, she would raise her hands in the air. I tried to spend a little more time with Lily while I was there. Seth’s story reminding me just how valuable she was to me, but Lily was out most of the time, I figured she was still mad at me for not taking her to the new house. Monday came, and I marched into Pierce’s office building with false confidence . When was the last time I had been there? That was right, when I brought lunch for him as a thank you. Then, I had told him that I
I thought about my neighbors while dad was acting a tyrant over us. We tried to be quiet a lot. But a few times dad would yell. Or shove us too hard against the walls. Our neighbors said nothing, and avoided eye contact. “It’s easier to pretend.” I answered quietly, staring down at my twisting fingers. “True. I got tired of pretending. I got into a lot of fights as a kid.” He continued. “So I could pretend the welts on my body were from my scuffles, not from my father. Now I cover those scars with tattoos.”“What about the scars in your mind?” He slowed his chewing, “those ones, we just have to live with. You’re doing a good job of it.” I let out a laugh, ready to deny knowing what he wad talking about, but the knowing look he gave me told me there was no point. My shoulders sagged. “You think so?” “Oh yeah, movie star.” “You know?!” He chuckled, “I’ve seen a couple of your series while in prison. Was my warden’s favorite . Seeing your…friend, jogged my memory.” “I d
His eyes zeroed on Donna with the money outstretched. “What did Donna do?” “Why do you think I did anything?” She retorted, shoving the money back in her pocket while I looked around. I had to find a place to sleep tonight. “You’re offering money to someone else and her house is empty, you did something.” “Oh piss off.” “She helped Myra’s…uhh, pack a mattress and collected a bribe for keeping it a secret.” “I thought it was a prank!” “He took your stuff?” Seth asked me, his brows raised in surprise. “Yeah, he did. But I’ll get it back.” Maybe I could just lay on the floor? I didn’t check the bathroom yet so I didn’t know if he had taken the sheets too. “When?” “Monday? Tuesday maybe.” “Where are you going to sleep?” Layla asked, hitching her bag up her hip again. “Till monday, I can crash with a friend.” “Today?” Three pairs of eyes looked at me expectantly, and I shrugged. “A motel.” “There isn’t one nearby. Oh! Seth can drive you to the closest one thou
I blinked and looked at the numbers glued to the door. It was my house, that much was true. But it was empty. No brown couch, lemon side-table, my ginormous bean bag. Even the bohemian style rug that managed to pull the whole together was hone. Every single thing was missing from the living. Color drained off my face as I wondered what else was gone. I rushed into my room and looked around in search of Yvette’s box, sighing with relief when I found her on a dingle table in the middle of the room. Everything else was gone, save for the bed frame, and a wardrobe. There was a small note and cute little teddy bear beside her urn. I grabbed the note and read it. ‘Call me.’ I didn’t have to dial the number to know it was Pierce. Did he really rob me?! “Ah there you are!” A woman exclaimed excitedly beside me and I jumped in surprise, I didn’t even hear her come into the house. She had on the biggest t-shirt and basket ball short and was grinning from ear to ear at me. “Nice to me
After the money I cost him, I figured I owed him an explanation. I wiped the corner of my lip nervously and adjusted the blazer. “When I left home today, I…someone who I didn’t want in the house was in it.” “Oh?” “Yeah.” I hoped he had deduced himself that the “someone” was Pierce. After-all he was the only touchy subject in my life. “Just to make sure we’re on the same page, we’re talking about Pierce?” “Yeah him.” “Oh.” He went quiet after that. But his face said the things he didn’t want to say. “You can…ask me about it.” I offered. “You sure?” He had stopped eating and was studying me like a wounded kitten. “I’m sure.” “Okay…why was he at your house?” “He wanted me to sign some papers.” I grimaced, remembering the amount. “He was trying to alleviate his guilt by buying me off. Such an asshole.” I muttered. Carter took another bite of his burger and chewed slowly. He had lost interest in the food but was trying to give me a sense of normalcy, so I wouldn
I cringed at the sound of the bottle shattering and cursed again. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-“ “It’s fine, It’s just a little wine I shouldn’t have startled you like that-“ “Let me clean that up.” A waiter said, a barely hidden grimace on his face. I could feel a lot of eyes on us and my cheeks turned bright red as I tried to wipe the mess on the table. Carter’s hand slipped over mine again and gave me a reassuring squeeze. When I looked up, he was smiling. “Let me do it.” He said and collected the table cloth from my shaking hands. “That was a disaster.” I muttered under my breath as the waiter left to get a broom. “It’s not that bad, a disaster would be someone slipping and falli-“ A waiter chose that particular time to walk by and I guess he did not see the dark liquid on the ground with the dim lights because he slipped, hovering in the air for a split second before his body came down, and the lobster dish he held, rained down on him. “Oh my God!” I gasped a
He cradled his helmet in his left hand and had the other in the pocket of his jeans. His eyes looked past me and were focused on Pierce, the viking braids on his head turned him into a viking , biker God, if those existed. “Are you okay, Myra?” He asked bending his head to look at me. Why on earth was I always caught staring at him? “Yeah, everything’s fine-“ I started, “wait. No. Everything is NOT fine.” I turned my back by to him, crossed my hands, heels still in them, and glared at Pierce. “But it will be as soon as he leaves.” “Who the hell are you supposed to be?” Pierce asked her neighbor, sizing him up. “The one guy here she doesn’t want gone.” He answered coolly. I felt a mini war going on from the stance both men were taking. I started to think that it was a bad idea to get him involved. “Is this your date? He doesn’t strike me as your type.” “My “type” as scarred me for life, it’s time I try something new, don’t you think so, Pierce? Now for the love of God, LEA
He had the guts to look at me like I was the problem in this situation. His bushy brows were furrowed as he scowled, his eyes showing equal parts of desire and annoyance. Ditto. “Going out with Hannah?” He questioned. “This isn’t your usual filming getup. “Well excuse me, fashion police, but you need to get out of my house!” He looked at my face finally, then around the house like cockroaches were crawling all over the place. “Really Myra? This? This is what you settled on finally? It’s a dump. Why didn’t you take the apartment I offered?” “And be indebted to you even more? No fucking thank you.” It felt so hot in the house. I had Pierce to blame for that. He was only standing by the doorway, but he managed to fill the room so far all I could see was him, all I could smell was him, all I could think for crying out loud was him! I wanted him gone. “Now if you would be kind enough…LEAVE.” “You can’t be serious Myra.” He started, moving into the room further. “did you even have