Page 104 of Two-Step
This is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong,my conscience insists.
“I don’t know,” I whisper. It’s just a whisper, and it’s weak, but it took the whole of my meager supply of courage not to give in.
“What?!”She scowls at me with disgust in her eyes.
“Two minutes, everybody!” Jonathan’s assistant calls, signaling the end of our break.
I’m shaking, wishing those two minutes were up. Two minutes is an eternity when you’re burning alive.
“What. Did. You. Say?” Moira grinds out.
I take a quaking breath. Saying it a second time doesn’t seem possible. “I don’t—”
“You don’t know,” Moira growls, twisting my words. “You don’t know what’s best. Good thing you have me.” She squares her shoulders, making her five-foot-five stature seem enormous to me. “I’ll see to everything. Like I always do.”
She turns on her heels, leaving me eviscerated. There’s no time to fall apart. No time to cry on someone’s shoulder.
But an image of Beau Landry’s broad shoulders flashes through my mind. Thinking of him makes my eyes sting, but I don’t have time to go back to make-up. I chase thoughts of him and the feelings they bring back into the shadows.
I do a quick scan for Ramon or Sally, but there’s no sign of them.
I step back onto the empty set, illuminated under the spotlights for all to see. I gather my character’s bearing like an invisibility cloak and hide behind her.
* * *
By the timewe break for the night, it’s after nine, and I’m numb. I meet Ramon and Sally at the trailer, but I don’t say a word. As soon as they see me, they know. I must have that chewed-up-and-spat-out look, and their silence in return is a gift.
When I settle into the backseat of the Rover, Ramon hands me my phone. I have a ton of messages. A quick scan shows me that most of them are from friends in L.A., freaking out that a hurricane is headed my way. But the most recent messages are the ones that snag my attention. The latest one is just two minutes old.
Jonathan Reynolds: Hey kid, Moira says you need a safer place to stay for this storm. Can’t let my star blow away! My place has a generator. We’ll hunker down together.
I can barely look at the three messages before that one:
Moira: It worked! You’re in, baby! Make the most of it.
Ten minutes before that:
Moira: Jonathan’s assistant got me five minutes with him. I told her it was an emergency.
Three hours before that:
Moira: If you ever embarrass me the way you did today, there’ll be hell to pay. If anyone asks what that was about, you tell them it was about finding you better shelter for this storm.
Spots cloud my vision after I read this one. I shut my eyes and press my hand to my pounding head. I can’t read any more messages.
I want to throw up.
I want to hide.
I want the winds of this hurricane to pick me up and carry me away.
Sally clears her throat, breaking the silence in the car. I force myself to look up. I expect to see her waiting to say something to me, but she’s looking at Ramon. We’re still sitting in our parking spot on the lot. Ramon is behind the wheel, but he’s staring straight ahead like a wooden soldier.
“Iris, Sally’s invited us to go to her parents’ house in Broken Bow,” Ramon says, still looking through the windshield. “I think we should.”
I let go a silent breath. So, Moira was right. They’re heading out of town.
I can’t say I blame them. I haven’t been watching the weather, but Ramon has looked stressed for the last couple of days. I don’t have to ask to know that this is bringing up a lot of shit for him.
