Page 43 of Love Scenes

It crossed my mind more than once that I should have reached out and texted him. I even drafted a few jokes about how all our rehearsals will pay off. Before Haven’s firing, we’d gotten into character backstories and world building outside of the script. We’d improvised scenes that happened at different points in Calvin’s life. We’d learned these two people from the inside out.

And now we will play them together.

Exactly as my family always wanted.

“It was Method,” I say. “I was embracing all the war-torn years Elise and Calvin spent apart without communication.”

“But they wrote letters.”

“Keep your eyes peeled for the mail in the next few days. You never know.”

“Don’t get my hopes up.”

The lead colorist stops mixing to laugh at us. “You two are going to be great together,” she says.

I give her a gracious thanks, feeling a full tidal wave of nerves crash over me. This isn’t the two of us in the trailers making sure Joseph has his shit together. We can break it down into scheduling and costumes and location shoots and hair colors and script changes, but at the end of the day, this is a movie about Joseph Donovan and me as lovers.

And unlikeA Little Luck, we’re not enemies in real life anymore.

After they rinseout the second round of color, I move to a corner and FaceTime Tyler as promised. She’s standing near set, Elise’s apartment behind her.

Myapartment. It’s mine now. The thought forces me to steadymyself against a drying station. Taking on this role has become something that continuously shocks me. It’s all happened so fast I can’t seem to hang on to the reality of it.

I show Tyler the current color. Several shades darker than Haven’s, and a touch too warm against my skin tone.

“It’s almost there,” Tyler says. “I kind of like it shoulder length. What do you think, Guy?” She turns the screen to him. I prop my phone against one of the styling counters so I can rotate side to side to give him the full view.

He does several chef kisses. “A vision! Exactly how I imagined you when I wrote this!”

Mom appears in the background, walking closer. “Can someone get me my readers?” A PA hands her the frames off-screen. She puts them on to appraise me. “Color’s wrong, but I don’t mind the length. We can work with that. Maybe even an inch or two shorter? Wish I could see you beside Joe.”

“Oh. He’s here. So you can.”

“He’s there?”

I grab my phone from the counter and move to the farthest corner possible. “Of course,” I say with an even tone. Joseph’s off talking it up with other people on the color team, so far oblivious. “I told him it would be a good idea to see how my color looked against his hair.”

“Definitely,” Tyler agrees, fully fearful we’re in for Sloane versus Kitty, round two.

“Have you heard what Daniel Traverson did?” I pivot.

It proves to be a good distraction, because they’ve been so busy they haven’t heard any of it. When I’m done explaining the story, Mom says, “We should sue,” right as Tyler asks, “Are you going to release an apology?”

“Do you think I should?”

“God no!” Joseph has come near me again, apparently having listened to the better part of the Daniel Traverson saga. “If all of us had to apologize for the private conversations we’ve had about this business, there wouldn’t be a single working actor still going.”

“He’s not wrong,” Mom agrees, her eyes flitting quickly between us. Scrutinizing. “And if you say something, it proves the story is true. I change my mind. We won’t sue. I’m just in a suing mood.”

“But I look like such a privileged asshat trying to get off that show,” I counter.

“Youarea privileged asshat!” Powell yells from off camera.

“So are you!” I yell back.

Joseph starts pacing. “So is Daniel Traverson for using his mam to get you removed! Is he seven years old? Christ!”

“Again, he’s not wrong,” Mom echoes, her mouth forming a hard line. The same expression she had when she came out of her emergency meeting with Haven and announced that she’d been released from the production. “We have to get back to work. It will all be for the best, Sloaney. Go lighter on the hair. And remember what I said the other day! See you!” Her finger reaches for Tyler’s phone screen and presses, leaving us in black.