Page 36 of Between Takes
Chapter Thirteen
I poked my head out of the trailer just in time for wrap and got hijacked before I reached Shaun on set. It was one hundred percent worth the delay. Alys and Heather caught me on my way past the production office and invited me for crew drinks in a couple weeks. I left them walking on cloud nine, the ground so far beneath my feet I never wanted to come down.
It’s been a while since I’ve had anyone but my sister invite me places! This’ll be fun.
My friends had pretty much faded into the background while I’d been with my ex, and then of course his friends had disappeared in a puff of smoke as soon as we split. No surprise. For years I’d been stagnant in Edinburgh, but I just couldn’t see it. Moving had been the best decision of my life, and no one would make me regret it.
I arrived on set to find Shaun gone and the crew tidying up. Glancing around the darkening space, I decided to just head home.
I turned back to Shaun’s trailer to collect my things and got stopped a dozen times with people marvelling at the change in him. All of them thanked me, but I shrugged off the praise. One person couldn’t change someone’s shitty attitude. He had to pull himself out of his hole.
A good thirty minutes had passed by the time I got back. I swung the door open and waltzed in, humming a beat from last night as I gathered my things.
Just as I turned around to leave, the bulk of a person caught my eye. I screamed and practically jumped out of my ever-loving skin.
“Shit!” My hands flew to my chest and my heart raced. I glanced at the ground, noticing I’d dropped my bag in the process. “What are you still doing here?” I asked, breathless.
Shaun quirked a brow. The rest of his face seemed set in stone, and his eyes would give me nightmares. The spark had gone. Even when he was biting at me, there’d been life there. Now there was nothing, just two flat pools of green and zero expression. He nursed an almost empty glass of whisky. The rest of the bottle sat at his side waiting for his next top up.
“Are you alright?”
He rubbed his eyes and squeezed his temples. “I thought you’d left.”
I tried to read some meaning from those four simple words, but none made sense. Was he pissed that it looked like I’d left without saying goodbye?
Which was utterly ridiculous. Right?
“I got caught up on the way to set. Why are you here rather than on the way home with Tom?” I approached him slowly, uncertain of my welcome.
“Wasn’t ready to go home.”
I sat on the sofa next to him and he uncapped the bottle, pouring a generous serving into the glass. He offered me the bottle. I took it from him but placed it on the floor. I didn’t need to addle my brain with alcohol right now.
“Did something happen?”
He shook his head, staring into his glass like it held the answers to his mood swings – which it probably did.
“Did someone call?”
Another shake.
Okay. Tapping my chin, I stared around the pristine space. He hadn’t been drunk when he’d left me this afternoon, so he wasn’t low because of the alcohol. He’d been low and the drink had come calling. What would knock him off the cheery wave I’d left him with?
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He pursed his lips. It was tiny, but my heart danced. Progress.
“Did something remind you of Lily?”
His gaze flicked to me briefly before he shook his head. He covered his face and groaned, sinking lower in the seat.
“Today’s lines hit a little too close to home,” he muttered, his voice gravelly.
I frowned, trying to recall the scenes I’d glanced over this morning. There hadn’t been a romantic scene on the call sheet, just a bunch of family-focused things with his character’s sister and a whacko relative.
“It’s no secret that I had a shitty upbringing, but people don’t really know how shitty.” Shaun glanced at me, his eyes narrowing. “Are you staying or are you going? Sit properly,” he snapped, referring to the fact I was sat on the edge of the seat, still unsure if he wanted me there.
I slid back into the sofa cushion, kicked off my flats and tucked my legs beneath me. He smirked when I forced a “good enough?” smile.
