Is This True Love? (DNF)

Chapter 17: In Town

Clay POV.

“Are you sure that you don’t need anything?” I asked Niki as I went out the door. She had tailed me into the hallway but she shook her head.
“No thank you Clay. But you do remember I have an assistant that can go to the store instead, right?” Her expression was gentle and caring.

“I know, but the entire reason I’m here is to interact with George. At the moment I’ve only seen him half a dozen times. So I may as well do some stuff to help you so I’m not a freeloader.” She didn’t respond, just listening to what I said. We exchanged some goodbyes before I stepped outside and shut the door.

Today the entire town was cloudy, but despite that it was warm. I walked down the street, passing people who I recognised from episodes and I said hello to most of them. They often ended up asking me questions since most of them were wanting to become actors like I was. Since I had nothing better to do I answered all of them.

Eventually I reached the shopping district of the town, passing a shop painted with a deep blue front. A boy ran out, bumping into me before falling back. “Holy shit, I’m so sorry-” he cut himself off as he looked up and saw me. “Holy shit, you’re Clay Smith.” He stood up and managed a grin, and I found that I recognised him.

“You’re Tommy, right?” I asked, and he gasped, pleasantly surprised I knew home.
“Holy shit, Clay Smith knows who I am.”
“Tommy, you need to stop swearing.” A man said as he stepped out of the shop.

It was Philza. I recognised him just like I recognised Tommy. The two of them were recurring characters on the show, with them being family friends of George. When Philza looked at me he muttered an apology. “I’m sorry about him Mr Smith. He needs to learn to control his tongue, we don’t want him to start acting out of character around George.”

Tommy glanced over, feeling offended. I was familiar with the two of them. They often ended up interacting with George as recurring side-characters. After George’s parents had died Philza was basically a parent to him. He gave George all kinds of sound fatherly advice. Tommy was his son, a troublemaker when he ended up hanging out with his friends.

I personally remember and love the episode where George agreed to babysit Tommy and his two friends and they ended up locking him in the bathroom and building up a fort. Then he managed to get out (they unlocked the door) ten minutes before Philza got home.

It was a little more boring for a day, since George spent three hours locked in a bathroom pacing back and forth, but I enjoyed it. Although it seemed that his mischievous side continued from the show to real life, he didn’t really swear in the show. It was rare enough that it was impactful when he did do it, shocking me about how common swear words are for him.

“I apologise for him Mr Smith.” Philza muttered apologetically. “Usually he is a lot more polite when he is out in public and at risk of being caught by George.”
“But George is nowhere near here. He is probably off fucking around with Karl like he usually does.” Before we even got the chance to say anything the voice in our earpieces appeared.

“Everyone into first positions. George and Karl are two minutes away from West End Avenue.” The voice said, repeating the message a second time before going quiet.
“You had to say something.” Philza said, shaking his head as he glanced at Tommy.
“Hey it’s not my fault he has some kind of superhuman hearing like a freak.”

“No need to be rude Tommy.” Philza sighed. “I know that George can be irritating at times-”
“-all the time.” Tommy stepped in to let us know.
“-all the time.” Philza added to him with a small nod. “But this is our job, think of how much money we’ve earned. When we leave this show you won’t have to work a day ever.”

“You guys are considering leaving the show?” I asked. “Ever since I was a kid I remember your wisdom Philza.” A faint smile appeared on my face. George was a few years older than me, and so I had grown up alongside him. I could distinctly remember Philza giving advice for George which related to kids my age and therefore related to me.

“It’s none of my wisdom. All of my quotes were written by other people. I honestly just started this as a minor gig to pay back my debt. Now as a side bonus we can pay back anything for Tommy.” He explained, and while I was upset that two characters I liked were potentially leaving the show, I didn’t say anything.

The voice in our ears spoke up again. “Tommy, Philza, and Clay, you three aren’t meant to be starting there, please get into your starting positions before Karl and George arrive.” Philza and Tommy grew quiet, muttering a goodbye before leaving me alone.

I didn’t have a spot where I was expected to be, that is something Jimmy and I had talked about before I went into the show. So I watched as Philza and Tommy walked away before just settling myself on a bench. It was kind of creepy to look around, seeing dozens of people standing motionless, as though they were all statues.

They all waited patiently for the cue that they were able to move, with their eyes travelling around but other than that there was nothing. I lowered my head so that I didn’t have to look at them, just sitting still while waiting for everyone else to move before I would begin moving too. I forgot about my plan to get milk and ended up just waiting around.

“Begin in ten seconds.” A voice echoed through my ear, and the ears of everyone else in the town. “Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three... two… one… action.” Suddenly the whole town came to life, beginning in conversation and moving around. It overwhelmed me, as though I had been deaf before now and my hearing suddenly just came back.

I slowly stood up, seeing most of the people ignoring me as though I didn’t exist. The only exception was a few young kids that stopped to wave at me. In the distance I looked over to see George and Karl rounding the corner, talking with one another simply, not knowing anything about what I had been through.

Much to my surprise, the voice in my ear came to life again. “Karl and George are about to approach you.” It told me, and I watched the two brunettes crossing the road after a car passed them. “Jimmy requests that you interact with them.”
“Oh… okay.” I said, giving a small smile as I began walking towards them, closing the distance.

When I got close enough Karl spoke up, loud enough for me to hear. “Hey Clay!” He grinned, waving over to me.
“Hey guys.” I replied. “What are you doing here?”
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