For Better or Worse (bxb) - On Hiatus

Chapter 6

Over the years, Connor had gotten me into the habit of putting smaller items like those in specific places in the house. Now incidents like this one didn't occur as frequently compared to when we initially started dating.

"Do you want anything else from the supermarket?" he asked once he'd stopped laughing.

"If you want to treat me, you can get me some Sour Patch Kids?" I loved all sweets, but sour candies were by far my favourites.

"I already have it on the list."

I giggled and cooed. Connor really was the best. "Thank you! Is it still raining?"

"Not anymore, though it's still very overcast. I think it'll rain again soon, but it doesn't matter, I should use the day to run our errands. Anything specific you want for dinner?"

"Nope, anything is fine..." I trailed off as I saw the assistant enter the room.

"Kimo Matthews," he drawled.

I immediately jumped up from my seat. "Gotta go! Drive safely, and I'll call you after the audition. I love you!"

"I love you too, Curly Fry. You'll do great!"

While making my way towards the assistant, I thanked Connor and silenced my phone, shoving it into the front pocket of my one strap bag.

"Thank you," I said to the assistant who nodded and sat in a chair in the far corner of the room he just led me into.

After the director introduced himself and the other people in the room, he took my resume which was printed on the back of my headshot before holding out a script to me. I smiled and took the script, silently reading through the highlighted dialogue.

They had already given us a general idea of the plot of the movie and the characters' roles, but this was the first time I was seeing the script. I was auditioning for a role as a side character, and considering I had very little acting experience, this might have been a bit ambitious on my part, but my new agent had encouraged me to go for it.

She had said that the director didn't care too much about past experiences and was looking for talent and potential. She had even encouraged me to go for the available lead role, but I thought I would stand a better shot at landing the role of the side character.

"Ready?" the director asked.

I took a deep breath, trying to get into my character's mindset before I recited my lines. I decided to focus more on getting the character's emotions in the scene correct than the words that were written since it wasn't possible for me to memorise all of the lines in the few minutes that they had given me to prepare.

"Did you read the roles of all the characters beforehand?" the director asked once I was finished. His bluish-grey eyes were trained on me as he fiddled with the pen in his hand.

I gulped. Was it so bad that it seemed like I didn't prepare? "Yes, I did." My palms were starting to sweat and a knot formed in my throat, but my voice didn't betray me by cracking.

"Great. Could you please turn to page seventy-three and read Thomas' monologue?"

My eyes widened and my mouth opened and closed like a goldfish before I regained composure of my facial expression. Thomas was one of the main characters. The other being Caleb who was already casted as Aiden Evans, a very popular upcoming actor.

I fumbled to find the page, completely rattled by this change of events.

After I had been reviewing the monologue for a few minutes, I was asked to start. I took a deep breath and cleared my thoughts, focusing on my character. Their behaviour, thoughts, actions, motivations; those all became mine as I recited the lines.

"Could you do it again, but more sarcastic?"

I nodded and took a few seconds to compose myself before starting again. They made me read it two more times, giving me directions on how they wanted it done.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Matthews. We will be in touch soon."

I thanked them and left. I might have been imagining it, but I swore I saw hints of smiles on their faces as I left the room.

As soon as I was away from the prying eyes of the actors that had yet to audition, I pumped my fist in the air and squealed. My heart was pounding and excitement was flowing through my veins. "I have to call Connor," I mumbled, grinning from ear to ear.

I had a good feeling about this. This was the most confident I'd ever felt after an audition, and I was eager to share this with Connor and with Becky once I got to work.

After rifling through my bag for my phone, I pulled it out to find three missed calls from Connor and a missed call from Behzad. That was weird. Connor knew I was at the audition, and Behzad only called me when Connor didn't answer him.

I called back Connor, but he didn't answer. I called again but still received no answer. This was getting weirder. Connor never missed my calls, especially not when he knew I had auditions. He had always been the first one to cheer me on if I thought I did well or comfort me if I thought I did badly.

My phone rang before I could try Connor again.

"Behzad, can you get through to Connor?" I asked as soon as I answered the phone.

"Connor mentioned to me yesterday that your audition was near your workplace, can you give me an exact address?" Behzad's voice sounded strained and borderline frantic.

I gave him my address but repeated my question.

"I'm coming to get you. I'll be there soon." Behzad cut the call.

Confused and beginning to feel uneasy, I took the elevator to the main floor, and by the time I exited the building, Behzad was waiting for me. Once he spotted me, he hopped out of his car and rushed towards me with his big, green and white umbrella. His eyes were red and puffy, and tears stained his cheeks.

"Behzad, what's going on?" My voice cracked and the euphoric feeling that I felt immediately after the audition was replaced by a sense of forbidding.

"Let's get you into the car first. Then I'll tell you, I promise." His voice was mournful and barely above a whisper.

"Connor. Is he okay?"

Behzad's face contorted like I'd punched him in the stomach. "Please, get in the car."

Tears streamed down my face and my heart clenched. He'd said nothing but that had been enough. Something was wrong with my fiancé. My knees buckled, and I would have tumbled to the ground had not for Behzad.

He gently guided me towards the car, shielding me from the rain with his umbrella.

"Connor was in a car accident," he said, once he'd managed to get my limp body into the car. A pained whimper rang through the air, and it took me a second to realise it was mine. "The doctors called me after they couldn't get a hold of you because I was his second most dialed contact." Tears filled his eyes, and he wiped them with the top of his grey T-shirt. "It's really bad, Kimo."

I couldn't speak. I couldn't move. All I could do was stare in horror. My stomach was in knots, my heart in shreds. It felt like my entire body was tied with a rope and being squeezed. With every breath I took, the rope grew tighter and tighter, strangling me and breaking every bone in my body, until all that was left of me was a bloody carcass and the pool of tears that spilled from my eyes. 

A/N

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