If This Was A Movie [M. Manheim]

12- Reputation

Madelyn's POV:

"Hey Maddie." He spoke softly, soaking wet because of the rain.

"Who is it?" I heard Stella ask from the couch.

"No one. I'll be back in a second." I answered.

I stepped outside after grabbing a jacket to put on. I closed the door and faced Evan, the boy I loved once before.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Sorry that I had to show up so late and unexpectedly-"

"I said what are you doing here, Evan?" I repeated.

He sighed and then answered me. "I miss you, Maddie. I really do." 

I rolled my eyes and pivoted to go back inside, but he grabbed my arm, gently stopping me from getting any closer to leaving him.

"Please Maddie. I really do miss you." 

"Don't call me Maddie." I told him. Maddie was what he called me when we were dating.

"Fine. I have one question though." 

"Go ahead." I sighed, turning back towards him.

He looked down for a second before looking back up at me. "Would you consider giving me a second chance?" 

"Giving an ex a second chance is like giving a shooter another bullet after they missed the first time." I said. 

"Madelyn, please. We were both so consumed with work and we didn't have any time for each other, but I'm willing to make time for you now. You deserve that, Madelyn." 

I sighed and looked away for a second, trying to collect my thoughts. "Tell you what, we can go out on a date. If things go well, I can consider letting you back into my life."

A wide smile appeared on his face. "Thank you Maddie, seriously. Thank you." 

"Don't call me Maddie." I repeated.

He gave me a small nod and then muttered, "Right. Yeah." Then he spoke louder. "Are you free tomorrow night?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, actually. I am."

"Great. It's a date then." He smiled again. 

"Guess so." I nodded. "Well, I'll see you then." I turn back to open my door. 

"Good night, Madelyn." He said before turning to walk away.

"Good night." I responded, and then I walked into the living room.

Stella and Lexie looked at me with confused looks on their faces. I sat down on the chair across from the couch.

"Well?" Lexie said. "Who was that?" 

"Uh, it was Evan." I muttered quietly, looking away as to not see their reactions.

"Madelyn." Was all Stella said.

"What did he want?" Lexie asked me.

I thought about my answer for a few moments. I tried to decide if I wanted to tell them or not. In the end, I decided not to tell them. "He just apologized for not being there, and I apologized too. That's all." 

"You're sure?" Stella questioned.

I nodded and looked back at them, trying to pull myself together so that I could seem convincing. 

Both Lexie and Stella nodded, which told me they both believed me.

The Next Morning

I was going over my lines when I heard someone's footsteps. The person was wearing heels, and they were walking rather quickly towards me from what I could hear.

"You and Milo, huh?" I heard someone ask. Of course it was Jordyn. I didn't want to deal with her today.

"What are you talking about?" I sighed and asked her.

"The night of your premiere. The bar, the hotel..." She whispered.

My eyes widened and my face went pale. "Who told you?" I whispered back.

"Miles did. Last night." 

"What did you do to get him to tell you about that?" I asked her, my brows furrowed.

"We went to a bar for our date. After he had his drinks, he got upset and talked about it. He's hungover now, and he probably doesn't remember any of that." 

We stayed in silence for a moment. Then I asked a question. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" 

"If you try and get anywhere near Miles and me, I'll tell everyone. I'll get the hotel's record of your stay to prove it. I'll fuck up your reputation in just a few minutes, Madelyn. So stay away from him, and your reputation will be fine." She threatened me.

I didn't know what to say to that. All I managed to get out was, "How do you want me to stay away from him?" 

"No talking outside of scenes. You can film scenes together, but that's it." She said. "Am I clear?"

I sighed and then nodded slowly. "Yeah."