I prefer you and me

Chapter 2: Off my game

My driver took me to the theatre again and I put on my sunglasses as I realised there were photographers outside.

I loved greeting and talking to fans, but paps? Hated them.

I walked inside, ignoring them as best as I could and let out a sigh once I was inside.

"Good you're here" Kenneth said when I met him backstage.

My stomach growled. I wasn't sure yet, if it was a good thing to be here.

"Is the replacement here yet?" I asked as I glanced at my phone.

Richard didn't text back yet. I hoped his X-ray meant he would be back soon.

Kenneth smiled "Yeah. Taron arrived half an hour ago"

I looked up from my phone in surprise. He had been early?

"Great" I smiled and walked backstage to put my stuff down.

"Hi Zoe" I said as I walked into the women's changing room.

"Maggie, hi" she smiled.

We barely had any scenes together but I liked having her around. She worked hard and I appreciated that.

"How are you?" I asked as I got out of my coat.

"I'm good" she said "How are you though? Bummer they have a replacement jumping in"

I sighed "Yeah. I hope Richard is better soon"

I turned around to her "Did you hear of Taron Egerton before?"

She shrugged as she brushed through her black bob "No. You?"

I shook my head "No"

"Well hopefully that's not a bad thing" she said.

I let out a breath as I walked out of the room "Yeah, let's hope so"

Since it was only rehearsals I didn't need to change, but suddenly I felt uncomfortable in my jeans and jumper. My hair was a mess because I had tossed and turned all night and I didn't have any reason to flatten it this morning. I hated these waves of my hair, but I put it in a ponytail so it was out of the way.

I walked on stage to find Kenneth standing with what seemed to be Taron. He wasn't as tall as Kenneth was and I could see they were going through the script.

"Hi" I said as I walked up from behind them.

They both turned around.

My heart was in my throat when I had a good look at Taron. He might not be tall, but there was something about him that had me speechless for a second. And I was never speechless.

His eyes met mine and he smiled.

"Maggie, meet Taron. Taron, this is Maggie"

I wanted to hold out my hand for him but Taron pulled me into a hug before I could stop him.

That was unexpected. He pulled me tighter to him than I expected and inhaled deeply once he let go of me again.

"So great to finally meet you" he said, clearly excited.

Wait, what was it about his accent?

"You too" I said and forced a smile.

Why was I speechless?

"Let's get started then, shall we?" I asked, trying to play it cool.

"Sure" Taron shrugged "Which scene should we start with?"

We both looked at Kenneth and I had to hold back a frown. There was no possibility Taron had already learnt all the lines, was there?

"Let's start from scene 1" he said.

He was referring to the scene when Romeo and Juliet first met. I hated to admit I didn't have a hard time acting as if Taron swept me off my feet right away. Wait, Romeo, not Taron. Urgh, what had gotten into me?

"Perfect" Kenneth said once we got through the scene.

We acted all day and I was more and more stunned that Taron seemed to have it all. He knew the lines and I believed him ever word he said. There were only a few choreographic parts he just couldn't know and I didn't even blame him.

"Perfect" Kenneth seemed beside himself "Looks like we can get the show back on earlier than planned"

Taron smiled "Well let me know what else I can do to –" he shrugged "to improve"

I raised my eyebrows, but he didn't see me. Improve? From what I could tell he was perfect.

"You have nothing to worry about, Taron" Kenneth put his hand on his shoulder.

I couldn't agree more. He seemed to be a natural.

We walked backstage and I just couldn't hold back the question that had been running through my mind all day.

"Where did you learn all that?" I asked.

Taron paused in his step and frowned at me. "Learn what?"

I gaped at him for a second. He had these boy next door vibes but there was also something else about his personality I couldn't quite explain. He seemed like one of those rare actors that we truly nice and talented. It was nagging at my brain.

"Acting" I deadpanned.

"Oh sure" he chuckled.

How could he be so humble? I actually believed him.

"I went to RADA. Actually graduated there last year and was on a show called The Smoke"

I shrugged. "Haven't heard of that before"

"It wasn't that successful unfortunately"

Well certainly not because of Taron. He probably carried the show if he was a lead. I would have to check it out later.

"Okay cool" I tried to remain unimpressed.

"What about you?" he asked and caught me off guard.

"What about me?" I laughed.

Basically everyone knew my story. My mother was an actress and my father had been a musician, so I could do both. And I enjoyed both equally. I had done a lot of theatre work because I enjoyed it, but had also done movies. The Cinderella adaption with Richard had been my latest movie.

"Where did you study?" he asked and he seemed genuinely interested.

I wasn't used to that.

I cleared my throat "I went to Guilthall"

"Oh great" Taron's eyes lit up "I wanted to get in there but I couldn't.

I laughed "I wanted to get in to RADA and I couldn't" I said before I could stop myself.

Why had I told him that? Nobody else knew.

"Well clearly you learnt all you needed to learn there" he winked at me.

"Thanks" I smiled.

Why was I so at ease with him?

"Okay see you tomorrow then" I said and headed for the changing room.

"Wait" Taron called and I turned around and frowned at him.

He was still standing there, with his hands shoved in his jeans pocket.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Would you want to have dinner? Just so we get to know each other better since we will spend a lot of time together?" he asked.

I thought about it. Was it really a good idea? There was something about him that threw me off my game.

"I also hoped to go through a scene with you" he looked so hopeful and sincere.

"Sure, why not" I shrugged.