Theo had to know. Was this why they'd offered to walk me to my car? To corner and question me? They were still suspicious of me? I opened my mouth, trying to think of a lie on the spot, but failing. A knot formed in my stomach and I fell back a step, against my car door, my eyes darting around the empty parking lot as if looking for an escape.
I couldn't be found out like this. I needed to think of a lie. Why wouldn't my brain work? What if Theo found out? He would tell everyone. He was famous. I'd be known to everyone within minutes if he posted it on social media. My whole family would find out. My mom would find out. My lies would crumble. My life would be over. I couldn't be found out, I couldn't be found out—
"Hey." Theo's voice was low and he stepped close to me, frowning.
I pressed myself up against my car even further, sucking in a deep breath. Why couldn't I think? What could I even say? I needed an excuse, quickly. I was being too suspicious. Any second now he'd call me out—
"Hey," Theo repeated, this time in a firmer tone. "I don't know what has you so worked up, but if you don't want to answer my question, you don't have to."
My mind stopped racing, the sudden silence of the empty parking lot almost deafening compared to my frantic thoughts. "H-huh?"
Theo's gaze went to my hands, which I had balled so tightly that my nails dug into my palms painfully. "It's not like I'm going to go around telling everyone. I don't particularly care if you got this position through connections. As long as it wasn't so you could try to get close to either one of the other actors or me."
That's what he thought? He didn't know my secret? I panicked over nothing?
Even though I now knew my secret was still safe, my heart wouldn't calm down. A chill swept through me and I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. I'd never once thought someone had found me out before this. Not even Zara's accusation earlier had shaken me like this. I didn't realize how much anxiety it would bring me to have to face the truth coming out. My teeth chattered uncontrollably.
I hated it. I hated that I felt like this because of my lies, and I hated that I had to use more lies to cover for lies.
"You have to admit, you are a little suspicious," Theo said, stepping back, now looking a little guilty for having cornered me. "The earlier incidents can be passed off as such, but it is strange you'd be invited to this dinner. You can't blame me for being wary."
I needed to say something before he grew even more suspicious. Why hadn't we come up with a lie to give everyone? We hadn't thought anyone would question the assistant script supervisor position, but Theo had a point here— I'd been invited to eat with the cast in a private setting. That couldn't be normal for an assistant. He was right to think something was up.
I would just have to make up my own excuse and tell Director Ahn later.
"To be honest," I started, fiddling with my fingers and lowering my gaze, "my mom went to college with Director Ahn and recently asked her to help me find a job so I could get some experience for when I apply to graduate school. I've never worked on a film before. And then an opportunity popped up for this movie and Director Ahn helped me land it. I think she gives me special treatment because she used to be close to my mom. But we also kind of became friends during this past year."
There. That was good enough, right? Both were believable and plausible. And this lie would coincide with the one I'd told Zara, too. I peeked up at Theo, who tilted his head to the side, dark eyes narrowing, considering my words. Rowan sauntered back over to his side, lips pursed, also appearing to mull it over.
It kind of annoyed me that they didn't just accept my excuse. I didn't get why they were so apprehensive about me. Was it normal to be this suspicious about someone? It couldn't just be because I'd accidentally walked in on Theo half-naked, could it? It was purely an accident! I'd proved that to them!
Finally, Theo and Rowan glanced at each other, having one of their silent conversations, before facing me again. "I suppose your story makes sense, given the fact Eileen was the one who invited you out in the first place," Theo said.
"It's still weird, but I'll accept it this time," Rowan added.
I stared at them incredulously. These two would never be satisfied. "Can I go home now?" I asked, flatly. I was over trying to give them an explanation. I didn't care what they thought of me at this point.
"Were we stopping you from doing so?" Rowan responded, raising an eyebrow in a way that felt condescending.
"Kind of," I gritted out.
"Huh? You could have just left if you wanted to."
"And have you guys still believe I'm some kind of perverted stalker? But you know, it feels like whatever answer I give you two, it won't be enough for you, anyway," I snapped, surprising myself.
Rowan's features tightened, her lips thinning. "It's my job to make sure Theo is safe. I'm only doing my job. And I'm not sorry if that bothers you."
"Right, your job."
"I'm Theo's bodyguard," she responded, an edge to her tone. "So, yeah, it is my job to make sure the people around him aren't stalkers. People like yourself."
Her words irritated me even further. I hadn't done anything on purpose, and both times, I'd explained myself. It felt like Rowan was dead set on making me the bad guy. "Whatever," I said. "Believe what you want, then. Just leave me alone."
"Then you should leave him alone," she said with a thinly veiled threat to her voice.
"You're the one that followed me to my car. Aren't you guys the ones stalking me?" I pointed out, jutting my chin up at her.
Rowan's nostrils flared and she turned on her heel, grabbing Theo's arm. "Let's go." She tugged him away without waiting for a response, not saying anything back to me.
"He's not even all that, who would stalk him," I muttered, watching them walk away.
Theo and Rowan immediately stopped and Theo's posture tensed.
I immediately regretted trying to get the last word in.
Theo slowly turned back to me, his expression void of emotion, impenetrable— like cold marble. I expected him to say something back, but he didn't, he simply looked at me, the weight of his gaze almost tangible. Even with no emotion showing, I could feel the hatred behind that mask. His hands were formed in tight fists at his side, shaking.
"Come on," Rowan said, putting an arm over his shoulder. "Let's just drop it."
A muscle flexed in Theo's jaw, but he finally released me from his gaze, walking away with Rowan again.
I didn't move for a moment, my heart hammering in my chest once again. What was with that look? How had I offended Theo so much to deserve it? He was a famous actor, surely my words meant nothing to him. And besides that, they had been the ones bothering me!
Still... that expression burned behind my eyelids. There was something beyond anger in Theo's expression, but I couldn't place it. It felt like I'd crossed some invisible line for him. I didn't understand what it was, though.
I climbed into my car, still trying to process what had happened, but not coming up with a reason. I would just put it from my mind. If Theo and Rowan wanted to be like that, they could, and I'd just have nothing to do with them. I didn't have to feel bad— I hadn't done anything wrong. I could keep my distance. I was good at that type of thing, anyway.
I couldn't sleep that night, tossing and turning, thinking about Theo's cold gaze, and when morning came, I figured I'd gotten about two hours of sleep total. I laid in better, trying to decide whether to show up to set or not. I didn't want to face Theo and Rowan, but I also didn't want to let Zara down. Director Ahn wouldn't care, especially if I explained what happened, but part of me didn't want to tell her what had gone down between us three.
Deciding the responsible thing was to go, I forced myself up, and got ready.
If I hadn't been with everyone the night before, I would never have guessed everyone had been out late drinking by the way they acted this morning. Aliyah and Sienna showed up together arm in arm, both bright and happy, greeting everyone enthusiastically, not an eye bag in sight. Director Ahn chatted animatedly with some of the film crew on the set, an extra-large-sized coffee in her hand. I dragged my feet toward her, blinking my eyes to clear the bleariness.
A paper coffee cup appeared in my field of vision and I followed the hand holding it up to see Zara smirking at me. "Long night? Not sure what you like, so I just got you a mocha latte."
I took the drink, grateful. "This is perfect, thank you. And yeah, kind of."
"I don't know how they do it. When I join them for dinner, I seem ten times more exhausted than they ever do the next day, and I don't even drink." She sighed, shaking her head. "Oh well, as long as they get their work done, right?"
"Yeah," I agreed, taking a sip of my latte. "Should we go over the set?"
"I already did," she told me. "However, we have an updated script for today's shoot. Not much has changed, but do you mind handing them out to everyone? They're only going to the leads."
"Sure—" I started but then stopped myself because everyone definitely included Theo. I did not want to interact with him. "Uh..."
Zara picked up a pile of papers off a chair and tried handing them to me, noticing my hesitance, and frowning. "Well, I can get a PA to do it if you don't want to."
I immediately shook my head, taking the papers. "No, I can." Even if I didn't want to face Theo, this was still my job, and I wasn't going to act unprofessionally. As fake as the job was, I still wanted to do my part and help Zara.
I started with Aliyah and Sienna, who were filming their first scene together today and were getting their hair and make-up done. Aliyah accepted the changes without much issue, but Sienna groaned, taking it from me. "Dang it. I just memorized the original scene!"
"We have plenty of time. I'll help," Aliyah said, shuffling through the script. "It's really not much."
"I suck at memorizing lines," Sienna mumbled miserably.
Aliyah pursed her lips. "You're an actress! Don't say that out loud."
I laughed at their antics before continuing on, trying to hunt down Levi. I'd seen his name on the call sheet and I couldn't wait to see him in action. Thinking of him reminded me of my Levi, though, and I realized I'd been so busy yesterday I'd never texted him back. It startled me so much that I came to a dead stop, nearly making one of the film crew run me over with a cart. "Sorry!" I apologized, flushing.
I moved to the side and tucked the scripts under my arm before pulling out my phone. My heart sunk in my chest as I opened my messages with Levi, seeing three unread texts from him. We hadn't missed a day of talking to each other in a decade! How could I have forgotten him so easily? I'd even missed his texts to me because I'd set my phone on do not disturb.
Levi: Hey, Maisie! How did it go today?
Levi: You're that busy, huh?
Levi: So you won't be on for games tonight? :P
"Damn it," I said out loud, wanting to bang my head against something, typing a response to him.
Maisie: Levi!! I'm so sorry. I was so busy yesterday and I passed out as soon as I got back home.
Maisie: I can't believe I didn't text you back!!
Maisie: I promise I'll be on tonight and we can play.
Maisie: I'm a terrible friend.
My messages showed as read immediately and the typing bubble popped up. I waited, hoping he wouldn't be mad about me ignoring him.
"Oh, Maisie!" a voice called, making me look up from my phone. Levi, the actor one, gave me a one-handed wave as he strolled toward me, his phone in his other hand.
I glanced down at my phone to see that my Levi had stopped typing, but no message had been sent. "Hi, Levi," I said distractedly.
"How are you this morning? Excited?"
I gave my Levi one more second before deciding to slide my phone into my pocket, not wanting to be rude to this Levi. "Excited?" I repeated, finally giving him my full attention, realizing he stood almost toe-to-toe with me. I had to resist the urge to back up a step.
He grinned at me. "You know, because you finally get to see me act today. Might be hard not to fall for me after that."
Unprepared for that response, my cheeks warmed. So, this Levi was the type to be flirtatious. "I'm pretty professional," I said in response, keeping my tone neutral.
He moved in closer to me, if possible. "You'll find I can be irresistible."
This time I did take a step back, holding out the scripts to use as a barrier between us. "I have an updated script for you," I said. "They said it wasn't changed too much."
His hand touched mine as he took the script. "No problem. I think the big change is a we're filming a little later."
"Big change?"
"Yeah, Marco decided to cut some of Sienna's scenes and give them to Theo."
I froze. "What?"
"Well, Theo is the big-name actor, I guess. He thought there weren't enough scenes with him."
"Do you know what scenes?" I asked, my heart rate increasing. No one had consulted me about this. This wasn't some small script change either, it sounded like.
"I think the subplot about how Evie enters that design contest," Levi told me, frowning a bit. "He got rid of that completely."
"What?" I cried, too loudly, as my voice drew attention from people walking by, but I didn't care. My pulse thrummed through my veins. What was Marco thinking? He couldn't get rid of that storyline! It was Evie's goal as a character!
Levi's sighed lightly. "I know. It's probably going to make your life harder."
"Do you know where Marco is?" I asked.
"Last I saw him he was at the stage where the set for the design studio is," Levi said.
I took off without wasting another second, my footsteps slapping across the tile as I shoved the back doors of the main studio open, and headed for the lot where the design studio set was. We hadn't used that set yet, but I remembered seeing it on the map of the lots. The door was unlocked when I arrived, and I went straight in, immediately seeing Marco inspecting one of the walls that had posters up on it— including one about the fictional design content he wanted to erase from the movie.
A quick scan around the room showed no one else was around, so I went right up to him, my pulse almost in my throat. Confrontation wasn't my thing, but I had to say something about this. He couldn't ruin Evie's character. "I heard from Levi that you're planning on cutting Evie's design content storyline from the movie?" I said.
Marco jumped, turning around to face me. "Maisie, I didn't hear you come in."
"You can't do that," I said, getting to the point.
"I thought this might upset you, but I gave it more consideration and I just believe the screen time is better dedicated to Theo," Marco told me, putting his hands into his pockets. "Of course, Evie can be in the scene with Jun, too. It doesn't solely have to be Jun in the new scenes."
"Jun has enough scenes," I argued. "You can't take Evie's away. She's the main character!"
"It's a romance movie, Maisie. People want to see romance. The design contest isn't that important."
I balled my hands into fists. "Yes, it is! That's Evie's goal and motivation. She's the main character. We can't take that away."
"We can make her motivation getting a promotion at her job."
"But she hates her job. That's the point of the design contest. So she can prove to herself that she's capable enough to leave and pursue other career options, and give her that financial security needed to do so," I pointed out.
"Jun has a lot of money. She can rely on him."
I stared at him in disbelief. "Why would she do that? She has a decent job. And she's worked hard to further her career. She wouldn't rely on Jun like that."
"Then we can give her a promotion at her job at the end," Marco said simply. "It's not that big of a deal."
"Did you even read the script?" I asked incredulously. "Evie is independent and goal-oriented. That goes against everything she stands for!"
Marco's expression darkened and he frowned. "Maisie, I know it's not easy to accept change, but I won't accept that tone from you. I'm the producer. You should be more respectful to me."
My face grew hot and my palms grew sweaty, his words making me feel like I was a child being scolded. "I'm sorry," I managed to get out, though my jaw clenched, "but we can't reduce Evie down to just being Jun's love interest."
"What's wrong with that? Jun is a strong character. Evie can just be there to support him. Theo will be the one drawing the crowd, anyway," Marco said, folding his arms over his chest.
"Jun's character figures out his own problems just like Evie does. He doesn't need Evie to solve them."
"It's a romance movie, Maisie," Marco said. "I decided the original script had too much to do with Evie's personal life. It needed more romance between the two. The scenes I plan to add will just improve on that."
"How?" I asked.
"We'll probably add more intimate moments between them. That's what's popular these days, you know. We need more between-the-sheets action."
My jaw nearly dropped. "So, you want to take away what makes Evie a character because you want more sex on screen? You're reducing her to sex appeal?"
"Oh, don't say it like that. You're blowing this out of proportion," he said dismissively.
My throat began to feel tight and I swallowed. "No, because that's exactly what it sounds like. Jun gets to be this character that is complex and varied, but now you want Evie to only be driven by a romance with him and sex? That's not what I agreed to with the script!"
Marco pursed his lips at me. "Maisie, you're only here as a special privilege. In fact, most authors have no say in their scripts. We have given you more than that. But I will not stand to have you argue with me. If you act like this, I'll ask you to leave the film set."
It felt like my heart fell into my stomach and I could feel burning behind my eyes. A lump formed in my throat and I found it hard to say anything.
Marco placed his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it. "I don't mean to sound harsh, Maisie. You wrote an amazing book, and you know what's best for books. But I know what's best for film. You'll just have to trust me. I do want you around, you know. And I promise you'll still love the outcome."
I knew if I argued anymore I would just start crying. "Okay," I whispered.
His fingers dug into me, massaging the skin there. "You're young, Sweetie. This is just how this goes."
I stepped back, avoiding his gaze. "I have to finish passing out the other revised scripts now."
"Go right ahead. And listen, we can pretend this conversation never happened, okay? You don't need to feel embarrassed."
Embarrassed? That's not how I felt at all. I was pissed. I twisted on my heel, keeping my head down, and hurried toward the exit of the set.
Just before the door though, a polished pair of black oxfords entered my vision. I came to an abrupt halt, looking up in surprise. And then it quickly changed to panic as I saw who stood in front of me.
Theo.
He didn't say anything, merely stared at me, making my heart skip a beat.
Maybe he didn't hear, I thought to myself, trying to come up with an excuse quickly. When I became unable to, I decided my next best course of action was just to escape. I made to move around him, but he put out his arm blocking my way.
His gaze followed me, his body turning so he fully faced me. I couldn't look away from him, my breath caught in my throat. His eyes bored into me, pinning me in place. "Going somewhere, miss author?"
Author's Note:
I swear with life if it's not one thing, it's another. I need to be more consistent, and I'll be trying to. I made some references to give arts for the characters of this book, here is Maisie and Theo!