Better Than Revenge (Special Edition)

Chapter 7: Christian

Chapter 7

Christian

I should not have taken that role. I had been right to say no at first. Why had I given in? I should have asked more questions before saying yes. I mean, I asked questions before signing the contract, specifically about who I'd be working with besides Blake, but they only said that "nothing was official yet" and that they'd "keep me posted."

Maybe no one else had signed a contract yet, but I was sure they had an idea about who they wanted and who they were calling next. I was sure leaving out the fact that they had given the role of Emma van der Bilt to Sophia Hastings wasn't an accident.

"Who gives a leading role to a newbie? To someone who's never worked in the business a day of her life? Who does that?" I shook my head.

"Whoever gave you your first role," Blake said without looking up from his phone. "Your first role was a lead. So who gave you that role? There's your answer."

"Dude. You're supposed to be on my side."

"Oh. Right. Those bastards. How dare they give a newcomer this role?"

"That's what I thought." I ran a hand through my hair. "Well, I said I wanted something different. Something tells me this isn't going to be like my other movies."

Blake and I both looked up when the door opened. The entire cast – or most of it – was meeting up for the first time to do a read through of the script. We were just waiting on Sophia, as far as I knew.

When she finally walked through the door, I found myself speaking without really meaning to. It just kind of came out automatically. I wondered if I had the same effect on her. It would explain a lot if that was the case. "Is this a sign of how working with you is going to be?"

She looked like she was trying to catch her breath or gather her composure, or maybe both. "I could say the same to you. Your fans nearly trampled me out there."

"They just get a little excited," I said, feeling the need to come to their defense. It wasn't my fault they loved me so much and were excited for my new movie, and it wasn't their fault I was so lovable.

She ignored me and addressed Nora instead. "I'm sorry I'm late, Nora. I had some trouble leaving my hotel."

I would've called her out on her bullshit had it been bullshit. Details about the read-through had been leaked. Even I'd had some trouble getting here, and I was used to this.

"We haven't been waiting long. You're fine," Nora said. "Go ahead and take your seat so we can start."

The only seat open was the one right next to me. She looked like she wanted to sit anywhere else, but there was a tabletop sign with her name and her character that she couldn't really ignore even if she wanted to.

I watched her take her seat out of the corner of my eye. I was trying not to overtly stare at her to avoid getting called out on it. I almost felt a little bad for her when I heard her take a small, shaky breath. I just figured she was overwhelmed by all of the familiar faces. She was easily the lowest-ranked actor here, since she didn't even have a rank yet.

"How about we start with some introductions?" Nora asked. "We're going to be stuck with each other for the next few months, so we may as well get this over with."

Nods and words of agreement filled the room. Introductions it was. I didn't really think I needed to introduce myself, but maybe I would remember everyone else's names for once.

Nora pulled a bedazzled orange baton out of the bag that was hanging off the side of her seat. "This is the Thespian Stick. If someone hands it to you, you say a few words about yourself and then pass it on. I'll start. I'm Nora Harding. I'm your director for this project. I'm exactly as scary as I look, which is not very, so don't be afraid to approach me. I want this to be a fun experience for everyone. Personally, I think shooting this movie is going to be a blast. We've got a great cast and a great script to work with. A fun fact about me is that... I would eat seafood for every meal if I could." She handed the stick to Blake. "You're up, Blake."