A Chance Meeting | Chris Evans

Chapter 9

Chris
It  wasn't until  later  that afternoon when they broke for a late lunch that he got the chance to  turn his  phone back on and message her again. He'd been kicking himself all day about bottling that question. She either thinks  I'm  a  right idiot  or she thinks I'm really bad  mannered. Why couldn't he have just made something up? Anything would have been better than hanging up on her.

She'd sent a couple of messages.

@Becs123 to @Robbie123
Robbie? You still there?
Sent 9.20am

@Becs123 to @Robbie123
I guess you had to go
Sent 9.30am

@Robbie123 to @Becs123
I'm sorry about earlier. I bottled the question because there's something important that I need to tell you deleted
I'm sorry about earlier. I got anxious because I really like you deleted
I can't tell you what I do because deleted
Sorry about earlier. My phone battery died.
Sent 1.56pm

Okay, so that was a  lie, but at least it didn't make him sound like a neurotic idiot. He felt a little better.
But as the day wore on and she still hadn't replied, he started to worry more and more. I've fucked it up. Again. Fucking anxieties. Why can't I just be like a normal guy? Why does everything have to be so hard?
His concentration was off all day, and he kept having to reshoot his scenes because he'd forgotten his lines, which never happened to him. In the end the director had gotten pissed off and called an end to the day with instructions to sort out whatever the fuck was bothering him and come back to work the next morning with his head out of his ass.
He was in his trailer getting ready to leave when there was a knock on the door. He considered ignoring it, because he really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, but then the knock came again and this time the door opened and Scarlett walked in.
'Come in why don't you.' He said sarcastically.
'I figured that you were ignoring me.' She said.
'Trying to.'
She smiled slightly and then opened his fridge, helped herself to a can of diet coke and sat down on the chair.
'Make yourself at home.'
'Thanks, I will.' She said, taking a sip from the can.
'What's going on Chris?' She asked, looking at him kindly.
'Nothing's going on.'
'You've been really off your game today, and that's not like you.'
'Aren't I allowed to have a bad day?' He said, slightly more sharply than he meant to. 'Everyone else does. Last week you couldn't get your lines right.'
Instead of getting cross back at his harsh tone, she just raised an eyebrow at him.
'Sorry.' He said.
'And you never snap. So I ask again, what's going on? Are you okay?'
He sighed. 'I just...had something on my mind today and I couldn't concentrate.'
'Maybe it'd help to talk about it.'
He was just about to say no thanks, when he realised that it might help. Scar was a good friend, knew him well and knew about his anxieties. More than that, she knew the pressures of relationships when you're a household name and she always seemed to manage them. Maybe she could advise him.
'I've been messaging the girl from the supermarket via the tinder account...'
'You have?' She asked, sounding surprised. 'Wow. I owe Rob $50. So how's that going?'
'I fucked it up.'
'Tell me.'
That was the nice thing about Scar - she didn't try and fob you off with an 'I'm sure you didn't', she just listened.
'I don't know where to start.'
'Well, obviously something's happened, why don't you start there.'
'She asked about my job. Asked what I do.'
'And...?'
'And I panicked and cut her off and now she won't return any of my messages.'
'Then I take it she doesn't know who you really are?'
'No.'
'You're still using the Robbie persona that Rob created?'
'Yes, and that's the problem. I really like this girl Scar, and I really like that she's getting to know the real me, without all the celebrity crap getting in the way. I don't have to worry that she's after me because of the fame or the money, or because she wants to date Steve Rogers.'
'I hear you.' Said Scar, nodding. 'Been there.'
'But it's not like that with her because she doesn't know. If she laughs at my joke, I don't have to stress about what her motives are. I can just be myself.'
'Well that's really good.'
'Yeah. But at some point I'm going to have to drop the act and tell her who I am - I mean,  I want to see her again. And I think she'll realise I'm not Robbie from the photos. Besides, I feel like a shit lying to her, even if it is for a good reason.'
Scar nodded and drank her diet coke silently for a minute.
'Seems to me like you've got two problems.' She said.
'One, you panicked and cut her off and you're worried that you've upset her.'
'Yes.'
'When was this?'
'This morning. I sent her a message at lunch and then in the afternoon but she hasn't replied.'
'Well that's not very long ago, she could easily be somewhere that she can't get a signal or busy. And what did you say?'
'That my battery died.'
'Well that's entirely believable. There's no reason why she would doubt that. I think that you just need to give her a bit more time.'
'Okay.' When Scar laid it all out like that, it seemed so straightforward.
'The second problem isn't so easily solved. I can see that messaging as Robbie is so much easier because you don't have the celebrity crap getting in the way, but if you really like this girl Chris, and you want to see her again, you're going to have to tell her the truth at some point.'
'Yeah I know.'
'And the longer you leave it, the harder it'll be. For you to say, but also for her to hear.'
'I know that I need to tell her, I do. But what if it all goes wrong when she knows?'
Scar shrugged. 'I wish I could tell you that it definitely won't.'
'But you can't.'
'No, sorry. No relationships come with guarantees. But you'll have to decide if you like this girl enough to take the risk.'
He rubbed his hands over his face. 'Shit. I more than like her enough, it's just getting all mixed up in my head and I'm overthinking everything.'
'It's making you anxious?'
'Yeah, and that's something else that I haven't told her about. What if she runs for the hills when she finds that out about the anxiety? She wouldn't be the first to run when they realised that the inside doesn't match the outside.'
'Look, there's no way to say how's she's going to react to any of this. Maybe she won't be able to handle your anxieties, but maybe she will. Maybe she'll be okay with the fame thing, or at least be able to deal with it. The fame side of it is a lot to ask someone to take on, especially someone with a completely normal life, but-'
'She's going to run screaming.' He said morosely.
'But,' she continued, louder. 'But, you're a great guy Chris, and you're totally worth all the rest of that shit. And if she's the one for you, then she'll see that.'
He blushed. 'Not sure I agree with that.'
'Of course you don't, because you don't see what we all see.'
'So you think I should tell her?'
'Yes I do. But, you don't have to tell her everything all at once. In fact, it's probably best not to dump this all on her in one go, it might be a little overwhelming. Tell her a little bit at a time, when it comes up in the conversation and it feels natural. No need to blurt it all out at once.'
He nodded. 'Thanks Scar, this has really helped.'
'Anytime

*********
Author's note
I'm not a big fan of using lots of 'he said' or 'she said' in my writing and there's lots of dialogue in this scene, so I hope that you were able to follow it and understand who was saying what.
Thanks,
C