“I’m sorry, but she is. I know she’s been my idol for the past forever years, and I know I thought her performance of Lucy Knight was spot on, and I know I raved on and on about how she played that psychopath character in such a realistic way, but now it’s all making sense to me. She was typecast in that role. She is a psychopath. She snapped at me today and fired me because of the photographs the paparazzi took of us.”
“Wait, what? She fired you?”
“Yeah. It’s OK, really. I’ll find something else, and if worse comes to worst, I can pick up some classes at Mima’s studio.”
“But you loved being on set. You deserve to be on set.”
“I’ll get back to it somehow. It might just take a few years of trying.”
The whole situation was bullshit. Sarah crossed a line by letting Shay go, and I was determined to make it known to her how she was in the wrong.
“I’m so sorry, Shay. Truly,” I said.
“It’s OK. I’m just glad you now know about her. I wouldn’t want you to end up with a girl like her.”
“What kind of girl would you want me to end up with?”
“Well...” She paused her steps and looked up at me. Myheart was wild and my mind untamed as she parted her lips to answer. “You should probably end up with a girl like me.”
* * *
Shay and I spent the following nights together, wrapped in one another’s arms. Each day at work, I avoided Sarah the best I could. I hadn’t shit to say to the coldhearted actress who’d decided to throw a hissy fit when she couldn’t get her way.
When she came into my trailer one afternoon, I almost had Willow throw her out, but instead, I refrained. We had to keep it professional, seeing as how we’d put so much time and energy into the movie.
“Hey, Landon. I wanted to stop by and make sure you and me were good. I know there seemed to be some tension between us since I had to let Shay go, but I was hoping we’d be able to work through it.”
“No,” I flatly replied.
“What?”
“I said no. What you did to her was wrong, and I won’t forgive you for it. Shay is the most important person in my life, and I refuse to let someone like you get in between us. So I’m saying no, Sarah. I don’t want to work through this drama with you. You showed your true colors, and we’ll leave it at that.”
“Those aren’t my true colors,” she said, shaking her head. “There must’ve been some confusion between Shay and me. If she wants her job back, she can have it. I never meant to cause her any trouble,” she backtracked, making me want to roll my eyes so fucking bad.
She looked down at the table, where a script was sitting, and her eyes darted across the page. “Is this Shay’s?” she asked,lifting the manuscript into her hands. “I didn’t know she was into screenwriting.”
“That’s because you never bothered to ask her anything about herself.” She began flipping through the manuscript, and I hurried to my feet and snatched it from her hands. “That’s none of your business.”
“Come on, Landon. If she’s looking to get a real career started, I can help her. I’ll do it as a favor to you. My dad is the biggest screenwriter in the world. I’m sure I can get Shay a mentoring job beneath him.”
That sounded way too good to be true, and I knew to refuse Sarah’s offer. I knew she wasn’t a woman I could trust.
“She’s going to do it on her own, without your help,” I told her. Sure, I’d taken the script from Shay’s after finding out she lost her job with the purpose of trying to get it into the right hands. As time moved on throughout the day, I realized that would’ve been a mistake. She’d asked me plenty of times to not share her work, and that was exactly what I’d planned to do. I knew now to respect her wishes. I only wished there was a way I could help her, but I knew it was something she needed to do on her own. They were her dreams—I was simply the guy who’d be lucky enough to watch them come to fruition.
“You’re making a mistake,” Sarah warned. “You and I could be the next power couple if you gave me a real shot.”
“There’s nothing powerful about two people who weren’t meant for each other.”
“How do you know we aren’t meant for each other?”
“I’m in love with her, Sarah.”
She huffed. “How could you love someone like her?” she hissed with disgust written all over her face.
“I think it’s time you leave my trailer.”
“You have a lot of nerve,” she scolded.