Page 93 of A Simple Love

“Do you feel drained after a scene like that?” I asked.

“At times.”

He continued to stare past me, his face expressionless. He looked tired.

I slid from the director’s chair. “I should go. I don’t want to be in the way, and I promised Quinn I would help clean up at the restaurant.”

He nodded, not speaking.

I stopped in front of him. “Are you angry with me?”

He met my eyes and shook his head. “No. I could never be angry with you, lovely.”

I laid my hand on his chest, and he grabbed it, holding it tightly.

“I’m not built for LA, for your lifestyle,” I murmured. “We wouldn’t work there.”

“I know.”

“You hate Richton and everything it stands for.”

“I don’t hate it,” he protested.

“But it’s not your world anymore.”

“No.”

I smiled, even as my heart broke at that one word. “We don’t fit anymore, Olly.”

He drew in a deep breath. “So, it’s over?”

“No. I didn’t mean that. Our lives are intertwined now, but they will veer off into two separate worlds when your movie ends. It’s inevitable.”

He gazed at me, his mouth opening, then closing. “I suppose it is.” He lifted my hand and kissed it. “But I will treasure this time always.”

I smiled, fighting back the tears. “Me too.”

And I turned and left.

Oliver

Annie glared at me over her glasses. “Stop moping.”

“I’m not moping,” I argued.

“You are. You have a movie ending, another starting, the whole Flynn issue is dying down, and you’re all up in your feelings and not paying attention.”

“I’m paying attention. You just told me the paper fired Flynn and is printing a retraction that our people wrote. Flynn’s out on his ass.”

“I hate to admit it, but Sheri was brilliant.”

“I told you she had talent.”

“I was thinking of adding her to my roster.”

I gaped at her. Annie hadn’t taken on a new client in ages. “What?”

“She needs a firm hand. Direction. Her current manager is a lightweight.”