Page 40 of Cast to be Mine

He closed the door behind him and turned to face me. I braced myself for the lecture. For the disappointment. For the I made a mistake casting you speech I’d been dreading since the moment I tripped on that cable.

I gestured to the recliner chair that sat across from the couch.

He didn’t sit in the recliner. Instead, he leaned against the counter, giving me space but staying close enough that I could see the genuine concern in his eyes.

“Talk to me,” he said simply.

And something about those three words broke the dam.

“I’ve wanted this my whole life,” I heard myself saying, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. “Since I was a little girl watching my—watching movies. I used to stand in front of the mirror and practice acceptance speeches. I had a whole routine.” I laughed bitterly. “Pathetic, right?”

“Not pathetic,” he said quietly.

“I worked so hard to get here. Years of auditions. Years of rejection. Playing dead bodies and characters who got cut before anyone saw them.” I swiped at my eyes. “And now I finally get a real role. A leading role. And I’m blowing it.”

“Grace, I wouldn’t say that.”

“No, I am. I saw their faces out there. I heard what they were saying.” My voice cracked. “Jack’s right. I’m an amateur. I don’t belong here.”

Micah was quiet for a moment, just watching me with those intense blue eyes. I expected him to agree. To gently let me down, maybe offer to help me pack my things.

Instead, he said, “Can I suggest something?”

I blinked at him, thrown by the lack of judgment in his tone. “What?”

“It seems to me the problem isn’t you.” He crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head slightly. “The problem is Jack.”

My brows shot up. “Jack?”

“You don’t click with him. There’s no chemistry there, and it’s throwing you off.” He pushed away from the counter, starting to pace the small space. “This is exactly the kind of thing we would have caught in screen tests. We’d put you two together, run some scenes, see how you played off each other. But because you were a last-minute replacement, we never had the chance.”

I stared at him, processing. He wasn’t blaming me. He wasn’t telling me I was a disaster. He was actually trying to figure out why I’d bombed.

“I don’t know what to do with him,” I admitted. “When we rehearsed together, just you and me, everything felt right. But out there, with Jack?” I shook my head. “He gives me nothing. It’s like acting with a wall. A wall that actively hates me. I’d be better off against a green screen. A broom handle.”

“I noticed.” Micah’s jaw tightened. “And for what it’s worth, that’s on him, not you. A good scene partner lifts you up. Jack’s too focused on his own performance to help anyone else’s.”

“So what do I do? I can’t exactly ask him to care.”

Micah stopped pacing and turned to face me fully. “Can we go back out there and try your scenes with just you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Jack’s sulking in his trailer. Probably won’t come out for another hour at least. Let’s see how you do when he’s not on set with you. We’ll shoot your coverage, your angles. You can react to someone off-camera reading his lines. Toby. He’ll be the broom handle.”

My lips twitched. “I shouldn’t have called him a broom handle.”

“I’ve called him worse.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek, mulling the offer over. It would be a lot easier to prove I was capable if Jack wasn’t glaring down the length of his nose at me the entire time. If I didn’t have to feel his contempt radiating across the set like a physical force. I didn’t hate the guy, but it took energy to manage him. Energy I needed to devote to the character.

But going back out there meant facing the crew again. All those people who’d watched me fall apart would be waiting for me to literally fall on my face.

“They all think I’m a joke,” I said quietly.

“Then show them they’re wrong.” Micah’s voice was firm but kind. “I know what you’re capable of, Grace. I’ve seen it. Now let’s give everyone else a chance to see it too.”

I looked at him and saw the tension in his shoulders. He was standing here in my trailer when he should be out there managing a hundred other problems. He was betting his entire movie on me. His career. His reputation.