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Chapter Thirty-eight
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TWO MONTHS LATER
“Hey, Laken. They’re ready for you on set.” Guy pops his head into my trailer where hair and makeup are putting on the finishing touches.
“I’ll be out in two minutes,” I tell him, knowing I’ll never make it through this scene if I don’t pee first. “Thanks, Gloria.” I throw a wave to my makeup artist before quickly ducking into the bathroom.
I’m in and out in less than two minutes but that doesn’t stop Guy from once again opening the door to hurry me along.
“I’m coming. I’m coming,” I tell him, grabbing the jacket left by wardrobe before sliding it over my shoulders without looking in his direction.
“Looks like I should have called first.” The instant the familiar voice washes over me my entire body freezes.
No. It can’t be.
I turn slowly, my breath catching in my throat when my eyes land on Thad standing right inside my trailer, his typical baseball cap pulled low over his eyes.
“Thad.” His name leaves my mouth on a rush and if it weren’t for the counter behind me to grab onto I think I might be on the floor right now.
“Hi, Laken.” He gives me a hesitant smile.
“What are you doing here?” I blurt, too caught off guard to even bother with pleasantries. “How did you get on set?”
“Seems you forgot to remove me from the visitor list from the last time I was here.” He shuffles his feet. “I was hoping we could talk.”
“You couldn’t have called?” I snip, seeming to regain a little of my footing.
“I’ve been calling. For weeks. You won’t answer and you won’t call me back.”
“Maybe that should have been your hint.” I slide on my shoes, not bothering to tie them as I move to exit the trailer.
“Laken, please.” He grabs my forearm, pulling me close.
“I can’t do this right now, Thad,” I tell him, a slight shake to my voice. “They’re waiting for me on set.”
“Then I’ll wait,” he tells me, releasing my arm so that I can step past him.
“Don’t bother,” I call over my shoulder as I climb down the short metal staircase leading to the ground. “In fact.” I stop mid stride, turning to find him standing in the doorway of my trailer. “I’d appreciate it if you weren’t here when I got back.” With that I spin around and walk away, feeling his eyes on me the entire time.
—-
Ican’t focus. Thadshowing up has completely knocked me off my game. I struggle with my lines more times than I care to admit in what is otherwise classified as a pretty simple scene.
It takes us about double the time to get through it as it normally would and by the time we finally do I’m apologizing to everyone who will listen.
“Everything okay with you?” Dave, the director, steps up next to me as I drop my jacket into my set chair.
“Yeah.” I sigh. “Pregnancy brain.” I point to my stomach.
I broke down and told the essential people about my pregnancy about three weeks ago, knowing it was only a matter of time before they found out anyway. Surprisingly everyone was really great about it. Apparently people love when other people have babies. Who knew?
Dave was able to work the schedule so that we’d be on break for the two months leading up to my due date. Any scenes before then will focus on my upper body once I get to the point that my belly can’t be hidden by clothes. All in all it’s been a lot easier of a transition than I thought it would be. Well, other than everyone and their mother bringing me treats all the time. Apparently people really like to feed pregnant people too. Though most days I don’t mind as I’m starving ninety percent of the time.
“Maybe you should head out early and get some sleep. We can pepper in some of the smaller parts tomorrow.”
“You sure?” I ask, feeling a little guilty but also so damn anxious to get back to my trailer I can barely stand it.
