Jace
Bang. Bang. Bang.
I wake in a chaotic flurry, my heart pounding against my chest.
“Shit!” I whisper-yell.
I attempt to lift the comforter but it’s stuck and when I pull it further, Lennox’s face and naked chest comes into view. He moans, squinting his eyes and rolls over.
“Oh, Fuck! Lennox, get up. We’re late!” He pushes into his palm slowly lifting himself up. He’s moving like fucking molasses. “Seriously. We have to go, like now.”
Bang. Bang.
“Jace, you here?” Raymond calls from behind the front door.
“One sec!” I call out as I jump out of bed and quickly pull on my jeans and a sweater.
“Get up,” I hiss at Lennox, tossing his fully dry clothes at him then head toward the door. I run my hands through my hair, that looks thoroughly fucked, before reaching for the handle and swinging it open.
“Good Morning, sir. My apologies for knocking so loud but I started to worry.”
I shake my head. “No, thank you for doing that. I was sleeping. My alarm didn’t go off.”
“I’m still trying to find Lennox, he didn’t answer his door this morning. I’m going to go try again—”
“I’m here, mate,” Lennox calls out as he steps into view, fully dressed and somehow looking like he’s been up for hours. “I just swung by for coffee before heading out.”
Raymond’s eyes dart between us and I watch him, waiting for his realization.
Because unless Lennox has a key to my room, I couldn’t have let him in if I was sleeping.
I smile awkwardly, my professional acting skills non-existent right now.
“Very well,” he nods, “I’ll be downstairs waiting in the car.”
He leaves and I close the door, palming my face.
“Fuck. Fuck.”
“It’s just Raymond, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay.” I sit down on the couch and angrily tug my socks on. “I can’t keep fucking up like this. Sleeping in? I never fucking sleep in.”
I walk to the bathroom, run some water over my hands to tame my hair then take a swig of mouthwash. Spitting it out, I dry my hands, then walk back into the main room.
I have no idea how he got dressed so fast. A part of me—a very small part of me—is massively impressed. But, I’m still pissed at this entire situation and my anger is blinding.
“You’re overreacting. It’s not a big deal,” Lennox says as I grab my wallet and phone.
“This is our job, part of our contract. Our livelihood and reputation. It’s a big deal to me.
We can’t do this shit anymore,” I tell him as I hold open the front door, waiting for him to walk through.
He’s confused and there’s a slight irritated squint behind his eyes but I can’t care about that.
This is seriously bad behavior and actors get canceled for this sort of thing.
He heads my direction then pauses in the middle of the doorway as he turns to look at me.
“For the record, I’ve never slept better.”
We make it to location about thirty minutes late. I’m opening the door before Raymond can, rushing out to meet the other cast and crew on set.
I hate being that actor. The one that disrespects people’s time so, I’m trying to find Pierre to apologize. Thirty minutes is a long time to delay filming, especially if there’s a reason for the timing. Catching a sunrise or specific outdoor lighting.
Pierre is instructing the set design crew on the setup for the stage. He’s having some pillars moved and railings placed over the top so the stage lights can be set up.
“Pierre, sir—” He shows me his palm, not moving his gaze from the stage.
I immediately stop talking and freeze because he’s deep in thought and now I’m interrupting him, probably making everything worse.
After what feels like an eternity, he turns to me with a kind smile acting like he wasn’t just ignoring me for the past few minutes.
“I’m so sorry we’re late. I—”
“Don’t worry, Raymond already called and told me.”
“Oh,” I breathe out.
I’m panic stricken. My eyes are blown wide and now I feel like I need to explain why Lennox was in my room.
“Nothing you can do about Raymond’s car trouble. I told him to take it to the shop to get checked out.”
“Oh,” I say again, with more realization behind my tone. “Right.”
I glance over at Raymond who’s leaning against the side of his car, hands behind his back as he side-eyes in my direction.
“Hair and make up is waiting for you.” Pierre pats me on the shoulder and returns to what he was doing.
“Thanks,” I manage to spit out then step back. As I pass by Raymond, he smiles and I give him a thankful chin dip. I didn’t expect him to cover for me like that. No one ever puts themselves out on the line for someone else in this industry and I have no idea why he would for me.
I step into the trailer, greeting Claire. She hands me a cup of coffee and I sit in my seat so she can work her magic in turning me into James Davis yet again. I wonder if she can turn me into someone that doesn’t freak out and yell at people they care about.
And now, I have two hours to sit and think about how much I overreacted and overanalyze everything I said to Lennox.