Chapter 24
CHAPTER 24
“ O h.” Mallory couldn’t form a sentence.
“My sister forgot her green sweater. She insists she needs it. I told her I’d run back…” Dylan examined her face. “What’s wrong?”
Mallory didn’t know what to say. Tears clogged her throat. There was nothing she could say. This wasn’t what she wanted for his last image of her. He’d interrupted a private crying jag, and she couldn’t refresh her mottled complexion or her mood without an icepack, ice cream, and a sappy movie.
She widened her eyes and blinked. Opened and closed her mouth, but she was so caught off guard, she didn’t know how to make this go smoother.
Dylan pulled her close. His voice softened. “What’s wrong?” he repeated.
“You left.”
He closed his eyes at her words.
“I was just feeling lonely for a second.” Her voice came out choked and thick with honesty. Embarrassing, off-putting, and nothing she wanted to leave him with. “Sorry.”
Dylan was silent a moment. “You said you had more to deal with at Texk, right?” He traced his thumb lightly over the line of her jaw. “Do the meetings in person. Come back to Seoul with me.”
Whoa .
Lightness swept over her. Mallory felt herself nodding right away, though overseas travel was really something to think through and plan ahead, as was more time with Dylan. She could easily get too attached. Get ? She was too attached to him.
Plus, when was his flight? Could she even make it? She checked the clock.
Dylan brushed her hair off her shoulder. “Grab an overnight bag. We can buy whatever else you need in Seoul.”
Mallory nodded, giving the trip back no more thought than that. Prioritizing purse, laptop, toiletries, and a handful of clothes, she locked the door and made a quick call to her cousin Lena to check on the house while she was away.
Then she was in a car with Dylan headed to the airport.
After arriving in Seoul, Dylan took her to his corporate apartment to drop off her things. His apartment was masculine but generic, like a high-end hotel.
Despite the jet lag and the oddness of being back, Mallory showered, changed, and went to Texk’s corporate office for a casting meeting. Any other meeting, she would have skipped in favor of sleep, or videoed in, but casting should be fascinating.
With Dylan, the demands on him were surreal. She had to make sure she wasn’t a stressor, and not make him concerned that she thought more of his invitation than he’d meant. He hadn’t invited her back with an offer of his heart. He’d mentioned Texk and meetings. Mallory would focus on her obligations. Take the emotions down a number of notches and relay that to Dylan.
She shot him a text on the way to the conference room. Thanks for inviting me back.
Thanks for coming with me.
I can’t believe I get to attend a casting audition in person. When Texk moves, they move fast.
They don’t let their artists miss out on opportunities. The actors are lucky you’re considering them.
He was so supportive.
My books have never made it this far into production before. Heading in now. She finished the text with fire and mind-blown emojis.
Texting Dylan was an intimate pleasure.
Dylan texted back good luck emojis.
She didn’t take his support for granted. She hadn’t experienced anything like it from a boyfriend in the past. Guys were at best challenged, like her success was something for them to top, or at worst, undermining and dismissive because she wrote genre fiction.
She went into the meeting and sat on a sleek leather chair. Scripts lay on the black granite table in front of her. Decision-makers joined the table around her. Oliver was to her left, Director Benoit to her right.
Once Benoit had signed on, production had moved ahead quickly. Photography crews were scouting locations. Costume design teams were busily designing. And today, the casting director was bringing in actors.
Director Benoit would be in charge of all the moving parts. After introductions, he gave a small speech that ended with, “Not many production companies can truly see my vision. I look forward to continued collaboration with Texk.”
Companies saw it, but his vision was expensive. They’d be shooting in five languages, back-to-back. Same sets, same background actors, the same costumes, where they could.
Mallory had learned all the details through emails from Oliver. Now, thanks to Dylan, she was here to see it in person.
Today they’d brought in top prospects for lead actresses and had them seated in chairs along the wall. It would take more guts than she had to take on a role where she’d be compared so acutely to other actresses, or maybe the markets were that separate. All of this was foreign to her.
Actress Lorene Dailer rose and came straight over to them.
The sheer silk scarf draped around her shoulders was patterned with a famous French logo. Lorene greeted the director then clasped one of Mallory’s hands between both of hers. “Mallory. It feels so long since Paris.”
Did she truly remember her? That was a surprise because they hadn’t been introduced and the actress had been ill. Mallory felt flattered for a moment, until she realized that Lorene had merely done her homework. Still, charming trait. Unless Lorene was trying to intimidate the others by showing she had a connection with the writer. “Yes, it does feel like a while ago, but it’s really only been a matter of weeks.”
Lorene fluffed her perfect hair and smiled with a knowing expression. “Guessing we’ll get a handsome hero. You like them handsome.” She winked. “So do I. In France, we had quite a view. Have you seen much of Dylan in town? Will he be composing the soundtrack? What heartthrobs are you considering?”
Mallory waved her hands in front of her, wanting to head off anything about Dylan. “I have no real say in the selections.”
That wasn’t strictly true. She had a handful of vetoes she could play if she felt strongly about any of the roles. But this was a different medium than books, and she knew nothing about acting.
“Of course, of course.” Lorene’s smile remained brilliant, but she immediately turned away from Mallory and went to chat with the executives.
That kept her ego in check.
Oliver frowned. “I don’t like Lorene speculating about what Dylan is up to.” He hissed out a breath. “My assistant’s going bonkers trying to set up the winter awards show seating. Whoever Dylan is paired with will have a spotlight on their face for two hours straight. I’m ruling Lorene out.”
A tinge of jealousy pinged through her, but she shook it off. Dylan’s future partner wasn’t really anything for her to stress about. She and Dylan were simply privately together while she was in Seoul. That wasn’t infinity, just a quiet relationship for a brief time that would end before the first snow fell.
The other actresses arrived, and the highlight for Mallory was greeting them in their native languages and thanking them for considering her project. Granddad would love this. She’d call him later and tell him how it went.
The actresses were intentionally all in the same room together. If they couldn’t handle the pressure of reading in front of each other, they wouldn’t be able to handle the shoot. That dynamic came with enormous pressure. Go first and get it over with or go last and see moves from the others that might work for their performance. And that was only one small piece of their dilemma.
Oliver lowered his voice. “Some actresses lose their mind over suggestions that the dubbed versions are better acted. Shooting this way is going to cause a lot of drama and delays.” He rubbed his chin and half shrugged. “Nothing for you to worry about.”
“I’m not worried. I love the idea.”
Oliver blinked. “Artists.” He shook his head. “You think differently. Timelines may as well not be a thing to you guys. And don’t get me started on budgets.”
Agreed. Please don’t start there . Mallory nodded.
Oliver glanced over his shoulder at the row of pretty actresses seated against the wall. Lorene took a sip from a silver flask.
The French actress went first.
Lorene mouthed the dialogue in English as the French actress read from the scene.
As the day went on, Lorene continued to mouth the dialogue, but she was often loud enough to hear. Her delivery grew more theatrical, then tongue-in-cheek.
The top French actress wasn’t having it. She stood in front of Lorene. “Are you mocking me?”
Mallory knew she never would’ve survived the battle to be an actress. Put her alone with her laptop any day. She kept her head down, but she really wanted to leave. This was Director Benoit’s show to run. She could slip out if she wanted to.
Lorene took a drink from her flask and said, “Oui,” agreeing in French that she was indeed mocking the other actress.
The French actress’s eyes caught fire, and she gave Lorene what-for in such rapid French that it was impossible for Mallory to follow.
Director Benoit watched, eyebrows raised, clearly taking in every word, because his ears turned red.
Two assistants went to intervene, but Benoit held up his hands.
Mallory understood his point. He was seeing how the actresses would interact without restraint because shooting would only make matters worse.
Lorene took a slow, defiant drink. Then she belted out a monologue from an unrelated script. The French actress turned her back to Lorene in disgust.
Why was she sitting through a meeting making her uncomfortable? Mallory took the opportunity to leave.
She’d had two meeting choices today, costumes or casting. If she met the costume group by five, she could see some initial designs.
That had to be less dramatic.
A text came through from Dylan. An assistant told me you were taking off. Meet me at the corporate exit.
Was Dylan here for meetings too? Nice. After a quick stop to primp, she found the private exit.
“Share a car?” Dylan stood there, in jeans and an untucked Henley, with that casual cool that screamed rock star.