36. Sarah
Sarah was standing in a convenience store, looking blankly at the breakfast options. In a different frame of mind, she would have been excited to try everything, but this morning, food was nothing but fuel to get her through the day.
She’d slept like shit, and she expected Theo had too. When she’d snuck out an hour ago, he’d looked like he’d had a rough night on the couch. She felt like a bitch making him sleep there, but she didn’t think she could have shared a bed with him. Not that she got much sleep anyway.
Her phone buzzed in her hand, and she checked the display. Theo. She wasn’t ready to talk to him yet. She wasn’t quite sure what to say. It was childish, but still… when she spoke to him, she wanted to be calm and have her thoughts in order.
Her phone buzzed again, and she was tempted to ignore it, but when she saw Alexis’ name on the screen, she answered.
‘Are you okay?’
Sarah frowned at her friend’s greeting. ‘Why?’
Had Theo called Alexis? Had he freaked out her friend because he’d found her gone from the hotel room?
‘I saw the news article. It’s all over the Australian media.’
‘News article?’
‘Oh… you haven’t seen it yet?’
‘Um… no.’
The bad feeling that had been steadily growing in Sarah’s gut exploded into full-on nausea. Had they been found out? Had someone seen them nearly kiss yesterday and taken a photo? Oh, God. What if…?
‘I’ll send you the link,’ Alexis said. ‘But don’t worry. I’m sure it’s just a publicity stunt.’
‘A publicity stunt?’
Her phone beeped in her hand, and Sarah took it away from her ear to look at the link Alexis had sent. She clicked on it and saw a photo of Theo and Yu-jin. Was this why Theo had been in a bad mood? If so, he could have bloody warned her.
‘Are you okay?’ Alexis asked again.
Sarah sighed. ‘Yeah. I’m okay. I thought something like this might happen.’
‘Theo didn’t tell you?’
‘Ah… we haven’t had a chance to talk about it yet.’
Alexis was quiet for a long moment and then said, ‘Talk to him, Sar. Don’t let this fester and become something bigger than it is.’
‘I will,’ Sarah replied, forcing false cheerfulness into her voice. ‘I know it’s not real. And as I said, I was prepared for this. I’ve met her. She’s… nice.’
Alexis barked a laugh. ‘You might need to practise saying that a few times if you want people to believe you.’
‘Ha-ha, very funny. Look, I need to go. I’ll text you later.’
‘Okay. Remember, I’m here for you if you need to talk.’
‘I know.’
Sarah groaned as she disconnected the call and then looked back at the options for breakfast. The hotel room service would be better than this. She turned to leave the store and ran smack into someone. Backing up quickly, she bowed in apology.
‘Sarah? Thank God I found you. Do you know how worried I was?’
Sarah looked up into Theo’s face and wanted to cry. Cry because she was relieved to see him but also because as much as she was falling in love with him—had fallen in love with him if she was honest with herself—she didn’t think she could keep him. It broke her heart.
‘Hey,’ he said, gentling his voice.
She flung herself into his arms, completely unconcerned about anyone seeing them. She sniffled against his shoulder, and he held her tight, laying his cheek on the top of her head.
‘Let’s go back,’ he said softly.
She nodded but didn’t speak. They needed to talk, and a convenience store was the last place she wanted to have that conversation.
They walked arm-in-arm back to the hotel. Sarah knew she should be pulling away from him. If she was so certain it would not work between them, then ending things now would be better for both of them… before they got too attached. But she was feeling so fragile that being tucked into his side kept her from falling to pieces. She could have this for just a little longer, right?
Theo ordered room service when they got back to their suite, and then they sat on the couch, side-by-side but not touching. Sarah didn’t know where to start. She had so much to say, but the words wouldn’t come.
‘The article is a publicity thing,’ Theo said, taking the lead. ‘I didn’t know about it. In fact, I specifically told Dan I didn’t want him to do it. They went ahead and did it anyway.’
‘They?’
‘Yu-jin and her manager.’
Sarah nodded. She could have predicted that from a mile away, and she wouldn’t have even needed her mother’s tarot cards to do it.
‘It’s to boost interest in the drama, which I haven’t seen the script for yet. Dan thinks that this will mean I have the part without even auditioning.’
‘That’s good, right?’
Theo shrugged. ‘Not if it comes between us.’
‘Theo, you can’t make career decisions based on me. You wouldn’t expect me to.’
Theo opened his mouth to reply, but the doorbell rang. Their breakfast had arrived… not that Sarah felt like eating.
They puttheir conversation on hold as they got ready for the shoot. When they arrived at the studio, Sarah smiled and nodded to the people she’d met yesterday and set up her workstation while Theo talked with the photographer and director. The set was different today. It looked like an expensive apartment or hotel room. A large bed was in front of fake windows with a night view of the Tokyo skyline in the background.
It was a whiskey commercial… why was there a bed?
Sarah tried to put the thoughts out of her mind. Seeing Theo and Yu-jin on the bed together was an image she would not be able to scrub from her brain, so she purposely didn’t watch. Instead, she focused on her phone and doom-scrolled, which wasn’t much better for her sanity. She searched all the articles about Theo and Yu-jin, and it was easy to see they’d been put together hastily. Some were probably even written by AI.
‘Let’s take a break,’ the director said, and there was a definite frostiness to his tone.
Sarah stayed where she was but lifted her eyes to see Dan storm across the space to Theo and get in his face. Theo looked miserable, and Yu-jin was furious.
What had she missed?
‘Things aren’t going well,’ Mihoko whispered to her, sliding into the chair beside Sarah.
‘No?’
Mihoko shook her head. ‘Did something happen between Theo and Yu-jin?’
‘Not that I know of,’ Sarah lied.
‘Maybe he’s mad about the article?’
‘Probably,’ Sarah said noncommittally.
Theo headed toward Sarah, and Mihoko scurried off to take care of Yu-jin. He slumped into the makeup chair and glared at his reflection in the mirror. Taking a deep breath, Sarah got up and stood behind him, laying her hands on his shoulders.
‘Are you doing okay?’
‘No,’ he growled.
‘Anything I can do about it?’
Theo tilted his head up so he could look at her directly. ‘Wanna get out of here?’
‘We can’t leave. You have a job to do.’
‘Yeah, well, maybe I don’t want to do it anymore.’
‘Theo—’
‘No, look. This is all bullshit. Dan is being an arsehole, and Yu-jin—fuck—don’t even get me started on her. It’s not like her to push this agenda so aggressively. There has to be something else going on. I feel like this entire thing is a smokescreen for something else.’
He turned back to the mirror, and Sarah kneaded his shoulders. ‘You’re going to have to work with her on the drama, so you need to deal with this.’
‘Not if I pull out of the drama.’
Sarah stopped kneading his shoulders and stepped back. ‘Do you realise how childish you’re being right now?’
He turned to face her. ‘What?’
‘You’re a professional, Theo. Things like this are going to happen. You need to pull yourself together and get over it.’
‘That’s exactly what I told him,’ Dan said.
Sarah’s stomach soured. The last thing she wanted was to agree with Dan… about anything. The more she dealt with him, the more she found him slimy. As soon as they got back to Australia, Sarah was going to recommend Theo find a new manager… if they were still talking by then.
‘Whatever,’ Theo said, getting to his feet. ‘I need some air.’
Sarah watched him go, feeling completely out of her depth.
‘So you’re not as stupid as I thought you were,’ Dan said.
‘Excuse me?’
Dan ignored her glare. ‘Make sure he’s back on set in ten minutes. I don’t care what you have to do to make it happen. I want him back on set and back to being the professional that I signed. If not, you’re fired.’
‘I’m fired?’
‘This is all your fault. If you hadn’t come, Theo would not be in a snit right now.’
‘If you hadn’t blindsided him with that bullshit article, then he wouldn’t be in a snit either.’
‘Be that as it may, I’m paying your salary, so get him back here, or don’t bother coming back yourself.’
Dan turned on his heel and stalked off. Sarah was tempted to throw something at him, but all she had at hand were her own belongings, and she wasn’t willing to ruin them on Dan.
Fine. She would get Theo back on set. She would do the job she was being paid for, but at the earliest convenience, she was outta there. She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Bodie.
Sarah:
Dinner tonight. You pick a place, and I’ll meet you there.