Page 57 of A Little Bit Extra

“Cassie.”

She leans over and captures the end of her name with her mouth, giving herself to me again.

For the next hour, we lazily roll around in bed, pleasuring and giving in to each other. It’s somehow different from last night. After last night, I knew we broke the barrier she had up. I know she can trust me because I have shown her time and time again that I have her best interests at heart. I would never betray her like past guys did. Acting not being my true passion helps, but it doesn’t make her feelings any less valid.

She’s used to being used, and stepped on, for others to cheat their way into roles. I don’t blame her for putting up such a large front and not originally trusting my intentions with wanting to explore things with her. She made that clear from our first interaction in the diner when I asked her to sit with me.

Slowly, over the past month, we’ve become closer. A single hang out turned into smaller texts, which turned into occasional phone calls, and every step has led us here. It led us to the moment where we both admitted to each other that we like one another and that we were going to try to secretly be exclusive.

I don’t know how it’s going to go, or what our future looks like, but I don’t want to ruin today by thinking about that.

I want to live in the present. In this moment, with her.

After our morning fondle, we quickly get ready because it’s only Tuesday and we both have to be at the studio.

Cassie leaves first, and I leave 10 minutes later. I figured staggering our arrival is a good idea, otherwise we might have to come up with some excuse, and I don’t have the energy for that. Not just because of my time with Cassie, but because I don’t want to lie if I can avoid it.

Ed is waiting for me on the stairs of my trailer as I approach.

“Hi, Ed,” I shout.

He looks up from his clipboard and smiles. He walks down the stairs to meet me.

“Emmett! I was hoping you had a few minutes to chat through something.” He looks at his clipboard again, flipping through the first few pages. He never looks back up but continues walking with me up the stairs of the trailer.

“Yeah, sure, Ed.”

I open the trailer door, walking through first. Ed follows me inside and stands by the entrance, not moving to take a seat. It looks like he won’t be staying for long, so I wonder what he needs to talk about. I know we only have two months left of filming. I sit on a kitchen stool, waiting for him to finish flipping through the pages. If I interrupted him, he’d start mumbling something back to me in response, but more than likely it wouldn’t be the topic he wanted to talk about because his focus was currently on whatever he’s looking at.

So instead of doing that, I wait and finally he sighs and drops the clipboard by his leg.

“Have you decided what you’re doing after this film, Emmett? I have been told you haven’t signed any contracts,” Ed says. There is no sign of judgment in his tone, just a pure question that leads me to believe he’s curious to know the answer. Ed is more like a mentor to me than anyone I’ve had in this career, so he’s been a part of some of my conversations with my agent since I trust him.

I haven’t had a conversation with my agent in months.

“Um.” I fidget with a napkin that was left on the counter, keeping my eyes down. “I’m not sure.” I peek up at Ed to find him still just looking at me.

“Well, you know we stop filming in two months. As of now, I have nothing else lined up at the studio that I know of.” Ed would have helped me land a role in whatever movie was filming here next. It’s sort of an unspoken deal between us, since Marcy and the guys work here.

But he has nothing else lined up. It gives me an idea, but I don’t know if it’s a ridiculous idea. I have been writing more and I have a great start on a script that I started recently. I wonder, do I have what it takes to finish the script and get it produced? Could I actually stop acting? Would my friends still like me when I’m not an actor?

Of course they would.

I hope.

Still, I wonder. I’ve had this newfound sense of purpose for writing and it feels right. It’s always felt too difficult and out of reach, but now… now it feels meant to be. It’s kind of like Cassie. A few weeks ago, I was just a guy trying to get a girl’s attention in a diner in the middle of the night. Today, we are exclusive and I’ve been writing more than I ever have.

“Emmett? You okay?” Ed pulls me out of my thoughts. I nod a few times.

“Yeah, Ed. I am. Let me think about it and I’ll get back to you, okay? I have a few ideas,” I explain, hoping it’s enough for this conversation to end.

“Of course. Just try to let me know by…” He brings his clipboard back up to his face, flipping the first few pages, searching for a date, I can only assume. “Let me know in a few weeks. I want to make sure I’m available if you need me. You know how the end of filming gets.” Ed chuckles.

Yep. The last few weeks of filming are typically our busiest, trying to film any last-minute scenes and saying bye to everyone on set. It’s productive and emotional as hell.

I give Ed a nod and a wave goodbye as he leaves my trailer. While being caught up in my feelings for Cassie, I momentarily forgot about this looming decision about my career. What the fuck do I do? I have enough savings to take a risk and leave this sector of the industry, but what would that mean for my future? Would anyone take a risk on me? What would Cassie think?

Taking my phone out of my back pocket, I open up my messages with Cassie. I decide to text her and ask if she wants to come over for dinner tonight. I need someone to talk to about all of this, and I don’t have anyone else.

---