Page 72 of Even Ground

Gabby nods. “Of course. If there’s anything else I can help with, just let me know. Talk to Antonio if you need to.”

“Thanks, Gabby.” I pause. “And I’m sorry about … you know.”

“Don’t worry about it. At least you had the decency to apologise.”

I stare at her. “You mean other actors don’t?”

“I’m never sure whether it’s rudeness or they’re embarrassed. Either way, you did good. And that scene will be smoking.” Gabby leans over and kisses me on the cheek. “I’ve got to run, but don’t be too hard on yourself. And take your time working out how you feel. If she feels the same way, she’ll wait.”

She grips my shoulder as she pushes herself to her feet, and walks away in the direction of her own trailer, leaving me with my thoughts.

I need to prove to myself that I’m good enough for Pania. She deserves better than the man I’ve been in the past.

He’s just not good enough for her, but I can be.

16

Pania

Sam’s mumbling is driving me nuts. The last thing I need is more of Judith’s negative attention, so I put my head down and do my best to ignore whatever Sam’s talking about beside me.

“Reece Evans and Gabby Reynolds, huh? Funny. I thought she was madly in love with that other guy and probably getting married.”

Wait. What?

I turn to her. “What are you talking about?”

“Check this out.” She shoves a magazine under my nose.

Of course there are photos.

The two of them, sitting in their bathrobes on the steps of some trailer, hand in hand. And there’s even a photo of her kissing his cheek.

Delaney deals with this kind of stuff all the time, and I have no idea how she does it. I know for myself how connected Gabby and Antonio are—I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

It was only a few months ago that I saw it, but I guess a lot can change in a short time.

I hate this doubt.

I hate that this hurts even though Reece and I are just friends.

We’re just friends. It doesn’t matter how much he flirts, or how he tries Skyping me at three in the morning when he screws the time up. I’m not the type for him to be interested in, not compared to someone like Gabby Reynolds.

The woman’s a goddess.

I hate the way this makes me feel. I’ve never been a woman who compared myself to other women. I always thought my close friendship with Delaney was one of the reasons that just didn’t happen. We spent our whole lives building each other up and supporting one another.

Sometimes I’m hard on myself, but I’m not competing with anyone. Except now I’m suddenly doubting myself.

Where I have romantic thoughts about Reece, what would he ever see in me when Gabby’s right there?

“Pania. Are you okay?” Sam nudges my arm.

I blink a bunch of times to snap myself out of my thoughts. “I’m fine. I’d be really surprised if this is true. She and Antonio were all over each other at Delaney’s wedding.”

“Ladies, how are those designs coming along?”

Judith’s voice penetrates my brain. I look up to see her walking toward us. We’re designing gowns for our end of term projects. Everything counts from the design to choosing the right fabrics. It’s been easy to be inspired—I just think of what would look good on the red carpet for Delaney.

---