Page 40 of The Fate Of Us

I nod slowly at her.“I completely understand, Susan.”

I wonder if she can see that I’m almost dead behind the eyes. And shock-horror, it’snot because I fell asleep at four in the morning from writing all night after yesterday’s seven-hour chemistry read.

Which was pointless, considering I’m back in this room again for the fourth time thisweek because Susan here is beyond picky with her casting options.

Except when it comes to me. She likes me.

“You’re a cherub; you know that, right?”she asks, standing up from her chair andwaltzing over to embrace me.

‘You may have mentioned that, yes.”I say into her chest, trying to suck in someprecious oxygen as she squeezes me.

She eventually lets go of me and grips my shoulders, her warm brown eyes soothingmy soul.“I promise to let you have first dibs on the off days on the schedule. I’ll send it over to your parents later on. You can fill it out together before the rest of the cast gets their hands on it.”

“That’s really kind of you; thanks, Susan.”I smile back at her, knowing full well that Iwill never have a say in what days I have off. Or how I spend the days when I’m not assigned to a project either. Not until I’m eighteen, anyway.

Only two more years of listening to my dad dictate my life, while my mom sits by witha pleasing smile and no objections before I can cash in my royalties from ten years of soul-sucking acting jobs and move somewhere far away.

New York sounds good. It is the furthest place away from them in the country, afterall.

Far away from Nate, too,I remind myself, hating the way my heart aches at thethought of being thousands of miles away from him.

“Well, he should be here soon. Come take a seat while we wait for him, and you cantell me all about—”

Her words are cut short by the creaky door I just walked through creaking again, bothof our attentions falling onto the noise.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Su. You weren’t kidding about L.A. traffic.”A low, charming voice calls from the door as a body that makes me pathetically gulp slinks in from behind it.

Holy fuck, I had no idea she’d cast an actual Greek god to play my love interest. Ifshe had told me that little nugget of information I would have brushed my hair.

Shades of sandy blonde hair swept over his forehead, a small ache invading my neckfrom the sheer height of him. I would say his height is his best feature, but I seem to be caught in a tractor beam his sapphire eyes are casting on me. And if I focus on how they kind of remind me of the ocean, I can bypass how intense they are.

Somehow, I manage to shift my gaze down his face, where they land on a smirk that isthe definition of cheeky. And… Oh God, he has dimples too. That wasn’t fair on my little heart or overactive imagination.

Susan has outdone herself. Truly.

My shaky feet waltz me over to where Achilles himself is standing in the open door, myhand outstretching, ready for him to shake with hands that… Oh, dear God, his hands haveactualmuscles.

My head falls forward as a tiny laugh slips past my lips before my eyes zero in on thetips of his shoes, making my head jerk right back up to meet his powerful gaze.

My balmed lips pry open with a pop.“Hi, I’m… uh, Adaline, pleased to… meet—”

“Susan?”His low voice interrupts, a more than unimpressed look playing across hisface.“Is this a meet-and-greet or a chemistry read? Why is she nervous? I thought you said she was a professional.”

Oh, my mistake. He’s an asshole.

I freeze on the spot as the prick himself steps around me and wanders over to Susan, I’m presuming. I’m still staring at the spot where his body once was, too taken back by his godly facade for his asshole attitude to register in my head.

“Oh, no, Adaline isn’t a rooky. She’s one of the best in the game at the moment.”Susan chuckles, clearly affected by his looks, as I’m sure the rest of the people he encounters are.“Adaline, darling?”

I spin on my heels, turning towards the two of them, both staring at me like I’m ascience experiment.“Yeah?”

“You get a little nervous there?”She asked, in a tone that was too condescending for my liking.

I snap out of my thoughts.“Nervous? Me? Does that sound like me, Susan?”I askwith a head tilt.

“No, no, it doesn’t. But you—”

“I was trying to figure out who he was, and when I couldn’t place him, I couldn’t helpbut giggle at the thought of working with a newbie. They’re always so… interesting… to work with.”

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