Page 153 of Merry Me
Good.
I didn’t care if she was embarrassed. I didn’t care if she was mad.
Because she wasn’t Natalie.
She never would be.
And I wasn’t going to let anyone—especially not Vanessa—sabotage what I was rebuilding.
“All right, let’s roll!”
Paul’s voice echoed across the soundstage, too loud, too sharp.
I dragged myself into position, blinking through the fake rain as it pelted my face, cold against skin already flushed from the heat of the lights.
Focus.
I gritted my teeth and hit my mark.
Every word of the scene came out raw—my voice crackingon the lines that weren’t supposed to crack, my jaw clenched so tight I thought I’d splinter something. I didn’t even care.
I poured every ounce of missing her into it. Every second of silence. Every unread text.
The rain soaked through me, clinging to my skin, plastering my shirt to my ribs. It blurred with the heat, the pressure, the ache in my chest.
“Cut!” Paul shouted finally. “That’s a wrap for today!”
I didn’t move for a second.
Then my breath rushed out in a heavy exhale, and my shoulders slumped like I’d been carrying the weight of the entire set.
A PA passed me a towel. I dragged it across my face, not bothering to respond.
I was done. Not just with the scene—but with the pretending. The waiting. The silence.
I stepped off set, boots squeaking on the slick floor, and made my way to the folding chair where I’d left my phone.
Still nothing.
No text. No call. Not even a read receipt.
It had only been a few hours. I knew that. I knew I was being dramatic.
But when something means everything, even a few hours of nothing can feel like the start of the end.
And I couldn’t breathe through the fear that maybe…maybe she’d changed her mind.
I sat down slowly, fingers already tapping her contact, the phone pressed to my ear before I had time to think better of it.
It rang. And rang. And rang.
Then her voice—bright and warm, a punch straight to the chest.
“Hey, it’s Natalie! Leave a message?—”
I hung up.
My throat tightened as I shoved the phone into my pocket and stalked back to my trailer, my teeth clenched, my jaw aching.
