Page 22 of Best Served Hot
Ethan moved off to talk to a DP about something or other. Nicole left the room. Out in the corridor, she scanned through the leaving crowd and saw her quickly—Alex. So poised usually, today she looked a little nervous. Nicole couldn’t blame her. People were looking very surprised to see her. Several greeted her, but it was awkward. They were confused about her presence.
Nicole scuttled over to her. ‘Alex. How’s it going?’ she asked quietly.
Alex took a deep breath. ‘It’s going.’
‘Right, yeah. Well, I’m really glad you could make it,’ Nicole said pointedly as people walked around them. ‘He’ll be out shortly,’ she said very quietly. ‘And then it begins. You ready?’
Alex nodded.
Ethan came down the hall, through the dispersing cast and crew. Nicole stopped him in his stride. ‘Oh, Ethan, can I just introduce you to my assistant director?’
Ethan turned to them and looked at Alex. His face froze. He looked back and forth between Nicole and Alex like he didn’t understand what the fuck was happening. Like he might wake up sweating from what had to be a nightmare.
‘This is Alex Torrence,’ Nicole added. People walked around them. But Ethan was a statue in the moving crowd.
Ethan looked at Alex like he was trying to puzzle out whether he was fucked right now.
But Alex just smiled at him. ‘Hi.’
‘Alex, err. We’ve met… I mean, she…’ Ethan turned to Nicole. ‘She worked here. Before. As an assistant producer.’
‘Oh yeah, she mentioned that. Hard to find anyone that hasn’t worked on this show!’ Nicole laughed.
‘So it seems,’ Ethan said, staring at Alex.
‘I’ve been looking for someone I could train as my assistant recently,’ Nicole explained. ‘And a friend of a friend introduced me to Alex.’
‘I didn’t know you AD’d,’ Ethan said to Alex meaningfully.
‘Been looking to get into it for a while,’ Alex said icily.
‘We met for coffee a few days ago and totally clicked,’ Nicole said. She turned to Alex. ‘Didn’t we?’
‘Mmm,’ Alex agreed. ‘Really hit it off. And what do you know? I’m right back here.’
‘Why did you leave again?’ Nicole asked.
Ethan started to speak, ‘Well—’
‘Personal reasons,’ Alex interrupted. ‘But I was sorry to leave. Ethan and I worked quite closely. Thick as thieves, we were.’
Nicole laughed like this was all just one of life’s crazy quirks. ‘And I’ve brought her back to you. You must be thrilled, Ethan.’
Ethan tried to laugh, but it came out oddly. ‘Yeah. Yeah. So glad to have you back, Alex. You were always… a good addition. Reliable. Like a golden retriever you’ve had for years.’ He reached out and ruffled her hair lightly.
She gave him a look and smoothed down her blonde locks.
Nicole was loving this. Ethan was attempting to desexualise the relationship by comparing Alex to a smelly old dog. It was pathetically transparent.
This was going beautifully.
Sixteen
This was a tough thing to keep track of. What Ethan knew and what hethoughthe knew. Because, so far, Ethan didn’t know if Alex knew that he and Nicole were married. And he also didn’t know why Alex hadn’t brought up her unfair dismissal. And healsodidn’t know if this whole thing was just a coincidence or a ploy. Why was Alex back? He was flummoxed.
‘It’s good to be back,’ Alex said. ‘I’ve missed everyone.’
‘How did it go?’ Ethan asked. ‘The personal thing? Is it OK?’ he said, licking his lips.
