Page 60 of Billionaire's Second Chance

“Are you okay, Ava?” Damon's voice set my pulse ablaze. "You didn't seem too well yesterday. I wanted to see how you were doing this morning."

“I’m fine," I stuttered. "But I’m kind of in the middle of something. Can I call you later?”

“Okay,” he agreed after a moment’s pause. "Don't forget, though."

I returned to the stage, dropped the phone in my purse, and faced Lily.

“So, I’ll shout out different character traits to you. You'll have thirty seconds to enact each one in the most believable, convincing way, accents and all," I explained.

Lily nodded, cleared her throat, and squared her shoulders. "Let's do this!"

She wasn’t a natural, but she put in the effort. Under my constructive criticism, in a little over an hour, she had gotten better at transitioning through characters, accents, thoughts, and emotions. But I sensed that something was holding her back.

Then I remembered a trick that my professor had taught us. For the purpose of this exercise, we would need to go outside and engage with complete strangers.

“Wanna try something wild?” I nudged her, my eyes lighting up from the thrill.

“That depends,” she winced her eyes. "How wild?"

I didn't grace her with a response. I jumped off the stage, grabbed my purse, and walked toward the exit.

"Well, come on! You wanted to practice, and I don't have all day!" I turned and yelled when I didn't hear footsteps behind me.

As we stepped out of The Dome, a familiar face stared at us from the other side of the road. I squinted. It was Harry—Damon's manager. His eyes locked with mine for a second, then darted to Lily, then back at mine, and then he continued walking.

Shit, what was he doing here? Was Damon around too?

I looked around nervously, sweat beads forming under my armpits.

“Are you okay?” Lily asked. “You just look like you just saw a ghost.”

I ignored her and turned back to look across the street. Harry wasn’t anywhere around. Maybe I had seen a ghost after all.

18

Damon

Wherethehellisshe?

I stopped in front of the trailer. Derek walked up to me, wearing jean overalls and a wry smile.

“Hey, Damon," he greeted me

“Any idea where she is?” I barked, pointing at my watch.

“No,” his smile turned into a frown, realizing I wasn't in the mood for small talk.

What was taking her so long? It wasn’t in her nature to show up late for a shoot. Harry told me he had seen her with Lily yesterday, and today she was late. I doubted this was just a coincidence.

“Already getting in character, I see,” I mocked Derek.

So far, his performance had been superb. His on-screen chemistry with Ava was amazing. His scene-by-scene delivery was on point, like Ava’s. I was proud of my choices but also worried that I had screwed things up with Ava.

“Let me know the second she shows up, Derek,” I ordered and bounced off, fists balled to my sides.

Sandy’s voice echoed from inside the tent as I approached it. He was giving clear instructions to the props crew.

“Come join us, Damon?” He invited me.

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