Page 57 of Touch in the Dark

“Don’t sweat it,” he says, reaching over and grabbing my bag. “I did the exact same thing this morning when I first saw the snow.”

“You caught snowflakes?” I laugh.

“I tried to catch them on my tongue,” he teases. “Come on, it might be beautiful but it’s freezing.”

He isn’t wrong. We get into the car, Nick allowing me in first. He introduces me to Max, who greets me with a nod, then sets off. Nick gives him Remi’s address and I look at him in surprise.

“Jenna said you were staying there, is that not the case?”

“Yes, I’m still there.”

He nods then glances out of the window. Okay, so for the next thirty minutes, alone in the back of a car, what exactly do I say to the ex-boyfriend who didn’t think we were in a serious relationship, like I did. Who I fell hook, line and sinker for.

“So how long have you been friends with Remi?”

He breaks the silence and I almost thank him in relief. I explain how we met and became great friends, then his invite to come out to NYC and work on his movie, and getting me the gig on the other movie. I kind of trail off after saying that, but Nick catches it.

“So, you’re working on this movie and with Instinct? That’s gotta be tiring.”

“I’m not on the movie anymore,” I say with a shrug.

“Not on the movie? What does that mean?”

“My contract ended,” I tell him. Yeah, that sounds legit. Except he is staring at me. And like always, his beautiful blue eyes slay me and make me stupid. “I got fired.” Whoops. Didn’t mean to say that.

“Fired? For what?”

Okay, I should just tell him about Joel. In fact, I should be jumping all over rubbing it in his face. But that isn’t me. So, I tell him half the truth. “An actress took a dislike to me. She got me kicked off the movie. They paid me a severance, but it was bullshit what they did.”

“Did you have a contract with them?” Nick turns in his seat.

“Yeah, of course, but they have lawyers working for them, Nick. They’d run rings around me, it’s why they gave me a pay-off.”

“That is messed up,” he shakes his head. “They shouldn’t be able to get away with that.”

“It’s all good, I got this job,” I shrug. “And then I got my very first modelling gig. Who knows, maybe I’ll step out from the other side of the make-up brushes.”

“Is that something you’d do? Seriously? I mean, you’ve definitely got the talents for it.”

“Talents?” I arch a brow.

“Don’t go putting innuendos in my mouth,” he laughs. “You were really good today. Louis said they were thrilled with you.”

“Really?” my whole face must light up because he gives me a gentle smile that makes me feel all warm inside.

“Really,” he tells me. “I reckon you’d have a good career if you decided to take that route.”

I’m about to shush him when his phone rings. He apologises as he takes it out of his pocket. He frowns when he checks the display. “Just a sec,” he tells me, then answers.

I turn my head to look out of the window, it’s not like I can give him any privacy. And for a gut wrenching second, I think it might be the woman from the studio, but she gave him her number, not the other way around.

“What?”

His sharp cry has me whipping around to look at him. His face is white and he’s gripping the handle on the door beside him.

“Is she alright? Where is she?” He listens for a second then he glances at me. “Yeah, I’m on my way, but I’m out of the city. It’ll be about forty minutes to get there. Are you sure she’s okay...”

He’s really panicking now. I glance at the driver, who is looking through his mirror at us and switching back to the road every few seconds.

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