Playing at Forever - By Michelle Brewer Page 0,76

had picked her up and brought her back to his house, though he hadn’t been there. She made her way around the quiet house, used to it after having spent so much time alone at the house in Ravenside. “I didn’t know you were coming.” His voice startled her and she jumped.

It was strange, being as angry with him as she was—yet still, her body reacted to even just the sight of him. She suddenly longed to throw herself into his arms and forget about everything.

She couldn’t bring herself to do it, though.

“I’m supposed to be on set this week.” Tommy nodded. She was sure he could have found that information out easily.

“I’ll cancel my plans for tonight—”

“Oh, no. Don’t trouble yourself.” She told him, shaking her head as she poured some dressing onto the salad she had thrown together. “I’ll be fine here by myself.”

“Pen, I don’t mind—”

“I insist, Tommy. Go out. Live your life.” She sat at the island, taking a bite of her salad, fully aware of his eyes on her.

“Penny.”

“I’m just here for the movie, Tommy. That’s all.” She didn’t even look at him, knowing if she did, he would see the weakness in her eyes.

“I’ll see you in the morning, then.”

“See you in the morning.” The moment she heard him leave, she pushed the salad away, suddenly losing her appetite.

It was going to be a long week.

She wrapped on Christmas Eve. This was her way of getting out of Christmas with her parents, she told herself. She had told them they would be working—the studio was pushing things as quickly as possible.

She had very few scenes, as had been promised. All of them were with Tommy, of course.

Her last scene, rather poetically, Penny thought, was the scene of her death.

It didn’t take much for her to cry as Tommy sat at her bedside, begging her not to leave him.

“Take care of the baby, Eric.”

“I can’t do it on my own—”

“Yes, you can. I have faith in you.” She felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. This was much easier than she had expected it to be. Her heart rate grew slower on the monitor.

“Please, Sarah—please, you have to fight—”

“I love you.” She reached out to touch his cheek. She said the words with such conviction, and she knew that it was because she actually meant them.

Penny loved Tommy.

“Sarah,” Tommy’s eyes were red with unshed tears as he leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. She closed her eyes.

A moment later, the loud beep of the monitor sounded and Penny lay there as she listened to the actors around her attempting to revive her.

But it was no use, Penny thought to herself.

There would be no coming back from this.

“Hey, Pen—there’s a Christmas party tonight, over at Candy. You and Tommy should come.” One of the cast members poked their head into the trailer she was sharing with Tommy.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Penny shrugged her shoulders, not really up to spending the evening out. “I’ll run it by him.”

“It’s bound to be amazing—make sure you guys show, okay?” Penny smiled her most excited smile, nodding her head. The girl disappeared and Penny turned back to the mirror, wiping at her makeup. They had made her skin deathly pale and her eyes dark.

“You did good today,” his voice startled her and she looked up, her smile small and sad.

“Thanks. So did you.” He shrugged his shoulders, taking a seat. “Cally invited us to a party at Candy tonight.”

“Do you want to go?” Penny shrugged her shoulders, turning back to the mirror. She felt him studying her as she wiped at her makeup.

“If you want me to go, I’ll go.”

“You haven’t done anything since you’ve been in town.” It was true, but she hadn’t really minded. She wasn’t exactly sure she wanted to spend Christmas Eve with a room full of strangers.

Then again, she wasn’t sure she wanted to spend it home alone with Tommy either.

“Then we’ll go,” she heard herself telling him, though she didn’t know why.

“Great—do you want to go straight there? Or should we stop back home first?” She hadn’t worn her most L.A. outfit to the set, but as she thought about it, she didn’t really care. Penny was tired of L.A. She was tired of the fast paced life—tired of dressing to impress and of worrying about what everyone else thought.

“We can go straight there. I just need to freshen up a bit and I’ll be ready to go.” He nodded, running a