Theo said it himself in the elevator?
“I’m told I should apologize to you for today.”
It couldn’t be authentic if someone had to point out to him that he owed me an apology. Yet at the same time, he did make an attempt. This movie was important to him, but it was also extremely important to me and my comeback. So I would need to accept it at face value.
The next issue I had to deal with was that he lived in the same building. He was on the twentieth floor which meant he was in one of the penthouses. I wondered if I used a different elevator if I would have a better chance of avoiding him in the future. The other option would be for me to find my own place, but I wasn’t quite financially stable enough to do that. I was grateful to Nadine for allowing me to stay with her. She had a nice condo in a great location, which made my life infinitely better than if I had to go it on my own.
I pushed away from the door and made my way to the guest bedroom. I took off my clothes, laying them on the bed, then I went into the bathroom and got in the shower to wash off the day’s frustration and the feel of Theo’s hand imprint near my butt.
I went through a mantra of reminding myself that I was lucky to have this job. Any other job I’d have, probably would have some element of entitled man-handling lurking about somewhere. Someone else might have fired me on the spot for calling him out, but Theo took it, and while he might have needed urging to apologize, he seemed to accept that he needed to do better.
When I got out of the shower, I threw on some yoga pants with a t-shirt and an oversized button-down shirt over it. I left my hair up in the same messy knot I had put it in when I got in the shower to keep it from getting wet.
I was hungry, but I wasn’t one for making meals. In fact, I was a terrible cook. I found some crackers and cheese. I added a few grapes to the plate and got a bottle of sparkling water. I sat on the couch, overlooking the river, and was studying my lines when there was a knock at the door. I didn’t think it was my sister because she wouldn’t have forgotten her keys. Plus, she said she had something going on tonight. Of course, she could have run home for something, but still, it couldn’t be her.
And it wouldn’t have been a guest, as I would have been notified by the front desk. Curious, I went to the door, looking through the peephole.
Theo?
What was he doing here? I contemplated not opening, but he knew I was here and I didn’t want to appear petty. So with a deep breath to help put my guard up, I turned the knob and opened the door.
He held up a bottle of wine. “I’m going to get this apology right at some point. Here’s my next attempt.”
“You did an adequate job in the elevator,” I said.
“You’re just saying that to try and get rid of me. I brought a peace offering. Maybe we can sit and talk. This movie is important to both of us, and I’d like to try and get us back onto the right track.”
I leaned against the doorframe. I wasn’t not going to let him in. But I wasn’t going to make it easy either. Theo had a reputation, and while I didn’t think he was here to seduce me sexually, he might have been trying to smooth-talk his way into making me less difficult.
“Our characters in the movie don’t like each other, at least at first. So maybe it’s not such a bad thing that we don’t get along,” I said.
He nodded and smiled affably, as if he wasn’t bothered that I wasn’t inviting him in. “That’s true. But as you know, we don’t shoot scenes in order. There are parts of the movie where we’re supposed to get along well. Very well. If you know what I mean.” His eyebrows waggled suggestively.
I knew exactly what he meant. There were several scenes in this movie that were highly intimate. I would have to look at him like I wanted him to touch every inch of me with his hands and tongue, and in some scenes,