Touching the Billionaire - Holly Jaymes Page 0,42

sure Corrine noticed that there was something missing between me and Madeline.

Finally, we broke for lunch and I guessed Corrine decided to use one of the many takes she had of the scene, or maybe she decided in the end, she’d cut it, because she said it was a wrap, which meant Madeline could leave.

I wanted to walk Madeline off the set, but instead, I went to my trailer and she went to hers. By the time I was back on set later in the afternoon, she had gone.

I worked the rest of the day, keeping Blaine’s motto in the back of my head; keep my eye on the prize and my head in the game.

At the end of the day, Corrine came up to me. “So what’s up with you and Madeline? I thought you said everything was okay.”

I shrugged. “What do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, Theo. You know what I’m talking about.”

“So we were a little off today. It’s alright. The scene isn’t that important.”

Corrine put her hands on her hips. “Every scene is supposed to be important, Theo. Otherwise, it’s not in our script. So what’s going on with you two? There was actually zero chemistry. It was like I had two dead pieces of wood acting for me.”

“You know how it is. Some days we’re just off. It’s alright.”

“Okay, so you don’t want to tell me what’s going on. But you two need to get whatever it is back. You need that mojo. The next time we’re filming you two together, I want to see it. If you need to schmooze her or whatever, do it. The movie requires it.”

I held my hands up in surrender. “Fine. I’ll work on it.” I walked away because I knew I was lying. I wasn’t sure that we could get the chemistry back, at least not without risking the reputations we were trying so hard to maintain.

Home Again

Madeline

I’d been feeling really good about the work I’d done on the movie so far. I felt validated as an actress and confident in my skills. But after today’s disastrous performance, I had to wonder if maybe I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. All the work I’d done thus far was only due to the chemistry between Theo and me, and not because of my ability to act. If I were a better actress, I would’ve been able to deliver the same quality of performance today despite feeling disconnected from Theo.

Inwardly I kicked myself as I was sure this was the sort of lackluster performance that he’d been afraid of when I was hired. And today I proved that he might have been right about me. Regardless of how I was feeling, I should have delivered the same energy and drive and quality of performance that I had up until this point. After all, wasn’t the saying that the show must go on?

I left the studio that afternoon, not just feeling in a funk over what happened between Theo and me, but also disheartened by the low-quality performance I gave today. I was glad I made the decision to drive to Woodstock to see my grandparents. I could use time away, out of the city, to regroup, so that when I came back, regardless of what was going on between Theo and me, I could deliver the quality of work I’d achieved up until today.

On the drive home to the condo, I sat in the back of the car and called my sister to let her know of my plans.

“I just need a few days away to go see Gran and Pop-Pop,” I explained.

“I'll come with you,” she said.

“Can you get away?” I asked.

“Yeah. Only a long weekend, right? I have some time coming to me and I could use a trip to Gran and Pop-Pop’s too. Besides, I have a car, and you don’t. How were you going to get there?”

“Rent a car.”

“Now you don’t have to,” she said.

I was glad that I would have her company, so I readily agreed.

When I arrived back at the condo building, I rode up in the elevator and of course, couldn’t stop all the feelings that came whenever I stepped into the car. Memories of bantering with Theo, and of course, all his sizzling kisses. But I pushed that away when the door opened on the eighth floor and I walked down to the condo and inside to pack for my trip.

Forty minutes later, my sister entered