My Leading Man | Timothée Chalamet

chapter twelve

 The bus ride home felt significantly longer than it was. I was worn out and for some reason I felt pretty nervous, too, awaiting a text back from the In-N-Out boy.

I hummed to myself as I watched out the window, when my phone buzzed. I quickly pulled it out, and was shocked to see it was a message from Timothée: Are you busy? I'd really appreciate it if you could run lines with me tonight.

My heart stopped, and for a brief moment I struggled for air. Timothée wanted to run lines with me?

Of course that made sense. I was his director, after all, and this was my script.

And he was playing my lead, Theo.

It all made perfect sense. I had to behave rationally.

No plans whatsoever! Lmk when and we can get started :) I sent the text and immediately put the phone face-down in my lap, strangely scared to see his response.

Within seconds, it buzzed again, and I quickly flipped it back over to see: Right now?

I suddenly stood up, and, like a robot, stomped to the front of the bus to request to be let off. The driver gave me a weird look but pulled over and popped open the doors for me. I stepped off and was greeted by a heavy sun and the thick stenches of smoke and some kind of meat cooking in a restaurant nearby. I looked around, searching for a marker to tell me where the heck I was, and saw a small restaurant just a few feet away from me, with dark red brick and pretty white cursive on the glass door that read Bev's. I typed out a quick text to Timothée, telling him where I was and if he was able to meet me, and sat down on a bench to wait.

After a few minutes, a black SUV pulled up and Timothée hopped out, after which the car promptly drove away. He took long strides towards me and momentarily lifted up his arms in what looked like a potential hug, then quickly dropped back to his sides as he stopped right in front of me.

"Hey Vi," he said, and gave me a wide smile that touched the corners of his eyes. Suddenly he faltered. "I hope it's okay to call you that," he said, his eyebrows lifting in concern.

"Of course!" I assured, and the conversation came to a sudden halt. Wonderful.

"So, uh, should we go in?" He pointed to Bev's, and I nodded vigorously, eager to put an end to the silence.

"Yes. Let's." Geez, can you speak in more than two words at a time?! I cringed at myself when I noticed Timothée had held the door open for me, patiently waiting for me to enter.

I felt my cheeks heat and I smiled without meaning to. "Thank you," I said, walking through, and he just nodded with a shy smile.

Ah. He's so sweet. I could have put my hands to my heart and sighed if he wasn't right there.

Boundaries, Vi! He's your coworker! I straightened my shoulders and walked to the girl at the front desk, requesting a table for two. I noticed her eyes widen slightly at the sight of Timothée, but when I looked at him, he didn't seem to notice.

As she led us to a small circular table by a window, I finally took in my surroundings. It had black walls and antique black and white tiled flooring, with pretty light fixtures that emitted low, golden light. The whole place just felt swanky and cool, too cool for me. I suddenly worried I wouldn't be able to afford anything here, but I just as quickly decided that if that were the case, we didn't have to stay long and I could just get a water to sip on while he practiced.

We took our seats as she handed us each a menu, and then she was gone.

Just Timothée and me.

I hated the way my heart picked up pace the second I realized that. My heart had to understand that things between us were strictly platonic.