My Leading Man | Timothée Chalamet

chapter twenty-three

It was Thursday.

Filming was canceled Tuesday and Wednesday because a few of our crew members were sick with the summer cold, and we were finally ready to continue production.

It was strange having those days off; we were nearing the end of week three of filming, and we hadn't had a weekday off since... three weeks ago.

I found I didn't really know what to do with myself. Dayna worked all day; when Syd's grandparents heard about the canceled filming, they took her up to Yosemite for the two days, and I just hung around. Max and I went to the beach when he wasn't working, Timothée and I rehearsed his script both nights, and that was the extent of my social interaction, since Ava and Evan were off doing their own thing.

Glad to finally be back on track, we were finishing up filming in the reception center, and I was helping Wyatt put away the dresses and suits when Olli came up to me and tapped on me on the shoulder.

"Hey Violet," he called tentatively, and I turned around to him with a smile. Olli was holding a clipboard and was rapidly tapping his pen on the side of it when he met my gaze. "So how'd today go? Do you think it was productive?"

I gave him a funny smile, unsure of why he was asking me this. "Yeah, I'd say so. We're still on schedule, so that's good." I tilted my head at him, curious. "What have you got there?" I motioned towards the clipboard in his hand.

"Oh, nothing- w-well, it is something..." he was stammering, avoiding my eyeline. "Well, I was about to call the restaurant place like you asked me to for filming on Friday, and... I realized we don't have the money for it."

I shook my head in confusion. "What? That can't be true. I was just looking at our funds last week; we still had around four thousand... plenty for what's left."

"Well, that was the case for last week, but not anymore. The reception center cost us more than we were expecting since we had to book those extra days after everyone was sick, and they ended up charging us double for the late notice, plus there was the-"

"DOUBLE?! Olli! Why didn't you tell me?!"

He flinched and took a step back. "I- I'm sorry, Violet- I thought you knew-"

I ran my hands through my hair, though when they were quickly stopped from the many tangles, I switched to rubbing my temples. I knew I couldn't get mad at Olli for this- it wasn't his fault. But still- "Okay. Okay." I took a deep breath in, trying to calm myself. "So how much do we have left?"

"Money? About..." his eyes trailed down the paper he was holding, and then met my eyes again. "Five hundred."

"That's it?" My chest felt like it was collapsing in on itself. I couldn't breathe; I wanted to scream, I wanted to act like a toddler and yell and jump up and down and cry. But I was an adult, and this was my problem. "I'll be back," I said and ran out of the room and into the bathroom.

Luckily it was empty, so when I crumpled against the white walls no one could see me. I sucked in ragged breaths, and felt my eyes begin to well up.

What was I going to do? Five hundred dollars would cover all our rental equipment for the next few days, and then it'd be gone. All of it; and we still had at least five days of production left. And that was just the equipment- we still had to pay the restaurant just for the next two days of filming, plus the business venue when Timothée got back... I covered my face with my hands and sank to the floor, letting the tears come.

There was just no way. We needed at least another fifteen hundred dollars, and that was if we were on a very tight budget, with no extra unexpected expenses.