My Leading Man | Timothée Chalamet

chapter twenty-four

I pulled my thick hair back into a ponytail with shaking fingers. This morning would be... interesting, although more likely terrible.

It was Monday, and we only had a bit of filming scheduled - a scene with Syd's character, Naomi, and her employer; since Timothée was out of town for the week doing his audition.

This was the only production we had scheduled for the whole week; we were meeting today and then not again until Timothée came back, though that was just the original plan - now, because of our used-up budget, instead of filming I was just going to go and tell my crew the bad news.

My heart was heavy. I honestly didn't know how I was going to do this, and I wasn't sure what kind of backlash I would receive for it. And that wasn't the only thing worrying me: seeing Sydney again was not something I was looking forward to.

We hadn't spoken at all since Friday night, when she left the house in a whirlwind of hurt and anger, and I worried that telling her this today would only make her hate me more. Though a small part of me was no longer bothered by that; I'd had all weekend to think about it, since I'd had no one to be with; Max was gone, Syd was gone, and Timothée was literally, physically gone. Timothée and I texted some, but he'd been so busy there really wasn't much of a conversation going on. So Dayna and I had talked about it all when she could, but she and Sam had plans so I was alone a lot. She invited me along to them, but I was in no mood to third-wheel. All weekend long I cycled through feeling lonely and sorry for myself, to missing Timothée and wanting to be with him, to feeling terrible for treating Max and Sydney the way I did, and finally feeling angry with Sydney for blaming me for all her insecurities.

I groaned and pulled on my shoes. I had to do this and there was no getting out of it. I hugged Dayna goodbye as she whispered good luck, and I was on my way.

The bus ride went much too fast and soon I was at Ava's house, where I asked everyone to meet this morning. My heart was nearly thumping out of my chest as I stepped inside and smiled half-heartedly at those who had already arrived, when I spotted Olli in the back corner. He motioned for me to come to him and soon we were alone in the hallway.

"Are we really doing this?" Olli asked, looking sick.

I sighed. "Yep. There's just no way around it."

"Okay. Do you want me to tell the news?" I appreciated Olli's offer, and I really did want him to tell them the news, but I knew I had to do this. Plus I could tell he definitely did not want to, either. I plastered on a smile and feigned confidence.

"No. I've got it. Thanks anyway," I trailed off, and he gave me a reassuring smile and then walked out. After a moment of gathering myself, I followed.

"Okay, everyone," I called out once we were in the main area and everyone (but Timothée) had arrived. "We- uh... I've got some bad news." The room was silent, everyone watching me. "Unfortunately, due to a variety of factors..." I gulped, twisting my hands together. "We are not able to finish production of For Lies and Loyalty." I heard a few gasps but barreled on. "The, uh... we're all out of money." The room was silent. "I'm so sorry," my voice broke and I ran from the room.

-

I scrolled through Netflix from my bed senselessly. I kept trying show after show, movie after movie, but nothing was distracting enough. Nothing could keep my mind off of what had happened, and what was to come.

After I broke the news, a sort of eruption had happened. Some crew members were asking questions, some were angry, and some were sad. Several people tried calling out some ideas to make money, like a car wash or something, but it wouldn't be enough. Olli and I ran the numbers exactly, and found we needed at least $2200 to finish everything without it looking like a total hodge-podge. Someone else suggested a fundraiser, since now would be the time to do it - our week off - but as Olli explained, we already looked into several companies we could do it through and all of them required at least a 30-day advance; not four days. Some people offered up their own money, or their parents', but I couldn't do that. This was my burden to bear and mine alone.