Demeanour | | Joseph Quinn

Chapter 3

Annalise knew the storyline of Demeanour was enemies to lovers, but she hadn't realized just how far in the pit of enemies the leading two characters would start. Prior to this day, she hadn't read past the first 12 pages of the script because she simply didn't need to. Margaret's character was minor and was only meant to appear for a few minutes, here and there, throughout the season.

Amelia's character though – she was strong, passionate and stubborn. And she had a lot of lines. Lines that Annalise was reading ahead on to try and memorize before her entry scene came up.

"Charles, I want you to meet my baby cousin, Amelia, and her date, Matthew." A man Annalise had learned to be called Adam read aloud.

"Charles throws a brief and disinterested look both their ways," reads Amber Preston, setting the tone of the scene before the dialogue continues.

"Amelia is the writer I told you about," Adam continued, a sense of annoyance in his tone.

"Pleasure," Annalise said, holding out her hand in a delicate manner as if she expected it to be kissed.

"The writer?" Joseph began as he watched her every movement, "But she's a, well she's a she. A woman."

"Your point?" She quirked an eyebrow as everyone turned the page.

"Surely you don't think her gender stunts her ability to write, Charles? I thought Mother raised you better than that." Nicola slid into her English accent beautifully.

"Not her ability, no. But as a woman, especially one with no wealth or background, she has no chance of being successful in the craft. Not unless she plans to whore her way to the top."

"Watch me," Annalise murmured in a low and sultry voice, neither her nor Joseph's gaze broke once during the scene.

"And scene!" Alistar clapped, the rest of the table joining promptly after.

"Well done, today everyone, especially to Annalise for stepping up last minute. We were dead right about that chemistry between you, too." Martin glances at Joseph before standing. "We will be in touch with you all within the next 24 hours regarding Amelia's casting, but please don't worry. Both Alistar and I have some good connections in the casting world and who knows, maybe Amelia is already sitting here among us." This time, Martin turned towards Annalise and winked causing her to blush and avert her gaze – not from attraction but from feelings of an abundance of nerves and excitement at the possibility of being cast in the leading role.

They all stood to gather their things on the way out. Nicola grabbed Annalise's arm as she was about to turn towards the door.

"You did wonderful today, Annalise. You really should be proud of yourself for jumping in like that. My fingers are firmly crossed for you." Just as Annalise was about to thank Nicola, she felt a presence looming behind her.

She turned to see Joseph Quinn standing promptly behind her, a friendly yet curious expression on his face.

"I agree with Nicola, you did brilliantly today – hello, by the way," he quickly leaned around Annalise to give Nicola a friendly wave.

"Thank you," Annalise blushed once his eyes landed back on her.

"I'm Joe. I know we did the table introductions but I thought it would be good to properly introduce myself seeing as we did a lot of back and forth today." He extended his hand out to her.

"Annalise," She took his hand. He quickly changed its position, though, bringing it up to his lips and kissing it on the top. Her mind flashed back to just moments before, during the table reading, when she had raised her hand in this position. Annalise couldn't help the blush that spread further along her cheeks, which caused Joe to chuckle a bit before pulling away.

"I'll see you both soon," he bowed his head slightly towards both girls before making his way towards the exit.

"Well, that was...something," Nicola murmured behind Annalise, causing them both to erupt with laughter.

That night, Annalise couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned – flipping her pillows constantly to try and find the cooler side. She even tried listening to ASMR in hopes it would quiet the thoughts rushing through her head, but it was to no avail. She came to terms with the fact that she would be restless until they all heard back from Martin and Alistar. Until then, she'd have to find some distractions.

She got out of bed and skimmed over the bindings of the books littering her yet-to-read bookshelf until she landed on one that caught her attention.

From Blood and Ash

It was the first of a series her best friend bought her a while back. She was holding off starting it because she had a feeling it would be one she'd get sucked into, and she hadn't had a lot of free time recently. Being sucked into a world of make-believe was exactly what she needed right now though.

Four hours, a bottle of red wine, and a tin of pringles later – she finally drifted into a deep sleep full of monsters, magic and Atlantians.

Annalise bolted awake to the sound of her phone ringing at full volume. She glanced at the clock on the wall and saw it was nearly two in the afternoon. After a much-needed stretch and groan, she grabbed her phone and clicked the shimmering green symbol.

"Hellooooo," Annalise finished in a yawn.

"You got it!" Antony yelled.

Annalise shot up into a seated position on her bed. The world spun around her, not only from the hangover but also from the feeling of dreams coming true.   

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Word Count: 946 Words