Behind the Scenes

Chapter Six

My pulse thrums in my ears as I take my seat and Joe climbs into the one beside me. He leans over to place his coffee cup on the floor and I hastily grab his wrist. He lifts his gaze, his face just inches from mine.

          "Please don't let me say anything stupid," I whisper in earnest.

          Joe smiles gently at me and clasps my hand with his. The contact is as exhilarating as it is grounding.

          "Just breathe," he says. He squeezes my hand before letting go and settling back into his chair.

          The interviewer enters the room and crosses to shake both our hands.

          Nobody's watching for you, I tell myself, closing my eyes and taking a slow, calming breath. All eyes will be on Joe.

          Then the interviewer--in my nervousness, I can't remember her name--asks if we're ready and Joe says we are.

          Showtime.

          "Hello and thanks for watching Pop! TV, your favourite corner of the internet. I'm your host Lacey Sullivan--"

          There we go, I think to myself.

          "--and today I'm joined by the world's favourite bad-boy zombie slayer, Joseph King, and author of the soon-to-be-released movie adaptation Everything Left Unsaid starring Joseph, Olivia Munson. Joseph, Olivia, welcome."

          "Hi," Joe says for the both of us.

          "Joseph, the last time we saw you on-screen was a little different. Why don't you tell us about that?"

          I glance over at Joe, who smiles sheepishly.

          "Ah, yes, well, I became zombie bait, I guess you could say," he says, referencing his character Dylan's brutal but heroic demise on Brothers in Arms.

          "A little different from this next role, huh?" Lacey suggests.

          "Quite."

          "Why don't you tell us a bit about it?"

          Joe begins telling Lacey about Greg, a widowed young father who stops leaving his apartment once he realizes his wife's spirit is there with them. I watch his body relax the more he speaks, and he embodies a subtle confidence I've never noticed before. I'm so enraptured by the way he's holding himself, absently stroking the soft stubble on his chin while he describes his--my--character so thoughtfully that I feel almost overwhelmed with pride. In fact, I nearly miss it when Lacey turns the questioning to me.

          "What's it like, now that Joseph's sort of rocketed to stardom thanks to his success in Brothers in Arms, to have him in the lead role of the movie based on your book?"

          I open my mouth to answer instinctually, then realize I actually don't know what I'm about to say. Lacey's staring at me with wide eyes made bigger with false lashes and overdone mascara. I see Joe look at me in my peripheral vision, and my brain rushes to spit out a thousand words at once.

          "Uh, yeah, it's incredible," I finally stammer.

          "Did you have any idea of his star power back when he was originally cast as Greg?"

          Joe's gaze remains steadily on me, reassuring, and it only takes a quick glance into his liquid chocolate eyes to make me feel like I can do this.