A Soft Touch Far Away - (Stefanielle fanfic)

NIGHT

Charlotte's POV :

I sat at the table between Danielle and Stefania.

I thought they would like to sit next to one another but they decided to put me between them because they could sense my anxiety growing.

The menu was huge, and usually I would just try to choose the less expensive dish but the production was paying so I knew I didn't need to worry about that.

I didn't even notice my breathing picking up and my anxious state showing until I felt Danielle's hand on my knee.

I looked up at her.

"What would you like ?"

I sighed.

"It's hard to choose."

"How hungry are you ?"

"Not that much."

"Let's see."

Danielle flicked through the pages of the menu and pointed to a section.

"Here are the simpler choices. So you don't get overwhelmed by courses you don't even understand the name." She laughed, glancing at the daily special which we couldn't get what it was.

I still didn't want to make a choice but I also didn't want Danielle to think that I was a toddler and couldn't manage to just pick what to eat.

So when the waitress came I ordered a plate of pasta with pesto.

The dish arrived but as soon as the plate was in front of me, I found myself unable to take a bite.

I could feel Danielle and Stefania's worried eyes on me so I forced myself to eat a little.

At first it was hard but I mustn't lie, I was hungry so I kept eating and only left a few bites on my plate.

The waitress cleared the table and when Danielle noticed that I ate most of the pasta, she looked at me proudly and praised me.

"Good girl."

I didn't take any dessert and just sipped on my water when my stomach started to ache.

Fortunately we all soon came back to our rooms.

Walking in the corridor, another cramp hit me and I flinched.

"You're okay bambina ?" Asked Stefania who was walking behind me.

"Y- yeah."

Danielle turned and looked at me with concern.

"You're sure ?"

"My stomach hurts a little." I confessed.

"It's probably the stress." I added.

"Let's all have an early night. Especially you Charlotte, your day starts quite soon."

Stefania gave me a gentle hug and kissed Danielle's cheek before entering her room.

Danielle's POV :

I didn't want to let Charlotte go to her room alone.

I knew I could check on her anytime, and it was my role but I also knew she would not want to bother me if she needed anything so I had to stay with her in order to be sure she was fine.

To avoid asking her to just stay with me, I suggested we would run lines together, and she agreed.

We worked on our scenes but only for a few minutes because I still wanted Charlotte to go to sleep early.

"I think we can rehearse more tomorrow sweetheart."

"Why don't you go take a well deserved shower and I'll wait for you here ?"