Drown in You

36. Bright and early

I didn't see Noah again until a week later, on the day of the table reading for the new movie. I felt nervous as I pulled into the parking area of the hotel, but when Noah came to the car, he was bright and smiling, as if nothing had ever happened. Then again, I thought, nothing really had happened.

But it just felt strange.

We arrived at the production building and Kate tasked me with helping her carry a few things inside. I'd learned during training that aside from just being a chauffeur, I would also be responsible for various tasks and errands, at the discretion of Kate. Basically, I was an assistant to an assistant. But it was good enough for me.

The room where the reading was going to take place was massive. There was a center arrangement of tables, and surrounding it were several smaller arrangements of tables and chairs, which were already half filled by various people setting up camp, some with computers and others with giant paper scripts and flurries of notes.

The center group of tables had name cards in front of each seat, and a few people were already sitting down. I recognized some of them from movies I'd seen in the past.

At the center of this actors' table, I saw a gorgeous looking blonde woman getting herself settled, a small swarm of people crowding around her. One person placed a script in front of her, another an ice cold water bottle. I finally noticed the name card in front of her: Taylor Dalton.

She looked up and a smile appeared on her face when she saw Noah and his entourage approaching. He sat down behind his name card, which was right next to hers. When she said something to him and laughed a bit, he laughed along. I could tell he was in "public mode," charisma turned to 100. In moments like this, it seemed again like Noah existed in a different plane of reality.

I was distracted watching them interact, so Kate had to grab my wrist to get my attention.

"Come on," she said. "Our table is over here."

•••

The table read was long and slow, but it was fascinating to watch Noah acting. At times, you could see him working out how best to read a line before he went for it, but mostly, he just morphed into his character as if it were a perfectly natural extension of himself.

Usually, I resented actors for the level of shamelessness they possessed by necessity of their profession. But with Noah it was different. He made me envy the way he could entirely let go of all inhibitions, completely unafraid of judgment.

When the table read finished, a few people lingered around, but most were eager to get out.

Noah seemed like he was in a pretty good mood afterwards. He was chatty in the car and even invited me in for dinner and drinks but I declined; I'd told Cal I would be home in time to cook and didn't want to ghost on him.

•••

Just like that, time flew by. Noah's moods were mostly up, but every once in a while I would catch a glimpse of some unusual behavior; Things that used to come easy to him like organization and punctuality seemed harder now, and sometimes I would see him staring off into space looking empty. I tried talking to Kate about it but she insisted he'd been like this ever since she met him, so I conceded. All I could do was watch.

Finally, the first day of filming arrived.

I'd gotten used to waking up earlier since beginning my job, but filming hours were ridiculous— it wasn't even bright out yet. I snuck out of bed slowly and tip-toed my way around the apartment, careful not to wake Cal as I got ready and left.

As I drove to pick up Noah and Kate, I felt an itch for a cigarette but I didn't indulge— didn't want the car of a celebrity to smell like smoke. I settled for a breath mint instead. It's what they told us to do at the group home when they were trying to get us all to quit. It didn't really work. I'd rather have some actual nicotine but, whatever. It seemed better than nothing.

I contemplated quitting cigs for real. It didn't seem appropriate to be smoking all the time in the presence of fancy hollywood people. The image of a "mysterious smoking artist type" seemed reserved for celebrities themselves, not so much their assistants. Maybe I could buy some nicotine candy, but more than just a physical dependency, the ritual of smoking felt like a comfort.

I was looking up nicotine candy when Noah arrived. I quickly put my phone away as he and Kate got in. "Good morning!"

"Bright and early," Kate replied, with obvious sarcastic cheeriness.

Noah was silent— I snuck a glance at him through the mirror but his expression didn't reveal anything.

"He could use some coffee," Kate remarked.

"Same," I joked, glancing back at Noah again to see if my joke had any effect. His head was leaned back with a hand over his eyes.

When we arrived to the set, it was already bustling. I followed Kate and Noah through the maze of people to his trailer, which, to my dismay, was equally crowded inside too. Noah went straight to the hair and makeup area where a small swarm of hands immediately began to poke and prod him. At some point one of the hands placed a coffee and a granola bar in front of him before disappearing back into the chaos. He took the coffee but left the food untouched.

I finally realized I was just standing there staring when Kate poked my shoulder and handed me a piece of paper.

"The agenda for today," she explained. "Try your best to memorize it. Our preparedness, or lack thereof, can make a big difference in the day's productivity."

I nodded and skimmed the laundry list of a schedule. At the bottom, written in Kate's handwriting, there was a note: your job = be nearby and ready to help!

•••

Filming was longer and much more boring than it seemed from the outside. At one point I got roped into helping set up the dinner catering for the cast and crew, but other than that there was shockingly little for me to do. Despite that, merely being on set was exhausting and overwhelming; I thought the sound of the director yelling "CUT" would never stop ringing in my ears. Even though we'd arrived to set bright and early, it was far past sunset by the time they wrapped for the day, and then even more time was spent getting Noah out of costume and ready to go home for the day— or, night.

In the car, Noah studied his lines for the next day's scenes. Kate was reading the other character. I tried to grasp the context between the two of them, but I wasn't sure where this scene fit into the plot.

Eventually, Noah sighed and leaned back in his seat, covering his face with the script. "That's probably enough for now."

After a moment, he lowered the script from his face and reached into his backpack to put it away. When he zipped up the backpack, he suddenly leaned forward and waved his arm out to me from the backseat. I stole a glance and saw the granola bar he'd left untouched that morning.

"What's this?" I asked.

"You should eat it," Noah said. "I saw you earlier. You were so busy setting up the catering for everyone else that you didn't eat anything yourself."

"I'm fine, you should keep it." I didn't want to take his stuff.

Noah waved the bar teasingly one more time. "Come on, I know you're hungry..."

My cheeks grew hot and I felt flustered as I grabbed the bar from his hands. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me, it's for my protection," Noah said. "How can I trust you to drive well on an empty stomach?"

Kate scoffed jokingly from her seat. "Mr. thoughtful back there, hm?"

I laughed. "You have so little faith in my skills? I come from an elite line of professional drivers, you know."

"Ok Lewis Hamilton" Noah played along.

"Is that a challenge?" I pressed on the gas for a moment to accelerate before resuming normal driving speed.

"I'm going to die tonight," Kate grabbed the overhead handle as Noah burst into laughter and I couldn't help but join him.

•••

A/N
Hi everyone :) I bet you thought I abandoned this story. I'm so sorry :( If you're still here even after more than two years, I appreciate you so much!!

It may take time but I am committed to finishing Will and Noah's story <3 I hope you'll join me for the rest of the ride
—Jay