Blush (Chris Evans) 18+

20

I take Scarlett's things to her the next morning and she lets me in, seeing my face she knows that something's up. "You alright?" 

"Yeah, yeah everything's fine". I lie and begin to put the things away. 

"No it's not, what's happened?" She asks, crossing her arms and waiting for me to come out with it. 

I stop putting the stuff away in various cupboards and just stand there for a moment. I've not even spoken to Chris yet but even I can tell that it's not going to be a good conversation. I called him this morning but it went to voicemail. I didn't bother to leave a message. 

"I told Chris I couldn't make it tonight, and needless to say he wasn't happy". I sigh and then look at her. "It's another event I've dropped out of last minute". 

Scarlett smiled weakly. "Damn, I'm sorry I didn't realise". 

I wave it off. "It's fine, we knew that we'd have to work things around his schedule and mine. But we're flying out tomorrow and I know I wouldn't have been able to make it out in time". 

"You spoken to him today?" 

I shake my head. "I'll call him later, he's probably busy at Lisa's". I don't bother to tell her that I missed his facetime last night. 

"Want me to talk to him?". Scarlett asks

"No, it's fine. Could make things worse if he finds out I've been talking to you about it. I know you're close but I guess this needs to stay between me and him". 

She nods, accepting this. "Well let me know if there's anything I can do. Trust me I don't exactly wanna be catching a 6am flight on New Years Day, but that's the way it is". 

"Anyway, enjoy your evening regardless - I'm gonna go pack the last of my stuff and I'll see you bright and early". I say as she gives me a hug. 

Yeah, then I'm gonna have to call Chris again to sort this out. The last thing I want is to go into the New Year on an argument. 

"Happy New Year". She hugs me tightly. "Let me know what happens when I see you in the morning". 

"I will. It'll be ok, we just need to communicate more with whether we can make stuff in advance, and plan it so we're prepared". 

Meaning I'm the one who needs to mainly do this. I'm not perfect and I don't claim to be. People who look on Instagram only see just a keyhole piece of my life, they believe it to be the best thing in the world, assisting actors and actresses', perks of being on set, getting cool stuff. But it's exhausting and I sometimes let them see that too. 

I get back home and pack, then call Chris. He picks up after a few rings. 

"Hey Mils". 

Yeah, he doesn't sound right. 

"Hey". I say gently. "I'm sorry I missed our facetime last night. I had to go grab some bits for Scarlett". 

"It's fine". He replies. "You ok?" 

I pause. "No...not really, and I know you're not either". 

He doesn't say much for a moment but breaks the silence. "I know you're busy with Scarlett, that we need to keep our work and relationship separate, but this is the third time you've bailed Cam? How many more things are you gonna miss?"

"Chris..." 

"How is this gonna work for us if we never see each other? When's the next time you're gonna get back?"

"In a couple of a weeks..." 

"And what if you bail last minute then? We said we'd trial this for six months and I don't even think that it's working". 

I sigh. "Because we need to communicate more and-" 

"And I'm the only one who seems to be doing that!" Chris says and then grunts something inaudible. "It's like I'm the one who cares about keeping this things going". 

"I care!" 

"Do you? Because you seem to be coping better than I am. And I'm not ok? I haven't seen you in weeks, I miss you like hell and it seems like you're just putting the job first and not even trying to keep a healthy balance". He comes right out with it. 

"Chris please, I'm probably coping better because I know what I'm doing and..." 

He interrupts me. "Camille, I can't have another few more months of this, Scarlett's gonna be busy and me? I've got filming coming up, premieres - so maybe we should just call it quits before we both just end up in constant arguments. At the end of the day Scarlett needs someone permanent and you're clearly the girl for the job". 

"Don't do this...please..." I can feel the lump rise in my throat". 

"It's already done. Let's face it, it's been over for some time now. I'll have Josh send anything you have here over to New York". 

"Please..."

All I can do is beg like an idiot, because it's my fault. I know it is. 

"No. We're done". He says with a coldness that I've never heard before, and then he hangs up. 

By now I'm sobbing uncontrollably and don't stop for the next couple of hours until I crawl into bed and just hide there all day. 

As the clock strikes midnight and everyone celebrates seeing in a New Year, I'm alone and now knowing that my stay here in New York is going to be for the foreseeable. I screwed up, and as a result I lost something that could've been real great if it had lasted.