The Crew | On Hold

Chapter 28

My heartbeat immediately quickens as panic takes over in my mind.

What am I going to do?

Mila's pink hair that she's made into a high ponytail sways side to side, as she marches back into the café without saying another word.

Wide-eyed, I turn to look at Andrew, who stares after Mila with a frown on his face. For at least a minute, we stand like this - me intently watching him, him staring after Mila.  Neither of us knows what to say, or how quickly Mila will break the news to the crew. Saliva pools in my mouth as my anxiety becomes almost unbearable.

For all I know, she could be doing that right now. Anna could march outside, furious, with smoke fuming out of her ears. She would sack me just like she fired Bethany - without mercy.

Hot tears start to burn my eyes, but I blink them away. No need to start the fireworks. They most certainly won't help.

"What do I do now?" I ask Andrew, my voice barely louder than a whisper.

His eyes meet mine, and he stares back at me with a thoughtful look. Then, without a warning, he pulls me into a hug. I press my trembling hands around his waist, trying to ignore how much they are shaking.

I take in his warmth and smell. His manly cologne smells like apples and mint, making saliva pool in my mouth.

I try to make the most out of this hug, pressing into him tightly, since I don't know what is gonna happen next. What if I get fired, and we don't see each other no more?

Of course, I want to believe that he would go out with me we'd become more than secret lovers, but that seems a bit silly to me. Especially knowing how appealing he is to other girls and how much Mila would enjoy this turn of events, especially when she'd latch herself onto him.

Andrew breaks our hug, and holds up his hands to cup my face. "Go back to the studio. Pretend you really are sick like you said." I place my trembling hands into the pocket of my hoodie, so Andrew wouldn't notice my rising panic.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, I arch my eyebrow, and almost begin informing him that I was, in fact, feeling squeamish from the sight of Mila salivating around him, but he places a finger on my lips.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't start." He grins. "I know you were just jealous of Mila."

I roll my eyes, not wanting to admit that he is absolutely correct, but a smile breaks out, ratting my true feelings out.

Realising that he was still watching me no matter how angry he was, makes me smile. He still loved me. Even though I took my love proclamation back.

"Okay, so..." Andrew takes his finger off of my lips, and takes a step back, just in case somebody finishes eating and comes out of the café. "You go to the studio. Anna's trailer or mine, you choose. I will go back, and try to smoothe things out."

Andrew stops talking, and gazes into my eyes. I see his hand twitch as if he wants to touch me, but he retains himself. Instead, with a tiny smile, he turns and walks back to the café.

I watch him glance at me as he walks through the door, and then I take a deep breath.

My whole body seems to be frozen, but, somehow, I force my feet to move. Almost jogging, I make my way back to the studio.

The walk back to the studio isn't particularly long, especially if anxiety takes over me.

I take off my hoodie, so the security guard doesn't think I'm an intruder. My hands are still slightly shaking, and I'm desperately trying to return my breathing back to normal, but none of the calming techniques that I know, work.

I stop at the trailers. Which one do I go into? If I go to Anna's, she might be furious that I'm still sitting there. If I go to Andrew's, even those, who don't believe Mila yet, will believe we're hooking up.

For a second I chew my bottom lip as I try to decide, but then I settle on Anna's trailer. Hell, if she's gonna fire me, I might as well embrace it. What good will it do to hide in Andrew's trailer?

With a sigh, I enter the trailer, and sit down in a club chair. There is a tiny clock sticker, which tells the actual time (Anna got it from a follower), and I stare at it like it could save my life.

Nervously picking at my fingernails, I count each second along the clock. A minute passes. Five minutes. Ten minutes.

After fifteen minutes, people are finally starting to return to the set. I can hear people talking and giggling outside. Though they aren't talking about me and Andrew, every time they laugh or snort, I wince, imagining that they're talking about me.

After twenty five minutes, the trailer door opens. In the doorway, Anna freezes when she sees me.

My heart starts to beat like crazy. For a while - the shortest time - it had a little break, but now it is pounding like a dog running away with a stolen sausage.

"Anna, I'm..." A tear pricks in my eye, as I begin. I have no idea how to apologise in this situation. Shame burns through me, leaving my cheeks red as I await Anna's wrath of anger, but, to my huge surprise, her expression softens, and she even smiles.

"Are you feeling better, Emma?"

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