Cooking Up A Storm - A Norman Reedus Fanfic Romance

Chapter 7 - Humble Pie In The Face

NORMAN

"Jeezus, Greg....it's only acting! Suck it up, Princess and stop bawling. You're ruining my dirt, man"  I laugh, pulling myself out of his bearhug.

"Can't help it, Norm. That was just so fucking beautiful, intense....and so fucking sad. And you got it in a single take. Unbelievable!"

Emily and I just finished filming a pretty emotionally draining scene on location. When I glance around I'm kinda shocked. Seeing that Greg isn't the only crew member whose eyes are leaking.

Mind you, for the last five minutes or so? Mine have been overflowing like a New York manhole after a downpour.

My character on the show, Daryl? He's still a bit of a black hole when it comes to showing  his true emotions to folk he doesn't know well. Apart from anger. But when his group are attacked, and he loses some of them? His pain and unfounded guilt eventually busted through his hard-ass demeanour.

And he broke down. Feeling that he hadn't done enough to save them. Protect them.

I've been prepping hard for that scene and it looks like it paid off big time?

'Prepping, huh! Who the hell are you trying to kid?'  I ask myself.

Yeah, I had to learn my lines and then cry at the drop of a hat. But the guilt part? That isn't at all hard to bring to the surface.

Because after nine weeks? I still have a shit load of it in my own deeper-than-deep emotional well to draw upon.

***

Not a single person in that alley behind the hotel said a word. Just kept dragging on their cigarettes while peering at me.

Didn't need to say anything, did they? Their faces told me all I needed to know. Too much actually.

But they weren't looking at me as if I was the one to blame. And that just made me feel even worse.

"Guys, look....I'm really sorry. That's just not right cos it wasn't all her you know? She wouldn't have lashed out like that if I hadn't been such a damned klutz and teased her."

"Shit!  I asked them to go easy...."

"They did, Norman. It could've been a whole lot worse than what she ended up with, we know that now. You  gotta know it too. It's Ok, man. She's cool with it."

Think his name is Bruno? He's the one who dragged her away....kicking and screaming. I heard what he was saying, but how the hell could she be cool with it?

I sure as hell ain't.

But it's done now. All I can do is try to find her and apologise in person.

So I managed to sweet-talk Winnie into weeding out her home address, then text it to me.

"You listen to me now, sugar. It's done....no going back. But I can see you really want to make your peace and I wish you luck. You come and have a smoke with us any time you're in town, Norm."

She hadn't sent me the details before I left for Atlanta. Had to wait another three days.

Got me a surprise, as I know it well. Benny lives in one of my favourite areas, surrounded by alternative theatres and funky art galleries.

So, I waited. And when I flew home to catch up with Ming last weekend? I went and knocked on the door to her apartment. No doorman announcement, luckily. He was sound asleep, his size tens propped up on the reception desk.