Beyond the Black Curtain

Chapter 39 - Oh Baby, pt. 2

"Aaaannddd CUT!!!!"

I held my breath as Joe replayed the scene in his monitor, nodding every now and then. He raised his head up and gave me a thumbs up.

"That was brilliant, Sebastian, you're done for the day, kid."

I breathed a sigh of relief at finally having nailed the scene. I was having a hard time during the first few takes, but I was able to get into that Bucky headspace and acted the shit out of it. Chris comes up behind me as I was being helped out of my prop arm.

"That took a while," he says pointedly. I give him a look but say nothing else, prompting him to continue to speak. "Something's bothering you. We need to talk."

"Whatever," I mumble at him. He instructs me to come up to his trailer after I was done. The arm was removed after half an hour and I headed back to my own trailer to clean up before going to see Chris. I checked my reflection in the mirror and huffed a breath again. Something felt amiss, but I couldn't put a finger on it. I send Rae a message via Instagram before I trotted out to Chris, and her response somewhat lifts my rather sullen mood.

I raise a knuckle to knock on Chris's trailer door, but he beat me to it and opened up for me. He beckons me to come inside and drop down to the couch near the window, again huffing another breath.

"Anything to drink? Looks like you could use one."

I wave a dismissive hand. "Whatever you got there."

I got handed a can of Bud and I pop the tab before taking a long swill.

"You're off today, Sebastian, don't think I didn't notice. Talk," Chris says after taking a sip of his own drink and plopping down in front of me.

I set the can down and run both hands over my wig covered head. "I don't know man, I just...when I woke up this morning, I didn't feel so good. I still feel like shit, and I can't figure what the fuck's going on with me. Rae was able to message me back right away on Insta which made me feel a little better, but still..."

"You feel like something's wrong," Chris finished for me. "We're gonna have a week long break after this, maybe you wanna surprise her by coming home for a few days?"

"That's probably a good idea. God, I can't believe it's only been a month and I'm missing her like we've been separated for a whole goddamn year!"

Chris chuckled as he sat beside me to pat my back. "Relax Romeo, you and Juliet are gonna be fine. Ask Josh to book you that trip once you get back to the hotel, okay?"

I nod and take another sip of beer. Man, I have to get a grip. I still have five more months of this to go. I stay and talk to Chris for a few more minutes until I started yawning and he had to shoo me away to get sent back to the hotel. I checked the time, Rae should probably be still awake by now. I grab the iPad from the charging dock and call her via Facetime. Her face illuminates the screen and I feel my lips automatically curl up to a kid-like grin.

"Hey beautiful," I say in greeting. She smiles back at me but I immediately notice it didn't quite reach her eyes. I shake the nagging feeling that something was indeed wrong and focus on her.

"How was your day? Did you have dinner already? You shouldn't skip meals Seb, that'll make you tire more easily," Rae says with utmost concern.

"My day was alright, and yes, I did eat before calling you...we good, ma'am?"

She grinned and stuck out her tongue at me and I could've sworn she winced after doing so.

"You okay there, sweetheart?" I asked while trying to keep my voice light.