The Crew | On Hold

Chapter 38

Mila notices me eyeing the both of them. "What are you looking at? Never seen a disabled person before?" The girl, too, turns to face me and our eyes meet. Instead of looking offended and angry, she looks at me understandingly, as if saying 'I get it. I'm not offended.'. 

"I...um, no. No, I was just heading to sit down there." I point with my chin to a seat near the two of them, and then walk past them, without waiting for Mila's ice cold reply. Though I just saw Mila being nice and kind to someone, I can't really believe it. In the few weeks I've worked here, I have never seen her be a sweet person. Not to Anna, not even to Andrew. 

I can hear Mila muttering something mean about me and my romantic life, but I don't pay her any attention. She's just a meanie on the outside, pretending to be an angry girl, while, actually, she can be really kind. 

I sit down on the plastic chair, and pull out my phone again. Pretending to scroll through the comments, I watch the both of them from the corner of my eye. Mila helps her sister redo her ponytail, closes the bottle and puts it into her lap, and smiles lovingly at her sister. I can't tell which one of them is the older sister, but I can't help but feel sorry for Mila once again. A boy, who didn't pay attention to her feelings, and a disabled sister, who she obviously loves dearly. 

"Mila! Andrew! We're about to start!" Davina exclaims, and Mila gets up from her crouching position instantly. Gently, she pats her sister's cheek, and, with a smile, says: "I have to go now, sis. I'll come to you as soon as I can, okay?" 

The girl nods, and Mila walks over to the set. She doesn't look at me anymore, but, as she approaches Andrew, I catch him winking at me. Warmth quickly spreads over my face as I remember our night together, and I can't retain myself but to send him an air-kiss. 

Andrew and Mila get into their positions and Davina orders the camera guy to start shooting, while she's watching all this on at least four screens. They are too far for me to see, but I can see Andrew and Mila perfectly from my seat. 

I am supposed to be replying to comments on the newest Instagram post, but I can't tear my eyes away from my handsome boyfriend. He is wearing a simple white shirt with ripped up jeans, and his hair is perfectly tousled up. He looks absolutely gorgeous - not that he doesn't look like that every day -, but this style totally suits him. 

A quiet thud next to me, brings me back to reality, and I immediately look over to see that Mila's sister's bottle has fallen out of her lap. Lines of worry appear on her face as she slowly leans over to get it, but every movement comes out forced and slow, and my heart just aches at the look of it. 

Wanting to help the girl, I leap up from my seat, and crouch over to get the bottle. The girl smiles at me, and I give her a warm smile back. "Here you go, sweetheart."

The girl takes the bottle and places it back in her lap, this time steadying it so it wouldn't roll out of her lap again. "Thank you." She whispers shyly. "Please don't mind my sister. She's just been through a lot. She's actually quite sweet, I swear." 

Still crouching, I stare at her in surprise. Mila's been through a lot? I wonder what goes on in Mila's life, when she's away from the set and not being a mean-ass. 

 About a million thoughts are floating in my mind. What if she has money troubles? What if she has depression? What if she's in trouble, and needs someone to talk to? "What's going on with her? Is there any way I can help her?" I finally ask. I still dislike her, and I don't appreciate her being so mean to me for no reason, but I want to help her. I know how hard life can get at times, and, if there is some way to help her, I have to do it.

The girl's eyebrows furrow, and she shoots a stare at her sister. "She just... needs a friend, I guess. Our family doesn't really care for us.... especially for me. And Mila's taken the role of helping me. Oh, she's my baby sister, but she's taken the role of watching after me." She looks down at the floor, seeming ashamed. "As you've probably noticed, I am not really mobile."

I nod my head understandingly, unsure how I should answer her. What do people say in moments like this? What is a good way to respond to something so sad as this? I don't want to be overly sympathetic to a point, where the person doesn't even want to hear it anymore, but I also don't want to seem cold and careless. Heck.

"Anyway, I don't want to upset you with our sad life." The girl giggles sadly and her ponytail vibrates with her laughter. "My name is Elise, by the way." 

Hello, my dear reader! Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, that you'll vote for it, and, most importantly, that you'll continue reading the story. :)

A.N. Hey, guys! I'm sorry for such a chapter and for not updating regularly, but I really wanted to get something like this out, so you could understand that Mila isn't actually a pain-in-the-ass for no reason. She actually envies Emma a bit.