Tiger Teeth - Terms & Conditions // Book Two

Chapter 6

Before I get flogged, let me explain.  Anna and I were friends.  After a few weeks of radio silence between us, she extended an olive branch.  We had spent a good amount of time together.  We'd ended on decent terms.  I wasn't in a position to walk away from people who cared about me.  Who is?

Anna wasn't looking for anything other than friendship from me.  She was fine being alone.  In fact, she loved it.  For the first time in her life she didn't have to worry about someone else and what they might think of a role she might take.  She could be risky and do her own thing.  She was excited about her new movie.  It was a first for her, playing a character people weren't immediately going to like.  It brought her back to loving her job.  I was happy for her.

She pulled back to look at me,

"I thought I'd come and check out the show."

I smiled,

"I'm glad you're here."

Josh walked out when he heard her voice,

"Well, well...how's the Oscar winner?"

She scoffed,

"Not yet."

He leaned over to hug her quickly,

"All in good time."

"So, how's the new movie?"  I asked.

One of the only things in the world that annoyed me more than Elf on the shelf was small talk.  I hated it.  Especially with people I was close to.  But I didn't want Anna to start asking questions about things I wasn't in the mood to discuss anyway.

"Good.  That's part of the reason I came here today.  Just needed to decompress.  The shoot last night was..."  She blew out a breath, "Intense."

Josh lifted his arm to lean against the door frame,

"I heard about the new movie.  Sounds crazy."

She nodded,

"It's so different.  And the Director is so supportive.  I just..."  She let her sentence trail off.

"What?"  I pushed.

She shrugged,

"I hope I'm giving him what he wants.  This could open a lot of doors for me and I just don't wanna screw it up."

I put my hand on her shoulder,

"I'm sure you're doin' great.  If he had any problems he would've said somethin'."

She nodded, a small smile creeping up on her face.

She looked between us.  I had never really been good at hiding things from Anna.  Masking my emotions wasn't my strong suit.  And she'd been in my life so long, she knew my moods even if I wasn't openly displaying them.  She furrowed her brow,

"What's going on?"

I shoved my hands into my pockets and I shrugged,

"Nothin'.  Everythin' is great."

She kept looking between us and while Josh was holding onto his smile, mine had long since disappeared.  She shook her head,

"Tell me..."  I sighed, but I didn't answer.  She reached forward to pinch my shoulder.

I jumped back,

"OUCH!"  I yelled out, rubbing the spot on my body that now stung like a bitch.

"Tell me!"  She whisper/yelled.

I knew she wouldn't let it go and to be honest, a female perspective might've been nice.  I didn't have to tell her everything.  I glanced over at Josh.  He shrugged.  I turned back to Anna,