Foreign

Chapter 33

"If you guys set up the game, I'll get us some hot chocolates from the kitchen," Diego suggests.

"Excellent idea!"

Josh and I search the lounge for Monopoly.

"Found it!"

We sit down in the corner where the cosy seats are. When Diego returns with three hot chocolates the game is set up and we're ready to go.

"May the best man win!" Josh says.

I cough.

"And woman," Diego adds.

We're all very determined to win. We concentrate on the game and on bringing each other out of focus. But no matter how focused I am, I can tell when Hero walks in. It's like my body is an antenna searching for him all the time. I look up and Hero sits in the opposite corner, near the window. He's focusing on the script. Isn't there somewhere else he can do this? Damn it.

"Oh my god, Charlotte," Josh says. "You didn't even notice I had to pay you and now I've moved on!" He laughs. I clench my teeth together. Stupid Hero, making me lose the game.

"No worries Joshy, I'll still kick your ass!" I try to keep my focus on the game now instead of Hero.

We're getting very competitive and very loud.

"Hahaaa! Pay up Joshy!" I give him a push. "Who's the loser now!"

Josh looks at me with a sour face.

"Here you go, I don't have any money left." He scowls. "Stupid game!"

Diego and I give each other a high five.

"Okay, it's between you and me now," he says when his phone rings.

"Sorry, I need to take this, I'll be back in a sec!"

"Oh, don't worry Joshy! Plenty of other opportunities to kick my ass." I give him a pat on the shoulder and he starts laughing. For a second my eyes dart to Hero and he looks very angry. I look away but that only lasts for a second. I look at him again. He's still scowling. Stop staring at me! I decide to stare back at him.

"I can't believe you," his harsh voice says.

Josh freezes and turns around.

"What are you talking about?" I roll my eyes at him which makes him even more angry because he jumps up with so much force his chair falls backwards.

"WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT??! WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT, REALLY, CHARLOTTE?!" he screams at me.

I jump up too. I'm not taking this. I haven't done anything wrong.

"YES, HERO, WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM THIS TIME?!" I yell too. I hate how high my voice gets when I scream.

Josh grabs my arm and tries to make me sit back down.

"HERE YOU ARE, PARADING WITH YOUR NEW BOYF-"

"ENOUGH!" a new voice yells, breaking off Hero mid-sentence. We all turn to the door. Greg. He looks furious.

"Josh, Charlotte, Hero, my office. Now." Greg leaves the lounge and we all follow him in silence. Suddenly I'm ashamed of the scene we caused. Everyone is staring. Again. I text Diego to let him know what happened.

"Sit down, all of you." Greg is still very angry. We sit in silence.

"Well, what the hell was that about?"

I stare at my feet. No one answers his question.

"You know what," Greg says. "I don't even want to know. I guess it's got something to do with these." He throws some papers at us. They fall on the floor and when I pick them up I see that they're photos. Photos of last night, the bar fight. There is Hero punching Reese. Josh and Hero punching each other. Josh and Hero punching Reese.

"I'm guessing that that was about your recent break-up?"

"That guy was bothering Charlotte," Hero grunts.

"Maybe. That explains why you punched him. It doesn't explain however why my two male stars punched each other."

I stare at the photo. I hadn't even realised they'd punched each other. I was trying to get someone to help me break up the fight. Josh and Hero stay silent.

"Do you have any idea how bad this is for the film?" Greg says with a loud voice. "You promised me this wouldn't be a problem, Charlotte! Don't make me fire you to save the film!"

"No!" Josh says. "Don't fire her. It was an accident."

"An accident?" Greg pops up his eyebrows.

"Yeah, we were in the middle of the fight and everyone was punching around. We must have hit each other," Hero backs up Josh' story. I look at Greg and I can tell he doesn't believe any of this.

"Okay," he says despite of his facial expression. "That's a good excuse. Make sure this doesn't happen again." He looks at all of us.

"I won't," I stare at my feet again.

"Well, tonight will be more important now that we have to do some damage control."

"Tonight?" I ask.

"Yeah!" I look at Josh and he looks as baffled as I am.

"Please don't tell me you've forgotten about our early Christmas party."

"Eh," Josh says.

"The party with all our producers and investors?" Greg adds. Oh shit, that party! I did forget about it.

"Oh, no, of course not!" Josh quickly says. "We'll be on our best behaviour, I promise!"

"You better," Greg grunts. "Okay, you two can go. Hero, stay, I need to talk to you about something." I sigh of relief. Josh and I leave the office.

"That was intense," Josh says. "And I forgot all about that party by the way!"

I look at him.

"Was it really an accident?" I wonder.

He looks at the ground with guilt all over his face.

"No, it wasn't. You were screaming for help and Hero punched me."

"Are you okay? Why did he do that?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. He didn't hit me very hard so I don't even have a bruise."

"Why would he hit you instead of Reese?!"

"Because of you, probably."

"That stupid-"

"Charlotte, calm down. You heard what Greg said. Don't make a scene."

"You're right," I sigh. "I just wish he'd leave me alone. That would be so much easier."

"Well, he did manage to lose you. Of course he's angry. It must be hard to lose you." I look him in the eyes and see the sincerity in it. The sudden tension is too much for me. I need to find a way out.

"You goof!" I laugh and give him a push.

He starts laughing too and the tension between us is gone.