✦ ✧ ✩ Curtain Call ✦ ✧ ✩ - Charlie Gillespie

Chapter 15

I don't know if it was the barely half a drink I had that just got to me or the fact that Charlie spit all of that information in my face but when my screen lit up with Matthew's text I was not thinking clearly.

"Honey, let's do it. Tomorrow. I've been thinking about you too."

"Or we can just meet now" I replied, throwing my phone in the passengers seat as I drove the streets of Vancouver.

"I'll be waiting" he responded with his location. Matthew. I was about to go meet Matthew. The root of every single one of the problems I had to face for the past 3 years. I used to be so confident, so trusting, so caring and warm. And then he came into my life and made me doubt everything about myself. The fact that I even let go off him and built myself up again was remarkable for me. And now I was about to be sucked in into that again. I stopped at a red light and felt like I was contemplating myself from a third person point of view.

"What the hell is going on Eri?" I heard Maeve's voice in my head, she was asking in the same way she did a year ago when she found me freaking out in my apartment. It repeated in a loop in my head as I sobbed on the wheel. I couldn't recognize myself.

A car passed me by honking at me as the light turned green snapping me out of it. I kept driving around trying to decide whether I would go to Matthew's when my phone started ringing. It was Owen. I picked up, trying to hide the fact I was crying my eyes out.

"Hey Owen what's up, it's everything ok?"

"It's not actually, would you come pick me up?" I was confused at the request but nonetheless I complied. When I was outside Tori's door I texted him, and he came outside and into the car.

"Let's just drive around" he said, and he put his hand on the back of my seat. We sat there in silence for about ten minutes until curiosity won me over.

"I thought I would be the last person you would want to be out with Owen" I said, still sniffling.

"You are, believe me." He replied, still looking straight forward and clenching his jaw "But Maeve it's not doing okay, she is worried about you and for a good reason, so I'm doing this for her. She couldn't do it herself, so I came."

"I don't know what to say" I muttered, turning to him.

"You don't have to say anything. When you feel ready to talk we'll talk"

"You want to talk about what?"

"About whatever the hell is going on with you Eri. You know when I met you you gave off such a different energy, and now you became this insecure mess. I know Charlie did some wrongs, and he is also too blind to see but Eri you are the biggest idiot here" he said, and I felt how he was trying to calm himself down before snapping at me "And I'll be honest I couldn't see either but you did play him. You are not ready but it's not because of the reasons you think. And you can't just say things and act the opposite way."

"Everyone talks about me like they know my life better than me" I replied, feeling my blood boiling.

"No we don't. You just can't see that you are wrong. And until you fix the actual things that need to be fixed in your life right now you won't see them. You shut off. You get scared. You talk about being honest, and I know you thought you were but you can't be if you don't know the truth."

"And what's the truth exactly Mr know it all?" I felt my feet in the pedal tempted to hit the road at a 100mp/h. Ironically, we hit a stop sign.

"I don't know. All I know is this" He said, holding my phone up at me, with the notification of Matthew's text. I gulped. "This is not how you find out. You like Charlie. If you are scared or confused just leave him alone. And he will have to learn to let you go too."

We sat there again for 30 minutes but now Owen turned the radio on. I couldn't bring myself to say anything as all the things he said dawned on me.

"Thank you" I said, finally breaking the silence "I don't know for what yet but I'll find out"

"It's ok. You are a great person Eri, don't let ghosts from who you were control your life" he replied, now a little less tense.

"I'm really happy for you and Maeve. I'm really glad she found you. I don't know what I ever did to deserve either of you."

"You don't deserve her, but you I trust that you will. As for me, she just made me better"

I smiled at him and he smiled back at me.

When I got home I sat down in front of my computer and tried to brainstorm ideas on how I would again, fix this mess I created. How in the hell would I even begin to try and repair what I did to Maeve. Suddenly, I found the perfect place to start.

I sent Kenny a long text on how Maeve would be the perfect assistant for the costume department and I forwarded with it the pictures we took the night of the dinner along with her model work and other styling she did for other projects as well as her email address and phone number. I emphasized that her staying would definitely up the moral of the entire cast and the team hiring her was a no-brainer. A bit more pleased with myself I went to bed so I could shake off the nerves of being scolded by half my closest friends in the span of 10 hours.

The next morning I woke up 100 texts and I saw they added a number I didn't recognize to the group chat but my mind was too busy thinking about the text I sent last night. I rushed to Kenny's chat, he replied really early in the morning, so I was catching it pretty late.

"You know I'm in. I'll talk with them as they make the final decision, but I'll try and push the idea"

Fingers crossed, I thought as I got myself out of bed and into the bathroom to get ready for the day. I was still conflicted, no new news, but I was given a new perspective. That talk with Owen really made me plummet back to earth. I didn't know how in hell I was supposed to fix things with Charlie but I tried not to lose hope.

My phone started buzzing like crazy and then it started ringing. It was Owen again.

"I find myself scared when I see your name on my screen now Joyner, what's up?"

"You know, I could've murdered you last night. Like I was really close too. But right now I love you so much I'm just going straight to forgiving you. Thank you so much Eri." I could hear him smiling through the phone.

"Well ok calm down what's going on?"

"Maeve just got an email from the costume department saying that she can stay here with a job with them. She said she didn't apply or say anything so this had to be you, right?"

"Yes it was. I really wanted her to stay with you, Is she happy?" I asked.

"Over the moon" he replied "We are actually organizing a trip to LA to get her stuff from her apartment right now. I would tell you to come but..."

My mind went straight to the number they added to the group chat.

"She is going right? Charlie's whatever" I felt the weight of the world on my chest. Those butterflies were eagerly hurting me.

"Yes" he replied, softly, as if he was trying to make his words hurt less.

"It's ok. I will actually try to be happy for him for once. He deserves to be happy" I replied, and I could feel I genuinely meant it.

"Wow I'm excellent at this, you sound like a changed woman" he replied, cautiously laughing again. "Okay, gotta go, thank you again. And Maeve, she will eventually call you know? She is just hurting right now."

"I know, I know. Thank you, Owen" I hung up the phone and stared at the screen. I texted Mads.

"So, is the script any good? Did you like it?" I said, staring at the file in my computer.

____________________________________________________________

It's the way I'm crushing on Mr. Owen Patrick Joyner hard right now and it shows. 

I hope you are liking it, half the fun of writing this is the few but remarkably funny and cute comments i get sometimes  <3