Read Online All My Tomorrows by Colette L. Saucier - Free Book Online Page B

somewhere more private?” he asked.
“Your office perhaps?”
    She shrugged and led the way, and he closed her
office door behind them. She faced him with her arms folded across her chest.
    “So what’s the problem now? The plot? The dialog?”
    “No, I’ve given up on that.  I was just thinking
that this is momentous information Tristan is sharing with Clarissa. I don’t
think he would discuss it with her in a hospital cafeteria.”
    “We’ve had too many scenes in her living room
already. She’s a brain surgeon; she has to spend some time in the hospital.”
    “But even to discuss the script, I asked if we
could speak in private. She is a neurosurgeon. She should have her own office
at the hospital.”
    He did have a point. “We do have a doctor’s office
around here somewhere. This is really going to piss off all the extras in that
scene.”
    “Maybe we could start in the cafeteria and move to
her office. Here, let me show you.” He opened the script and handed it to her
and then, coming behind her to read over her shoulder, pointed out the section.
“We could go ahead and keep all this...”
    He spoke low, his breath against her ear, and his
nearness disconcerted here. Her already-tiny office continued to shrink around
them. Is he sniffing my hair?
    Focus! “And, uh, right here she could say
something like, ‘We should discuss this in private. Let’s go to my office.’” He
smelled good. Under the aromas of make-up and hairspray and soundstage, she
could detect a spiciness that reminded her of pumpkin pie and yet somehow
masculine. Warm and familiar, like holidays at home.
    “Yes, exactly,” he said softly against her neck.
    She flinched then turned around to face him and
took a step back. She waited for her heart to start beating again before
speaking. “I...um...I like it. I’ll talk to Mr. Peacock.” When he didn’t make a
move to go and continued to stare, she asked, “Is there something else?”
    “Yes. I wanted to apologize for my behavior the
other day. I shouldn’t have stormed out like that. I’m lucky my fit didn’t go
viral on the Internet.”
    “Okay.”
    “There’s no denying Rich and I have a history, and
his appearance took me by surprise.”
    “He was quite shocked to see you as well.”
    “Do you know him? Is that how he got the part?”
    “I have nothing to do with casting. You should
know that. I hadn’t met him before that day.”
    “Well, you’ve certainly become friendly with him
quickly,” he said, his tone turning sharp.
    Her mouth dropped open, and she shoved the script
into his chest before walking around to the other side of her desk. “I am
friends with many members of the cast. And you’re one to talk! You’ve become friends with your harem pretty fast.”
    Peter took a deep breath in preparation for his
retort, but then he just exhaled and shook his head.  “I don’t want to argue
with you, Alice. Just keep in mind that people are not always what they seem.”
    “Thanks, but I think I figured that out some time
ago.”
    ☼
     
    The cast and crew gathered at the hospital set
stared at Mrs. Jellyby – slight smile, bright dress – as if doubting the
veracity of her speech.
    “And thanks to the bump in ratings during sweeps,
ALL of the affiliates’ advertisers have renewed!”  As the cast and crew
cheered, she raised her voice to add, “And we owe it all to Peter Walsingham!”
      More like the network executives who forced
him here . Alice glanced at Peter on the far side of the set to see how he
reacted to the din of excited appreciation now aimed at him, but he just stood
there with the beginnings of a smile at the corner of his lips staring in her
direction.
    “I think this calls for a celebration,” Mr.
Peacock said over the noise.
    “A party,” someone suggested and others agreed.
    “It must be this weekend,” Mrs. Jellyby said. “Our
guest of honor must leave us next week, and we cannot celebrate without him.”
    As the