Page 78 of Take Two

“I will be,” I say, unable to keep the anticipation from my voice. “I’ve got two days before I fly back to L.A. I’m in desperate need of a little down time.”

Jasper doesn’t answer or mirror my sentiment. His silence catches my attention, and when I glance over, the sympathy in his expression pulls the excitement straight out of me.

“What?” I ask.

“That’s why I’m here,” he says tentatively, adjusting the portfolio beneath his arm before looking ahead again, choosing his next words with more care than usual.

A knot tightens in my stomach, that sense of foreboding coming to fruition.

“The studio moved your meeting,” he rushes out.

I slow to a stop, forcing Jasper to turn back toward me. “What do you mean they moved it?”

“The director’s availability changed this morning. The producers want everyone in Los Angeles tomorrow.”

Frustration rises so quickly that I have to lower my voice before I respond. We’re still surrounded by crew members, and the last thing I need is an audience for this conversation.

“My itinerary says I leave in two days, Jasper. That’s the schedule we agreed on.” I say, making a point by clapping my hands together.

“I know,” he says with a wince.

“No, I don’t think you do.” I drag a hand across my jaw, trying to keep my composure as the future I’d already pictured begins slipping away. “I arranged everything around those two days. Jamie starts training camp next week, and I’m walking straight into another production. This is the only time we have left before everything changes.”

Jasper’s face softens, but he doesn’t pretend he can give me what I want. “I know this isn’t ideal.”

“It’s more than inconvenient.” The words come out sharper than I intend, but I can’t make myself regret them. I take a moment to pace in a circle, hands braced on my head, then continue, “I’ve spent three months working almost every day. I asked for forty-eight hours, Jasper. That’s all.”

“The meeting isn’t something I can move. The director has commitments after tomorrow, and the studio wants you in the room before they finalize the production schedule.”

“So, I’m supposed to get on a flight first thing in the morning?” I ask hopefully, at least I’ll have the rest of the day and the night.

He draws in a careful breath, and the hesitation tells me the answer is worse.

“I’ve already chartered a plane. Commercial couldn’t get us there in time, so we leave tonight.”

For a moment, the noise around us disappears beneath the rush of blood in my ears. Tonight means there is no lazy morning with Jamie, no second night in his bed, and no final day spent doing absolutely nothing together. The forty-eight hours I’ve been clinging to vanish because people hundreds of miles away changed a meeting and expected the rest of my life to rearrange itself around them.

“I can’t leave tonight.” I shake my head stubbornly.

“You can, and you have to.” Jasper keeps his voice gentle, but the certainty behind it makes my chest tighten. “You chose back-to-back projects, Cyaire. We built this schedule months ago, and there isn’t enough room between productions to absorb a change like this without something else being affected.”

“I chose that schedule before Jamie,” I hiss out. “I wanted to stay busy, because it was all I had.”

The admission stops both of us. I didn’t mean to say what I’d been thinking back then. That I need to distract myself from past relationships, the gossip, the negative press. I wanted to focus on my craft, but now, now, things are different.

Jasper’s eyes move past me, following the direction of my attention toward the other side of the lot. Jamie is still standing with Kirk and two of the stunt coordinators, smiling as one of them speaks, completely unaware of my world crashing down around me.

Jasper looks back at me, and for once, his professional composure gives way to genuine understanding.

“I know,” he says quietly. “I’m sorry.”

Sorry doesn’t give me the time back. It doesn’t change the plane waiting for me or the meeting already set for tomorrow morning. It doesn’t stop my life from lurching forward before I’m ready to leave this one behind.

Jamie glances across the lot at that exact moment, and the second our eyes meet, his smile fades. He can’t hear what Jasper has told me, but he reads the disappointment and anger written across my face without needing an explanation. He excuses himself from the conversation and starts toward us immediately, and watching him close the distance makes the sudden reality of leaving tonight hurt more than Jasper’s announcement ever could.

Jasper studies me for another moment before letting out a quiet sigh.

“I’ll go find Cameron,” he says quietly. “He’ll need to sort out the hotel, collect your bags, and coordinate with the pilot.”