Stage 16 - JAMIE FLATTERS

chapter fifteen

DAY 35
When the day finally ended, I messily packed everything in the restroom and sprinted to the car. I jumped in it and drove off to the nearest hospital. I knew she was a tough woman, maybe too tough. Her stubbornness to ask for any help would be the death of her. But I cared too much to let her lay alone in some hospital room with nobody at her sides.

"Hi, I'm looking for Julia McNara's room?"

"110." The nurse replied without looking up from her computer screen like she didn't give a single care.

I jogged towards the room, at the complete end of the hall. Julia laid in the bed, watching television. Her foot, now in a white cast that went up to her shin, was lifted in the air by pillows pilled up on each other. I softly knocked on the door frame to get her attention.

"Hey, you." She grinned, her face lighting up as I entered the room. "How ya doing?" She turned off the television as if the earlier events had never happened. I scoffed.

"I should be the one asking you this." I sat on the edge of the chair besides her bed and crossed my arms. "No, really Jules. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." She exclaimed, flicking her wrist as if her accident was nothing. "Barely a scratch." She joked, making me smile. "The scene was good?"

I rolled my eyes to her question. Julia was in a hospital bed and all she could think of was some meaningless scene. I had always known she was work driven but I never thought it could go this far. If I was in her place, I would be worried about my injury, the treatment or even the bills, not about work. Julia hid her feelings well. But glimpses of tiredness could appeared when she let herself breath. She needed a break and set her priorities straight. Life was not all about work and with the kind of hours we pulled in this industry, it was easy to forget our personal life. She should took exemple of my father and how it ended for him. But I guessed the universe had found a way to force her taking some time off. Away from it all.

"You want me to call someone for you?"

"Nah, it's okay. Doctors said they'll be discharging me tomorrow." Julia showed barely signs of stress but my eyes dropped to her fingers fidgeting the buttons of the television's controller indicating the contrary.

"You have something on your mind." I stated, not questioned which made her sighed, looking for the right words to come out.

"I come bearing gifts."

I turned to the voice who had interrupted us. Philip Vincent walked through the door with balloons in one hand and flowers in the other. A thrilling feeling travelling my body made me quickly stood up as if I was about to runaway. Instead, I watched.

"Hi!" Julia exclaimed as he handed her the flowers and placed the balloons on the nightstand. Philip gave her a small kiss on both cheeks and waved at me which I hesitantly responded with a smile. Our last interaction had left me with several questions. I didn't trust him and I didn't like him around Julia.

"I'll go get some food." I said to Julia before turning to Philip. "You can take my chair."

I walked out of the room and made my way to the cafeteria. It was still opened. I bought some cheap and water downed coffee along with two bowls of teriyaki salad. I took a seat at a table, the cafeteria near empty. I figured I would give them some alone time and I didn't want to be around Philip. Not right now. Not ever again. Nothing he had said was alerting but his tone was. The way his eyes squinted when he talked about my mother. The way his smile crooked when he mentioned the anniversary of my father's death. He knew something I didn't and he teased me about it. I was scared of the power he held over my head. I needed to figure out what he was hiding, what he knew and if it was all connected to my father. My phone rang, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Hi." I smiled exactly knowing who it was on the other side of the line.

"Hi to you back." He paused. "Hum. How's Julia?"

"She's okay. Thank god."

"Thank the paramedics." I laughed and I could faintly hear his too. "What about you? Are you okay?"

"I'm," I held back the words I truly meant to say. I'm better now that I'm hearing your voice. Instead, I said "I'm good, thanks for asking."

"Good."

There was a pause after this, silence filled our ears. As if we both wanted to say something but didn't want to interrupt the other one. I waited for him to spoke up and he waited the same way. But none of us had the courage. I touched my lips with the tips of my fingers, thinking. Do I dare? Do I say what really was on my mind?

"Well, I just wanted to make sure everyone was safe. So, I'll see you later."

"Yeah. Hum," I shook my head, gulping the lump in my throat before speaking again. "See you, Jamie."

I hung up the phone and put it back in my pocket. I exhaled all the feelings that had been piling up in my lungs. The last two days had felt unreal. It was my first time shooting out of the country. Travelling alone. And being outside of the studio, I had to prove myself even more. I was proud of my work. I didn't want it to end just yet. I still had so much to bring to the table. After tomorrow, I would be once again unemployed until some other props chief hire me as their assistant. It would be weird having a boss who wasn't Julia. I wasn't ready to leave this set. I wasn't ready to leave Jamie. I took a sip of coffee, the hot liquid warming me up and figured it was time to go back to the room. When I arrived, Julia had turned back on the television. Philip was nowhere to be found, he must had left.

"Food's here." I exclaimed as I gave her the meal. "And a coffee." I placed the coffee on the table besides her.

"Ugh! You're an angel, sweetheart."

"Philip's gone?"

"Yeah. He says goodbye."

I smiled, curious of what she could find interesting in him. We ate our salads in silence, both focused on the tiny television, watching an old late night show. I sensed Julia's gaze repeatedly travelling from the screen to my face.

"What's going on?" I asked without facing her.

"Tomorrow, when I told you I was going to be discharged," She paused, forcing the words to come out. "I'll be on the bus back for New York." I frowned and finally turned my head around, cocking it. She red the confusion on my face and chuckled. "With my leg, I can't go to London."

My face finally hardened, ultimately understanding what she was trying to say.

"No." I kept shaking my head in disagreement. "I can't do this without you. I'm not ready." I stood up from my chair and started pacing around her bed.

"Charlotte, you've proven yourself well enough over the last month for me and the production to trust you with this."

"They should hire somebody more experienced. I've never been on my own. Hell, I just graduated." I kept on finding excuses for them to not give me the job. When I said I wasn't ready to leave, I meant maintaining working with Julia. Not fly out to London for five filming days. Alone.

"You know the props. You know the scenes. You've already made contact with the actors. Hiring somebody else would be counterproductive." Julia sat herself straight on the bed, leaving space for me to sit which I did. She put a hand on my shoulder and looked me with the most comforting eyes. I sighed, feeling the pressure leveled up. "Charlotte. I need you to fly to London and finish the job. You'll be great, kid. Trust me, and yourself."

Trust myself. Something I rarely did.

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Hello everyone, I hope you enjoy this story!

The pressure is on for our girl, Charlotte. She's going to London and taking the lead for the rest of the production?

How do you think it's going to go?
Will Jamie and Charlotte get closer?

Comment your ideas and thoughts, I love reading you guys! Until then, take care

Bisous xxx
-J