Forbidden Passion (Alan Rickman FF) ENGLISH VERSION

Chapter 20

Rosalyn watched fascinated as Alan poured himself a second glass of whiskey. Slowly, he turned to her and went to his seat as well. "Maybe we'll talk about how we should behave toward each other in the near future?" she said to him. She still didn't really know how to act in the future, after all, they couldn't go on as they were. She wanted to be sincere with him, but she also wouldn't accept all the rules of behavior he might demand. She would not remain his assistant at any cost, she knew that already.

"I'll be honest with you," he began to speak slowly, "I don't know myself right now. It would be best if we talked about it in more detail after Paris. It's not fair to you, but like you said, I should at least try again with Mary before I take a bigger step like a divorce. Maybe we could use this week to keep our distance. Each of us should think about the current situation, after Paris we'll talk more." Alan felt that his suggestion was not actually fair to Rosalyn. But she knew, after all, that he was married. He pressed the button on the wall to request the waiter.

A short time later, they had ordered a selection of desserts and two additional cups of espressi. The evening had taken a turn that the two would never have dared to dream of. How things would continue in the future was not yet clear at the moment.

*

Rosalyn had meanwhile arrived in front of the agency building; shortly her appointment with one of the supervisors would take place. In the past, they had had regular meetings, but the company had made various cutbacks. Since things were not going as well as they had been a few years ago, such meetings rarely took place anymore. Several actors had hired their assistants directly or were part of a much larger network of companies that provided better international projects.

Their conversation had not lasted long, as she had not expressed her desire to get another client. As she made her way down the stairwell, she continued to think about the previous meeting. She was lucky to still have her job. Another wave of layoffs had swept through the company, and she would be affected in the next round as well, she had been told in no uncertain terms today. Only when it would be so far, they could not answer her. Weeks or months? Who knew that for sure. The remaining employees would work from the central office and would only be available to their clients by telephone. In the future, personal contact would be lost, but this change could save some money. According to her contract, she was not allowed to say a word about it to Alan, which she didn't plan to do, after all, he had enough problems of his own at the moment. He would be assigned a new colleague who would take care of other actors at the same time. It made perfect sense to implement this change, so one employee could do more than before.

Perhaps this outcome of the conversation was a sign. A sign of a new phase in her life, which she had actually had in mind for a long time. Until now, however, she had always been too cowardly to leave her comfort zone. Now there was probably nothing left for her but to occupy herself mentally with turning her vision of the future into action. Right away today, she would sign up for a viewing appointment for the apartments, far outside of London. In the end, she didn't think Alan would be considering divorce after being in France. It was much more likely that he would reconcile with Mary so he could avoid an unpleasant situation. And even if he did break up, it wouldn't mean he would start a relationship with her. No, she would take care of herself and her needs now, at the end of the day she didn't want to be out on the street. She had to act quickly, after all, a new landlord would insist on securing her income. Currently she could show that she had a regular income, but who knows for how much longer. After that, she would not get a new lease, after all, no sane landlord would risk such a thing.

Shivering, Rosalyn waited at the bus stop for the double-decker bus. She could no longer process her thoughts properly. Everything was criss-crossing through her head. Last night with Alan had been exciting, but she didn't have time to dwell on the subject. Much more important at the moment was her apartment situation, as she didn't want to keep her current apartment. It was too expensive and if she temporarily lost her job, she wouldn't be able to afford the current accommodation for much longer, after all she didn't want to waste all her savings on it. But first of all, she would drive back and report to Alan as agreed, but that would have to wait a little longer.

*

Alan was just sitting and waiting, there were some scenes being shot again for Harry Potter. He still had to wait for his turn to transform into Snape. Today he had come to the studio too early, because he didn't want to stay at home. He would rather be here talking to his colleagues or looking over the shoulders of the filmmakers. He hadn't talked much with Mary. She resented the fact that he had simply disappeared on Sunday night. As he thought about Rosalyn, he looked at his cell phone for the umpteenth time. What was taking so long? Why didn't she finally call him? Surely her meeting at the agency had to be done by now. Impatiently, he stared at the display again; it didn't seem to do any good. He slid his cell phone into his pants pocket, since he had been called to come to his seat.

Alan watched through the mirror as his long black hair wig was pinned on. Suddenly his phone began to ring, but he couldn't pick it up or get it out of his pocket. Of all the times he couldn't take the call, it was probably Rosalyn calling him. As soon as he was done here, he would call her back immediately. Tensely, he watched the employee straighten the wig to put the finishing touches on it.