Just A Friend

Chapter 8

"Elenore, how much acting experience did you say you have?"

I looked up from my computer screen. Lorne was standing at my desk, looking even more stressed out than usual. "Quite a bit, sir. I've been in more small productions than I can count."

"Fantastic. Could you stand in for Tina for a little bit? She's out sick today, but we could really use a good rehearsal."

Tina? Oh no....this isn't a rehearsal for...?

"Absolutely. Which sketch?"

I eyed him nervously, anxious for the words to come out of his mouth. The sketch could be any sketch, I reasoned. But it could also be that sketch - the sketch which would force me to sit closely beside a man I could hardly think of without blushing. No. Stop that. You don't like him that way.

"Weekend Update."

Dang it. Dang it all.

I nodded and hopped off of my chair, trailing behind Lorne like a prisoner off to the gallows. When we entered the practice room, Jimmy was seated at a large desk. I sat beside him and clenched my teeth out of nerves. "Here's your script, Nori," he said, sliding it over. I picked up the stack of papers and skimmed over the lines.

"Aaaaand.....action."

It wasn't too hard to run through the sketch, after all. It was actually pretty fun. Lorne even chuckled once when I delivered a line, which made me feel amazing.

"Okay, there's just one thing I'd like you to change," said Lorne, "that line on page three, the part where Tina says - ,"

Suddenly, the papers slipped from Jimmy's hands. They fell from the desk top and down to the floor. In a hurried attempt to grab them, Jimmy accidentally grabbed something else - my knee.

I jumped out of instinct and he pulled his hand back. "Whoa - sorry, Nori," he muttered, hopping out of his seat to retrieve the papers from the ground. The skin he'd grazed with his fingers was on fire. I stood up.

"Okay, I think I need to go back to my desk now," I announced in a hurried tone.

"Huh?" said Jimmy, looking up from the carpet.

"Yeah. We've rehearsed a lot. You guys will be fine. I've gotta organize some papers...." I quickly left the room, not looking back at all the eyes staring at me.

"What did you do??" I heard Lorne ask Jimmy. There was some rustling and then a door swung open. I kept my cool, trying not to run to my desk when that was all I wanted to do. In a single touch, he'd set my whole body aflame. I couldn't let him get any further than that.

"Hey Nori, wait up!"

I stopped in my tracks and Jimmy caught up with me. I tried to think of more excuses, more ways of sticking to my story, but soon found I didn't need to. He didn't bring up the accidental touch at all.

"It's lunchtime," he said, grinning. "Sandwiches?"

I smiled. Thank goodness. "Yeah! Let's go!"

We sat across from each other minutes later, digging into ham and cheese. "You know what?" said Jimmy, mouth full of food. "I've missed this."

"Me too," I admitted. I took a sip of my water.

"You're a good pal, Nori."

"You are, too, Fallon."

He smiled and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "It's funny how you call me that."

"What? 'Fallon?'"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "So serious," he folded his arms and rested his head on them. "You can call me Jimmy, you know. It's my name."

"So is 'Fallon'," I retorted, resting my head on my own folded arms. "And hey, you're one to talk. Nori isn't even my name."

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"It is to me."

I laughed. "Fine then. I'll call you Fallon and you'll call me Nori. Deal?"

"No."

"How come?"

"I want you to call me Jimmy," he grinned. "Not 'Fallon', like I'm in trouble or your teacher or something. I'm Jimmy."

I smiled back, though I was biting my tongue. I'd been subconsciously avoiding his name for weeks. I'd figured if I said his name, I'd be letting some of my guard down. My logic makes no sense.

"Whatever you say...Fallon."

He rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically, hiding his face in his sleeves. I laughed. "Okay, okay, fine - Jimmy."

He looked up. "Thank you....Elenore." He crinkled his nose. "No, no, no - you're Nori. You're not Elenore."

"I was Elenore a few weeks ago when you introduced me to Angela," I reminded him with a mischievous smile, "so how is it any different now?"

He shook his head. "I don't....I don't know."

A slightly uncomfortable silence ensued. I balled up my trash and placed it in a neat little row. Jimmy cleared his throat. "Hey...Nori?"

"What?"

"Angela broke up with me."

"Oh," I said, feeling more stupid. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head and shrugged. "Meh. It's okay. She was nice, but there wasn't much to her."

"That's not what it seemed like," I said lightly, raising my eyebrows.

"Okay, so maybe there was a lot, like, on the outside," he chuckled a bit. "But, I don't know...after spending time with her, she wasn't that pretty. I mean...at all."

More silence, though this one not uncomfortable. He was reaching across the table with his hand, about to say those words - those words he'd been trying to say for so long now. "Nori - "

But I couldn't let him.

I stood up and grabbed all my trash. "Let's head back. Lorne would get upset if we were late."

"Oh," he said. "Okay. You're right." He pulled his hand back and I cursed my feelings.

I can't fall in love. I can't. Not again.