The Three-Month Rule

Chapter 21 - Flash-Casting

Joe Russo looked at Tom, clad in his full Loki costume and makeup, and sighed, rubbing his hand against his forehead.

"Sigyn has already been cast, Tom," he told him.

"You heard how amazing she is," Tom said.

"I did, but as I've said –"

"Do you know how difficult it is for me to practice these scenes without Diane? There is no chemistry, Joe."

"I understand," Joe said slowly. "But I can't do anything. I'm sorry, Tom," Joe leaned back in his chair, observing his friend before he left the office.

Tom walked past Allegra, anger evident in each of his strides.

"Are you ok?" Allegra said as he walked past her.

Suddenly, Anthony Russo ran past them both and into the office.

"We've just had a call from Diane Kruger," he said to Joe as he walked through the door, making Tom stop in his tracks as he listened for more information. "She's not going to do it."

"What?" Joe asked, a frown creasing his forehead.

"She's been offered a bigger part in another film." Anthony explained to his brother, who leaned forwards onto the desk, resting his elbows on the surface as he buried his face in his hands.

Suddenly a thought entered Joe's mind, and he looked past his brother at the open doorway.

"Tom?" he called.

***

"I can't do it," Allegra gasped.

"Of course you can," Joe told her, leaning on the desk in front of her.

"This is a bit different to just reading through a script," Allegra scoffed, as if they didn't already know.

"We heard you, Allegra," Anthony said, slotting himself into the conversation and leaning forwards to Allegra's line of sight. "You can do this."

Allegra looked down at her hands, frowning as she thought about the offer they were handing to her, listing all of the positive and negative outcomes in her head.

"Allie?" Tom said eventually, hope in his velvet tones.

"I'm sorry, I can't," Allegra said, running out of the office.

***

She sat on a hill that overlooked the set below, the sunset casting rich golden glows to everything that the light touched.

She watched Tom on the set, messing around with Tom Holland in their costumes and getting told off episodically by the Russo brothers.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" an Australian accent asked from behind her as he approached her.

Chris sat on the fallen tree stump next to her, clad in his full Thor costume and makeup.

"Oh, yeah," Allegra said as he sat down.

"I hear Anthony and Joe cornered you," he continued.

"Yeah... They want me to play Sigyn," she explained to him, looking at the grass beneath her feet.

"Really?" Chris asked.

"Yeah. You don't know?"

Chris looked at her for a moment before looking at his hands and nodding gently.

"Yeah, I knew," he said. "Are you going to do it?" he looked across at her again.

"I don't think I can, Chris," she smirked.

"Why not?"

"I'm not an actress, I'm a writer."

A few minutes of silence filled the space between them, the warm evening's air kissed their skin as the golden hues of the sun blessed everything in sight.

"You should give it a go," he said eventually. "I know it would mean the world to Tom."

"Why?" Allegra laughed without humour.

Chris shrugged and looked at his hands again, rubbing his palms together and playing with his costume.

"This is it for Loki. You could help Tom leave his final imprint on the entire world."

Allegra thought for a moment, taking in Chris's words.

"Is Loki really dead this time?" she asked him doubtfully.

"If you play Sigyn, you'll find out," he smirked at her.

Allegra cast her eyes back down to the set below, watching Tom as he laughed at something Robert said. She sighed, considering Chris's advice.

"What's holding you back?" he asked.