Better Than Me

Chapter 34

A/N: Nearly a year later... sorry for the long wait guys! I'm hoping to wrap this one up soon, so keep an eye out for updates on this and the updated version of Better Than Revenge!

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Chapter 34

The good news: I got a kiss from Sophia. A real kiss. Not a scripted one. Not practice. Not a take. A real, meaningful kiss. At least, it was pretty meaningful to me. Sure, I was the initiator, but she reciprocated and that was what mattered. Maybe one day she'd be the one initiating. It was hot when girls initiated.

The bad news: that kiss drove her to hide out in the bathroom for god knows how long.

All too soon – or what felt like all too soon – she pulled away from me, moving her lips away from mine. I couldn't help but stare at her in a way the rom-com scripts I'd read would call "longing" or whatever. I wanted more. And I didn't just mean physically.

She finished pulling her body away from my arms, taking several steps away.

Nora stopped her while she was walking away. I was glad, because I was still too busy trying to process everything and what my next step should be to not scare her off. She already seemed a little scared off, like a deer in the headlights. I didn't want to seal the deal in the wrong way.

"I'm so proud of you guys," Nora said, squeezing Sophia's arm and looking like a proud mother. I guess in a way, as Sophia's first director, she kind of was. "I knew I could count on you to pull through in the end. It's been a rocky road, but you've proven yourself. You've proven you can work in conditions that may not be what you signed up for, exactly. That's valuable, Sophia. Oh, come here."

She gave Sophia a hug, and I almost laughed at Sophia's awkward response: a pat on the back. Maybe it wasn't just her averseness to me that made her respond awkwardly to me. Maybe there was some hope for me after all.

I inched my way closer so she couldn't ignore me. "Sophia."

"I'll leave you two to talk," Nora said, taking a few steps back from Sophia and shooting us both a knowing look.

Instead, Sophia's little legs speed-walked over to Tori. "Come with me to the bathroom."

"Sophia, wait," I said. "We need to talk."

"I have to go to the bathroom." She paused. "We can talk later."

"Promise?" I hated how hopeful I sounded, like a little kid in the candy store who was just told he could have a candy bar if he ate his dinner, but I couldn't help it. I was hopeful. "Before I leave?"

I had an audition for a new role in New York on Tuesday – tomorrow, I guess – and had to leave in a few hours. The last thing I wanted to do was leave for two days leaving this unresolved. If I left without talking to her, she'd have plenty of time to talk herself out of giving me and the chemistry we obviously had a chance. I couldn't risk that. But I also couldn't miss this audition. It'd be a good move for my career – much better than the project I was currently working on. Although I guess I had to be thankful to this project for reasons other than my career.

She pressed her lips together before giving me a quick nod. I guess that was as good as I was going to get for now, as insincere as it seemed. She grabbed Tori by the arm – not an easy feat since Tori was latched onto Garfield – and pretty much ran away from me. It was nothing new, but it stung a little this time. And it was the first time I wasn't running after her.

I watched her slowly disappear as she made her way off into the distance and debated following her. But she was in Tori's hands. If anyone was going to advocate Sophia giving me a chance or at least talking to me, it was Tori. Besides the rocky part where she'd thrown her shoe at me and threatened my life, Tori had always been an advocate for me.