Page 31 of Under Ground
9
Alex
Two weeks.
It’s been two weeks since that first date, and I can’t stop thinking about Lana.
I haven’t managed to coax her out of the house again, but I’ve had dinner at her place a few times, and other times I’ve visited after Casey’s gone to bed. Things are going fast emotionally, but slow physically—we haven’t progressed past kissing and caressing, but I’m content to let things move at Lana’s pace.
She’s worth it.
“Hey, Alex. Got a minute?”
I look up as Peter, one of the security guards, jogs toward me.
“Sure.” The crew and staff of the production are here even when the weather’s shitty and miserable, and Peter’s one of those people who has a smile on his face no matter what. I’ve always got a minute for him.
“You’ve got visitors at the main gate.”
“I do?”
He beams. “Reece Evans.”
My stomach falls to my feet. “You’re kidding.”
He shakes his head. “Nope. He’s here with my cousin Pania. Apparently, she’s his girlfriend.”
I laugh. “Wow. Small world.”
Peter just keeps on shaking his head. “Aotearoa can be like that. Come on, I’ll walk you to them.”
It’s not a long walk, but the whole time my heart beats about a million times a second. Reece can’t be here with bad news, can he? Just him being here is incredible. I’ve wanted to work with him forever—especially after the way he and Josh Carter cleaned up the Oscars with their movie.
If there were anyone’s career in Hollywood I wanted to emulate, it’d be one of those two.
As I round a corner and reach the fence, there he is, large as life on the other side of it.
At the audition, the casting director remarked that we could pass as brothers, but seeing him up close like this only drives that idea home. He’s older than me, and slightly taller, and if he’s here to give me the news I hope he is—we’ll be brothers on-screen soon.
The gate opens.
“Reece Evans. What are you doing here?” Please say you’re here to offer me the role.
He grins. “I’ve come to offer you a job.”
I hold out my hand and hope he doesn’t notice it’s trembling. This is crazy. I’m having a fan moment in front of the man I hope to be working with next.
Settle down.
“Really? You came all the way here to do that?”
Reece laughs. “I was here for other reasons, but Josh thought it’d be something special for me to deliver the news in person.”
I nod, trying to control the action and not overdo it. “Sounds great. Have you spoken to my agent? I haven’t heard anything from him yet.”
Reece holds up his palms. “Josh is handling all that. I’m guessing no, or maybe he’s told them I’m delivering the news personally. But we’re not really good at doing things the traditional way.”
I laugh. “So I hear. I look forward to working with you guys.”