Chapter 0423


    When Bridget opened the door to her rooms, the first person she saw was Nichs. A brilliant smile


    blossomed across her face. But then, in the next moment, she opened the door wider and saw me


    standing there too. That perfect smile wavered.


    “Piper,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting you.”


    “It seemed improper for me to be alone in your rooms,” Nichs said. “For both our sakes, I thought it


    might be best to bring along a chaperone.”


    “A chaperone?” Bridget scoffed. “Nichs, what exactly do you think I intend to do?”


    “It’s not like that, Bridget.”


    “What is it like, then, Nichs? Because it sounds a lot like you are using me of something.” She


    scrunches up her face like she’s offended. Like what Nichs is doing is in the wrong, somehow


    questioning their friendship instead of trying to protect Bridget’s


    reputation


    “I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about us,” Nichs said. “This is for your sake.”


    “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m an actress. People expect me to live a bit on the edge.”


    “Well, I’d prefer if we both stayed away from the edge,” Nichs added. “Too much of that going on


    lately.”


    Bridget sighed but eventually relented. “Fine. Come in, you two.”


    She stepped back from the door, and Nichs and I entered. I was immediately floored by the sheer


    size and space of Bridget’s rooms. She had a much bigger set of rooms than I did, bigger than Susie’s


    too. Bigger than any other candidate’s I’ve seen.


    The decorations werevish too. Crystal chandeliers and golden adornments. She had a canopy bed


    with bunches ofvender hanging on the four posters.


    It was beautiful and excessive, a room fit for a visiting foreign princess or Queen. Or an ultra -famous


    actress the royal family was trying desperately to impress.


    I was starting to see that the favors for Bridget were not limited to event–selection and management.


    Who knew what other boons she was granted behind the scenes?


    Bridget walked to the center of the room, where she had arranged two plush chairs. She carelessly


    dragged over a much lessfortable–looking wooden stool from the corner of


    1/4


    +15 B?NUS


    the room and ced it nearby.


    “You can sit here, Piper,” she said. “You should be able to see everything from here. I hope you don’t


    mind but I.intended to work on the love scenes with Nichs tonight. We need to


    get our chemistry in sync. You understand.”


    Nichs moved closer to one of the plush chairs. His eyes stayed on me. “That’s probably not


    necessary, Bridget.”


    Bridget, I noticed, was also eying me, but was being far more subtle about it. “Piper being here might


    be a blessing actually, Nichs. She can watch our scenes and see if our romance is believable.”


    I would rather hurl myself into the firece, but I refrain, remembering my purpose. I must protect


    Nichs’s reputation. As well as his person, if Bridget wanted to push too far. Nichs was earnest,


    and he saw only the best in Bridget.


    I was much less certain about her. So I would keep watching. Like a hawk


    Bridget smirked at me a little, and I couldn’t help but feel like maybe she just wanted to flirt with


    Nichs in front of me. Put me in my ce?


    No, I had to be overthinking this. Even if she had a lingering crush on Nichs, why rub it in my face?


    She couldn’t possibly know that he and I were still harboring secret feelings for each other. We’d been


    pretty good at keeping a cap on that in public, I’d say. 3


    Maybe she did though.


    I shook my head, trying to clear away the circr thinking again. It was getting me nowhere


    fast. 1


    Bridget waved her arms around. “This open area can be the stage. Nichse here. Here. This is


    your spot. Now, let’s pick up from scene 17.”


    I noticed that Bridget didn’t have a script. Nichs did, however, and flipped through the


    pages.


    “You should learn your lines soon, Nichs,” she chided lightly.


    “There are so many of them,” Nichs replied.


    “I can teach you memorization methods,” Bridget said, a bit of hope in her voice. Was she angling for


    another private meeting?


    Property belongs to N?vel(D)r/ama.Org.


    “Another time perhaps,” Nichs said, dismissing her without even looking up.


    2/4


    +15 B?NUS


    Bridget continued to smile. “Ready?” she asked, and her voice was slightly tighter than before, the only


    indicator that Nichs’s words had upset her.


    “Okay,” Nichs said and cleared his throat.


    Bridget immediately switched into acting mode. One minute she was standing casually with a big smile,


    the next she was a wilting flower leaning into Nichs, a bit of desperation in her gaze.


    “Oh, darling,” Bridget said. “You shouldn’t be here. The guards will surely find you.” She ced the


    back of her hand to her forehead. “I couldn’t bear it if you were caught. If you were tortured!”


    Nichs cleared his throat again. “It would all be worth it, uh… to be with you.”


    He stopped.


    Bridget waited.


    I blinked, confused. I hadn’t read this part.


    Bridget whispered, “For one night.”


    Nichs immediately corrected. “Oh, yes. Uh, for one night. Tonight. Er, tonight, I will make you mine


    under the… uh… stars… Doesn’t that imply we’ll be making love outside?”


    Bridget straightened. “That’s not in the script, Nichs.‘


    “I know, but then we move to the bed. It just doesn’t make sense,” Nichs said.


    Bridget took the script from Nichs’s hands and cast it aside. “Let’s skip ahead then.” She wrapped


    her arms around his neck. Tilting her face up, she looked like a seductive beauty from an old ck and


    white movie. “Kiss me, lover.”


    Nichs froze. “That’s not a good idea.”


    Bridget pouted her bottom lip some. “No one will believe that we kiss all the time if our first kiss since


    my return is on the night of the show.”


    A mixture of feelings flooded through me. d, that they hadn’t yet kissed since she’d been back. Not


    thrilled, that the distinction was necessary only because they had kissed in the past. And absolutely


    raging, that she wanted to kiss him right now in front of me and only


    1. me.


    “It will be fine,” Nichs said. He refused to as much as budge with her arms around him.


    3/4


    “But, Nichs,” Bridget began to insist.


    But Nichs stayed adamant. “No, Bridget.”


    +15 B?NUS


    Slowly, Bridget lowered her hands away from him. “Well. I guess it’s just like riding a bicycle, right? We


    had a lot of practice in the old days. I’m sure it wille back to us.”


    Nichs didn’t say anything, though his jaw was a hard line. I could only guess what he was thinking. I


    hoped to God he wasn’t fondly remembering the past.


    “That was a long time ago,” he said atst.


    “Not all that long,” she said smiling. “But, you know I was only pushing for this with the best interest of


    the y in mind right? I want a story to be believable.”


    Nichs sighed. “I know you are a perfectionist about your work.”


    “That’s how I’ve been so sessful.”


    Nichs turned toward me then. Whatever he saw in my face gave him pause.


    I could imagine what he saw, because I could feel it coursing through my veins.