Page 75 of Doc Hollywood

Clara arrived an hour before she needed to be in the operating theatre for rehearsals. She made sure the rest of the equipment she had ordered was packed away and ready for the actors and director, and double-checked every single item, ensuring it was all functional.

“Good morning.” Lacey greeted her, grinning broadly as she strode into the room, sipping her coffee as she walked.

“Morning. Did you have a good evening?” Clara asked, looking up from the final box she needed to unpack.

“It was the best. He’s so smart, and fun, and handsome,” Lacey gushed.

“That’s great.” Clara tried to sound enthusiastic as she told herself not to be jealous of the young woman’s happiness.

But if she was honest, she had hoped to be the one blushing and giggling this morning, not standing there with a hollow feeling in her stomach that told her she had missed her chance.

“Yeah. I hope he asks me out again.” Lacey sighed happily, sipping on her coffee.

Clara smiled but knew it was strained. “I’m sure he will.” She turned back to her boxes and pulled the last things out.

“What can I do to help?” Lacey asked.

“It’s all done. But if you can point me toward the nearest place for a coffee, that would be amazing.” Clara gestured towards the cup clutched in Lacey’s grip.

“Oh yes. Craft Services is two floors down. They make amazing coffee, and their bacon rolls are fabulous.” Lacey punctuated her comment with another sip of her drink.

“Great. We’ve got twenty minutes until our start time, so I’ll—“

“Call time,” Lacey broke in to correct her.

Clara waved her hand. “Call time,” she amended. “So I’ll run down and grab one.”

She managed not to say out loud what she was thinking, which was, ‘Why didn’t you tell me this yesterday instead of letting me work all day with a petrol station sandwich?’

Lacey warned, “Don’t be late. Mr Atrosky is a stickler for punctuality.”

“Don’t worry. I promise I’ll be back.”

As Clara walked towards the door, Taylor strolled in. He opened his mouth to speak, and she shook her head to stop him, nodding subtly towards Lacey, who was brushing imaginary lint off her outfit, while she pushed her chest out and smiled flirtatiously at Taylor.

Clara almost glared at the younger woman but managed to stop herself. This was probably how a lot of people reacted to Taylor.

“Mr Anderson. Good morning. You’re the first actor to arrive.” Lacey smiled broadly and patted down her hair.

Clara managed not to roll her eyes at the assistant’s slightly simpering tone of voice.

“Good morning, Lacey,” Taylor said politely.

“We’ve set up the room next door as a break room, so you don’t need to go back to your trailer to be comfortable today,” Lacey said breathily.

“Thanks. That sounds great.” Taylor nodded in acknowledgement.

“Do you need a coffee? I can call Craft Services to bring their coffee cart up.” Lacey pulled a radio off her belt and began talking into it before Taylor could answer. “Hi, this Is Lacey. Please bring the VIP cart up to operating theatre seven immediately.”

Clara hesitated. They were bringing coffee up here. Maybe she could grab a cup too? Although Lacey had said VIP, which Clara wasn’t, so she should just go to Craft Services.

Taylor pulled her attention from her internal debate.

“Clara, it’s good to see you again,” he said, stepping closer and holding his hand out to her, which she took.

The handshake was only brief, but the electricity that shot up her arm was very real. Clara made sure she pulled her hand back quickly so that Lacey wouldn’t notice anything amiss.

“You too, Taylor. Do you remember everything you learned when you shadowed me?” Clara wanted to make it very clear to Lacey where they knew each other from.

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