Page 69 of The Actor: Harrison

He hangs up and I find myself staring at the phone for way too long for someone that should pay attention to the road in front of him. But I feel the uneasiness sneaking up my chest when I think of calling Sienna. I take a deep breath and try to call her, but it goes straight to voicemail. I try a second time with the same result.

“Fuck this.” I pull up to the traffic light in the left lane and make a U-turn.

I drive to Sienna’s apartment and I’m so focused on what I have to say I don’t even know how I got here. I just hope David wasn’t right and I haven’t hit someone in the process.

I knock on the door and nobody comes to open. I knock a second time, not sure if they heard me or if they’re not home at all. The curtains on the windows next to the door move just slightly but it’s enough to know that she’s home and avoiding me.

I knock again. “Sienna, please, can you open up? I know you’re in there and I need to talk to you.”

Nothing.

I knock again. “Please, I really need to talk about something important.” My plea comes out softly.

The lock on the door clicks and hope rises in my chest, only to be crushed when Harper appears.

“Harrison, she doesn’t want to talk to you, she doesn’t even want to see you.” Her stern voice is chilling.

Considering we have to work together on this movie, how does she plan avoiding me forever?

“I don’t want to apologize again,” I blurt out and Harper raises a scolding eyebrow and crosses her arms in front of her.

“Excuse me?”

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves.

“I got a phone call from David, a producer who wants to invest in our movie. We need to meet with him to discuss it and I want Sienna to be there,” I explain.

“Is this just another way to put money in your movie? Does this David even exist?”

I gave her the stink eye. Okay, I messed up once, but I’m notthatbig of a jerk.

She raises her hands in mock surrender. “Just asking. You don’t have the best track record when it comes to lying.”

“I lied because I didn’t want to lose her, not because I want to scam her,” I spit out, a bit annoyed. “I made a mistake, I know it, and I apologized. I’m not a bad person. I’m human.”

She seems ashamed about her remark and shakes her head. “Listen, she doesn’t want to talk to you right now, but I will tell her that.”

“Thank you. It’s kind of important, so if she could give me an answer soon, I would appreciate it,” I plead.

She nods. “I’ll talk to her right now. I’m sure she’ll call you as soon as she can.”

I nod. I can’t ask for anything better than this. She’s pissed and I get it. I turn around to walk to my car.

“Harrison!” Harper calls after me.

I look at her and all her fighting attitude is gone. She smiles softly.

“Give her time. She got burned badly last time and you’re the first man she trusted after him. I know you’re not like him, and she knows it too, but she needs time to process what happened. Be patient with her.”

I nod. “I’m not going anywhere. When she’s ready to talk, I’m here to listen. I know that I messed up. I realize how bad it was, and I don’t expect her to forgive me just because I apologized. Words means nothing if I don’t act on it.”

She smiles at me and waves before watching me walk to my car and jump in it. I meant what I said. My apologies are empty words if I don’t do anything to make her trust me again. And I’m determined to fix what I broke in the first place.

I watch Harrison going through his lines like he always does when he leaves his personality behind and steps into his character’s head. It’s a pleasure to watch him deliver a scene that is almost perfection.

We’re at the end of this week and reshooting the final scene that wasn’t working. I was right to insist to go back on set. These are the most amazing shots we got so far. They’re dripping with raw emotion and go straight to your heart.

Harrison is the most amazing actor I have ever worked with. Hands down, the most committed. And it shows. And he’s also dedicated to the cause. He has connections I never dreamed of and he is not shy to use them to make this movie amazing.

---