Page 22 of I Did Something Bad
Tyler gets to his feet. “When—”
Several consecutive loud thuds on the door make us both jump.
“Yeah?” Tyler calls out.
“I’m really sorry to disturb you,” Tun’s voice answers, muffled by the door. “But they’re asking if you’re ready. May’s done with her scene.”
“Okay! Be out in a minute!” Tyler turns to me, briefly surprised to find me facing him now.
We don’t have time to come up with a plan right this second. I walk forward until I’m near enough to smell his fresh pine scent. I tilt my head up, noting that he is probably the tallest Asian person I know, before trying to find one last indication that he’s lying to me.
“Can I really trust you?” I finally ask when I don’t see anything,although it feels a lot like peering into a dark cave from the entrance and going,From this vantage point, I can’t see anything that could potentially kill me, so surely itmustbe safe.
“I promise,” he says.
If at any point during filming it hits Tyler that he’s now an accomplice to an actual crime, he doesn’t show it. At all.
I watch him nail his lines, cry on command, laugh at May’s character’s jokes.That’s weird, right?I want to pull someone aside and whisper.That he’s still this good at his job despite, you know,everything?
But of course I can’t do that, so instead I stand in the shadows and decide that, hey, if Tyler’s doing his job, then that means it’s time for me to do mine, too. I reopen that plastic container from earlier and shove all this new information—the police, the investigation, Tyler saying with complete seriousness,I promise—into it and shut it once more. Flipping through my notebook, I land on my list of questions from earlier and—
“Boo!” A male voice in my ear makes me jump and I let out a small yelp, to everybody’s immediate and obvious disapproval. “Sorry!” I squeak, holding up a hand in apology.
When Yasmin commands, “Alright, let’s start again from the top,” people descend onto the set and begin rearranging the room in which Nanda and Mra had been having an intense argument that will eventually lead to their first hookup.
“Wha—” I hiss as I turn to the source of the voice, and stop, shock replacing my anger. “Jason!” I gasp.
“A little birdie told me you were here,” Jason says and wraps his lanky arms around me.
In a stiff motion like I’m huggingthatuncle at a family gathering, I put my arms around his waist for two seconds before letting go. “No one told meyouwere here!” I sputter. “Whatareyou doing here?”
“My job.” When I respond with a frown, Jason rolls his eyes and motions over at May, who’s running lines with her PA. “What, did you thinkanycommon makeup artist could blend neon blue and orange eyeshadow that seamlessly?”
Ihadbeen thinking earlier that May’s makeup looked incredible. “Wait. I didn’t see you yesterday.”
He waves a hand. “My flight from Mandalay got canceled and the next one out was this morning.”
“Oh,” I say. Jason looks like he’s waiting for me to say something a little…more. “I… see.”
His jaw works, and he squints at me as though double-checking that he has the right person. “You okay?” His initial enthusiasm has tapered. “You don’t look so good.”
Fuck. I throw my free hand in the air. “Sorry, this whole thing,” I gesture around us, “is still so bizarre to me, and my editor emailed me early this morning, so I’m… feeling the pressure.”
Jason’s face lights up with anAhexpression. “That’stotallyunderstandable, but—”
I don’t know how long Tyler’s been standing beside us, but when he says, “Hey,” Jason and I both whip our heads at the same time.
Tyler looks at me and then at Jason before extending a hand. “Hi, I don’t think we met yesterday? I’m Tyler.”
I know that as one of the region’s most sought-after makeup artists, Jason typically does not get starstruck.Typically.But at Tyler’s hand reaching out for his, he lets out a giggle, reddens at the sound that he just made, straightens himself and tries to smile, and, after several awkwardly long seconds, takes Tyler’s hand. “I’m J-Jason,” he says, tripping over his own name in the last moment. “I’m May’s head makeup artist.”
“Hi,” Tyler says. With a half shrug in my direction, he asks, “You two know each other?”
Jason and I exchangea look.“I’m…” His smile stiffens. “Ben’s brother.”
“Ben?” Tyler asks.
Jason gives me another look to ask if he should take this one as well. “Ben is my ex,” I say, and add for context, “Husband. My ex-husband.”
