Page 21 of The Sitcom Star
She made a strange noise in the back of her throat.
“Is everything okay?”Adrian asked.
“Yep, everything’s great!”She shoved her spoon into her mouth, finally remembering that she had food to eat, too.
Dear God.She really did find him attractive.
And they were eating ice cream together in a park, and it was rather perfect.The halo-halo was very good.She could imagine Mike serving it at Chu’s Restaurant.The sign said “Chinese and Canadian Cuisine” but it was the only restaurant in Frankfurt that served Asian food, and Mike had also tried putting pad Thai and teriyaki chicken on the menu.
Okay, maybe she shouldn’t be thinking about this, but…
No.It was just who she was.She tried to spin things into stories.And it was simply a casual thought; it wasn’t like she was working.
“Something wrong?”Adrian asked.
Oh.She must have been frowning.
“No.”She paused.By the end, Harley hadn’t been able to stand any conversation about the show; he’d complained she was rubbing her success in his face.But she wouldn’t let that memory stop her now.“Just thinking of how to work halo-halo intoChu’s Restaurant.I can’t help it, though I’m not going to be writing for the next season.”
That made her sad, but she knew it was for the best.
“You aren’t?”he said.
“I’m trying to avoid having a mental breakdown.When we were filming Season 2, we had some delays due to Omicron—we were supposed to be done before the end of 2021, but we weren’t.Once we were back on set, there was a week when I literally slept all of twelve hours in seven days.That’s not sustainable.”
“No shit.”
“But I’m a bit of a control freak,” she said, “and it’s tough to let go.Plus, I’m very lucky, you know?How many Asian women get this kind of opportunity?I feel like I can’t complain about anything, and I have to do it all while I can.”
“It wasn’t an accident you got this opportunity, Maddie.Even in grade eight, I remember you being very talented and determined.”
She shook her head.She appreciated his faith in her, and she appreciated that he didn’t seem to be jealous or trying to use her for professional connections.They weren’t dating—yet—but she supposed it was one of the benefits of dating someone who wasn’t at all involved in the entertainment industry.
He was wrong about this, though.
“Don’t sell yourself short—” he began.
“I’m not selling myself short,” she said.“I’m good, yeah, but so are many other people.Luck is part of it.Not everyone is in the right place at the right time.Like, I think of what opportunities Jimmy Poon would have had in Canada when he was my age…it’s not the same.”
Adrian tilted his head to the side.“I’m sure you’re right.I admit I don’t know much about these things.But you’re still allowed to struggle when you’re sleeping less than two hours a night.”
“It was more like I pulled three all-nighters and slept three hours the other nights.”
“I wouldn’t be able to cope with that.At all.I’m sure I wouldn’t remember any of my lines.I need my beauty rest.”
He said the last part in a joking manner, but Maddie’s skin prickled with awareness.She wanted to tell him that he really was a beautiful man, and he scrambled her mind more than Ethan Park ever did.With Ethan—who’d recently appeared on a list of “Ten Hottest Canadian Men”—she could objectively see how each of his features was stunning, but with Adrian, she couldn’t break it down quite as easily.He just did something to her.Something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
She slid her spoon into her mouth, biting down on something expected.
“Huh.There’s corn in here,” she said.
“Yeah, I think I’ve had halo-halo with corn before.I live near a Filipino area, so I’ve had it at a few different places.”
“Not sure I’m a fan of the corn, but everything else is really good.”
Adrian had finished his ice cream—thank God she didn’t have to watch him lick anything now—and it took her another minute to finish her food.Then they walked down the path, passing families having picnics and young adults playing Spikeball.Maddie thought she was doing a good job of ambling along rather than hurrying to her destination…because she didn’t know what her destination was, and that was okay.
“Let’s sit here,” she said when they came across a bench a little way off the path.It wasn’t near anyone else, and it faced some trees.Perfect.
