

Take Two

 

Scene Two

Davis enters the room, 10 minutes early-as always

Not hoping to see Leo at all.

The room smells like cold air and fresh ink.

Leo is already there.

Of course he is.

He's sprawled in one of the two chairs like he born there, one foot on the desk, collar popped up like a movie character that thinks the world revolves around him. His fingers drums lightly on the pages in front of him, Davis's pages.

Davis adjusted the stack of scripts he placed on the desk for no reason, anything to avoid conversation with Leo Hallings.

Leo looks at Davis, with a curious look on his face, "You actually came?"

Davis looks at him with a stare, "It's not like I had an option."

Leo shrugged at him, "Why not, I thought you'd probably send someone else to deal with me. Guess we are both stuck."

Davis resisted the urge to sigh. "It's not a deal. It's a final year grade."

Leo grinned in a way, striking a nerve in Davis for some reason. "Which is why I'm here. I care deeply about my future."

"Sure you do."

A moment passes. Davis passes a printed draft across the table, not meeting Leo's eyes. "Script's a draft, just to test waters."

Leo takes it, and begins skimming it immediately, his lips moving slightly as he reads the script inquisitively.

Davis watches how Leo's expressions shift, then realises and looks away.

"You write fast." Leo mutters, half impressed.

"I write because when it comes to me."

Another moment passes, Leo's eyes linger on a particular paragraph.

He glances up and asks, "Why does your main character always run from people?"

Davis freezes, "What do you mean?"

"In every scene, he's leaving. Avoiding. Saying something and then walking out. Why?"

"That a performance note?"

Leo shrugs. "Call it curiosity."

"Maybe." Davis says, sharper than he means to, "because people keep chasing him."

Their eyes lock.

For a moment, neither of them speaks. The script lies open between them like a dare. Leo tilts his head slightly, like he's trying to read Davis between the lines.

"Is that your way of saying I ask too many questions?"

"It's my way of saying you should shut up."

Leo doesn't flinch. "Too late."

They don't speak much after that. Silence envelopes the room, not heavy just inconvenient. Leo reads the scripts. Davis fidgets. The door creaks open, and the rest of the crew filters in, the tech twins- Mason and Kayden, Ren with her unnecessary clapperboard.

The group settles in loosely, sitting around mismatched desks pushed together like a make do rehearsal space.

Davis hands them the scripts. "We'll read through scene one today." He says, trying to sound friendly.

Leo already has his copy open, pen tapping rhythmically against the desk. The same damn rhythm as Davis's heartbeat.

They start reading. It's messy, full of stumbles and awkward pauses, but then... Leo delivers a line, with an intensity no one saw coming. The room shifted.

"I don't run." Leo said. "I vanish. It's different."

No one laughs.

No one blinks.

Davis forgets to breathe.

Leo doesn't look at him, but he doesn't have to. The line is too sharp, too honest, like he meant it for Davis alone.

Ren blinks slowly and says with a small chuckle, "Well. That's chemistry."

Davis stands too fast. "Meeting's over."

He rushes out quickly.

No one argued.

The rustle of papers and scraping chairs fills the silence as the group disperses. Leo doesn't move right away.

✦ ✦ ✦

Outside, Leo stood on the stairwell landing, earbuds in and hoodie drawn up tight, as if the evening breeze might try to get answers out of him.

The rehearsal was over but the line was still echoing in his chest.

He wasn't supposed to say it, not in the tone he did.

"I don't run. I vanish."

He said it because it was written that way, or at least he thought it was. But something in Davis's expression after he delivered the line, like he was caught off guard by his own writing. Stuck with him more than the line itself.

Leo reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. Opens the voice memo app and records that line again. But softer this time.

He didn't listen to it this time. He hits save and shoves the phone away like it burned.

He leans against the railing and stared up the sky. It looked fake, almost washed out with too many stars, like some film student had over edited the exposure.

Pondering on his thoughts he wonders. Davis had looked at him like the words weren't meant to be heard out loud. Like he had stolen something he wasn't supposed to touch.

And maybe he had.

Leo sighs and tilts his head back, closing his eyes.

This wasn't supposed to be personal, so why did it feel like it already was.

✦ ✦ ✦

Davis opens the draft and told himself it was just a tweak.

One line.

A small adjustment.

Nothing serious.

He'd made worse edits at 2 a.m. before coffee.

This was nothing.

The document loaded slowly, as if it knew. The line blinked back at him from the middle of the screen.

"I don't run. I vanish. It's different."

He stared at it.

And then he heard it. Leo's voice, low and controlled, cutting through the messy chaos of that rehearsal.

That stupid line had sounded right when Leo said it. Worse than right.

It had sounded real.

Davis hadn't meant it that way.

It wasn't even a line he liked. He had written it in a rush, trying to finish a scene with too many metaphors and too little sleep. It wasn't supposed to matter.

But Leo had made it matter.

He'd said it like he knew it. Like he was saying it to someone.

To Davis.

Davis lets his fingers hover over the keyboard.

He hits backspace.

Pauses

Undoes it.

Stares at it again.

And deletes the line...again

And this time, it stayed gone.

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face like that might erase the voice echoing in his head.

Leo freaking Hallings.