Breaking Free (16 page)

Claire let out a shrill curse and threw her phone at the wall.

Tennyson let a few seconds pass and then called cut, only to announce they were done for the day.

"But…" The word left Sophie automatically, and Tennyson had obviously heard her.

He sighed and tucked away his shades, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "There's a permit issue for the location tomorrow," he told her. Next, he turned to Steph and the two spoke quietly among themselves before Tennyson walked over to Sophie. "Come on. I have to speak to Noah, but I can take ten first. I believe you have news to share?"

She smiled, though nervousness knotted her gut. "How did you know?" She followed him off the set and toward the trailers, shivering a little. With wearing so little and her hair being damp, it got cold fast. The heat wave they'd had in Vancouver was taking a break.

Tennyson smirked faintly and unzipped his hoodie to hang it over Sophie's shoulders. "Gut feeling."

He held the door open to his trailer and let Sophie enter first, and as soon as the door was closed behind them, he asked if she'd received the contracts.

"I did." She bobbed her head. "I signed the stuff for my new agent and both productions."

"That’s wonderful." He grabbed two sodas from his mini fridge, and she followed his lead and sat down across from him in his dining nook. "The second one will be filmed in Spain, right?"

"Yeah, Barcelona." She smiled but sort of wished Tennyson wouldn’t be
this
happy for her. "So…it looks like I won't be in LA much this fall. I only have two days after we wrap up here, and then I'm off to Toronto." She studied him carefully, gauging his reaction.

Tennyson nodded pensively, eyes trained on the soda can he was opening. "And how long is the shoot?"

"Well, it's already started, but I'll only be there for two weeks." Sophie had shown him the script. "Then I'll have a couple weeks at home before
Barcelona Quarter
starts."

Tennyson nodded once more, and his mouth twisted up. "This is incredible, sweetie." He reached over the table and covered her hand with his. "It's only the beginning, I'm sure. You'll be drowning in scripts in no time."

Sophie stared at him for a beat, fucking waiting. Was there nothing else?

"I'm really excited for you." He kissed the top of her hand and smirked crookedly. "Do me one favor, though?"

Finally. Now he'd say something.

"What?" she whispered. Her heart began pounding.

How the fuck was she supposed to break things off with him?

Tennyson brushed another kiss to her knuckles. "Don't replace me too soon. I've come to realize I can be quite possessive where you're concerned."

She chuckled nervously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that this has been intense for me." He stroked her cheek over the table. "Getting to know you, spending my nights with you…it's kind of turned my life upside down. In a good way," he was quick to add, "but I didn’t expect to feel as if you were mine."

That crushed her. It absolutely gutted her. She should've been more prepared for this because she knew the end was coming, but it still hurt like nothing else.

She wouldn’t have to break anything off with Tennyson. He was doing it for them.

"So," he continued, clearing his throat, "when we wrap up here and you're off to your next production and part of your life, try not to move on too fast. These last two weeks won't be a long enough goodbye for me, and I'm not sure I could stomach seeing you with someone else anytime soon."

Sophie leaned away from his touch as her face drained of color. It felt like her heart and every other vital organ in her body had dropped to the floor, and she was fucking hurt.

Did he think so little of her that he believed she'd move on to the next guy in a matter of, what, days? She knew about her goddamn reputation, but didn’t Tennyson know her better by now?

"I think I need to go," she whispered.

Tennyson frowned. "Did I say something wrong?"

Sophie pressed her lips together in a tight line and shook her head quickly. "It's fine. I'm tired, and I need some rest."

"You are not fine." He called her out on her bullshit and rose from the table when she did. "Tell me what's wrong so I can fix it."

Sophie thought back on that goddamn quote, which had inspired him to buy her the necklace she always wore when she wasn’t working.

"The shell must break before the bird can fly."

Oh, the shell was broken, all right.

"I think…" She swallowed her emotions and steeled herself. "I think this needs to be it, Tennyson." She forced her eyes to meet his. "It's been intense for me too, and it's getting a little too hard to handle. I'm sure the last two weeks could've been awesome, but I gotta take a step back."

Tennyson's eyes flashed with pain, but it was over in a second, and he nodded firmly. "I understand too well."

She was mad at him for indicating that shit earlier—that she'd be able to move on soon—but sadness took up most of the space.

There wasn’t a whole lot more to say. It would be difficult to work with him for the duration of the production, but it was nothing compared to the grief.

"I wish it could've been another time and place," she confessed, and it was all she could say before her throat closed up. She didn’t wait for any response. Instead, she turned and left.

She cringed when she was halfway across the lot, pretty sure she'd just heard a crash coming from Tennyson's trailer.

This is for the best
, she told herself.

She didn’t believe a word of it.

Chapter 19

Tennyson had always preferred working with smaller casts—less background noise and fewer things that went wrong. But for the following two weeks, he was thankful for the distractions that came with shooting on location with tons of extras.

After a small misunderstanding and subsequent delay with permits, everyone worked harder than ever to finish the film.

Shooting on location offered added reality for the cast as well, and the actors rarely made any mistakes. Claire, Chris, and Sophie went from house to house with a photo of Kelly, asking if anyone had seen her. The sleepy little town three hours away from Vancouver had come alive for this, and many wanted to be a part—professional extras and townsfolk alike.

"Roll cameras!" Noah shouted out across the motel's parking lot. "Action background!"

Tennyson adjusted his headphones and folded his arms over his chest. It was sunny and warm, and he stood under the tent and watched his monitor, cursing the fucking weather. He needed it to be darker.

Rain poured down, fake as it was, but they'd have to darken the sky digitally in post-production later.

Eyeing the front of the motel, satisfied with the handful of extras scattered around, he called for action and watched Claire, Chris, and Sophie step out of a rusty truck.

"Anna," Chris tried to reason impatiently. "It's been almost a week."

"I don’t care!" Sophie whipped around and glared at him. Rain caused her hair to get stuck on her pale face, her black eye makeup smudgy. "It's the only lead we've got, Dad. I'm
not
going back to Denver without her."

Chris pinched the bridge of his nose.

Claire looked helpless. She was doing this for Sophie's character, nobody else. Not even her eldest daughter, who was missing. "Maybe a few more days…"

Sophie just tapped her foot and held out her hand. "Give me the key."

Claire closed the distance and pressed the key to their motel room into Sophie's palm.

Sophie shook her head. "I'm gonna go call her friends again."

Tennyson yelled cut as Sophie opened the door. The rain stopped and everyone took a break for lunch.

The parking lot had been sealed off for the shoot, but people could still see everything clear as day, and that included the few reporters who'd made it up here. In turn, it forced Tennyson to be civil with Sophie and walk over to her table with his goddamn burger and look like he wanted to be there.

The way she visibly stiffened when he took his seat tore at him.

Brooklyn and Daniel were seated across from them, and Noah soon followed with two guys from wardrobe.

"Where's Steph?" Noah asked.

Daniel pointed his fork toward one of the trailers at the edge of the surrounding forest. "She's on the phone about the wrap party."

Not what Tennyson wanted to think about. Three days, that was it. In three days, they'd be finished, and he wouldn’t see Sophie until the red carpet in November. It would be a tight fit, but the studio had Oscar season in mind, so they had to get the movie out there.

How Sophie would juggle two additional projects with press junkets and photo shoots was beyond him, though he supposed actors did that all the time. As a director, he liked that he could take the backseat. He did a few interviews and would probably show up at some event with Chris and Claire, but that was it.

"You should be on the phone, too," Sophie told Daniel with a smirk. "You have a boyfriend to inform about a new job."

"Bitch, I swear." Daniel shot her a look.

"Oh-ho, you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Noah chuckled.

"Stop being such a baby." Sophie scowled at Daniel before shifting her gaze to Noah. "I recently learned Daniel went to college to be able to work in management. And since I'll be needing a manager… He already does more than a PA should, but he says he's not ready."

Daniel sighed and stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go be a good assistant and make sure Max's passport is valid for Europe."

Sophie blew him a kiss.

Tennyson tuned them out and ate his damn lunch. It was tasteless, but he was getting used to it. Working with Sophie had proved to be almost impossible after their split. He lacked motivation for simple tasks, and focus didn’t come easy.

Unless it was focus on Sophie.

Christ
.

The minute she'd walked out the door after they ended things, he'd punched through the wall to his bathroom. The situation was hopeless; they were doing the right thing, but the pain was unlike anything he'd ever experienced.

He thought about her all the time, missed her, and she was the first person he looked for when he walked on set.

She was holding up, but the few times he'd caught her spacing out and looking lost were awful for Tennyson.

It was over and done with, though. As much as he wanted to be there to comfort her, reassure her, he couldn’t. It would only make it worse when she was trying to move on.

*

The famous words came in the afternoon three days later.

"That’s a wrap, everyone!"

There were hugs and hoots of celebration, and Tennyson smiled and shook Noah's hand before he was off to join the others. Tennyson's work was far from done, and with everything going on with Sophie, he didn’t feel like celebrating.

Instead, he retreated to his trailer and stayed there until it was time to head back to Vancouver. There was a luxurious hotel and a wrap party waiting, and Tennyson would make a quick appearance since several studio people would be joining, Asher included. But Tennyson sure as hell wasn’t looking forward to it.

There was a knock on the door to his trailer and he expected it to be Tyler saying they were ready to leave, but it was Kelly.

"I didn’t mean to disturb," she said, "but I wanted to thank you. It's been really cool working with you."

Tennyson forced a polite smile and inclined his head. "You've done a great job, Kelly."

It was true, no matter how small her part had been. She'd arrived last night for one of the last scenes, in which Sophie had located her sister, though the outcome hadn't been the one she'd hoped for.

Tennyson had shot an alternate ending as well, and he honestly hadn't decided which one he'd go with yet. It depended on how it went in post-production with the editing and meeting with the producers.

"Tennyson," he heard Tyler call out. The kid had finally dropped the "sir." "We're ready to head out."

There it was. Production was over, and next up was a nice hotel room.

"Got it," Tennyson said with a nod. "I'll see you tonight for the party, Kelly." He managed another smile, and then he followed his PA toward an SUV.

*

"You're stalling, Tee."

Tennyson shot his brother a glare and wished he'd never let the bastard into his hotel room. He'd barely gotten out of the shower before Ash was knocking on the door.

Tennyson's bags were packed, so that limited the selection of what to wear. It was a fancy shindig on the rooftop terrace, so he pulled on a pair of black dress pants and picked out a dark blue button-down.

"When's your flight tomorrow?" Ash asked, looking absently around the suite. He stood in the middle, hands in his pockets, all suited up.

"Eleven. Aren't we on the same one?" Tennyson grabbed the only leather belt that hadn't been packed.

"No, I promised Dad I'd take Mom to a charity thing in Portland. I'll be back next week."

Tennyson nodded in understanding and buttoned up his shirt.

Asher wasn’t done being chatty. "I saw Sophie in the bar downstairs. She's on the early flight back." Tennyson knew that already. He'd picked the later flight for a fucking reason. "I take it you two aren't dating anymore?"

"Did we ever?" Tennyson muttered. Other than for publicity. And that was thankfully over. The studio had gotten the buzz they'd wanted, and now they would continue riding the promo wave he and Sophie had started. "But no, she and I are done."

Ash hummed. "You weren't this down when you broke up with Trisha."

Not that crap again
, Tennyson groaned internally. It seemed Trisha came up in conversation every time he spent time with someone in his family.

He tied his shoes, halting when he spotted a tiny stain. The shoes were black and polished, so the little dot of purple stood out when you got close. Right there, on the side.

It was paint. The purple paint Sophie had been covered in when they took part in Safe, Wild, and Sound.

With a sigh, he stood up again and ran a hand through his hair.

After tonight, he would get his life back in order. Back to normal…

"You love her, don’t you?" Asher looked at him strangely, almost in wonder. "Jesus Christ, Tennyson. She's twenty-one."

"You don’t know what the fuck you're talking about," Tennyson warned. He went for the door and ripped it open. "You coming or not?"

Not waiting for Asher, Tennyson headed toward the elevators and hit the button.

Could this night be over, already?

He hung his head, unable to forget Asher's words. Or perhaps accusation was more accurate.
Love
. Tennyson couldn’t wrap his head around that. Was it even possible? It was merely three months ago he'd been introduced to the party princess, and only a month had passed since he'd kissed her for the first time. Fuck, how things had changed. But now they were going back into the real world, where everything tended to be different. Movie sets were like alternate universes.

What applied there didn’t necessarily work when a production was over.

*

Twenty minutes later, Tennyson had managed to push aside his personal issues for the moment. It was like a dull ache that pulsed inside his chest, but it beat the sharp pains from before. And he was able to listen to Noah and a few others talk about future projects.

Some hundred people had gathered on the rooftop, not counting the staff of waiters that flitted around with trays of champagne and finger food.

Tennyson had skipped that and gone for a regular beer.

"So, what about you, boss?" Noah asked, finished with his own story. "What's next for you?"

"You mean after eight weeks of post-production?" Tennyson smirked wryly.

"Jesus." Noah shook his head. "That’s all you'll get?"

"Studio deadlines." Tennyson shrugged and tried to find Asher in the crowd, but he couldn’t be seen. "After that, it's back home. I have a few projects that're waiting to be green-lit."

Problem was, there was one part that would've been perfect for Sophie.

Noah dipped his chin. "You live in northern Cali, right? I've been thinking about leaving LA myself, but it'll have to wait. I'm actually showing Sophie my place tomorrow."

That sure had Tennyson's attention. "Why?"

"My place looks exactly like the one across the hall," Noah answered, grabbing another glass of champagne as a waiter passed. "And I know it'll be up for sale soon because the dude who lives there is relocating. So Sophie asked if she could see my place and maybe check if my neighbor's willing to sell directly to her."

"I see." Tennyson nodded and stared at his feet, frowning. Well, this was good. How it was supposed to be. Sophie was starting her life as an independent young woman. She'd need her own place to live, obviously.

"I should probably call my roommate and tell him to clean." Now Noah was frowning, too. "Excuse me."

He walked out with his phone in hand, and Tennyson avoided talking to some studio execs by finding a corner to nurse his beer. Ten more minutes, then he'd call it a night.

Pulling out his phone, he did a fair impression of looking busy, but then the last person he expected to interrupt him did.

"I see you found a good hiding spot."

Tennyson's head snapped up, and he saw Sophie standing in front of him, a nervous little smile on her lips.

"You caught me." Unable to help himself, he drank in the sight of her. She wore a little black number, tight enough to show off the curves she was getting, and with just enough cleavage to make men beg for more. With a small shake of his head, he averted his gaze and took a swig of his beer.

Sophie took a small step forward and set down her champagne glass on the high table next to them. "I…I don’t know why I came over." She bit her lip.

Tennyson swallowed and set down his beer, too. "You don’t need a reason." Once again, his eyes sought her out. She was all grace tonight, beyond beautiful, though he could see she was uncomfortable. "Are you okay?" He wanted to touch her but doubted it would be appreciated.

She smiled, but it faltered slightly. "Under the circumstances. What about you? Are you all right?"

Her honesty made it easier for him to be truthful, too. "Not today, sweetie."

Sophie nodded with a dip of her chin, and he caught the glistening of her eyes before she looked down.

"Hey." Throwing caution to the wind, Tennyson closed the distance and hugged her close to him. "Don’t be sad." He kissed the top of her head, relieved when she hugged him back just as tightly. "I'll always be a phone call away. You know that, right?"