14 | One-er

"Uh... Thanks," Colt replied, his awkwardness making it blatantly obvious that something was up. I let out a huff of contempt, crossing my arms in annoyance. "You too?"

Dan just chuckled in response, giving me a knowing side-eye. "Same as yesterday?" Nigel looked Colt up and down, then trained his gaze on me, his eyes suddenly widening in realisation. "Airline lose your bag or something?"

Colt just shrugged. "Something like that."

My foot tapped the ground impatiently, and all three men seemed to notice. "Jody's over by the steps," Nigel said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had begun to ensue. I'm moulded gratefully. "She was asking for you."

"Thanks, Nigel." I awkwardly waved goodbye, walking backwards towards the opera house steps. "See you later Colt. Good luck with the stunt."

Colt smiled in farewell. "Thanks."

I headed in the direction of Jody, failing to miss the boys' hushed conversation behind me. "Skye!" Jody waved me down from where she was talking to her assistant, Darla. "There you are. Have you seen Colt?"

I nodded, stopping beside her. "Yeah, he's with Dan." Jody seemed satisfied with my response. "Good." She moved so she was standing beside me, facing the set that was currently being built in front of the opera house. "So, I was thinking last night about the third act and I got it. We're gonna to do a one-er for the big fight scene. I spoke to Dan and he said it can be done—"

"—A one-er?" Jody nodded, excitement clear on her face. "Well, it's gonna take days— if not weeks—to prepare for that. How long do we have here?"

Jody shot me a guilty expression. "Four hours."

"Four hours!" I exclaimed, already shaking my head. "Jody, it's impossible." I noticed Dan and Colt heading towards us, the latter now dressed in the space cowboy costume. I tore my gaze away and reverted it back to Jody. "We'll have to do rehearsals and figure out where to put the stitches and..."

Jody reached up and put her hands on my shoulders, squeezing them comfortingly. "It'll be fine," she ensured me. Her unwavering confidence made me want to believe her so badly. "Trust me."

I sighed. "Fine." I really wanted Metalstorm to be a good movie, but at the end of the day it wasn't my decision. It was Jody's. And despite my disagreement with her decision, I knew she knew what was right. "Okay. Let's do it."

Jody's lips spread out into a grin. "Yeah?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Jody's, arms wrapped around my neck, embracing me in a tight hug. "Okay, then." She pulled away, clapping me on the shoulder like a close mate. "Let's do this, then. Shoot the shit out of Sydney Opera House in four hours!"

"Three hours and fifty-two minutes," Nigel chimed in as he rushed passed.

I rolled my eyes at him, before turning to Jody. "Let's do this."

***

Watching Colt do his thing was like watching an athlete in their element. The way he ducked and weaved around the other actors was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was utterly mesmerising.

"That was amazing," I gushed as Colt made his way over to me at the end of the shoot. I was sat on the opera house steps, packing away my camera as everyone else began to clear out. "You are literally space cowboy."

Colt chuckled, removing his cowboy hat, and dropping to the ground beside me. "Eh, I wish." He watched me as I screwed the lens cap on and placed it in its foam nest. "You get any good shots?"

I closed the camera case and buckled the clasps, before looking up at Colt. "Of you?" He nodded, making me chuckle. "No, not really. But Venti's gonna deep fake Ryder's face onto yours, so it should be fine."

Colt shoved me playfully. "You're a real bitch, you know that?"

I laughed. "I do my best."

"Nice work today, you guys." I looked up to see Jody standing a few steps down. She had a smile on her face. "You both did great."

"Thanks," I replied, returning the smile. "It looks great, Jody. I shouldn't have underestimated you."

Jody nodded. "I told you we could do it." A brief silence ensued for a few moments before Jody spoke up again. "The rest of the crew and I are going to go do some karaoke if you wanna come."

I nodded. "We'll be there." Colt opened his mouth and I knew it was to protest, so I discretely elbowed him in the side. "Both of us."

"Great," Jody replied, an awkward tinge to her voice. "Maybe change your clothes before you get there, Colt." I winced inwardly at the pointed remark. "Wouldn't want anyone assuming anything." She glanced over at me knowingly and I smiled innocently.

Colt nodded. "Will do, Jody. Thanks."

Jody just nodded in return. "I'll see you both later, then."

I waved goodbye as she turned and headed down the steps. " Does everyone think we slept together?"

Colt just chuckled. "Seems like it."

"Great." I sighed, letting my head drop into my hands. "Just great."

"It could be worse," Colt offered, reaching over to rub my back.

"How?" I mumbled into my hands. "How could it be worse, Colt?"

Cult didn't respond immediately. "Actually, I don't know."

I groaned loudly, letting my elbows rest against my thighs, my head dropping onto them. "The only way this could be worse is if people thought I slept with Nigel."

Colt let out a bark of laughter from beside me. "Yeah, I guess that would be worse."

"Colt, Skye." We looked up from our conversation, to see Gail jogging up to us. "I'm glad I found you."

"Hi, Gail," I greeted politely, not quite sure why she was talking to me. "How are you?"

"Not great, Skye," she replied shortly, digging around in her handbag. I shot Colt a confused expression, which he returned. Gail's hand emerged from the bag with a slip of paper in her grasp. She held it out to Colt.

"What's this?" Colt asked, taking it from her.

"I've got you on a 5:55 flight out of here. Okay?" Gail rushed, gesturing to the ticket. "I have a car waiting for you—"

"—Now?" I exclaimed, taking the ticket from Colt and scanning over it.

Gail nodded. "Yes. Look,  there is some serious shit going down, okay?"

I furrowed my brows, glancing over at Colt, who looked distraught. "But we just told Jody we would meet her for karaoke..." I rolled my eyes at his childishness.

"And I'm actually embarrassed that I got you here and got you all tangled up—both of you." She shot me an apologetic look. "I just want to get you out of here before it escalates." She pointed at me. "And you're welcome to leave with full pay, Skye." My eyes widened in shock. "I want you out of the way as well."

My eyes locked with Colt, who was staring down at the ticket in confusion. "Colt?" He glanced up at me. "Are you gonna go?" He looked up at Gail.

"Come on," she urged, tapping him on the arm. "Get your stuff together. We're going. You're gonna miss the flight. Thank you. Sorry." With one last clap of her hands, she walked away.

I watched her get back in her car and leave, silenced by shock. Colt didn't say anything for a while either. But, eventually he spoke up.

"Skye?"

I hummed in acknowledgement, my eyes still trained on the boarding pass in my hands.

"I'm not gonna go."

I finally looked up him, my eyes meeting his. "But you heard Gail," I reminded him, handing the ticket back. "We shouldn't be getting involved in this anymore."

Colt shook his head, shoving the ticket unceremoniously into his pocket. "If you're not going, then I'm not going." My stomach flipped at his ferocity. "We gotta stick together."

A wide smile spread onto my face as I leaned towards him, embracing him an a side hug. "Thanks, Colt."

He just reciprocated the hug, leaning his head on mine. "Now let's go do some karaoke!"

***

So Colt decided to stay! Who didn't see that coming? 😂 😂 😂

Anyways, what did you guys think of Nigel? I get he was the comic relief, but I just found myself cringing every single time he spoke. Let me know your thoughts.