Sacrifices
In his apartment, Rome sat with his phone in his hand, but he wasn’t using it. He was just waiting. He knew that Ella had taken the apartment because she’d sent him a text earlier in the day, but now she was out shopping with Tim. As much as Rome wished it was him out there with her, he knew it couldn’t be. It was bad enough some paparazzi had taken his picture with her at the restaurant. It was hard to see her face in the pictures, so no one had figured out that it was her yet, but if Tim saw it, he would know. Then, Rome would be in trouble, and Ella would have some difficult decisions to make.
His phone rang, and Rome practically jumped out of his skin. It wasn’t her, though. Waiting until his heart settled a bit, Rome took a deep breath, and then answered, “Hey, Marge. How are you?”
“Rome, my dear, I’m fabulous! How are you? Are you sitting down?”
“I am,” he replied, thinking she didn’t really want an answer to her first question and it was funny that she thought he might fall over with whatever she had to tell him if he wasn’t sitting down. “What’s up?”
“I just heard back from the casting director for that movie you auditioned for the other day. Guess what? They want to cast you to play Robert! Isn't that wonderful?”
Rome’s mouth dropped open. It was wonderful--but he wasn’t sure he wanted the role anymore. He didn’t know what to say.”
“Are you there, Rome?” she asked. “Did you hear me?”
“Yes, Marge. I heard you. That’s, uh, great news. Did they happen to say who their second choice was?”
“What? Why? Are you thinking you don’t want it?”
“It’s not that. Not necessarily. It’s just… did they say?”
“Yeah. They said it was close between you and Tim Bolt, but ultimately, they decided to give it to you.”
He wasn’t sure if that was good news or bad news. “All right, Marge. Call them back and tell them to give the part of Robert to Tim, and I’ll take something else, something smaller, something without a lot of scenes with him.”
“What? Are you crazy!” Marge almost exploded over the phone. “But you’ve been dying to get this part, Rome.”
“I know, I know. But I spoke to him at the audition today, and it’s more important to him than it is to me. Just… tell them, all right?”
It took her a moment to respond but when she did, she said, “All right. I'll tell them, but you’ve got a screw loose, Rome Verona.”
“You’re probably right, Marge. Thank you. Let me know what they say.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
She hung up, and Rome rested his head back on his couch, hoping he hadn’t just made a costly mistake. He had desperately wanted that role, it was true, but maybe if he had the chance to work on the same movie with Tim, he’d see he wasn’t so bad, and if Tim got the role he wanted, maybe he’d be happy enough not to be so rude the next time Rome reached out to him.
It was worth a shot, anyway. What did he have to lose?
While it seemed like a win-win situation, an unsettled feeling came over Rome, and he started to think perhaps he’d set something in motion that would be detrimental in the future. To whom, he couldn’t say, but it didn’t feel right, even if it was an unselfish thing to do.
What was done was done; there was no turning back….
Deciding he may as well let it go, Rome went back to waiting for his phone to ring, hoping Ella was having a good time while she was out shopping with her cousin and imaging how happy Tim would be when he found out he got the part.
About an hour later, his phone rang again. This time, he managed to keep his cool, and when he heard Ella’s voice on the other end of the line, he couldn’t help but smile. “How are you?” she asked.
“I’m great, now that you’ve called. How are you? All of your shopping done?”
“For now. I still have a few things to get. But… do you wanna come see my apartment?”
“No. But I wanna come see you,” he teased.
“Well, you’ll have to see my apartment, too, then, because I’m in it.”
“I’ll be right over.”
Rome was off the couch, keys and phone in his pocket, and out the door before he could blink. No longer worried about the movie or Tim, he rushed to Ella’s apartment, desperate to kiss her and hold her in his arms again.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
