Chapter 20 Is he Sensitive
Jessica nearly dozed off on the sofa wrapped in her blanket but suddenly lifted her head.
Seeing her uncomfortable yet eager to review her script, Gabriel walked over, noted the nearly empty glass of water on the coffee table and the insulated kettle next to it, and asked, "What's the temperature?"
Jessica perked up, pulled the tissues from her nose, threw them away, and rubbed her still stuffy nose, "It's not as bad as it was a few days ago when you were sick. It's not even 101 degrees, and I've already had medicine. If I keep drinking hot water, I should feel better by the afternoon."
"Why don't you go take a nap after taking medicine instead of sitting here with a script?"
"No way!" Jessica waved her hand and took another tissue to wipe her nose, looking like she wanted to sneeze but couldn't, "I just got this role, and there are a lot of fight scenes after the character turns bad. I have to go to the set tomorrow for martial arts training. The choreography is going to be tied into the storyline—I need to understand it well."
With that, she stretched out her hand to pour herself another cup of hot water.
Gabriel, already by the coffee table, poured her a cup and handed it over.
Jessica looked at him, "You stayed up all night with Danielle, didn't get any sleep, and you're not resting yet?"
Gabriel didn't respond; he saw her holding the cup and carefully sipping. He then took the script from beside her on the couch.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Finish this cup and go to sleep. It's ten in the morning. I'll wake you up in the afternoon." He turned away and walked off, taking the script with him. His long legs had already stepped through the main bedroom door, and he heard her dropping the blanket to follow. Without looking back, he said, "You'll be more effective after a full rest. Are you sure you'll remember everything you just read?"
Jessica stopped in her tracks, watching as the bedroom door closed.
She stared at the closed door.
She knew, logically, that if she wanted to recover quickly, she should rest more. Staying up would only make things worse.
Jessica walked over, intending to knock, but hesitated as she reached for the door, touched her forehead instead, and finally admitted defeat to the pounding headache. Resisting the urge to kick the bedroom door, she turned and walked away.
She couldn't kick in her bedroom door—that just wasn't an option!
At two in the afternoon, Jessica didn't need Gabriel to wake her up; the alarm she had set just before falling asleep roused her. Sure enough, after a good rest and some medicine, she felt much better. She got up, poured herself a glass of water, and sipped it, preparing to knock on the door.
As she walked over, the door swung open.
Gabriel handed her the script, along with a comment that Jessica couldn't tell was a compliment or sarcasm: "You sure are disciplined."
With a mouthful of water, Jessica responded, "If I weren't disciplined, I'd lost my job. Countless people are waiting to take my role in this show. If I don't nail the scenes I'm supposed to know by heart, the martial arts instructorinstructor could kick me off the set."
She took the script and added, "Mackenzie is both my boss and my agent, but her resources aren't unlimited. The company has other artists to provide for. In a cast, until you make it big, you're hardly better off than extras. If you don't work hard, what are you going to do?"
Jessica paused, then said with a hint of sarcasm, " Why am I even telling you this? It's like talking to a brick wall."
Gabriel didn't reply; they just watched her walk back to the couch, glancing at the array of production company names at the bottom right corner of the script cover. If he was correct, the first listed was River View Pictures, a subsidiary recently acquired by Pegasus Global Holdings.
