"ACTION!"
The high beam spotlights find their way to perfectly interfere with his line of vision. Billie sits across from him with her arm resting on the circular table. She was cast as the role of Winter, Kai's sister. It was her first stint on American Horror Story. But Evan was already well aware of who the actress was. Billie worked with his girlfriend on some show called 'Scream Queens'. It was a decent show, but in Evan's opinion was not up to par with Emma's capability as an actress.
Evan feels an instant rush of adrenaline, but not the good kind. It was the first shoot of the season.. his season. It was time to jump in with both feet regardless of his nerves.
He desperately holds eye contact with Billie while resting his elbow on the table to assume position. Extending his pinky, he takes a deep breath with his eyes closed.
"Assume the position," he says above a whisper. His eyes slowly open finding his way back to hers. "Pinky out."
Billie's mouth twists as her head tilts to the side. She mirrors her pinky to his.
"You know the rules," Evan continues. "Once physical contact has been initia-"
Everything in his mind goes blank. He helplessly scans Billie's face well aware that she couldn't help him in this moment.
"CUT!" someone shouts behind the cameras sounding slightly irritated. "LINE!"
A short petite lady shuffles her feet to them with a script in hand.
"No- no. It's fine," Evan insists lowering his arm and turning his body to the camera crew. The lady stops in her place before turning back. "I just slipped. Let's go at it again." The weight of an elephant was hovering over his chest and his arms started to tingle as if tiny ants were sprinting across.
Fuck. First line. Get it together. Better not fuck this up Peters.
"Are you okay?" Billie asks.
"Huh?" Evan snaps his head up in a daze. Her face is contorting into unknown shapes. But he can make our that her expression is full of concern.
"Are you feeling alright?"
A nervous grin spreads across his lips as he quickly nods his head. It never felt good to hear 'are you okay' when you feel like you're on the verge of passing out.
"Yeah I'm fine," he says with a half chuckle. Giving him an uneasy look she repositions her elbow on the table. She glances over to one of the staff and nods her head for the OK.
"TAKE TWO!"
It felt like the studio's thermostat was positioned at 90 degrees. He can feel the heat radiating from his chest. From beneath the table out of shot Evan grips his other hand into a fist. I have to get through this.
Billie changes her body language back to Winter. She blankly stares at him waiting for his line.
Looking her in the eyes only makes him feel worse. It reminds him that his vision was giving out and that he was losing consciousness. He did not feel well.
"Once physical contact has been initiated.. you-you've consented to answer all of my ques-questions."
"CUUUUT!" Ryan hollers from the darkness. The lights turn back on the set as he storms toward them. "In order to play Kai, Evan, you have to be in character. As in, actually knowing the lines."
Evan doesn't say anything. It feels like he's choking. His eyes are stuck on the brown wooden table beneath him.
"Hello? Is this too much for you or something?" The director stands with his fists fixated on each hip. He was pissed.
Now, Evan was 100% certain that he was going to pass out. His heart was pounding out his chest, his mouth as dry as cardboard.
"Give him a break," Billie daringly says in a small voice.
This breaks him from his trance as he looks over to her in appreciative awe.
"He told me his stomach wasn't feeling well before we started," she continues. "Bad Mexican food last night, right?"
It took him a couple seconds for his brain to wrap around what she was saying. She was putting her ass on the line for him.
"Right," Evan replies with a fake chuckle. In order to go with her story he removes his elbow from the table and clutches onto the stomach.
Ryan rolls his eyes before walking backwards toward the crew.
"FIFTEEN MINUTES EVERYONE!" he shouts making Evan flinch in his seat. "Fifteen minutes," Ryan repeats directly to him with raised eyebrows.
The buzzer sounds as the staff suddenly starts moving around like a herd of animals.
"Look, I know things between us in the past have been.. uncomfortable," Billie begins hesitatingly.
Evan whips his neck resuming his sight on her. As much as he tried to ignore the fact that he was already acquainted with his new costar before AHS, it was inevitable.
He lets out an awkward chuckle lightly nodding his head in agreement.
".. But you seriously looked like you were going to barf.. or pass out.. or.."
"I really appreciate what you did for me there," he gently interrupts her.
She takes in a sharp nervous breath before exhaling in relief.
"Of course."
The room had stopped spinning. Billie's face was no longer deformed. It felt like the normal temperature in the studio. The ant sensation had gone. It must have been an anxiety attack.
"What's going on, shouldn't you two be filming?"
They both turn their heads to find Emma standing before them. She's wearing a brown coat with her hair in a ponytail. Her arms are folded and The look of irritation on her face is unmistakable.
"Emma." It's the only word he can think of.
"Oh.. hey Emma."
"Billie," Emma responds with the fakest smile he had ever seen.
His eyes shift back and forth between the two women as another wave of prior symptoms began to creep up again.
"I thought I'd stop by." Emma opens up her purse pulling out a paper bag. She looks back at up at him with a vacant expression. She tosses him the bag as he weakly leans to the side and catches it. "Brought you lunch."
He looks down at the brown bag in confusion. "It's 10 AM." Once the words had escaped his mouth, he knew he was in for it.
Emma's eyes widen with horror as her lips begins to pout. It was as if he had just called her the ugliest woman on the planet.
"Look, Em-"
Evan is interrupted by a large sigh as her eyes well up. She looked like a fucking dog that had just been hit by its owner. All from two words.
Clutching onto her purse for life, she turns around without a word and storms toward the exit. He didn't chase after her. Not now. He squeezes the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger trying to gather himself. From his peripheral he can see Billie stand up.
"I'll uh.. see you in a bit."
Evan was already mortified by his performance thus far. The last thing he needed was for his overly possessive and jealous girlfriend to treat his new costar so rude.
It was the night of the 'Scream Queens' premiere. He had escorted her to the showing as her proud date. But a few Makers Mark's on the rocks at the after party led him to be acquainted with Billie. He had to take a leak and was on the way in search of a bathroom. That's when he ran into her. He admired her work and made it a point to drunkenly get that across to her. She bashfully laughed at his demeanor and carried on the conversation.
But the conversation quickly came to an abrupt end once Emma found them. Admittedly, he may have been a little too nice with Billie.. but in no way unfaithful to his girlfriend. Emma finding them in the hallway was just as much of a coincidence as it was for him to run into Billie.
A few harsh words thrown between the two costars ultimately caused Emma to say something along the lines of "stay away from my boyfriend, bitch." It didn't matter who it was. If she ever had any suspicion of a woman getting to close to him, Emma would attack them. Even her fucking coworker.
The rumors about Taissa and him messed her brain up. And although there were some close calls, to put it lightly, between he and Taissa.. he never physically cheated on Emma. Plus, the 'Scream Queens' premiere was years later.
Working with another woman on Emma's hit list was going to be difficult to put it lightly. But this time, he wasn't going to put up with her shit.
The green room is dimly lit. Evan sits in his chair in a rigid position as his eyes hungrily scan the script. 5 more minutes to spare.
"Once physical contact has been initiated, you've consented to answer all of my questions," he confidently booms. "You're most humiliating experience.. tell me."
Turning to the mirror in front of him, he's reunited with Kai staring back at him.
"You're most humiliating experience, tell me." He moves his face closer to the mirror as the light from above casts a shadow darkening his eyes. "TELL ME!" he roars slamming his fists onto the table.
The door behind him swings open instantly making his skin crawl. Only one person would storm into his green room without knocking.
Evan slowly turns his face from the mirror, fists still firmly pressed against the surface. It's nearly impossible to un-clench his jaw.
"What do you want?" he dangerously questions.
"What do I want?" Emma throws back in disgust. "How could you leave out the small little fact that you're working with that bitch? How many scenes does she have with-"
"ENOUGH!" he suddenly shouts making her jolt. He prowls toward her like his prey with a lethal expression. "I will not have any of this," he warns raising his index finger up to her face.
For once in her life, she's speechless. It was if she just saw a ghost. The ghost of her boyfriend.
She instinctively backs up until she's against the wall. He follows her footsteps hovering his face closer and closer. Slightly shivering, Emma cowers looking up at Evan.
"There is nothing worse in the world than a humiliated man," Kai warns her. "Now get the fuck off my set."