Clark had looked at the script and shaken his head at the absurdity of it. He decided to see if there was anyone that he could draw into a conversation about the letters. He hung out in the hall waiting to see if anybody came along.
"Are you lost?" asked a man, who looked to be in his 40s.
"Not really. I'm new here, Andrew Donavan. I'm playing Collin. Are you one of the actors?"
He offered his hand, "I am. I'm John Critzer. I play Emma's father, Bruce Gerald, or her stepfather I guess, I can't even keep up with all the twists and turns."
"Is it a nice place to work for?"
"It can be. It's a little tense right now what with the strange letters Melissa Daggert has been getting, the same thing that happened to Lillian last year. Lillian was a lovely woman. It was such a shame what happened to her."
"Out of my way," grumbled a buff man in his late 20s, who might have been more pleasant to look at if he didn't have a scowl on his face.
"Quite a fellow, isn't he?" John asked, after he was out of sight. "Did you know that he used to date Melissa? She broke up with him because she said he was too aggressively jealous. Sometimes I wonder if he isn't the one who has been sending those letters. He dated Lillian too come to think of it."
Clark knew it was probably nothing more than workplace gossip, but nonetheless it was a starting place in terms of possible suspects. "I have to find someone. It was nice meeting you and I guess we'll be working together real soon."
John gave a short wave as Clark hurried off.
sss
Lois sighed, "I sound horrible, don't I?" stopping the reading. The way Melissa was looking at her, she knew it was true.
"Don't worry about it," Melissa said, changing her expression to a bright one again. "Did you know Lucille Ball had the same problem?"
"And what problem is that?"
"She sounded horrible when she was reading the script. If someone was listening to an I Love Lucy script read, and were not familiar with her work, they would have said fire the redhead."
"Well, it's nice to know I'm in good company," but Lois didn't feel relieved. She knew she would be no Lucille Ball when she hit the set.
"Just try and forget that you're reading a script."
"I'll do my best."
They began the scene again.
"So you got yourself in an accident. It will be interesting to see how you look when the bandages are removed," Melissa's character said.
"If I didn't know any better, I would say you were driving the train, dear sister."
She laughed. "You're wrong on two accounts. First off, I have an alibi and second of all, we aren't really sisters anymore, are we?"
"Were we ever?"
"Good point."
"Just because I can't marry Collin, don't think that gives you an opportunity to sink your claws into him. You're not his type."
"I'm every man's type. And you had better be nice to me. I could hurt you more than you could possibly dream of and it wouldn't have anything to do with your physical wellbeing," Melissa said in a cold and calculating voice, so unlike her own.
There was a hard knock on the door and then Clark burst in.
"Oh, you're rehearsing lines," he said with obvious relief in his voice. Then he turned a deep red. That was the second time that day he had confused the acting with real life. "I just I heard about what's been happening and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."
"That's really sweet," Melissa said, smiling.
"I'm sorry," he apologized and then he was gone as quickly as he came.
"Should we try again?" Lois asked.
"My voice is starting to get dry. Let's take a break." She went over to the snack tray where she had a pitcher of ice water sitting on it. "Would you like a glass?"
"Sure," Lois said. "Thank you."
Melissa brought her the glass and sat down again. "Is he the other new actor?"
"Yeah," Lois answered, trying to keep neutral on the topic of Clark, so she didn't make Melissa suspicious about anything. She took a sip of her water.
"You are a very lucky duck. Did you know that you're set to start filming a love scene with him the day after tomorrow?"
Lois choked on her water.
TBC