A Chance Meeting | Chris Evans

Chapter 111

And part two - hope you enjoy...
***

8.00am
Becca turned her alarm off and rubbed her eyes. She turned over to look at Ella, who was sleeping peacefully.
'Oh, now you're quiet.' She grumbled.
She padded through to the kitchen to turn on the kettle, then went through to the lounge to wake up Viv.
She carefully picked her way around Justin sleeping on the floor.
'Viv.' She whispered, giving her a gentle shake.
'Hmmm?' Viv mumbled.
'It's eight o'clock. We've got to leave for the studio in about an hour.'
'Oh, right.' Viv said, sitting up.
'Do you want a cup of tea?'
'Please.'

A couple of minutes later, Viv came through to the kitchen, followed by Justin.
'Oh hey Just, I'm sorry, did we wake you up?' Becca asked.
'Yeah.' He yawned hugely. 'But who needs more than four hours sleep anyway?' He joked.
'Just be glad you got that.' Becca grumbled. 'I'd forgotten how much Ella talks in her sleep.'
Justin laughed. 'How many times did she wake you up?'
'Enough that I seriously considered smothering her with a pillow.'
Viv laughed. 'Yeah, I've been there.'
'I'm so glad that I stopped at two cocktails last night.' Becca said. 'I dread to think how rough I'd feel this morning with no sleep and a hangover.'
'So, big day today.' Justin said, pouring himself a coffee. 'Are you excited?'
'Yeah I am. A lot more than I expected - I thought I'd be terrified, but I'm actually looking forward to it.' Becca admitted.
I just hope that things are back to normal.
'So, have you heard from Chris this morning yet?' Viv asked. 'I bet he's really excited that you're coming in today, isn't he?'
'Err, no. I haven't heard from him, but he said he had an early start, so I guess he's busy.'
She glanced at her phone to see the two messages that she'd sent a few minutes ago.

Becs 📚
Good morning

Becs 📚
Looking forward to coming on set today

Beside them were the two grey ticks which meant they'd been delivered but not read yet. She wouldn't admit it, but she'd checked her phone at least three times since she'd sent them.
'Right, I'm going to go and poke Ella then have a shower.' Becca said.

8.25am
Fifteen minutes later she stepped out of the shower and smiled - the ticks had turned blue.
He's read them.
She waited a minute, expecting him to write straight back and say he was looking forward to it too. Or send a good morning picture. Or something.
But nothing.

She checked her phone a few more times as she got dressed and applied the barest minimum of makeup.
Still no reply.
Don't get paranoid. There could be any number of reasons why he hasn't replied - he could be really busy, or thinking of the right thing to say, or looking for a picture.

8.45am
She was halfway through breakfast when her phone started to ring.
Chris! Finally!
But it wasn't.
'Is that him?' Justin asked.
'No, it's just my mum.' Becca said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. 'Wonder what she wants at this time of day?'
'Hey mum.' She said, answering it. 'Everything okay? It's not like you to call this early.'
'Hello darling. Everything's fine - I hope we didn't wake you?'
'No, I was already up - me and Viv have got to be somewhere soon.'
'Oh, are you doing something nice?'
Becca hesitated, wondering how much to say - it was one thing to skirt around the issue, but not answering a direct question was too close to a lie for her taste.
'We're...umm...we're going on a film set.'
'Really? How very glamourous. Did you win a competition?'
'No, I...umm...I know someone who works there and he arranged it.'
Please don't give me the third degree just because it's a guy.
'What it is to have friends in high places, darling.' Her mother joked.
She didn't. Wow.
'So, are you going to be in the film?'
Becca laughed. 'God no, we're just watching.'
There was a brief murmured conversation down the phone-line before her mum came back.
'Your father wants to know what the film is.'
'I don't actually know the name of it, but it's a Marvel film.'
'Marvel?'
'Superhero film.'
'Oh, you mean like with Superman?'
'No that's DC. This is Marvel. Marvel has Iron Man and Captain America and Thor.' Becca mentally rolled her eyes - how many times had her mum watched those movies with her?
'Does it have anyone we'd know in it? Ooh, is it one of the ones with Jeremy Irons in?'
'No, that's still DC, mum. He's in the Batman films.'
'Oh, DC/Marvel - you know it's all the same to me.'
'Comic book fans the world over would spontaneously combust if they heard that, mum.'
Her mother laughed. 'Well, possibly. So, the young man who arranged this for you - is he just a friend?'
Damn, I though I'd dodged that bullet.
Becca hesitated.
Should I just tell her?
She thought back to Thanksgiving and how hurt Chris had been to find out she'd never mentioned him. Maybe now was the time. If things were going to go forward with Chris, she was going to have to tell people, and her parents seemed like a good place to start.
But maybe she'd keep quiet about who Chris actually was - one revelation at a time.
'Becca?'
'Well, at the moment he's just a good friend, because we haven't been on a date yet. But I think it's only a matter of time.' She said with a smile.
'That's wonderful.' Her mum sounded delighted. 'What's his name?'
'It's...err...Chris. You've spoken to him actually - he answered my phone on Thanksgiving.'
'Is that the young man who works at the library with you?'
Damn. I'd forgotten I said that.
'Umm... I've got a confession to make - he doesn't actually work at the library.'
'Then why did you say that he did?' Her mother asked, sounding confused.
Oh, so many reasons.
'Well, I didn't want to worry you.'
'Why would I worry?'
Because you always do.
'Because I met him on the internet - a dating site.'
'What?! Rebecca Jane Smith you know the sort of people that go on those sites! Have I taught you nothing?'
Here we go.
'Mum, he's not a sociopath or a serial killer. He's really nice.'
'You could have been messaging anyone! People pretend to be someone they're not on these dating websites all the time you know.'
Oh, the irony.
'Mu-um.'
'It's true - I read about it in Take a Break.'
Bloody Take a Break and their scare stories!
Becca rolled her eyes. 'Well if it's in Take a Break, then it must be true.'
'You know that-'
'Mum!' She interrupted. 'You don't have anything to worry about - he's really sweet and not a mass murderer in any way. I promise.'
'Plus, I checked his freezer and there are definitely no body parts in there.' She joked.
'That's not funny.' Her mother said, but she sounded slightly mollified.
'It's okay, mum. Really. He's nice.'
'So what does this young man of yours do on the film set?'
'He's...umm...he's an actor.'
'An actor? Oh no, darling. You haven't lent him any money, have you?'
'What? No, of course not. Why would I have lent him money?'
'My friend Julie's daughter Susan dated an actor for years - he was always waiting for his big break and between jobs, so she ended up paying for everything. And she lent him money - thousands in the end, and he always promised to pay her back on the next job, but he never did. Total freeloader. Far too fond of himself as well.'
Becca laughed.
'Well, Chris isn't like that at all.'
'So, when do we get to meet him?'
'Well as I said, we haven't even been on a proper date yet, so let's not scare him off, okay?'
And I think that's as much as I want to say about Chris for now.
'So, you never said why you phoned.' Becca said, changing the subject.
'Oh yes. There was something I wanted to run by you.'
'What's that?'
'Well, you know that we were meant to be going on that cruise with...umm...with the Jameses, but the company messed up our booking?'
Becca smiled for a second - the Jameses were Viv, Justin and their parents.
She's trying to spare my feelings by not mentioning Justin's name.
'Yeah, I remember.'
'Well, the company just got in touch, and by way of an apology they've offered to rebook us all on their flagship Christmas cruise around the Caribbean, with an upgraded cabin and all-inclusive thrown in for free!' Her mum sounded really excited.
'Wow. That's amazing, mum.'
'The only problem is...it sails on the 24th of December for 7 nights, so it'd mean we'd miss Christmas.'
'Oh.' Becca was taken aback for a moment - Christmas was such a huge deal in their house. It was such a special time.
'I knew you'd be upset.' Her mum said. Then in the background she heard her mum stage-whisper to her dad, 'See, I told you she'd be upset. Well that settles it, we can't go. We can't leave her by herself at Christmas.'
'Get her to come too.' Her dad whispered back.
'We can't do that - not with you-know-who coming and-.'
'Mum, it's fine. I'm a grown up. I can cope just fine by myself this year.' Becca interrupted.
'Oh I don't know...'
'Really mum you should go - I know you've always wanted to do a Caribbean Cruise.'
'Are you sure?'
'Yes 100%.'
'You won't be lonely?'
'I've got lots of friends here that I can see.'
And possibly even squeeze in a bit of time with Chris if he's free - I'd love to see him at Christmas.
'I would say you could come too, but-'
'Oh, no thank you.' Becca interrupted. 'You know that me and boats don't mix - I definitely don't want to spend seven days feeling queasy.'
'Well, if you're sure...'
'Absolutely. It'll be a shame to miss Christmas, but maybe I can come home early and we can have our Christmas then instead?'
'That'd be lovely.' Her mum said.
'I'm going home in a few days.' Justin piped up. 'Why don't you travel back with me then?'
'Who's that?' Her mum asked, hearing his voice.
'It's...err...it's Justin.'
'Justin? Justin who? Not Sue and Roger's Justin?'
'Yeah, that Justin.'
Becca rolled her eyes at Justin, who was watching with interest.
'But why's he there so early in the morning? Oh, you and him aren't-'
'No mum, it's nothing like that.' Becca interrupted. 'He's just visiting Viv.'
'Oh...right...' Her mum seemed to be at a loss for words.
She's worried about me - she knew how sad I was.
'It's okay, mum. Everything's fine.' Becca reassured her.
Viv caught her eye and tapped on her watch. Becca nodded.
'Look, can I call you back later and arrange when I'm coming home? Me and Viv need to leave soon.'
'Oh, of course dear. Well have a lovely time.'
'We will. Bye mum, say bye to dad for me. Love you.'
'Love you too.'
Becca ended the call and looked at the time - 8.58.
'Oh God, thanks for the time check Viv.'
'That's okay, I didn't want you to be late.'
'Well, looks like it's time to go.' Becca said, grabbing her keys. 'Ready?'
'Absolutely.'
'Have a wonderful time.' Ella said. 'And don't forget, if you get the chance to steal anything of-'
'Bye Ella.' Becca interrupted with a laugh.
'Have a great time.' Justin said.
'We will.'
As she picked up her phone, she couldn't help glancing at the WhatsApp icon.
Still no reply.