Can you replace him?

Evelyn

You know the Universe clearly loathes you when you have to leave your sweet home early in the morning, just to get caught up in the pouring rain!

"God damn those muddy streets!" I curse under my breath as I hurry up to catch the lift while shoving some people out of my way.

"Pardon!" I say to the young woman whom I pushed past and finally get inside the lift. It was overcrowded but still, I heave a sigh of relief. Just then, the phone starts ringing in my pocket. But, I wasn’t in the condition to pick it up. With a 'Ding' sound, the lift doors split and I step my foot onto the fifth floor.

As soon as I pass the threshold of the meeting room, Josh gloats.

"Took you long enough," he says.

"That's the first thing you say? No pleasantries!" I exclaim and he shrugs, "I know you had a bad morning...So there's no need for 'pleasantries',"

At this, I flop down onto the chair next to him and question, "How do you know?"

He just narrows his eyes at me before opening his mouth yet again, "Whenever you wake up early, it's a bad morning for you, Eve! Your morning starts at 10. It's not unknown to anyone."

Hearing his words, I groan, "C'mon, it's not that obvious, is it?"

But he just laughs it off, making me roll my eyes because Josh never leaves the chance to pull my legs. I was going to say something when Ben came in with Rose and the others from the production house.

But unlike uncivilised Josh, they don't forget to exchange 'Good mornings' with us. After everyone gets seated, Ben, the Director, clears his throat to grab our attention which was already on him.

"As you all know that we are going to start the filming of 'Yours Under the Sky' from the first week of July, which is next month, I and Producer Rose have listed the casts' names and their roles in the movie. But before you all take a look at that, I want to thank Evelyn here for the wonderful story she has gifted us with." Ben says and the sound of applause echoes in the whole room.

"Thank you, thank you." I say while smiling awkwardly. Tell me why it's always so awkward to be praised in front of a group of people?

Ben smiles and clicks on his laptop's keyboard.

"I've emailed the list to all of you. Please, take a look." he says and everyone opens their laptops including me. But as soon as the email flashes in front of me, my eyes get stuck on one particular name,

"Arthur Kingsley as Oliver- Male protagonist."

My mouth becomes agape upon seeing this. No other name mattered to me anymore. In my mind, the one name that was circling around was his.

Beside me, Josh says in a low tone, "You should talk to Ben about replacing him." I didn’t even realise that he was looking at me as soon as he opened his email.

Taking a deep breath, I nod at his words, "I will."

--------------------

Standing in front of Ben's cabin, I was pondering over the thought of going inside...Am I truly ready to face the things he would say in defence of Arthur to keep him as the protagonist?

Millions of thoughts are running inside my head but I choose to follow what Josh had said to me earlier. I knock on the glass door and hear him say, "Come in."

I open the door and watch as he smiles, "Oh, Evelyn. Have a seat."

Smiling in return, I walk up to the chair placed in front of his desk.

"I had assumed you left. Do you need to discuss something," he says.

"Yeah, I..um..I had something I needed to talk to you about…" I fidget with my fingers, not sure how to say the things I want to say.

"Go on," he encourages. So, I take a deep breath before saying, "Ben, can you please replace the male protagonist?"

This time, he looks at me with a questioning gaze. Thin lines of confusion could be seen on his forehead.

"But why? Is there something wrong?"

"Ben…" I call out in a helpless tone, knowing that he very well knows what's wrong. But he just keeps staring at me, almost as if he needs me to explain myself. I sigh, "You know about the things that happened between us, don't you? Everybody does!"

Ben doesn’t answer me. He just stands up and walks up towards me before the words leave his mouth, "Evelyn, the things that happened between you both were sad...But that doesn’t mean that you can't face him ever again. You have moved on with your life and he has moved on with his. You both are shining in your own fields. Then where's the problem."

He takes a pause and says, "Trust me, he is perfectly fit for the role of Oliver. No one can do this role better than him!"

I scoff at his words. I should have known that this would happen. So, I stand up.

"He is not fit for the role of Oliver because he is nothing like him." I say before taking long strides to exit the office.

I really need to drink tea right now!

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