“Yeah, let’s do that,” Carly said to Ethan. She watched as Evelyn immediately fled the space they shared like she couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Evelyn had mentioned several times that she was straight, and maybe the female romance was harder for her. But based on the speech she’d made about the importance of such a play, it couldn’t have been the whole reason. Evelyn didn’t like her and had made it abundantly clear, which would be fine, if she would set it aside for the work. She hadn’t. Her contempt for Carly read in every moment they shared onstage together. The no-good morning had Carly in a mindset to look into it.

“You have a second?” she said quietly to Evelyn, who was engrossed in something on her phone.

Evelyn raised her gaze to Carly’s. “Sure. What do you need?”

“To talk.” She leaned against the wall next to Evelyn and geared up. Suddenly, she had a shot of nervous energy move through her, but this was too important a conversation to sidestep. If they could get past whatever conflict was between them as actresses, then maybe they could still turn this thing around. “I feel like we’re not connecting in the scenes.”

“You don’t, huh?” She glanced back down at her phone, making Carly feel about two inches tall. “Trust me. We’re doing fine. We still have two weeks left, and you’re just out of your element.”

Interesting response. “What’s my element, exactly?”

Evelyn gestured wildly with her phone in the open space before settling on a phrase. “Hollywood. La-la land. None of this is your speed, but it’s what I do for a living. I happen to have great respect for the process.”

“And you think I don’t?”

“No, I know for a fact you don’t. I think you’ve shown all of us that you’re a spoiled, pampered celebrity who cares more about herself than the larger good of the production.” She let her phone arm fall to her side as she straightened. “Go back to Hollywood, little girl. Let us handle the hard stuff.”

With that, Evelyn strolled back to the rehearsal set, leaving Carly clutching the wall and reeling. No, she wasn’t just clutching and reeling. She was also crying. Tears had pooled in Carly’s eyes, which mortified her no end. Only six-year-olds cried, and she would not let Evelyn see the effect of her words.

“And we’re back, everyone,” Lauren announced to the company. Carly stayed right where she was, still in the room, but removed from the action. “Carly, you all set?” Lauren asked in a quieter tone.

Carly didn’t move. She couldn’t, out of sheer humiliation. She wiped the tears that now stained her cheeks, but she wasn’t making much progress in shutting down the waterworks. This was awful.