You Were Never That Important Chapter 03
“Tyrone Allerton.”
Konner frowned, chewing on it for a second before shaking his head. “Doesn’t ring a bell. Is he new?”
“No, he’s been at it for almost eight years, mostly heavy dramas.
“He doesn’t do reality TV or pull PR stunts, so he doesn’t have some massive following. But he’s brilliant. Honestly, his look and vibe fit the part two lead way better than Raiden ever did.”
I looked him dead in the eye, keeping my tone firm. “He’s got crazy range. He can absolutely nailed this role.”
Konner thought it over, drumming his fingers on the desk. Finally, he looked up. “You got his number? Call him. Right now. See if he’s available and willing to jump in at the eleventh hour.”
I nodded, pulled up Tyrone on WhatsApp, and hit call.
He answered on the second ring. His voice was deep and polite, with that slight gravel of someone who’d just woken up.
I gave him the short version of the situation. The line went dead quiet for a second before he gave a clear, firm answer, “Okay.”
Tyrone booked the earliest flight out that same afternoon.
He touched down at eight o’clock that night. Instead of heading to his hotel, he dropped his bags and came straight to set to read for us.
Konner had him read for two major scenes from part two.
When it was over, Konner just stood there, totally frozen. He didn’t say a word for a long minute.
“His acting…”
Konner muttered, looking shell-shocked but thrilled. “He’s leagues better than Raiden. This guy is a real actor.”
I stood off to the side, watching Tyrone on the monitor. I couldn’t help but smile, completely unsurprised.
Raiden had built his entire career on internet clout, riding the wave of trendy web series. He just played himself in every project; he had no idea how to actually disappear into a character.
Tyrone was a different breed. He did the homework. He dug into his roles, actually understood the characters, and made you believe he was the guy on the page.
Working with the exact same lines and camera setups, he stepped onto the mark and instantly elevated the whole scene.
Konner made the call right then and there. “He’s the one. Tyrone is our lead for part two.”
We’d originally scheduled part two around Raiden, and the crew had already finished most of the builds.
With Raiden gone, we had to rework all of his scenes.
We also had to bump up the start date, which meant everyone pulling overtime to make up for the lost days.
Despite the grind, nobody on the crew complained.
Konner’s team had poured everything they had into this show for over six months, and the entire staff had built this thing from the ground up.
Raiden might not have given a davn about the project, but we did.
At one in the morning, I finally wrapped up filming for the day and dragged myself back to my hotel room.
I didn’t even have the energy to take off my makeup. I just collapsed onto the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling, completely wiped out.
A buzz from my phone cut through the quiet.
I fumbled around for it and squinted at the screen. It was a WhatsApp message from Cierra.
She was Raiden’s girlfriend, an old college classmate of mine, and a bitter rival who had fought me tooth and nail on everything.
Back in school, whenever we auditioned for the same parts, I’d book them, and she’d get cut.
I scored scholarships, while she always fell just short of the mark.
I signed with a legit talent agency, whereas she only managed to scrape together background gigs on minor productions. Eventually, she gave up on acting altogether to become an influencer.
She carried a lot of bad blood over all of it. Convinced that I outshone her at every turn, she was desperate to prove she had the upper hand somewhere.
Now, by dating Raiden, she finally felt like she’d won.
Her message was infuriating, “How are things holding up, Vivien? You can’t keep filming the show without Raiden, can you?
“I told you you’d never make it without him. Season two is definitely canceled.”
Just like that, my exhaustion vanished, hijacked by pure irritation.
I shot back a quick reply, “Yeah, you’re incredible. You don’t have what it takes to succeed on your own merits, so you have to latch onto a guy to feel important.”
She typed back instantly, the smugness practically radiating off the screen, “Why are you acting so arrogant? I know you’ve got a thing for Raiden, too. You must be dying of jealousy seeing us together.
“You aren’t as pretty as me, and you clearly don’t know how to keep a man happy. You only feel superior because of your acting career, but now you don’t even have a show to shoot. What do you have left?”
I almost laughed out loud.
Me, crushing on Raiden?