Page 52 of Play Room Actor

“Just a bit,” the officer replied, and I expected him to give me a ticket. “But that’s not why we stopped you. One of your taillights seems to be out.”

“Really?”

“Can I see your ID?”

“Sure.” I searched for my wallet, but it wasn’t there. “Shit! Did I leave it behind?”

“Where do you think it is?”

“I was at my parents’ place; I must’ve left it there. Honestly, it wasn’t intentional.” I slammed my hand against my thigh. “Damn it!”

“Are you sure it’s there?”

I patted down my pockets and found my phone. To my surprise, Yaël had sent me a photo of my wallet. “I’ll bring it by later this week.”

Without saying a word, I showed the officer the screen. “Here it is. My sister has it.”

The officer, who looked to be around forty, surprisingly seemed to be in a good mood. My past encounters with cops had been different—ones I only vaguely remembered.

“So, where are you headed?” he asked.

“To Zurich.”

“You do realize you’re going the wrong way, right?”

I nodded and cracked my knuckles.

“Okay,” the officer said, then pointed at my motorcycle. “And get that light fixed.”

“I will,” I replied, feeling annoyed with myself. How could I not have noticed it? Me, the lighting designer.

The officer turned around and hopped back into his vehicle. Shaking my head, I sent Yaël a thumbs-up emoji to thank her for the info, then saw that Dominic had changed his profile picture. It was a new photo, bathed in red light, probably taken at Red.

The thought of him lifted my spirits, and I felt a yearning for the grumpy bear—although I had to admit he wasn’t acting as gruff with me as he had at the start. Without thinking much, I texted him.

“What are you up to?”

“Not much,” he replied right away.

“Don’t lie to me. I thought you had a packed schedule with planned activities?”

“Tonight’s all about chilling.”

“Can I chill with you?”

The three dots moved up and down until finally he sent a response.

“Can’t.”

“I need more than that, or I’m just coming over.”

“Nico’s here. We’re watching a movie.”

“What movie?”

“Batman.”

“Christian Bale or Ben Affleck?”