Complete the embarrassed actor's apology note to the director by choosing the correct verb for each blank.

I completely ruined the finale! Before my grand entrance, I had been enjoying a rather messy taco in the dressing room for a solid twenty minutes. When I finally noticed the stage manager shouting my name, I realized with horror that the villain had already delivered the final monologue without me.

Before my grand entrance, I had been enjoying a rather messy taco in the dressing room for a solid twenty minutes.

The Past Perfect Continuous (had been enjoying) emphasizes the duration of an ongoing action ("for a solid twenty minutes") that occurred before another event in the past (the grand entrance/noticing the manager).

When I finally noticed the stage manager shouting my name...

The Past Simple (noticed) is used for a single, completed action that interrupts the background timeline. Stative/perception verbs like notice are also rarely used in continuous forms.

...I realized with horror that the villain had already delivered the final monologue without me.

The Past Perfect Simple (had already delivered) shows that the monologue was fully completed before the actor's realization. The adverb "already" strongly triggers the perfect aspect here, and since the narrative is in the past, it must be Past Perfect, not Present Perfect (has already delivered).