Gwen
After leaving Garrick, I snuck back to my room. Once there, I had an absolute melt down, bombarded by guilt at the brutal way I had left things. I’d hated being the cause of the hurt I’d seen on Garrick’s face. Only I’d had no choice. He didn’t understand that, but how could he when I hadn’t explained?
I had betrayed all my promises to my father by letting things get this far, and if I didn’t rectify things quickly, there was going to be hell to pay. Besides, the chances of anything serious developing between Garrick and me? Come on, it was ridiculous. He was interested in me now, but that would fade. Then what? My broken heart would just be the beginning.
I told myself I’d done the right thing, only why did I feel so horrible?
What if I’d made a mistake?
I fretted about it for a few hours, unable to fall back asleep. Finally, I showered, dressed, and threw myself into memorizing my lines for the next episode. While today was Friday, and the cast normally ran lines together, I’d tell Lyle I needed time alone to get into my character’s head. I’d hole up in my room. Maybe I’d even get a room at a different hotel altogether. Monday, we would continue filming Episode Three, as well as a few scenes on location for future reels. In a frenzy, I flipped through the pages of my script, searching for the next kiss between Payton and Lacey. Luckily, it didn’t occur for a few more episodes, and I would have time to cool down and put distance between myself and Garrick.
* * *
I ended up spending the weekend locked in my room and while I had indeed practiced my lines, I’d spent most of the time under the covers, alternately replaying my time with Garrick to either savor the memories or berate myself for my foolishness. By the time Monday morning rolled around, I felt drained and confused and still terribly tempted to run straight to Garrick and ask him to please forgive me for the way I’d run out on him. Instead, I put on my professional mask and ran lines with Erica and the girl playing Marisol, Lacey’s friend from her biology class, or rather the girl from biology class intent on making herself Lacey’s friend, who would be featured in a handful of episodes to come.
Throughout the morning, I did my best not to make eye contact with Garrick for fear that the longing look I returned would undoubtedly give me away.
Erica tried to bring up Thursday night, asking what went on after our chat at the bar. Apparently, the boys had mentioned that Garrick showed up in a rage, and that he and I had spoken for a while. I shook my head, assured her that nothing happened and returned to my meticulous combing of the script. I had little interest in small talk, even when lunch rolled around.
Erica went to get lemonade while I saved our table. I had only just sat down and dug my fork into my brown rice when Garrick and Shane appeared out of the corner of my eye. Inhaling deeply through my nose and swallowing a sharp pain of guilt and wistful desire, I prepared myself to talk to them.
“Nice one, Gwen,” Shane said with one of those boyish upwards nods, a click of his tongue, and a wink.
“I’ll say,” Garrick agreed.
I frowned up at them. “What are you talking about?”
“The picture,” Shane clarified.
Still confused, and thoroughly unamused, I jutted my chin out. “What picture?”
“Your nude,” Garrick replied.
My pulse flat lined. My body, instantly cold as ice, felt like it could explode in a billion different directions at once with the softest touch of a finger.
“Yeah.” Shane chuckled. “It’s gone viral on the net.”
“W—what?” I choked. My mind raced, scrambled, trying to piece together the implications of this. Had someone taken a photo of me changing at the photoshoot? Had someone taken a photo of us when we’d been together? The former seemed more plausible, as Garrick looked utterly calm about the whole thing, meaning he couldn’t be in it. Then again, with a guy like him, a nude could only help, not hinder his reputation.
In a panic, I whipped out my phone, turned it on, and started searching. What would my father say? Unable to control my emotional upheaval, having only just survived having sex and ending a potential relationship in a matter of days, tears sprang to my eyes. I did have enough sense to keep them carefully concealed from the guys though.
In my mad rush to pinpoint the scandal, I suddenly became aware of snickering. Blinking rapidly to force away the tears, I looked up to find Garrick and Shane in a fit of hysterical laughter.
“You should have seen your face!” Shane exclaimed.
“Priceless, man. Priceless,” Garrick chimed in.
Sick, angry, though admittedly relieved, I jumped to my feet, whirled away from them, and stalked out of the makeshift cafeteria, battling tears. How could he do a thing like that? Had he been trying to get back at me? Did he tell Shane about our evening together? Was that why they had concocted this vicious little plan?
Furiously wiping my cheek, I made a beeline for my trailer. I would be taking a long lunch break and Lyle would just have to deal. Otherwise, I couldn’t promise that Garrick wouldn’t soon be sporting another black eye.
Garrick
“Nice going, Smooth Operator,” droned an unimpressed voice from behind us. Shane and I turned around to see Tyler holding a tray of chicken and avocado salad in his hands, staring us down like the Devil himself.
“What?” Shane asked, his chuckles yet to taper off. “It was just a prank.”
“Just a prank, huh?” he asked, less than convinced and judging us with every emotionless blink. “Have you ever seen something spontaneously combust, Garrick?”
My brows knitted together. “No.”
“You almost did just now. I guess you somehow missed that she nearly burst into tears when you told her?”
I balked. “It was just a joke.”
“Yes, indeed,” Tyler added. “A joke that could trash her entire image and infuriate her father, and potentially get her yanked out of the business had it been true.”
“Her father?” I echoed.
“Yeah.
Mr. Universe
? Remember him? I expected this from Shane, but not from you.”
“Hey,” Shane whined. “What gives? I play tricks like this on my sisters all the time.”
“Your father isn’t Gwen’s.”
I blinked rapidly. “Did she tell you something?”
“No,” Tyler stated flatly “I just noticed the way she’s constantly checking her phone, responding to a certain text tone, always dressing in conservative clothing, and staying out of the tabloids. I thought this was common knowledge. She refuses to go out, and won’t be seen with you. She doesn’t have a boyfriend, and her dad is pretty hardcore from what I read online. There are even some rumors of abuse. I’m not sure if there is any stock to that. It could be vicious gossip from jealous neighbors. ”
“Abuse?” I sputtered. “You read up on her father?” I reiterated in disbelief. “When?”
“Somewhere between a MMRPG and the Sudoku championship. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have a salad to eat.” With that, Tyler pivoted on his heel and stalked off to another table to eat his greens in peace.
“Shit,” I breathed. “I fucked up. I just fucked up so bad. I have to go apologize.”
Even Shane looked sheepish as he rubbed the nape of his neck, eyeing me uncertainly. “Can I come?”
“Later,” I assured him. “I have to do this on my own. You didn’t know, and I completely, completely should have.”
“You can tell her it was my idea,” Shane offered, his hand dropping to his bicep.
With a sidelong smile, I shook my head and clapped him on the shoulder. “Thanks, man. But I’m just as much to blame. I’ll let you know when it’s safe to join.”
“I guess our objective was achieved,” Shane muttered, kicking at a pebble on the dusty ground.
“What do you mean?”
“We know a little more about her now.”
“Yeah. I suppose we do.” Spinning toward Gwen’s trailer, I trotted off after her.
Gwen
“Gwen!” Garrick’s voice called, along with the crunch of his Vans on the loose gravel.
“Go away,” I snapped coldly, ascending the steps to my trailer.
“Gwen, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think that through. I was so stupid. I promise I didn’t know about your dad.”
Shock scaled my spine. I whirled on him with a scowl of indignant accusation. “What do you mean by that?”
“Um, well…Tyler told me how strict your dad is. Even if he isn’t, I should have stopped and considered how this would affect you. I guess I was a little bitter about what happened this morning, and…” He pushed his hand back through his hair, brushing it out of his eyes. Sincerity shone through them, giving me pause. “I have no excuse. I really don’t. I’m sorry. It was stupid. I swear I’ll never hurt you that way again.”
I stared at him.
After a moment of silence, he took a step forward and reached for my hand. Instinctively, I recoiled.
A flash of hurt crossed his face. “Why don’t you want to explore what we have? Why did you spend the whole weekend hiding from me? I know you felt something when we were together. I saw it in your eyes. I felt it too. You have to believe me.”
“I do,” I whispered.
“So, why?” he repeated.
I sighed in defeat, lifting my hand to massage the bridge of my nose. “It’s not that I don’t want to explore what we have, Garrick. It’s about the risk of doing so.”
He set his jaw, filled his chest, and planted his foot on the first step of my trailer. “Take a risk on me. Let me prove to you that it’s worth it to stick your neck out once in a while, to dive into uncharted waters.”
“Like you did today,” I reminded, tilting my head and quirking my eyebrow, lips set in a grim line.
Obviously ashamed, he shook his head. “I’ll never do something that idiotic again.”
And somehow, I believed him. “I guess… it was kind of funny,” I said, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms. It would have been comical if my father hadn’t been borderline psychotic about the pristine repute of his only daughter. “It was Shane’s idea, wasn’t it?”
“What?” Garrick asked, guffawing. “You think I can’t come up with something as ingenious as that?”
“I have my doubts.”
He chuckled. So did I. “So…” he prompted. “About that risk.”
I drew in a deep breath. The prank, in spite of it being a prank, had actually significantly helped me see beyond my own fears. Confronted for the first time with what it would have been like to deal with scandal, I realized that it was something that, like the seasons, would pass.
My prudence and care to remain conservative assured me that any scandalous pictures would never come from my end, and would have to be completely the result of someone spying and overstepping their bounds as a photographer. My father wouldn’t have taken out his anger on me for that. He would have hunted down the perpetrator and gutted him or her like a fish.
Dating Garrick would certainly present a risk, but so long as we kept it between us, as he had been readily willing to agree to earlier that morning, things could be fairly safe. Besides, if I ever had the opportunity to have an intimate connection with Garrick again, how could I pass it up?
My eyes tracked over his handsome features as he seemed to wait with bated breath for my answer. Finally, I smiled and nodded. “Can I get that rain check you promised me?”
Garrick
The day I was finally able to take Gwen on the date came that Friday, the day after we started filming Episode Four of
Straightlaced
. We snuck away while the sound crew struck the set and the rest of the cast watched the editors fit the final frames into the reel. What Tyler said, the brief insertion about possible abuse, had been bothering the shit out of me, but I just didn’t know how to ask her. I was worried more than anything. I didn’t want to rush her, so I took her somewhere safe and open—somewhere she could escape, if she felt like she needed. Somewhere public, but quiet.
Taking Gwen’s hand, and Max’s car, we sped off to Starbucks, grabbed some coffee, and headed up to the overlook, the only place I could think to show Gwen that would not only give us privacy, but be beautiful as well. When we were almost there, Gwen turned to me. “So you said you can’t sing a lick, but I can’t imagine you not doing anything amazingly. How about singing me a few bars—just to prove you’re not being modest about the whole thing.”
I glanced at her, smiling at the teasing glint in her eye that matched her voice. “Sorry, no.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “That’s it? No? Come on, this is our first date.”
“That’s why I’m not going to sing. I don’t want it to be our last.”
“Please?”
“Nope,” I said with a grin. I reached out, grabbed her hand, and kissed her knuckles.
I could tell she liked the gesture. A lot. After giving a playful huff, she thankfully didn’t push the singing thing anymore. Thank God. Things were just looking up between us. I didn’t need to give her one more reason to see me as the lesser of our species…