Behind The Limelight 02: Those Goddamn Eyes

Ashton was ambitious.

He did not just dream, he made goals. And when he set his mind to something, he wouldn’t stop at anything until he reached whatever he wanted. Right now, what Ashton wanted was to revive his dying career. He wanted to be in the limelight again, to have people screaming his name and making lines outside movie theatres to watch him.

A couple of bad movie choices almost killed his career, but he knew this Erick Tate film would be huge. So what if he had to work beside Ryker? He was an actor, for crying out loud, he could pretend to get along with him as long as the means justified the end.

“You good?” Malcolm asked. They were both in the car, on their way to the first script reading.

“Why won’t I be?” Ashton questioned back, his face devoid of any emotion whatsoever.

“Because you’re going to see Ryker after years?” Malcolm deadpanned, he wasn’t buying any of Ashton’s unemotional bullshit. He was aware of their history, well, at least some of it.

“So? I’m a grown man. I can keep my personal feelings side for the sake of my job,” Ashton answered.

“But after what happened at that award show, do you-“

“Can we not bring that up?” Ashton cut off his agent, looking irritated now.

“Right, my bad,” Malcolm muttered. “Keep your calm when we’re at the reading too, okay? We cannot risk you getting fired.”

“You don’t have to tell me how to do my job, Malcolm,” Ashton retorted. “It was a bad night. It’s not like I have anger management issues.”

“It is my job to tell you how to do your job,” Malcolm replied.

Ashton sighed, but did not say anything in return as silence took over them for the rest of the ride. It took them another thirty minutes to reach their destination, and all that while Ashton kept repeating in his head that everything was going to go smoothly.

He was going to pretend as if he had no history with Ryker, that he was simply just a new actor he was going to have to work with. Maybe if he repeated this to himself enough times then he would actually come to believe that it was true.

Ashton felt the first wave of nervousness hit him as he got out of the car. It grew more when he stepped foot inside the building, and by the time he reached the room where the reading was going to be held…his heartbeat had shot up.

He took a deep breath in. He had done this a million times. He could do this again. Ryker being there was not going to change anything. He was a good, no, he was a great actor, and this was finally his big break to prove himself. To prove that he was worthy of the Archer name.

“Ashton Archer! About time you joined us!”

Ashton put on his million dollar smile, a persona he had spent years perfecting, as he shook Erick Tate’s hand who was the first one to greet him.

“Excited to be here, I can’t wait to start working with you, Mr. Tate,” Ashton spoke.

“Just Erick is fine,” the director waved his hand dismissively. He was in his late forties, shorter than Ashton by half a foot with a bald spot shining through. But his appearance did not matter in the slightest, he had made a massive name for himself in the industry and it was nothing but a dream to work with him.

“Erick it is.”

“Come, I’ll introduce you to everyone,” said Erick.

Ashton did not want his eyes to wander. He did not want to look at Ryker until he absolutely had to, so he controlled himself as he shook hands with the various other actors that Erick introduced him to. A couple of them he had already worked with, but most of them were strangers to him.

“This is the lovely Tabitha Campbell, the female lead as you may already be aware.”

Ashton flashed another charming smile as he shook Tabitha’s hand. She was absolutely stunning. He had seen the African-American actress before, both in movies and in person during award shows and parties, but never had the opportunity to speak with her. Her dark eyes and hair were the same shade, her cheekbones high and defined, and her lips painted red.

“And you already know the other male lead, Ryker Cohen,” Erick said, his tone calculated.

Ashton gulped as he finally turned to face the man he never wanted to see again in his life. Despite not wanting to touch him with a ten foot pole, he raised his arm forward for the other actor to shake. Ryker glanced down at Ashton’s hand, as if a little surprised at the civility.

Ryker looked the same as he did when Ashton saw him last. His dark brown hair was chopped short and neat, his brown eyes had a light that Ashton always wished his did too. His golden brown skin was free of any blemishes whatsoever, which was another thing that Ashton hated. He had to use a layer of make-up to hide his freckles on screen, use a ton of gel to style his hair and do his skin scare every night before bed.

But Ryker? He could wake up from three hours of sleep after a long night of partying and still look absolutely camera ready.

Their eyes remained fixed on each other as Ryker finally shook his hand. His expression did not give away what he was thinking, one more point in the long list of things that Ashton despised about him. He could never read Ryker, but with the way that Ryker was looking at him, it seemed like he could read Ashton’s mind with ease.

Their handshake lasted longer than anybody else’s, and Ashton knew that all the eyes in the room were on them. Waiting to see what was going to happen, for any kind of reaction from either of them. But there was nothing, not even a single word was said by the two men as they finally pulled away.

Ashton did not know whether it was done on purpose, it probably was, but his chair was the one right opposite to Ryker’s. As they all got seated, everytime he raised his head, his blue eyes would meet those brown ones. And weirdly enough, it seemed like whenever Ashton glanced at Ryker, the other man was already looking at him.

That made Ashton uneasy. He was used to being stared at, it was part of the job. And he usually fed off of the attention, he loved it. But when it was Ryker… Ashton could not help but shift uncomfortably in his chair.

“Let’s begin, shall we?”

The reading took hours. After a point Ashton made sure not to look at Ryker, he would look anywhere in the room except him, but all that while he could feel Ryker’s eyes on him.

Why won’t he look away? Ashton thought to himself. Does he know how fucking uncomfortable he makes me?

But Ashton did not give any reaction to it whatsoever. Being an actor had some perks, at least. He knew how to put up a façade.

When it was time for their first break, Ashton excused himself to go get some fresh air. He went outside the building from the backdoor, leaning against the wall as he put on his earphones. He closed his eyes and played one of the affirmation videos that helped him relax.

He felt somebody stand next to him, but he did not open his eyes. It was probably Malcolm, there to annoy him and ask him how the reading was going.

“Mal, you know not to disturb me when-” Ashton stopped talking once he opened his eyes to see Ryker standing there, and not his agent. “Oh. You.”

“Hi Ash,” Ryker said. “It’s been a while.”

“Not long enough,” Ashton muttered, looking away. Ryker let out a light chuckle, shaking his head gently as he leaned against the wall next to Ashton. Their shoulders touched, making Ashton flinch as he moved aside.

“You know we need to try and get along if we want this to work, right?” Ryker spoke. “Fighting will complicate everything and I don’t know about you but I don’t want Erick firing me.”

“We don’t need to get along to do this, we just need to be professional and focus on acting. That’s it. Just because we have to work together doesn’t mean we need to like each other,” Ashton replied.

“We used to like each other,” Ryker stated.

“That was a long time ago,” Ashton retorted. “We’re not the same people anymore.”

“I’m trying to extend the olive branch here, Ash,” Ryker said with a sigh. “Do you really hate me so much that you can’t even think about moving past it?”

“Yes,” Ashton’s response was short and curt.

“Wow,” Ryker scoffed. “You’ve still got an ego the size of the sun.”

“Yeah, yeah, fuck you too,” Ashton mumbled. “You done now? Because I’d like to be alone.”

“You can’t even talk to me for five minutes?”

“Not if I don’t need to.”

Ryker frowned, he turned his body around so that he was facing Ashton. Ashton glanced at him for a brief second before looking away. He hadn’t been this close to Ryker in… he could not even remember how long. It felt weird. He was uneasy and nervous, but he did not want to move away.

Ashton’s jaw tightened as he turned to Ryker, staring right into his eyes with the same intensity as the other man. If Ryker wanted to play, then Ashton would beat him in his own game. Ashton was not going to show the effect that Ryker had on him, he was not going to appear weak.

Ashton’s throat felt dry. He subconsciously licked his lower lip, and on cue, as if it was a reflex, Ryker’s eyes fell down to Ashton’s lips. But instead of looking back up or looking away, they stayed there for longer than they should have.

Ashton furrowed his brows, before taking a step back and breaking Ryker out of his trance. Ryker looked back up at Ashton as he cleared his throat.

“I think we should head back now.”

***

Just wanted to say that if anyone has skipped the prologue then I would strongly suggest reading it as it gives a good insight into their relationship!