Behind The Limelight 08: Brunettes Or Blondes

“What?”

“I want you to…to…” Ryker trailed off.

“You want me to what?” Ashton asked, his voice angry.

“Nothing,” Ryker replied. “There’s no point in trying to talk to you when you aren’t willing to listen to me.”

“Yeah, right, ’cause I’m the one at fault here,” Ashton muttered.

Ryker parted his lips to respond but Ashton’s car pulled up before he could utter another word, ending their conversation. Ashton looked at Ryker one last time, and the other man was already staring at him. His face was a mix of emotions, unlike his usual aloofness.

Ashton turned around, making his exit and getting into his car. Ryker stayed frozen where he stood at the side of road, watching as Ashton drove away.

Ashton was fuming in his car. He hated the fact that even when he had decided that he wouldn’t be bothered by Ryker, the other man still held so much power over him to affect him like this. He kept telling himself that he would keep his hatred aside for the sake of his career, but it was proving to be more and more difficult with every encounter, and the shooting hadn’t even begun yet.

Ryker got on his nerves like nobody else in the entire world, and all he wanted was to be free of that.

~~~

“You can do this,” Ashton whispered to himself as he stood outside the set.

After coming back home last night, Ashton immediately went for a swim in his indoor pool. He wanted to clear his head, and he spent over an hour trying to do that before retiring to his bed. He barely got any sleep, which was evident by the bags under his eyes. The make-up artist was going to have their work cut out for them.

Ashton walked into the building, greeting everyone on the way. He maintained a smile on his face, albeit a fake one, but nobody seemed to know the difference. It seemed like Ryker wasn’t there yet, or at least Ashton could not see him, making the actor let out a sigh of relief.

Ashton was introduced to his make-up artist by the assistant director, Warren. Ashton was used to the process, he took his seat as the artist got to work. Ashton went over the script, re-reading the scene they were going to shoot. Tabitha was the next one to arrive, and she was immediately seated next to Ashton to get ready.

The two made small talk as their respective make-up artists worked. They were in the middle of a discussion regarding one of Tabitha’s old movies, when Ryker finally walked in.

“Hey you,” Tabitha said as she saw Ryker. He smiled back at her, before his eyes fell on Ashton.

Ashton wasn’t looking at him. He couldn’t. Last night’s events were still on his mind, so he had decided that he would ignore the fellow actor as much as he could. If there was no need of interacting with him, then Ashton wasn’t going to. Ryker didn’t make any effort either, not even making an attempt to greet the other man.

Tabitha was stuck between the two men, and if she was aware of the animosity then she wasn’t showing it as she made conversation with both of them, being her usually chirpy self.

“—so Eve told me you left her pretty high and dry at my party, huh Ryker?” Tabitha said with a soft chuckle.

“Oh,” Ryker was caught off-guard, and so was Ashton as he looked at Ryker for the first time in order to see his reaction. “Sorry about that.”

“You should apologize to her, not me,” Tabitha replied. “She was pretty disappointed. Apparently you told her you would call but didn’t.”

“I’ve been busy,” Ryker muttered, glancing at Ashton who was glaring at him before rolling his eyes, as if he wasn’t buying Ryker’s excuse.

“Fair enough,” Tabitha hummed. “Are you into her, though? She’s a good friend, I can try and arrange a date or something!”

“Uh,” Ryker paused. “I’m afraid not.”

“Oh,” the excitement on Tabitha’s face fell at the blunt answer, making her frown. “That’s a bummer, she’s a nice girl.”

“She must be,” Ryker muttered. “But I’m not looking to date. Besides, she’s not really my type.”

“What is your type then?”

“My type?” Ryker once again looked at Ashton, this time the other actor was facing away, acting as if he wasn’t listening though it was impossible not to, considering their proximity. “I don’t know.”

“Come on,” Tabitha urged. “Everyone has a type! Don’t be shy. Spill!”

“I like…” Ryker trailed off, still staring at Ashton. “Someone who’s passionate. Someone who’s kind and understanding. Someone that is fiesty too and isn’t afraid to say what’s on their mind and go after what they want. Someone that has a fire within them.”

“Damn,” Tabitha whistled lowly. “I was expecting more along the lines of whether you like brunettes or blondes, but this is a good answer too.”

“Don’t know about that but I’m a sucker for blue eyes,” Ryker added.

“Ooh, like Ashton’s?”

Ryker laughed awkwardly in response, and the conversation died down after that. Ryker was the first to be done with his make-up, despite being the last to arrive. All of them got dressed later, and it was finally time for the shoot to start.

Ashton had his game face on, the first scene was with him and Ryker and he had to mentally prep himself for that. The movie’s plot was about two best friends that fall for the same girl, and end up hating each other because of it. It felt ironic, in a way, and for the first time Ashton could relate to a character so much.

The scene they were going to shoot was of when the two were still friends, and Ashton took a deep breath in as he stepped on the set. This was the beginning of the most important movie of his life, and he had to give it his best, despite the circumstances.

“And action!”

~~~

Ashton sighed tiredly as he wiped his forehead. It was a long day and he was glad that it was finally over. But he loved it though. He loved the feel of being done with a shoot, especially a successful one. He was especially proud of himself for not letting his personal feelings come in between him and his work, and for working alongside Ryker as if everything between them was normal.

No matter how many times he wanted to roll his eyes or say something snarky between shots, he kept it all in. He acted exactly how Erick wanted them too, as if he and Ryker really were the best of friends.

“Good job today, kid,” Erick said as he patted Ashton’s shoulder. “Head home now and get some sleep. See you tomorrow.”

“See you. Goodnight,” Ashton replied with a smile, before making his way to his trailer.

Ashton removed his own make-up as he freshened up and changed into some comfortable clothes. He was humming, a smile on his face as he got ready to get back home. He exited his trailer and walked to the parking lot when he noticed that his car wasn’t there. He took his phone out of his pocket to notice that he had several missed calls from his driver a few minutes ago. He hadn’t even realized when his phone was vibrating.

He called him back, and his driver informed him that his car had a flat and he had taken it to the shop. He told one of Ashton’s other staff members, and someone was on their way to pick him up. But considering that the set was over an hour away from his house, and that traffic would be pretty bad at that time of the night, it might take a while.

Ashton cursed internally. He had a lot of qualities, but patience wasn’t one of them. He hated waiting, and he was really looking forward to reaching home and sleeping in his own bed after the tiring day he had.

“Everything okay?” Ryker asked, making Ashton flinch as he didn’t even notice when the other man walked up to him.

“Yeah,” Ashton muttered.

“You look pissed,” Ryker noted.

“My driver’s late,” Ashton finally answered.

“How late?” Ryker asked.

“Don’t know,” Ashton replied with a shrug. “Will probably take him an hour or two.”

“Damn,” Ryker said lowly. “Want a ride?”

“From you?” Ashton scoffed. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Come on,” Ryker sighed. “I know you hate me and shit, but a ride home isn’t going to kill you.”

“Who knows? Maybe you’ve got an axe in your trunk,” Ashton retorted.

“I have no interest in going to prison, so don’t worry, you’re safe with me,” Ryker said.

“I’ll wait in my trailer,” Ashton was adamant. He took his phone out before speaking up again. “You can leave.”

“You can accept help at times, you know? You don’t have to hate me any less to be in the same car as me,” Ryker added.

Ashton said nothing as he opened the maps app to check how far away his house was. He whispered a ‘fuck’ as he saw how bad the traffic was. He was going to have to wait for longer than he previously thought.

“Fine. Be here alone, then.” Ryker was about to walk away when Ashton called out for him.

“Wait!” Ashton spoke up. “I, uh, I…”

“Follow me,” Ryker muttered. Ashton nodded without a word as he walked behind Ryker, maintaing a good amount of distance.

After being at Ryker’s house, Ashton wasn’t very surprised to see when Ryker got into the driver’s seat. Of course, he drove on his own. Instinctively, Ashton was going to go for the backseat, but he bit his lower lip as he opened the passenger’s side door instead, finally getting in.

This was going to be a long car ride, and Ashton wasn’t ready for it.

***

oops, y’all really thought Ryker wouldn’t go back on what he said?