Behind The Limelight 06: History Repeating

a/n: double update!! don’t forget to read chapter 5 before this

“I’ll just say bye to Tabitha, and then we can leave?” Eve said.

“Sure. I’ll meet you downstairs,” Ashton replied.

Eve leaned forward, she kissed Ashton’s cheek, her lips lingering there longer than normal as she kept a hand on his chest. She was smiling seductively as she stepped back, before winking at the fellow actor and turning around to go find the host.

Ashton watched her retreating figure, his eyes focused on her…assets as she left the room. Ashton grinned, already excited about spending the night with that devilishly beautiful woman.

As soon as she was out of sight, Ashton couldn’t help but tilt his head to see if Ryker was still there. He was. And he was staring holes into Ashton’s head as he took a sip of his beer. Ashton finally rose a questioning brow, as if asking the other man what was up. Ryker did nothing, he simply continued looking at Ashton with so much intensity that Ashton began to feel uncomfortable under the scrutinous gaze.

Fucking weirdo, Ashton thought in his head.

Ashton left the room, wanting to find a relatively quieter place to call his driver, and also his housekeeper to tell her to make sure his room was neat and clean as he was going to bring a visitor back home.

Ashton said bye to a few people that he ran into on the way, before leaving the penthouse. He was waiting in the lobby for Eve as he passed time on his phone, mindlessly scrolling through memes.

Ten minutes passed, and there was still no sign of her. Ashton waited another five, before frowning. He didn’t have her number so he couldn’t call her, which was why he decided to go back up to try and find her just in case she got caught up in something.

Ashton went back to the party, he ran into Tabitha and asked her if she had seen Eve. The actress told him that she had, and that Eve told her that she was leaving. Tabitha winked cheekily at Ashton, as if Eve had hinted to her about the reason for her early departure.

“Maybe she’s in the parking lot?” Tabitha suggested.

Ashton nodded. He did tell her he’d see her downstairs, but didn’t specify where. That made sense. He left the penthouse once again, he was walking towards the elevator when he passed the staircase. He heard noises…kissing sounds, to be exact. But he paid them no mind.

That was until…

“Oh, Ryker…”

Ashton stopped in his steps. That was Eve’s voice without a doubt. Ashton blinked, he didn’t know what to do. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. It couldn’t be them, right?

But he heard her voice again. Once again, moaning Ryker’s name.

He should’ve left. He should’ve gotten in the elevator and gone back home. But he didn’t. He wanted to be sure. He wanted to see it. So Ashton followed the voice, and lo and behold, Ryker and Eve were making out in the staircase.

Ryker had her pressed against the wall, his hand underneath her dress as he kissed her neck. Eve seemed to be having the time of her life as she dug her nails into Ryker’s clothed back.

Her eyes were closed, but the sound of the footsteps made her aware that someone had walked in on them.

She stared wide eyed at Ashton, shock clear on her face as she kept her hands on Ryker’s chest, not exactly pushing him away, but trying to create some distance.

“Ashton, I…I—” Eve stumbled on her words.

Ryker tilted his head back, there was lipstick smudged on his lips and his hair was messy. His eyes were dazed, and the top few buttons of his shirt were open. Ashton wasn’t looking at Eve. He didn’t give a shit about her. He was looking at Ryker.

Ashton felt his blood boil at the smug smirk on Ryker’s face. His fingers curled up in fists as the two men had a stare down. A part of Ashton wasn’t even surprised. This wasn’t the first time that Ryker had gone for the same girl as him, but for some reason Ashton thought all of that was behind them.

It clearly wasn’t, and Ashton felt a thousand emotions hit him at the same time.

Anger. Frustration. Hurt. But more than anything, he felt disappointed. Which was why his shoulders dropped, and the pissed off expression on his changed to a blank one.

“My bad. Carry on,” Ashton said.

He looked at Ryker for the last time, and a part of him felt like he saw a flash of guilt on the other man’s face. But it couldn’t be. He had probably just imagined it. Ryker knew what he was doing, and he was definitely not the type of person to regret it.

Ashton turned around and left the same way that he came in. He rushed to the elevator, quickly getting in and pressing the lobby button rapidly, as if it would make the doors close faster.

Ashton leaned back against the wall, digging his nails into his palm as he closed his eyes. He counted in his head, timing his breathing to make sure it wouldn’t go haywire like he knew it would. He was used to it. He was so used to it that he could tell beforehand whenever his body was going to start shutting down.

I’m so fucking stupid, Ashton thought to himself. Stupid for thinking that anyone would want him over Ryker. And even more so for thinking that Ryker had changed. He clearly hadn’t.

Ashton felt like he was on autopilot as he exited the elevator and walked out of the building. Thankfully, his driver was already waiting for him outside. He started driving as soon as Ashton was in, the actor searched for the pair of earphones he always kept in his car, before putting them on and playing one of his affirmation audios.

He closed his eyes. Focusing on the words and the calming music as he tapped his foot rapidly. He couldn’t let Ryker affect him. That man did not deserve to have this much power over him, and Ashton had to stop. He had to stop feeling bothered because of him. Stop feeling…anything because of him.

Eve wasn’t on his mind at all. It was just Ryker. The smugness on his face when he looked at Ashton after being ‘caught’, as if he was rubbing it in Ashton’s face that he was better than him. That sight was engrained in Ashton’s head no matter how much he tried to get it out. He just couldn’t forget it. It was what hurt him the most, even though it shouldn’t have.

At the very least, Ashton was proud of himself for not reacting impulsively. The truth was that he didn’t feel like shouting or punching Ryker. All he wanted to do was laugh in his face. He was proud of himself for not creating a scene and simply leaving. It was mature, and definitely not what he would have done a couple of years ago.

Ashton reached home. He made his way to his room and got into his bed without changing his clothes. He shut the lights, wanting to sleep as soon as possible and leave the events of the night behind him.

~~~

Ashton didn’t see Ryker again for the next couple of weeks. The shoot for their movie was going to start soon, and with every passing day he grew more and more anxious about having to face the other man. He had already decided that he was going to pretend like nothing had happened, and that everything was normal.

He wasn’t going to let Ryker bring out the worst in him again, he was going to show that he was the bigger man. That he couldn’t care less about what his fellow actor had done.

Erick Tate, the director, was hosting a dinner the night before the shoot. Ashton dressed up in one of his best suits as he went to the high end restaurant where Erick had booked an entire floor. Everyone from the cast to the producers were going to be there, and for once Ashton prayed for the night to go smoothly without any drama.

His career was on line, and he wasn’t going to let some petty bullshit ruin it.

“Hi Ash,” Ryker greeted him once everyone got seated. As if the universe was against him, Ryker just had to choose the spot next to Ashton.

“Hey,” Ashton replied, putting on a sweet smile. It was fake. He knew it. Ryker knew it. But nobody else did. Ryker frowned, as if he was not expecting Ashton to act…nice.

“You look good,” Ryker complimented.

“Thank you,” Ashton said. He wanted to keep the conversation short and to the point.

“About that night—”

“I don’t think this is the right place for that conversation,” Ashton cut him off.

“Of course,” Ryker said with a quick nod. “After dinner, then? I really wanted to talk to you.”

“I don’t think there’s any need for that,” Ashton retorted. “I don’t really care about what happened. I hope you had a good night. Eve is a very charming woman and you’re a lucky man.”

“Right, yeah, but Ash I just need to—”

“Ryker…” Ashton sighed tiredly, finally turning to face the other man. He kept his voice low, not wanting anyone to overhear their conversation. “Just stop, okay? It doesn’t matter.”

“But we’re going to be working together so it does matter,” Ryker argued.

“No. It doesn’t. The only thing that matters is what happens on the set. We decided that we’re going to separate our personal lives from our professional ones and I meant it,” Ashton spoke.

“So you don’t…you don’t care about what I did?” Ryker asked. Ashton shrugged, seeming as nonchalant as ever.

“It doesn’t change how I feel about you,” Ashton answered, making Ryker furrow his brows in confusion.

“And how do you feel about me?” Ryker questioned. Ashton looked away, he stayed quiet for a moment as he took a sip of his water before facing Ryker again.

“I despise you. So much so that it disgusts me to even sit beside you and be so close to you. Your presence makes me feel like I have parasites crawling on my skin,” Ashton paused. “I only feel hate for you, Ryker Cohen. Nothing but hate.”

***