Love Unscripted

  I knew Ryan cared, but he was also getting a bit controlling.

  “Yeah, there was a driver waiting,” I whispered. I heard Kyle chuckle. “Everything is fine.”

  “You don’t sound fine!” he pressed. “What’s wrong?”

  My love knew me well enough to call me out on a lie. “Nothing. My sinuses hurt - must be from the flight. How about I call you when I get dropped off at home? Is that okay? Then we can talk.”

  Kyle started laughing out loud when I snapped my cell phone shut. “Mr. Christensen checking up on you?” he teased.

  I gave him a dirty look. “He’s concerned, that’s all. Besides, he cares enough to make sure I’m taken care of.”

  “Sounds to me like he’s getting a little possessive!”

  “Maybe he feels that I’m worth possessing!” I fired back.

  Kyle fidgeted in his seat. “Yeah, he’s right. I can’t fault him for that one.”

  He drove down the alley, stopping by the back doors of my building. For the first time in a long time there were no paparazzi, no fans, no one near my doors. The relief I felt was refreshing. Kyle carried my suitcase into the hallway; there was no way I’d allow him in the apartment.

  “Thanks, but I can carry it. Please just set it down.” I rubbed my cheek again. My face was starting to hurt for some reason. “Thank you for the ride home.”

  “Yeah, sure - no problem. Ahh, so, are you going to be open tonight?” Kyle asked.

  “Yes. That’s why I came home. I still have a business to run.” I looked at my watch, noting that I had three hours to rest before starting another long night behind the bar.

  I walked him out into the alley, hoping to send him on his way quicker. Kyle pushed the trunk of his car closed and smiled.

  He held his arms open, silently asking for a hug goodbye. My body responded without me even thinking about it, dragging me unconsciously into the danger zone.

  “It was nice seeing you again.” He grinned, locking his eyes on mine. “I’ll see you soon.”

  I towed my suitcase into the bedroom and dropped everything, including my coat, on the floor. Our bed looked so soft and inviting and the desire to lay down for a few minutes was overwhelming. I snuggled up on my pillow and pulled Ryan’s pillow to my chest, catching his familiar scent and wishing he was lying next to me. I’ll just close my eyes for a minute…

  My head sprang off the pillow when I heard my cell phone.

  “Taryn! What’s going on?” Ryan shouted. “Where are you?”

  “Shit! What time is it?” I looked over at my clock. It was quarter of four. I sat up quickly; my head felt like it weighed forty pounds and my throat burned. “I fell asleep on our bed,” I murmured. “I’m sorry I didn’t call.”

  He was irritated. “You couldn’t call me quick before you laid down?”

  “I said I’m sorry,” I repeated forcefully through my sore throat. “I think I’m getting a cold. My nose is all blocked up. I feel awful.”

  “You sound sick, Honey. I’m sorry. I was just worried.”

  “I have fifteen minutes to pull myself together before I have to open,” I groaned. That’s when my sneezing fit started.

  Marie was already behind the bar when I went downstairs. Cory came in a few moments later. Both of them would be working Friday night; I had a band scheduled to play. Marie’s grin twisted to a concerned stare when she spotted the wad of tissues in my hand. I wasn’t in the bar for more than a few minutes before she turned me by the shoulders and sent me packing for my apartment.

  “I’ll wait to hear about your trip when you’re not contagious. We got this,” she insisted. “Cory and I will be all right. Go, and take your germs with you!”

  I curled up on my couch with a box of tissues and my quilt and drifted back to sleep.

  I woke up when the band started playing down in the pub. The reverb from the sound system made my pictures vibrate on the wall.

  “How are things going?” I asked Marie. It hurt to swallow. I looked around at the crowd in the pub. Pete waved to me from his stool by the front door.

  Her eyes stealthily slid back and forth. “Kyle is in the poolroom shooting pool,” she informed. “What the heck is he doing here? He already asked for you once!”

  I rubbed my face with both of my hands. “He drove me home from the airport.”

  “What?” she yelled. “How the hell did that happen?”

  “He saw the pick-up assignment and volunteered. I’m in so much trouble.”

  She looked at me, trying to ascertain why I thought I was in trouble.

  “I didn’t tell Ryan… yet. He’s going to be so pissed.”

  “Did something happen between you two? I mean, you and Kyle?” she corrected.

  “No, there’s nothing going on.” I looked over my shoulder to see if I could spot him in the poolroom. Our eyes accidentally made contact and I watched him set his pool stick up against the wall and head in my direction.

  “Hey Taryn! What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Kyle asked.

  I shook my head. “No, I have a cold.”

  Other thoughts ran through my head, like how much I wished Ryan was here so I didn’t have to try and explain all of this over a cell phone. The crowd in the bar was definitely manageable but I started washing dirty drink glasses anyway. Cory looked at me like I was crazy – little did he know I was using it as an excuse to get away from gorgeous Kyle.

  “Boss, what are you doing?” Cory grumbled, dropping the bottle of house whiskey back in the tray.

  Marie grabbed my arm and hauled me away from the sink. “Go back upstairs. This is all under control. You’re sick. You need to go rest!” she ordered, loud enough for Kyle to hear.

  Kyle waved his fingers in the air to say goodbye but I ignored him and kept on walking. The way I felt was odd. Kyle was a professional bodyguard; his presence should have made me feel safe and secure but instead I felt the complete opposite of that. His presence around me was surprisingly dangerous.

  It was almost noon on Saturday when my doorbell rang, rousing me from my comfortable resting spot on the couch. I pulled my hair back in a hair tie and grabbed a few tissues along my way.

  Kyle was standing in my alley with a large, brown paper bag in his arms. “Hey, how are you feeling?” he asked.

  Oh, God, why are you torturing me?

  “Worse, actually,” I squeaked.

  He held out the grocery bag. “I got you some supplies,” he said happily. “Thought you might need some of this stuff.”

  He followed me up to my apartment and set the bag on my coffee table.

  “Tissues, nighttime cold medicine, daytime cold medicine, cough drops, and a whole container of chicken noodle soup from my favorite corner deli.” He pulled each item out of the bag. “Oh, and some crackers.”

  “Thanks, but you shouldn’t have,” I muttered. Little did he know how many facets that one statement had. I knew for a fact that he had to drive over an hour to get here. It wasn’t like Kyle lived right up the street or anything. He was definitely going out of his way to see me.

  “Would you like some soup now?” he asked, testing the temperature of the container with his hand. “It’s still slightly warm.”

  I nodded and started to stand up. Some hot soup sounded appealing for my sore throat.

  “Sit down!” he insisted. “I’m pretty sure I can figure out how to use your microwave.”

  My eyes traveled to watch his incredible body and his nice ass walk towards my kitchen. I covered my eyes and rubbed my face to banish the thoughts. I had to get him out of my apartment – as soon as possible. Then another thought flashed through my mind. This wasn’t just my apartment anymore. This apartment was a home that I chose to share with Ryan; a home where we were living together in happiness and where no other man should be standing.

  “Careful, it may be too hot now,” Kyle cautioned, handing a mug of soup to me.

  “Thanks,” my voice strained as I set the cup down on the table. ??
?Kyle? I appreciate all of this, but why… why are you here?”

  “What, we’re not allowed to be friends?” he quickly replied.

  I thought about his question for a moment and replied with one of my own. “If your girlfriend was traveling out of town for work, do you think she’d appreciate another woman being in her home while she was gone?”

  “What does that have to do with us being friends?” he countered.

  As sick as I felt, I still wasn’t falling for his bullshit. “I don’t think you’re here because you want to just be friends.”

  “You think I have some ulterior motive?” Kyle questioned my glare.

  “Please!” I squeaked. “You’re a man; you have a pulse. Don’t question my intelligence.” I wiped my snotty nose with a tissue, hoping that would discourage his thoughts even more.

  “All right. To tell you the truth, when I saw that you were flying home alone I thought that maybe you and pretty boy broke up. I mean, you’ve got to admit that being with him definitely has its drawbacks!”

  His little dig on Ryan really irritated me.

  “Oh, and I suppose things would be a lot better for me if I was dating someone else? Someone like you perhaps?” I hoped my tone was sarcastic enough.

  “Your life would be a hell of a lot more private, that’s for sure! No cameras, no photographers, no fanatics.” He tossed a pack of crackers over to me.

  “Wait. Let me see if I got this straight. So instead of being with someone like Ryan, who is trying to do everything possible to shield me from danger, you’re saying I’d be better off with someone like you, who willingly risks his own life every day to put himself in front of danger to protect complete strangers. Is that right?”

  He looked away and then a little cocky smile appeared on his lips. “You’ve at least thought about it. That’s a good start. And I would protect you a hell of a lot better than he would. Besides, being with me doesn’t come with risk.”

  “Don’t be so sure of yourself. You are the one who’s forcing me to compare the two of you. And to tell you the truth, there is no comparison.” I got up from the couch, irritated now by his presence.

  “Kyle, I appreciate the soup and the kindness, but we can’t be friends.”

  He crossed his foot up on his knee, getting even more comfortable in the chair. “Why not?”

  “Because you don’t want just a friendship!” I scornfully stated the obvious. “Kyle, I love Ryan. I have committed my heart to him.” I picked up Kyle’s coat. “I’m sorry, but I think it’s time for you to leave now.”

  “That’s a shame. You’ll never know what could have been.” I noticed he didn’t even attempt to get up. “You’re not married to the guy, and I don’t see a ring on your finger, so the way I see it, you’re still available.”

  “Available? Did you not just hear what I said?” I was no longer just irritated; I was starting to get angry now.

  “I heard you,” he muttered. “I also know that it won’t be long before he screws up and cheats on you. They all do eventually. He’s not the first actor I’ve had to watch over. You’d be surprised to know the great lengths they go through to keep their little affairs hidden. Even the married ones screw around.”

  “Oh and I suppose if I was dating you, you’d be totally different from that. You’d never cheat on me.” I laughed mockingly.

  “No, I wouldn’t. And if you were with me, I’d only take local assignments so I wouldn’t have to travel and be away from you,” he continued. “There would be no reason for you to ever doubt me.”

  “I have no reason to doubt Ryan either. You’re a man, he’s a man; either it’s in your nature to cheat or it’s not.” My throat felt like I’d been swallowing razorblades and I was starting to run a fever again. It was time for him to go.

  “And I can tell you, Kyle, that it’s not in my nature to cheat either. I love Ryan. That’s all you need to know. Now if you don’t mind, I’d really like to rest.” I shook his coat in my hand so he’d get the message.

  He stopped to look at me before taking his coat from my hand. “I’ll be watching and waiting. You’re an intelligent woman. You’ll come to your senses soon enough.”

  His assuredness was getting a bit creepy.

  I was glad when he finally left. I watched him walk halfway down the alley to make sure he was leaving before locking up and setting the alarm.

  Back in my apartment, I picked up my cell and hit the first entry in my phone book. It was time to come clean with Ryan.

  By Monday my cold had morphed into something altogether more atrocious and wicked. The pain in my sinuses and chest was almost unbearable and I could not stop coughing. My ribs and stomach muscles hurt badly from all the hacking and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. Marie helped me into her car which was parked by the back door. I was relieved just knowing I would be seeing a doctor today.

  “I told Ryan about Kyle,” I whispered between coughing up lung tissue.

  She looked at me, waiting for my further explanation.

  “He was livid.” I wiped my nose. “But then after he calmed down he was glad that I told him. He doesn’t know everything though. I spared him some of the details.”

  “What details?” she asked, patting me on the back as I coughed severely.

  I shrugged, not knowing how to say it. “Kyle pretty much said that I’d be better off with him instead of being with Ryan.”

  “No! He didn’t! What the hell else did he say?”

  “He said I should consider dating him instead. He’d be better for me. He also brought me soup.” I coughed out my last words.

  “Soup?” She laughed. “Oh, he’s good! What did you say to him then?”

  “I told him I love Ryan and that he should leave. He sort of worried me a bit at the end. Like he didn’t want to take ‘no’ for an answer.”

  Marie stayed in the waiting room while I went in to see my doctor. He informed me that I had a sinus infection and bronchitis. For as terrible as I felt, I was wondering if there weren’t a few other lung infection terms missing from his diagnosis.

  We stopped at the local pharmacy where I got a multitude of antibiotics, nasal spray, and an inhaler. I mistakenly glanced over the front of Celebrity Weekly while standing in line at the checkout. The cover of the magazine had a by-line that stated distance was tearing Ryan and me apart. He just left for Scotland this morning; how could we be split apart already?

  “Why are you buying that shit?” Marie scowled. “As if you aren’t in bad enough shape already, you need to torment yourself more?”

  “I’m not buying it.” I coughed violently into my sleeve. “I hate the media. Why do they do this?” I showed her the cover.

  I had no intentions to spend even a penny on that crap. It was lies like these that enticed people to buy the garbage in the first place. And every time someone bought one of those magazines, it allowed some idiot to keep his job as a purveyor of lies and gave another idiot incentive to exist as an intruding photographer. Every dime spent on those rag magazines perpetuated the nonsense.

  That’s when Marie informed me that a photographer approached her the other day and offered her two thousand dollars if she’d get him pictures of the inside of my apartment. These leeches were now going after my friends. Of course Marie declined, but it was apparent that the magazines wanted to get their hands on actual photos of our “love nest” as they put it. Now I was even more paranoid about having anyone in my apartment.

  Ryan called me every day while he was in Scotland, even if it was for only five minutes. He tried to describe the landscape and architecture so I could visualize the experience he was having; he even sent me a few cell phone pictures, but I still wished I was there with him to experience it firsthand.

  It didn’t take long for pictures of the cast in Scotland to surface on the Internet. Ryan’s fan site was quite reliable with the latest selection of candid photos. Tongues around the globe were sent wagging once the photos of Ryan and
Suzanne’s “love scene” were leaked. Even Kat called me to make sure I wasn’t going to go ballistic from seeing the scandalous photos.

  For some reason the lies about Ryan and Suzanne’s rekindled romance didn’t bother me as much as it did when I first met him. I guess I knew both of them well enough to know that Ryan didn’t have any romantic feelings for her despite how often his lips had to touch hers. I knew Ryan harbored deep resentment for Suzanne and her antics. She had wronged him too many times in the past for him to ever let go of his grudge, let alone ever love her.

  I did however worry about Suzanne. Many of the little stunts she pulled all pointed to her being madly in love with him. I was onto her little game; after all I too was once young and foolish. She didn’t try to break us up for Francesca’s benefit – I was wrong with that assumption. Her comments and evil tongue only had one beneficiary. She had made additional comments after her little failed tryst with Ryan’s friend Scott, indicating that she had hoped that if his friends thought she was good enough to sleep with that maybe he might feel the same way. Unfortunately, her actions had the opposite affect on Ryan.

  The media sure had fun with all these rumors and lies. According to the reports, Ryan was back with Suzanne, Suzanne reportedly told me to stay away from her man, our relationship was over, and I was having a secret affair with my former bodyguard behind Ryan’s back. It was beyond ridiculous.

  “You feeling up to getting out of the house today?” Marie asked, interrupting my private viewing of several old Ryan Christensen interviews on the computer. I clicked the video pause button and gave her a bit more of my attention. I’d been holed up in my apartment for an entire week.

  “Tammy wants to take us to lunch. We have to stop at the jewelry store and then we need to go look at bridesmaid dresses,” she rambled through the telephone.

  I was feeling a lot better and getting out into the fresh air did sound appealing. I was also hoping to squash some of the new worries that mysteriously cropped up in my brain.

  Marie and Tammy had been acting, I don’t know - strange towards me for the last couple of days. I couldn’t pinpoint the specifics; I could just sense it. Maybe it was the new way they both awkwardly smiled at me that caused me to feel weird?