The End

Chapter 22: Hiatus

Their intimacy had bloomed on the brink of separation. Hiatus was here and they would be apart for months. On one hand Ellen knew it was a needed break. It was like a cold shower to the heat building between them. On the other hand, her body was literally aching for him.

In that ache she was facing demons she didn't know she had. Was this more than just good chemistry and great sex? He seemed to haunt her, mind, body, soul. The possibility that she had feelings for her co-star made her want to throw up.

Ellen had spent most of her life building a wall. The feelings she would allow were feelings she could control. People she could control, people she could predict. There wasn't room for surprises, surprises meant pain, heartbreak. She didn't have time for that kind of vulnerability.

Patrick was everything Ellen tried to avoid. He was moody and overly passionate. He was sensitive and dramatic. In a strange way he was a live wire that needed grounding. She couldn't be that for him. The voltage was too high, the risk, too much. She knew the type of people that needed grounding all too well.

These were promises she had made to herself. Promises she could feel herself breaking. It had been over a year and she was inching closer and closer to the live wire as it danced wildly in front of her. The energy was intoxicating. He was intoxicating. Chemistry had turned into intimacy and intimacy was speeding toward love.

Her cold shower and self loathing was in full swing when her manager called with her summer hiatus schedule. He warmed it quickly with a summer itinerary full of events with Patrick. It was a daunting thought, seeing him outside of work, in the heat of the summer. She had absolutely no idea what that would mean for them but she was about to find out.

Ellen pulled into the driveway of the house NY & CO had rented for the photoshoot. The sun was beating against her bare shoulders. Her stomach fluttering with an unnecessary nervousness. The roar of his engine pulling in the driveway behind her dropped in her already anxious nerves. With an intentional exhale she turned to find his eyes watching her.

"Hi," he said softly with a smile of relief. The black baseball cap on his head casting a little shadow on her face. Both somehow making him more attractive. Suddenly Ellen wasn't sure if the sun had gotten hotter or if she was flushed.

"Hey," she said back and waiting at the edge of the sidewalk for him. Patrick quickly paced towards her. He leaned in to kiss her cheek and wrap his arm around her.

"So much for our hiatus," Ellen sighed.

"Wow," Patrick feigned offense, "I missed you too."

"It's been like a week," Ellen rolled her eyes.

"Eleven days," he smiled, "but whose counting..."

There was a twinkle of realization in Ellen's eye. She wasn't the only one aching. "There is something wrong with you." She let herself linger on his eyes for a time before she began to say "What..."

"Patrick, Ellen," the photoshoot coordinator popped out of the front door interrupting them. "I didn't realize you were here."

"We just got here," Ellen smiled uncomfortably.

"Great," she nodded and walked them in the door. "Ellen your dressing room is over there and Patrick they have you set up on the other side."

They nodded and headed in opposite directions. Just as she got to the door of her dressing room she turned back to look at him. She instantly found his eyes looking at her too. The seemed to twinkle together.