Lights, Camera, Kiss Me

Chapter 10: If You Hurt Her

✯Ryan✯

"Where's Mac?" It is the first question that pops out of my mouth when I finally reach the set on Wednesday morning. We will be shooting a scene with Brad and Jazz shortly, but I can't spot her anywhere.

I know she's avoiding me. After our one-off and the headline about her that broke on Sunday, Mac has had 'stay away from me' written all over her face. Guilt has forced me to respect her silent wish, but this isn't like her. She's never been late on set. In fact, I can't recall a time in the past when I've arrived before she did.

Jazz glances up from the script she's reading. "She got called into Blainesworth's office," she says.

"What? When?"

"Ten minutes ago," Brad answers, glaring at me. He looks furious.

My guilt-metre skyrockets. I hoped like hell that our executive producer wouldn't listen to the gossip, but knowing Mac's history, there's a possibility Blainesworth will be interested and concerned over the content of the article.

Brad clearly thinks so too. He pulled me aside during the barbecue on Sunday, telling me in no uncertain terms that if Mac ended up hurt through any involvement with me, it would be the end of our friendship. I know Brad cares about Mac, but still, it was a shitty conversation to have. Aside from my sister, Mac is the most important person in my life. Hurting her is the last thing I ever want to do. And Brad should know me well enough to understand that.

"You should have seen her face, Ryan," Jazz says. "It was awful."

"That would have meant Romeo actually had to be here on time," Brad says snidely.

After tossing and turning all night, I finally fell asleep around five am. It's the third morning in a row I've slept through my alarm. My head is a mess. My first on-set kiss with Mac is tomorrow, and with the way things are between us now, I can't stop worrying about it.

I've only been able to draw comfort from the fact that the article hadn't caught our executive producer's attention. But I can't even comfort myself with that anymore. Fear clutches at me as I think about all the things Blainesworth will say to Mac. I have to fix this.

I may not be able to go back in time and change the fact I'd been photographed with Mac on Friday night. I can, however, tell our producer that it was a misunderstanding and that there's no truth to the article published by a popular gossip magazine.

"I'll be back shortly," I say.

Brad's arm darts out to stop me.

"He doesn't want to see you, Romeo," Brad says. "Just Mac."

"Well, he's going to see me anyway," I shoot back at him.

"You go storming in there, and you'll only make everything worse. You'll give Blainesworth even more reason to be suspicious."

"I can't stand here and do nothing."

"Yes, you can. You've done enough already, don't you think?"

"Brad," Jazz says sharply. "There's nothing going on between them. Right, Ryan?"

Brad shakes his head. "If that's the truth, then why the hell is she in Blainesworth's office right now?"

"Mac was drunk. We all know she could barely stand by herself on Friday night," I say. "Someone took a photo and made a few accusations, and now it's all being blown out of proportion. And if you let me go right now, I can actually explain that to Blainesworth and stop this from going any further."

"One, Mac can say all that herself. Two, get your head out of the sand. It's not the photo he's going to want to talk to her about," Brad says angrily. "The last time she had a relationship with someone she worked with, it didn't work out so well. Or don't you remember that?"