Summer to Winter

Chapter Fifteen

Sy drove down the street hoping her ex didn't catch a glimpse of her driving past. She wished there was a way to avoid it, but since Henry's house was at the end of the dead-end road that Tim lived on, any time she needed to go to Henry's she would have that fear. She just hoped she didn't need to go to his house much for him. She had a few other things to help her stay stealth that night; It was dark, and she was driving Eric's SUV.

Eric was in Toronto filming a feature of his own. She had sold her car when she moved, so he insisted she drove his car so that it didn't just sit around in his driveway. When Eric broke up with his last girlfriend a couple of years before, it was around the same time that Syden's lease was up at her apartment. His house felt empty, so he asked Sy if she wanted to move in like old times. They were both always working, and she spent a lot of time at Tim's house anyway, so she knew they wouldn't irritate each other too much. He had a beautiful house and didn't want her to pay rent, but she insisted on paying something even if it wasn't nearly as much as it was actually worth. When she caught Tim cheating on her a few months later, she was also very grateful to have someone to come home and cry to.

It only took her a few minutes to get home. She pulled into the driveway and walked into the house. It felt really empty without Eric, but she was getting used to it. She went upstairs to her room and started to get ready for bed. She had just changed into her pj's and was brushing her teeth when she heard her phone buzz.

HENRY: "Hey, did you get home ok?"

She wrinkled her nose, crap... was I supposed to tell him I got home?

SYDEN: "Oops! Yes! I got home a few mins ago, just getting ready for bed."

SEND.

Ugh, why did you tell him that? He's your boss, he doesn't care... and now you can't unsend it... idiot. To her surprise, he texted back.

HENRY: "Well, that's good. Kal was starting to get worried."

SYDEN: "Tell Kal that all is well, and I will be available for all his head scratching needs tomorrow."

HENRY: "Only tomorrow?"

SYDEN: "ok, fine... tomorrow and forever."

HENRY: "He says he's holding you to that promise."

SYDEN: "He's really the boss in this relationship, isn't he?"

HENRY: "Pretty much... He only puts up with me because I have opposable thumbs."

SYDEN: "hahahahahah"

HENRY: "I'd be rendered useless if he had thumbs to unlock the phone to order pizza."

SYDEN: "Ah. Just wait until he figures out how to retinal scan himself to unlock it."

HENRY: "Shh! What he doesn't know won't hurt him!"

Syden giggled at the thought of Kal figuring out how to order his own pizza.

SYDEN: "Good night, sir. Give that good boy a kiss and as scratch for me."

HENRY: "As you wish. Good night, Sy."

Henry lay in bed wondering what she was wearing and what kind of potions she was using before bed. He knew he was in trouble. Filming hadn't started yet and he was crushing hard on this girl. He just kept hoping it would fade away in time, but he was drawn to her. She was so different and what made it worse is that she didn't seem to be fazed by him at all. Like she didn't see every look he gave her or notice the way he positioned himself so they would accidentally touch. He wanted to know everything single thing about her even though he knew that it would never end the way he would like it.

Syden finished brushing and washing up, fell into her bed and started reading her book, something that she did every night before falling to sleep. *Buzz-buzz* She looked over at her phone and saw that Adam had texted her.

BOSSMAN: "Hey little lady, you never called me after you left Brian's office. All good?"

She was so distracted that she had completely forgotten that he was supposed to give Adam the rundown of her first day.

SYDEN: "CRAAAAAAP, I'm sorry! I was starving and ran to the café for dinner... ended up visiting for a while and lost track of time!"

BOSSMAN: "K. Just wanted to make sure you weren't crying yourself to sleep in a little puddle."

SYDEN: "lol no, Brian is great as usual! Weird having him for a boss instead of just your buddy, but so far so good."

BOSSMAN: "How are the four dragons treating you?"

Syden laughed out loud at their inside joke. Adam had gotten her into Game of Thrones and started calling her Khaleesi. She teased him back that she was indeed the mother of dragons and he was the biggest one.

SYDEN: "They are ok... more accurately 3 out of 4 are great. The last one is going to be a pain. I can feel it already."

BOSSMAN: "oh yeah? Let me guess... the new girl?"

SYDEN: "Yeah........."

BOSSMAN: "Keep your chin up and if she acts up, let me know. I'll straighten her out."

SYDEN: *eye roll emoji* "yes dad......"

BOSSMAN: *fist emoji*

What the heck was Adam going to do all the way from NYC? Syden went back to her book, determined to finish the chapter before going to bed.

*buzz*

Syden looked down at her phone and saw another email from Sarah. Ugh... what does she want now?! She ignored the notification, resolved to read it in the morning.

*Buzz-buzz*

Seriously!?! She looked at her phone, tempted to turn it off for the rest of the night. Instead of another annoying email was a sweet photo of Kal sleeping on Henry's chest.

HENRY: The bear is having dreams of your head scratches.

SYDEN: *heart eyes emoji* my new favorite fuzzy face!!

Sy plugged her phone in to charge and set it on her side table. She laid back down and made her best effort to fall asleep. It felt like hours and she tossed and turned. She always had problems sleeping, but that night in particular her mind was racing with all of the things that she needed to do. She saw her phone light up out of the corner of her eye and rolled over to look at the time. 2:13AM. ugh. Why can't I just fall asleep?!?

Well, since I'm up... she clicked the email notification from Sarah and immediately regretted it. Another list of demands for her trailer that Sy knew she was never going to be able to get. She rolled her eyes and replied "Let me work on that for you. I will let you know as soon as I get an answer."

She put her phone back on the side table and laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling until the sun began to creep into her window.