Behind The Limelight

08: Brunettes Or Blondes

"What?"

"I want you to...to..." Ryker trailed off.

"You want me to what?" Ashton asked, his voice angry.

"Nothing," Ryker replied. "There's no point in trying to talk to you when you aren't willing to listen to me."

"Yeah, right, 'cause I'm the one at fault here," Ashton muttered.

Ryker parted his lips to respond but Ashton's car pulled up before he could utter another word, ending their conversation. Ashton looked at Ryker one last time, and the other man was already staring at him. His face was a mix of emotions, unlike his usual aloofness.

Ashton turned around, making his exit and getting into his car. Ryker stayed frozen where he stood at the side of road, watching as Ashton drove away.

Ashton was fuming in his car. He hated the fact that even when he had decided that he wouldn't be bothered by Ryker, the other man still held so much power over him to affect him like this. He kept telling himself that he would keep his hatred aside for the sake of his career, but it was proving to be more and more difficult with every encounter, and the shooting hadn't even begun yet.

Ryker got on his nerves like nobody else in the entire world, and all he wanted was to be free of that.

~~~

"You can do this," Ashton whispered to himself as he stood outside the set.

After coming back home last night, Ashton immediately went for a swim in his indoor pool. He wanted to clear his head, and he spent over an hour trying to do that before retiring to his bed. He barely got any sleep, which was evident by the bags under his eyes. The make-up artist was going to have their work cut out for them.

Ashton walked into the building, greeting everyone on the way. He maintained a smile on his face, albeit a fake one, but nobody seemed to know the difference. It seemed like Ryker wasn't there yet, or at least Ashton could not see him, making the actor let out a sigh of relief.

Ashton was introduced to his make-up artist by the assistant director, Warren. Ashton was used to the process, he took his seat as the artist got to work. Ashton went over the script, re-reading the scene they were going to shoot. Tabitha was the next one to arrive, and she was immediately seated next to Ashton to get ready.

The two made small talk as their respective make-up artists worked. They were in the middle of a discussion regarding one of Tabitha's old movies, when Ryker finally walked in.

"Hey you," Tabitha said as she saw Ryker. He smiled back at her, before his eyes fell on Ashton.

Ashton wasn't looking at him. He couldn't. Last night's events were still on his mind, so he had decided that he would ignore the fellow actor as much as he could. If there was no need of interacting with him, then Ashton wasn't going to. Ryker didn't make any effort either, not even making an attempt to greet the other man.

Tabitha was stuck between the two men, and if she was aware of the animosity then she wasn't showing it as she made conversation with both of them, being her usually chirpy self.

"—so Eve told me you left her pretty high and dry at my party, huh Ryker?" Tabitha said with a soft chuckle.

"Oh," Ryker was caught off-guard, and so was Ashton as he looked at Ryker for the first time in order to see his reaction. "Sorry about that."

"You should apologize to her, not me," Tabitha replied. "She was pretty disappointed. Apparently you told her you would call but didn't."

"I've been busy," Ryker muttered, glancing at Ashton who was glaring at him before rolling his eyes, as if he wasn't buying Ryker's excuse.