“Taryn, this is Kathleen Jarrett. She plays my wicked little assistant in our film.” He smiled and gave her a teasing arm hug around her neck.

“Kat, this is Taryn.”

“Hey Taryn!” Kathleen greeted me. I held my hand out to her but instead she gave me a hug. “It’s nice to finally meet you!”

“It’s nice to meet you too!” I said while hugging her back. I was curious as to what she meant by ‘finally;’ I looked over at Ryan, slightly confused.

He was just smiling.

“Ryan has told me a lot about you,” she whispered in my ear. “I’m just so glad to see him happy.”

“Taryn, this is Ben… Ben Harrison.” Kathleen motioned to the man next to her.

“Hi Ben. It’s nice to meet you.” I held out my hand, but the way Kathleen was bobbing around, I wondered if she would pull us all in for a group hug. I was relieved when Ben shook my hand instead.

Ryan leaned over and whispered in my ear. “I’m allowed to tell you that they are together, even though their characters are mortal enemies. I told Kat that you’re very trustworthy.”

His eyes flashed to look at Kat, but she was just smiling and bouncing with happiness.

“They’ve been seeing each other for a while, but it’s not public knowledge. They’d prefer if the public stays out of their private life.”

“I completely understand,” I replied. Apparently Ryan had been sharing his private life details with her. It didn’t matter; she looked like she was trustworthy too.

“Ryan, do you think we can get everyone back down into the pub for a minute? That way I can get everyone drinks and we can start eating soon.” I was also thinking about my friends, who were noticeably absent from the rooftop gathering.

Ryan made an announcement and ushered everyone towards the door. I was relieved that he took charge. I didn’t want to offend anyone, especially the two that were still glaring at me. The more they glared, the less I wanted to wait on them hand and foot.

Kelly and Kat stopped as we proceeded through my apartment.

“What do you guys think?” Ryan asked them, looking around at my apartment.

“This is a really cool apartment,” Kat said excitedly. “It’s huge!”

Ryan took them for a quick tour and stopped in my kitchen. I was surprised that it made such an impression on him.

“Taryn designed it,” he stated proudly.

I was glad that the rest of the group went downstairs. I could only imagine Suzanne rolling her eyes at Ryan’s comments.

“I love the stove,” Ryan added. “There are enough burners on this thing to make a meal for forty people.”

“Maybe one day I’ll know forty people to cook for,” I joked. “Speaking of cooking… why don’t we all go downstairs for a drink, and then I can get the steaks on the grill.”

Suzanne and Francesca were sitting at the big, round table. I noticed that they were wearing almost the same look in clothing. Both had designer T-shirts on and their sneakers were the same, but in different colors. I wondered who was copying whom.

As I looked around at the cast, I could easily see whom Ryan got along with and who presented a challenge. I wondered, besides the obvious look of her, what attracted Ryan to Francesca. She looked like a model, but she seemed to have the personality of a rock. I didn’t get the appeal;

unless at the time of his moment of weakness he was drunk or just so hard up that he wasn’t looking for a hole with a personality.

Suzanne looked bored. Francesca on the other hand was sitting there taking mental notes. I could sense her wheels were turning. When Suzanne got up to use the restroom, Francesca trailed behind her.

I set out two bottles of opened wine on the end of the buffet table when I heard the two girls coming out of the bathroom.

“Didn’t take him long to get some in this town,” Suzanne said coldly. “Guess this one is the new flavor of the month.” Her eyes looked me up and down when she noticed me standing there.

I didn’t move. I just stood there with my arms crossed. The battle lines were being drawn right before my eyes and the evening was still young.

“Don’t let them get to you,” Kelly said as she made a small platter of finger foods behind me. “They’re threatened by you,” she mentioned casually.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered to her. “I don’t even know them.”

“You’re taking Ryan off the eligible bachelors’ list and they’re jealous. Those two have had issues with every girl he speaks to. Ryan is a nice guy; he talks to everybody.”

Kelly took a moment to eat a seafood puff. “It’s weird; they act like they have some kind of ownership over him. I’ll be glad once this third movie is done; then we’ll be rid of them.” She smiled at me, like we were in on some secret joke together.

“I didn’t know what I had done to offend them,” I uttered.

“You captured Ryan’s attention. That was enough.” Kelly giggled.

After she sampled another bite of food, her facial expression turned serious. “So, how did you and Ryan meet?”

I wasn’t prepared to answer that question to anyone. I didn’t know what to say.

“I would prefer if you asked Ryan that question,” I politely requested.

“Very good,” she replied. “You’re a quick learner!” Kelly fired another question at me. “Are you dating him?”

“No. I’m not dating anyone,” I responded. My answer wasn’t altogether a lie. In reality, he had yet to take me on a date. Our relationship was anything but conventional.

“I like you! He made a good choice.” Kelly put her hand on my shoulder. “Being involved with a celebrity has its own set of challenges. He needs to know that you can stand on your own while standing by his side. You need to be strong and not let the gossip and trivial actress egos get to you.”

“Is this all a test?” I asked her point blank, my eyes looking around the room. I poured myself a glass of wine to calm my nerves.

“No, this is a party.” She laughed at my worried look. “But it is a good start. You could consider this to be more like dipping your toes in the water.”

We moved further away from the buffet table to continue our discussion in private.

“I’ve known Ryan for almost two years now.” Kelly smiled to herself, like something she thought of amused her. “Let’s just say he’s very taken with you. I’ve never seen him like this with anyone.”