“If I leave in the morning, that’s it. It definitely begins. Are you ready for that?”

A few select words he said crossed through my mind: “I’m falling in love with you” and “girlfriend.” Then I thought about the freedom that I take for granted every day. I would no longer walk around the Earth in complete anonymity.

“If you really meant all the words you said to me on the roof, then yes, I’m ready.”

“Taryn, I just want to protect you. You know that, right?”

I nodded. I knew he didn’t want me to be hounded. But how long could he, or would he, keep me a secret? I guess a little disappointment showed on my face.

“Well, we don’t have to decide now. We still have a game to watch,” Ryan said, giving me hope.

I turned the channel to Sunday night football. The familiar background music started to play and a few of the guys mimicked the tones. It was funny.

“We’re going to watch American football?” Suzanne whined.

Ryan turned and spoke over his shoulder. “We could call a car for you if you don’t want to stay.”

I smiled inside. He was being nice, but he really wanted to get rid of her.

“I can call for my own car, thank you,” she snapped back. I was glad to see her use her cell phone.

I carried a fresh pitcher of beer over to the guys. They were all lined up at the table closest to the television.

“Gary, get your money ready!” Ryan teased.

I filled Ryan’s empty glass with beer. It looked tasty so I took a sip then handed it to him. He took a big gulp and handed the glass back to me.

“You get your money ready,” Gary bantered back. “I already have one of your twenties in my wallet; just waiting for another one. Maybe you should give that twenty to Taryn to keep warm for me.”

Ryan patted my leg. “Don’t you worry about this twenty. It’s nice and warm, and looking forward to having another twenty to be its friend.”

Ryan rested his arm on the back of my chair and whispered in my ear, “let’s do a shot.”

“Preference?”

“How about that tequila we had that one time?” Ryan answered. “Do you still have some?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I think there’s enough left in the bottle.”

“Well, let’s kill it. I’ll give you money for a new bottle. That stuff was good!”

Suzanne and Francesca put their coats on and then Suzanne announced their departure. Hardly anyone said goodbye to them. Kat yelled “see ya” very loud, but her tone was definitely more dismissive rather than a sincere goodbye.

I heard some screams coming from the waiting fans when they departed through my front door, but the screaming didn’t last too long. Since the screams were coming from females, the crowd outside was obviously waiting for actors, not actresses. My thoughts were that they were really waiting for one actor in particular to emerge.

I had suspected, and Ryan had confirmed, that the paparazzi were staked outside my building - waiting. But it was only then, when Suzanne and Francesca left, that the amount of paparazzi waiting became more apparent. The entire sidewalk and the full length of my exterior were illuminated by flashes from the cameras, completely lighting up the darkness outside my windows.

Once Suzanne and Francesca left, it was like everyone inside could breathe again. The men were getting loud, shouting at the football game, and the ladies had to yell just so we could have a conversation.

My attention focused back on Ryan when I saw him talking on his cell phone. He didn’t talk long, but whatever he heard pissed him off. He pounded his fist into the table. I watched as he leaned over and said something in Cal’s ear. Cal just shook his head in disgust.

After everyone did a shot of tequila, I sat at the big round table with the ladies to play some cards. Kat was getting tipsy; she was so cute to

watch as she giggled to herself.

“I’m glad the psycho twins finally left,” Kelly announced. Her comment made me chuckle.

“Yeah, what’s up with Suzanne?” Marie asked. “She’s kind of like a bitch.”

“That’s an understatement!” Kat laughed loudly.

“It’s surprising; on screen she and Ryan have such amazing chemistry. I thought she’d be nicer,” Tammy said.

“That’s because Ryan has the patience of a saint!” Kat yelled in Ryan’s direction. “We should call him Saint Ryan from now on.”

Ryan looked over his shoulder and smirked at her.

“We all told him that if he’d just kill her already, we could go home. We even offered to bail him out of jail if he’d do it!” Kat joked. “Right Ryan?

I’d bail you out of jail in a heartbeat, brother!”

“That’s why I check the clip in my gun before every scene.” Ryan laughed. “I’m so paranoid that one of you are going to slip real bullets in there one day.”

“And what about Francesca?” Tammy asked Kat. “She barely said a word to anyone.”

“That’s because Suzanne does the talking for both of them now. Sometimes we wonder if Fran is made out of wood and Suzanne has her hand up her ass making her mouth move,” Kat hiccuped.

Ryan turned around, laughing hysterically at Kat’s comment. He made a gesture like he had a puppet on his hand.

“Francesca has issues,” Kelly added. “At first she was really nice, but she developed this idolization of Suzanne, and then she became an evil clone.”

Kelly lowered her voice. “Fran is infatuated with Ryan, or at least she was. I don’t know anymore. We think since Suzanne was in a position to be close to Ryan, Fran started to mimic her - thinking it would attract Ryan’s attention. It developed into this sickness.”

“I’m still betting on the alien abduction theory myself,” Kat added. “One more movie, one more and then we are finished with them. I am so not looking forward to having to hit the promo circuit with them again. It’s going to be a freaking nightmare.”

“Well Suzanne said some harsh things to Taryn tonight,” Marie added. “It’s pretty obvious that she’s got a thing for Ryan too.”

I looked down at the cards in my hand, displeased that she mentioned it.

“Taryn, she was a bitch to you! I wanted to punch her. Now when I see the next movie, I’m going to wish Charles would let her bleed to death in that cave.”

I thought about Ryan having to go to work tomorrow. Would he say anything to Suzanne or would he just ignore it for the sake of keeping his job?