The Other Side - Chapter 39

"The Other Side - Chapter 38" 

Days passed as the studio was in hysterics. Never Get Caught was being wrapped up which caused everyone to move in hyperdrive. Jake could hardly keep his head as the director wanted more and more from him, Melissa was being crazy, acting as though he hadn't broken up with her at all, and Karlee reminded him that he actually had to make a decision...

"That contract of yours runs out soon..."

Jake grimaced, "Not soon enough -"

"...and the offers are in. Buddy boy, what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

Karlee sighed. "I mean are going to sign another contract? Or are you going to leave this place once and for all? I gotta know because if you plan on leaving... then I need to start pulling some strings. It's go time, hun."

Jake had wanted to open his mouth and declare that he never wanted to be on a set of another movie his entire life. He wanted to say that he wanted to get away form camera for the rest of his life. He wanted to have nothing to with fans and interviews and radio station ploys to get listeners and... but he realized that he couldn't.

It wasn't that he wanted to be in this place, he didn't but...well, after he left Africa he had given up on all of his dreams without even realizing it. He had used his work to forget about Becky and had accidentally forgotten about the dreams he had.

Karlee told him that he didn't have to make his contract decision for a few days yet, but Jake was already panicking. He felt like no way was right for him anymore. Maybe it would have been different, even easier, if Melissa wasn't in the picture, but she was...

After their fight and her dismissal she had really been laying it on thick. He could barely walk onto the set without her glaring at him. She was flirting with the extras nonstop - or at least nonstop when Jake was looking. Jake found it amusing most of the time, mainly because the extra usually looked petrified that Melissa Ettison was within 20 feet of him - whether it be because of her beauty or her reputation for eating extras alive, he would never know. Still, her ploy was working to make him jealous. What right did she have to do that when, supposedly, her body was for him only?

But then, off the set, she made certain to follow him everywhere. Since their break-up he had yet to sleep alone. Jake almost leapt out of bed in fright when he woke up just that morning to find her snoozing peacefully next to him. She hadn't been there when he went to bed, he knew that... but as he thought about it he wasn't sure he minded that much. Lissa was high maintenance and all but... she loved him. And Jake wasn't sure that was something he should so easily throw away.

On the other end of the coin, Jim had been giving him daily Becky updates, although there wasn't much to say. Delany had seen very little of her cousin. All Jake knew was that Becky was no longer sleeping in the apartment she shared with Delany - a fact that was tearing him apart inside. Jake remembered how his grey long-sleeved shirt had slipped off her shoulders. How her hair has still been wet, both from the shower and from dancing in the rain... his stomach churned at the idea that someone else might experience something of the same.

Jim came up to Jake as he as thinking and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "You dressing up tomorrow?"

Jake snorted. "Only because I have to." An on set costume party in light of Halloween. What a joke. He was not in the mood for parties and games - especially when October 31 posed such a looming threat. Contract renewals were to be due on the first.

"Come on, I hate to see you so down in the dumps. What's killing you? Well, I guess I know what's killing you, but... anything new?" Jim kept an eye on the director as he talked, in case he needed anything. Jake just shrugged.

"Naw, just the rest of my life." Jim already knew all about the contract dilemma.

Before Jim could respond the director clapped his hands, signaling everyone to get ready. "Ready? Let's roll!"

---

"Oh my gosh. Becky, you don't know how excited I am. No one I have ever fixed up before has actually kept going out with the person! I knew one of these times I wouldn't screw up!" Lynn was perched on the end of her bed, in the process of painting her toenails lime green. Becky wrinkled her nose at the way the color made her toes look as if she contracted an unfortunate nail fungus, but decided not to mention it.

"Well, I guess I have to thank you for never giving up." Becky grinned and Lynn shook her head, looking up from her work.

"You and Gary! I never would have thought it to be true!"

Becky raised an eyebrow. "Never would have thought it? Weren't you the one who just reminded me that you set us up?"

"Well, yeah, but... oh you know what I mean!" Lynn squealed in delight.

Becky laid her Psychology textbook in front of her, prepared to do a little bit of reading. She kind of wanted to go back to the apartment to do her studying but didn't want to face Delany. She didn't think she could handle the look of disappointment. For all Delany knew, she probably thought that Becky had been spending every night at Gary's when, in reality, she had been sneaking to her mother and father's house. They were back from Africa. She had yet to tell them about Gary - for some reason she couldn't. She didn't want them to look at her the same way Delany had.

Suddenly, she felt guilty. Delany was all alone at the apartment and probably worried about her. Becky thought for a moment and then shook her head. Even if she's not worried, she is alone, and she is my family. What was more, she hadn't heard from Jim since she had batted off. Maybe it was time to go back.

Becky slammed her book shut and got up from the floor. "You know, Lynn, I think I'm going to head home." Then, without even waiting for the good-bye, she was gone.

----

"Del! Delany I'm home!"

"What, time for you to grab the rest of your clothes, or what?" Delany asked from her position on the couch. She didn't turn to look at Becky.

"No, I came back to apologize."

This caused Delany to twist. She raised one eyebrow as she made contact with her cousin. "Not ask for an apology from me?"

"Hey - don't push it." Becky smiled as Delany got off the couch and gave her cousin a hug.

"Ok, ok, I won't." She tilted her head to the side. "But why did you come back?"

Becky shrugged. "I don't know, I felt a little guilty I suppose. Leaving you all alone."

"I can fend for myself you know."

Becky laughed. "Boy, do I ever!"

"So, everything between you and that boy is -" Delany stopped talking, raising her hands in the air as a sign of truce to the withering looking coming from Becky's eyes. "Never mind!"

Becky bit her lip and then dragged her cousin over to the couch. She sat her down. "Actually, can I admit something to you? And please, don't say 'I told you so,'" She didn't wait for Delany's answer. "Gary's driving me nuts! I've never known someone to get so attached. I mean, I'm flattered but he honestly wants to be around me 24/7! He actually said that I should skip my classes so I could follow him around to all of his classes! Isn't that nuts?! It's so sweet though..."

Becky shook her head. "Ha! And then when I left for Lynn's, I just came from Lynn's, he said that I should just stay with him. That I should just forget about seeing all my other friends and give him all my attention." She laughed. "He is crazy!"

Delany felt alarm bells going off in her mind, but kept her mouth shut. She wasn't about to have Becky run off on her again. "Well, hun, I'm just glad you're back and able to talk to me again. I miss you! Jim does too. He really wants to talk to you... he thinks that you're avoiding him as much as me."

Becky looked at her quizzically. "Why does he think that?"

Delany shifted. "Because he's working with Jake."

Becky shook her head. "That's not a big deal, I told him that. Why is he bringing it back up? Why should that mean anything? He can talk all he wants; it's not going to make a difference."

Delany hesitated, and then burst forth with the truth, prepared to face the outrage. "Good! Then you won't mind knowing that Jim says that Jake misses you."

Becky shot off the couch within a second. "Now that I mind hearing. Don't tell me anything that Jacob Jones has told Jim. I don't care. I don't even want to know anything. Jim is my only concern in studio 3 in New York."

Delany held up her hands again. She needed to stay on the safe side. "Ok! I'm sorry, I just felt like I should relay the whole message, you know?"

Becky nodded, not looking Delany in the eye. "Yeah. That's fine... it's good to be home, Del." With that Becky went into the bedroom. She needed to give Gary a call, just to let him know where she was. He would worry, she was sure.

----

When Becky had finally hung up the phone, she felt exhausted. She had called Gary to reassure him, not make him worry even more. But he had practically given her the third degree, wondering why she had decided to go back home. He even asked her what was so wrong with his apartment, what was so wrong with him, and what more she could want. Becky felt guilty. She never meant to mooch off his things in the apartment and leave, like he had suggested. And she certainly hadn't meant to make him feel bad; she just wanted to sleep in her own bed...

As much as she hated to admit it, Becky wasn't sure she liked just how serious the relationship between her and Gary had become. She loved spending time with him, but she didn't like how it already seemed to be so much work. This was the beginning of their love - weren't they just supposed to be head over heels and not have to worry about the other's whereabouts? Not have to feel the need to get away from each other just to breathe?

Becky sighed, rolling onto her side. Maybe it was a bad idea to come back to the apartment. She could be lying happily in Gary's arms, not cold in her own bed doing her best to push away thoughts of Jake.

Crap. There, she had gone and done it. She had consciously thought of Jake. Now he was going to be invading her head all night long.

But... he misses me?

Becky rolled onto her other side restlessly. Of course he missed her. He tried so desperately to keep her and she pushed him away. He missed the one girl he couldn't have, because he messed up. It was obviously natural for him to miss her longer than she missed him.

But that's to say you actually have stopped missing him. There it was again. The devil on her shoulder saying everything she wanted to be kept in the past. Ok, so maybe she wasn't done missing him. Maybe she still wished she could have those days in Africa, if only for the sole reason that they had tainted all her other days.

Becky bit her lip. It was funny for him to say that he missed her. She would have thought he would say that he loved her. Or that he was sorry. But no, he just missed her. The idea felt so pure.

Becky shook her head and tucked the sheets up under her chin. Enough was enough - she was going to sleep.

----

Jake pressed his face into his pillow, desperate to go to sleep. They had been working all day long. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so tired. That was why he had shot down Melissa the instant she tried to follow him into his trailer. He reminded her that they were no longer a couple; no matter what tactics she was going to try. She left in a beautiful flurry, causing Jacob to wonder who in their right mind ever turned down someone like Melissa Ettison.

A man who isn't sure he wants this life anymore... but is too much of a chicken to decide for himself. Jake needed an opinion. He needed one very specific opinion. He chewed on his lip in the dark. It was a thought that had been poking at the back of his brain all day. What if... well, if Jake could talk to Becky, if only for four seconds, to just... hear what she had to say... maybe then he could decide. He never expected to have her back in his life, but if she could assure him that he could have his dreams without her then maybe, well maybe he could.

Jake felt ambition take over his heart. He would give it a try. He had promised himself he would never call her because he never wanted her to hate him even more than she already did. He respected that she never wanted to hear from him again. But he needed this more than anything.

In the morning he was asking Jim for her number.

"The Other Side - Chapter 40" 

Madame