The Other Side - Chapter 16

"The Other Side - Chapter 15" 

"Becky, you are utterly hopeless." Becky said aloud to herself, flopping back on the bed she had just made...for the 6th time. She stared up at the recently washed ceiling. She had actually washed the ceiling of her room. Becky tried to convince herself that it was just because it was gross after being away for so long, but she knew that wasn't true. It was from sheer boredom.

She sat up quickly and jiggled her leg on the bed. It creaked slightly. Maybe I should get something to oil that so it won't squeak... she thought to herself before shaking her head. I really need to get a grip.

Becky had been unpacking her bags and fixing up the place ever since she had written all of her feelings in her diary. While it had calmed her at first, she was now feeling antsy. Her mind kept wandering to Jacob, especially when she found his boxers and shirt at the bottom of her suitcase. Embarrassed, she had left them in the suitcase on their own and shoved it to the back of the closet next to the picture of the Moa he had given her. Maybe she would send the clothes back to him... in a few years. That was probably when she would be able to hang up the painting, too.

It was the perfect love/hate situation. In her heart, Becky knew that there was something there, but when the whole situation came into play... Becky stopped herself and pulled at the crinkles she had made on the bed. She wasn't going to think about it anymore. She had done enough thinking.

She compulsively twirled her hair and jingled the change in her pockets. It hit her that she was humming slightly.

"ARGH!" She cried and put her hands to her head. "Becky, you have got to calm down!" When she realized that she was talking to herself, Becky grabbed her keys and flew out the door. She was going to force herself to take a nice, calm walk and she wasn't going to think about Jacob at all. Becky had other things to worry about. Like my sanity.

She concentrated on keeping an easy, slow walking pace and looked out around her. The campus was beautiful. Huge trees with leaves that were already starting to turn slightly. Fall was definitely approaching, but the air still held that summer feeling and Becky relaxed. Taking a walk was just what she needed.

She let herself absorb the sun as it slowly sank near sunset and almost missed the call of her name.

"Becky!"

Becky twirled around and, for a moment, was baffled as a figure with short, blonde hair came running toward her. Suddenly, her face erupted in a grin.

"Lynn!" She called and Lynn's face came smiling into view. "I didn't recognize you. You cut your hair!"

Lynn twirled her pixie-cut hair and smiled sheepishly. "I know. I thought that I would try something different. Hey, how was Sierra Leone?!"

Becky hesitated before smiling. "You know, it was great. It really was."

Lynn didn't respond to the sudden wistful tone of her friend's voice and set a hand on her shoulder. "Well, come on! I found this perfect little cafe the other day and I know that you're going to love it! Let's go get some coffee and have a chat."

Becky grinned at her friend and let all thoughts of Jacob disappear. It was time for her to let go of the Hollywood fantasy world, get out of the soap opera, and get back to reality.

----

"Okay, folks! That's all we'll do tonight! Remember, it's an early one tomorrow!" The director cried and amidst the groans of others, Jacob took a deep swallow from his water bottle and packed up his duffel bag. It was late and Jacob was utterly exhausted. They had worked everyone to the bone today and it was obvious they were planning on doing the same tomorrow. They were probably hoping to get it done before the deadline, time was money after all.

Jacob opened the door and was shot with some crisp air. The sun had already set, but it wasn't dark. There were enough florescent lights on around the place to light all of Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone... Instantly, thoughts of Becky shot into his head. He was shocked. As Jacob stepped into his trailer and flipped on the lights, he realized when he was working, he never the chance to think about Becky.

Jacob hobbled into his room and started to get ready for bed. It was weird, but it felt right. Becky wasn't a part of this life. His eyes closed as he fluffed his pillow and laid down his head. Maybe that was the only way to keep his heart from taking over. Maybe he just needed to throw himself into his work.

As Jacob drifted to sleep, he knew it wouldn't be hard to do.

----

Becky laughed aloud and Lynn roared beside her as they sat on the couch of Becky's apartment. The floor and coffee table were littered with yearbooks and photo albums and a plate of freshly baked cinnamon cookies that Lynn had made after they returned from having some lattes at a small corner café along 1st Ave. The evening was late which led to story after story from their past.

"…Okay," Becky said, continuing with their conversation in between bursts of laughter. "but I am not the one who decided to sneak into the faculty bathroom and put plastic wrap on the toilets!"

Lynn laughed, her nose scrunched in amusement. "Hey, you were right there with me!" She picked up a pillow and gently hit Becky. Becky picked up another pillow on the other side of the couch ready to attack, but before the battle could begin, there was a sharp beeping sound coming from the kitchen.

Becky dropped the pillow and picked her way past the mess on the floor. "Popcorn's ready!" she called, "Why don't you pick out a movie to watch while I get the sodas?"

"All right!" Lynn called back, jamming to the radio while she looked through the stack of movies neatly shelved in alphabetical order.

Becky grabbed a large, ceramic bowl from the cabinet and set it on the Formica counter. It felt good to be doing normal things again with her old friend. They had spent the whole afternoon strolling along memory lane. They had known each other since junior high and had been great friends ever since.

Becky took the popcorn out of the microwave, shaking it to get all the butter off the sides. She smiled. Becky loved the way popcorn kept popping after she took it out of the microwave. She poured it into the bowl and then went to the refrigerator to pick out a couple of sodas. Becky knew Lynn's favorite was Mountain Dew, but Jim had downed the last of it before they had left for Sulima.

"Hey, Lynn! We're out of Mountain Dew! Would you like a Sprite instead?!" she called, but there was no answer. Becky shrugged and bent over to get the last Sprite out of the very back of the refrigerator, picking out a Pepsi for herself.

All of a sudden, Becky heard screaming in the next room. Becky gasped, dropping the two cans and leaving the refrigerator open she ran to see what was wrong. She found Lynn on the phone, jumping up and down, screaming into the receiver.

"Lynn?!" Becky asked, shocked. Lynn waved her at Becky to indicate she should be quiet. She then rattled off her address and phone number, said thank you a billion times, and hung up the phone. She then pounced on Becky, almost knocking her over.

"Oh, Becks! You won't believe it!" Lynn started talking quickly and excitedly. Becky couldn't understand a single word.

After several minutes, Lynn finally calmed down. "All right. I was listening to the radio last week," she explained, "and there was one of those things, the tenth caller wins some prize contest, you know?"

Lynn's hands were on Becky's shoulders, urging her to understand. Becky nodded.

"Well, I called and I won! I got some movie tickets and was entered into some drawing. I was listening to the radio just now, they announced my name had been drawn, and I had fifteen minutes to call and claim my prize, so I did! Oh, but you won't believe what I won, Becky! You have to come with me this weekend! Me and a friend, namely you, get to go and spend a day with a Hollywood movie star!"

Becky's mouth dropped. Her heart started to pound. At last, she closed her eyes and spoke quietly, barely a whisper. "Who?"

"Oh, I don't know." Lynn replied, waving her hand carelessly. "We don't get to find out until we're in the limo."

Becky finally took a deep breath and she was almost shaking. No, it couldn't be Jacob. He couldn't be here. Besides, didn't he say something about filming in New York one of the times we had talked? Becky shook him out of her head and looked back at Lynn, who was smiling.

"Well, you're coming right?" She waited expectantly.

Becky shrugged her shoulders, unsure. "I don't know…" she paused and looked around, then she saw Lynn's pleading face. Of course, she couldn't deny the offer. "Well… I guess."

"Yay!" Lynn threw her arms around Becky.

Becky sighed and pulled away. "Okay, okay. Come on. I'll go back to the kitchen for our popcorn and drinks and we can talk about this while we watch a movie, all right?"

Lynn nodded and went back to the living room, popping a movie into the DVD player. Becky took a deep breath, and went back to the kitchen.

Some people try to get to Hollywood. I can't make it go away.

"The Other Side - Chapter 17" 

Madame, Zz