Free Falling (51 page)

A grin split his face. “The one and only,” he confirmed
cockily.

Before I could stop myself I’d taken the three steps and
closed the distance between us, throwing my arms around him and hugging him
tightly. Tears pooled in my eyes as he hugged me back, lifting me clean off my
feet and crushing me against his chest. His smell filled my lungs as his familiarity
washed over me, calming my senses and relaxing my muscles. I laughed, letting
some of the stress leave my body. I’d missed him something chronic.

We still kept in touch regularly, emailing, texting and
skyping, but I had only seen him in person once since I left home because his
schedule was full and we couldn’t ever get time to meet up. When I skyped with
him two weeks ago he hadn’t told me he was coming here – and he definitely
didn’t have long hair and a scruffy looking beard!

“What are you doing here? Why didn’t you tell me you were
coming, and what on earth is up with the big homeless person beard?” I cried,
squeezing him tightly.

He laughed and set me back down on my feet, keeping one arm
around my waist. “I’m working. I wanted to surprise you. And the beard is for
the shoot,” he answered my questions in turn, grinning from ear to ear.

My mouth dropped open in shock. They were filming a movie in
and around our college at the moment and had been for the last couple of
months. Apparently it was about a college professor who gets into trouble when
he witnesses a murder of one of the students. They’d paid our college a lot of
money to use the campus, and a lot of us even had roles as extras as we roamed
the halls.

I looked around quickly now. Cameras, both handheld and
mounted, were strewn everywhere. People sat around in wooden chairs eating and
drinking food from the static caravan thing that was parked there. When they
first arrived there had been a huge buzz about it all, but the novelty had worn
off of it now, so it was more of an inconvenience to the students because it
meant we couldn’t just cut across the middle of town to get to college, we had
to take a longer route, and we had to be quiet all the time while the cameras
were rolling. Apparently they were scheduled to do another month of shooting
here at least before they moved off to another location. The film crew had been
on campus for the past two months, and in that time we’d been fortunate enough
to meet both Hugh Jackman and Charlize Theron. That had made Georgia’s year.

“You’re working? Here? On this movie?” I gasped, looking at
him proudly. He hadn’t mentioned anything about this at all. He’d told me he
was trying desperately to get a part that he wanted, but he didn’t say it was for
this one. 

He nodded. “Yep. You’re looking at Hugh’s body double and
the lead stuntman for the movie,” he boasted, smirking at me.

I let out a little squeal as I jumped on the spot. So far in
his career he’d never been lead stuntman, only part of a team of them. “Zach,
that’s great!” I chirped, throwing myself at him for another hug. His beard
scratched my cheek as I squeezed him tightly. “Though I’m not too sure about
the hair and make-up,” I added, fingering the back of his hair as I pulled back
slightly. The hair felt weird, wiry, and I realised then that it was a wig.

He chuckled and nodded, rubbing along his jawline and
turning his nose up. “I look like an old man, huh?” he mused.

“And you’re wearing contacts,” I observed, seeing that his
eyes were blue instead of the usual chocolate brown. I preferred the brown if I
was honest. Zach had lovely warm eyes and the contacts masked that.

“Yeah. They irritate like a son of a bitch,” he muttered,
blinking a couple of times.

I grinned, turning to look at Georgia as she touched my
back. “It’s nice to see you in person, Zach,” she greeted. She’d spoken to him
a couple of times when she’d been in my room when we’d skyped, but they’d never
officially met. She turned to me and smiled apologetically. “We should get to
class.”

I frowned, turning back to Zach. I didn’t want to go to
class; I wanted to catch up with him. “Maybe I could skip and we could hang
out?” I offered.

“Are you asking me out, Maisie?” he gasped, faking shock and
putting his hand over his heart.

I laughed, feeling heat flood my face as I slapped his
shoulder. “No!” I protested. “And you don’t date anyway, so what’s the point?”
I added smugly. Zach still hadn’t been out with anyone since I moved away. My
talk with him on the day I left had obviously had no effect at all. He was just
as single as I was.

He shrugged casually. “The only reason I haven’t dated
anyone for the last year and a half is because the only girl I’ve ever been
interested in doesn’t look at me in that way. I got friend zoned to the max. It
doesn’t help that she moved halfway across the country so I barely get to see
her. Plus, she’s not ready to date anyone yet after all the shit she went
through,” he replied. His head cocked to the side as he looked at me through
the coloured contacts.

I shifted on my feet uncomfortably, dropping my eyes to the
floor, not knowing what to say to the revelations.
Zach likes me, for real?
Or is he joking?
I gulped and forced my eyes up to meet his. “I… I…” I
stuttered, shaking my head. I wasn’t really sure how to feel about my newfound
knowledge. On the one hand, dating wasn’t something I had ever considered,
especially not dating Zach. But now that he’d said the words the idea of having
someone there for me, of being part of something special, I missed that. And it
wasn’t as if I wasn’t attracted to Zach, because I was, of course I was. He was
handsome, funny, witty and thoughtful. But I wasn’t sure I was ready for
anything more, with anyone, let alone a friend that I held dear to me.

He smiled sadly. “You should go to class. I have a scene to
shoot anyway. Maybe we could meet up for coffee after you’re done? Catch up? By
then I’ll have this ridiculous get up off,” he suggested, scratching up under
the side of his wig and tugging on the lapel of his jacket. “Can’t do anything
about the facial hair though for a while, that’s mine unfortunately and I have
to keep it until they finish shooting,” he added.

I chuckled awkwardly. “I actually don’t mind the facial
hair. In a weird way it kind of suits you,” I admitted, smiling. I wasn’t a
beard kind of girl, but he actually pulled it off. “And I’d love to catch up.”
It was weird seeing him again in person. He was taller than I remembered,
broader across the shoulders, like he’d maybe built a lot of muscle for the
part of something. “How long do I have you for?” I asked, silently praying he
wasn’t going to disappear out of my life too quickly.

He raised a teasing eyebrow as a smirk slipped onto his
face. “How long do you want me for?” he answered. I rolled my eyes and pushed
on his shoulder playfully. He chuckled. “A month. I’m here for a month.”

My heart leapt at that knowledge. A whole month of hanging
out with Zach. It sounded fantastic. “Yeah? That’s great!” I chirped, grinning
from ear to ear. “I’ve missed you,” I admitted, dragging my eyes over his
features that I recognised, his straight nose and his full pink lips.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I’ve missed you
too,” he replied. He brought his hand up, holding out the single red rose that
I’d noticed earlier but not paid any attention to. “Happy valentine’s day,” he
said softly, bending and planting a lingering kiss on my cheek.

His lips felt oddly beautiful on my skin. I closed my eyes,
turning my head an inch towards his as my arm snaked up around his neck,
clamping him to me. The hardness of his chest pressed against mine made my
heart start to flutter and the hair on my scalp prickle with sensation. My
breath caught in my throat as something I hadn’t felt for a long time settled
in the pit of my stomach. He pulled his mouth away from my cheek. His breath
blew down my neck, and I suppressed a little shiver at the sensations that were
invading my system.

More confused than I had been in a long time, I pulled back,
looking into his now blue eyes. “Thanks for the rose,” I whispered, chewing on
my lip.

“You’re welcome.” He stepped back, letting his arms drop
from my waist as he nodded over his shoulder. “I’d better get back, the crew
will be wondering where I am. I’ll meet you here at what time?” he asked.

“Three?” I suggested, shrugging.

He nodded, smiling that cocky smile that I remembered so
well. “It’s a date,” he confirmed. Before I could protest and say anything
about it not really being a date, he turned and jogged across the campus,
effortlessly leaping the wooden barrier that cordoned off the film set, and was
out of sight within seconds. I stood there, unable to move as I watched the
last place that I’d seen Zachary Anderson. Suddenly I realised what that
feeling was that I’d felt when he’d kissed my cheek. The feeling was so alien
after so long that I hadn’t recognised it at first, but now I knew, and I
wasn’t sure how to deal with that knowledge. The feeling had been longing,
need, happiness and contentment.

I could feel a blush forming, creeping up my neck and slowly
filling my whole face as I looked down at the rose that I held in my hand. My
lips twitched with a smile as I brought it to my nose, inhaling the sweet
aroma. A month was a long time but, seeing him now, it didn’t seem nearly long
enough.