Love Unscripted (6 page)

He twitched his lips into a smirk. “Yeah… I think you’re lying to me.” He scratched his forehead again.

His accusation irritated me; I didn’t like being called a liar but I remained amicable nonetheless. I got up from my seat and walked over to where he stood by the pool table. I stopped two feet in front of him and looked him directly in the eyes, making sure to hold his gaze before I spoke.

“
I
honestly
have not seen your movie nor have I read the books. You can see in my eyes that I’m not lying. I don’t know what else to say to make you believe me.”

Ryan stood perfectly still, looking dumbfounded. After a few seconds I broke our eye contact and walked over to the table where I had set the pitcher of beer. I filled my glass and looked to see where his glass was.
Might as well give him a refill, too.
I stepped towards him to top off his drink.

“
What?” I asked carefully. He looked like he was in a trance. “Did I… say something wrong? I’m, I’m sorry I haven’t seen your movie. I hope that didn’t offend you.”

“
No! That’s…perfectly okay,” he said, a hint of a smile touched his face. I watched as he just about swallowed his entire glass of beer.

“
So besides kicking butt on the pool table, what else do you like to do?” he asked after I officially won our second game.

“
Lots of things,” I quickly replied. I didn’t know what to tell him. I was too busy wondering why he was still here hanging out with me. Surely he had more important things to do.

“
Like?” he prodded.

“
Well, I like anything that involves water…swimming, boating, things like that. During the summer, some of the local businesses here in Seaport have a softball league. Sometimes we play volleyball down at the beach. But, unfortunately since I took over running the pub, I don’t have as much free time as I used to.” I shrugged. “I work a lot.”

While I was busy talking, Ryan set up the table for game number three. I noticed that his demeanor changed slightly. He was more at ease... relaxed… calm. It was like a blanket of tension was removed from his shoulders.

I was getting set to break at the table when he interrupted me.

“
Quick, without thinking, what’s your favorite movie of all time?”

I stood up a little too fast. The motion along with several glasses of beer and shots of whiskey affected my equilibrium.

“
Um, um,” I stammered while trying to figure out what my favorite movie of all time was. “I don’t know if I have one particular favorite. I have a few but it’s hard to pick.”

“
Okay, well… what made the list?”

I sucked in a sharp breath between my teeth. “Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Galaxy Quest, anything from Pixar…” I rambled.

“
I see. You like outlandish humor.” He chuckled. He rattled off a bunch of funny lines from the Monty Python movie. It was obvious that he had seen the movie as many times as I did.

“
Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!” we said in unison, both of us adding the French inflection to the movie line. It made me laugh out loud.

It was my turn to shoot again, and just as I was ready to make my shot, Ryan yelled another funny line from the movie. I couldn’t stop laughing.

“
Stop it!” I pleaded, wiping my eyes.

I tried to make my shot again when Ryan came up right next to me and said a line from a funny scene in Galaxy Quest.

“
Is there air? You don’t know.” He sniffed the air. “Seems okay.”

I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. “Stop!” I gasped.

I reached to give him a teasing nudge with my fingers. Ryan caught me by the wrist and gently pulled me in, folding my arm with his, until my hand was pressed against his shoulder.

“
Okay, ok, ok,” he said, cracking up laughing again.

I could feel the warmth of his chest on my fingertips. Even though we were bent into each other, laughing hysterically, my mind started reeling just from this innocent touch. I could not allow myself to have those thoughts about him so I quickly pulled my hand away.

He continued making funny voices and quoting my favorite movies. I was laughing so hard that I lost the third game. I couldn’t focus with the tears of laughter in my eyes.

“
You cheat!” I scolded him.

“
Who, me?”

“
Yeah you, Mr. Innocent!”

I was getting ready to take my next shot when he stood behind me. I looked over my shoulder; he made me nervous standing back there.

“
What?” he asked with a grin, like he
wasn’t
up to no-good.

I looked back at the table and tried to hit the ball when he grabbed the end of my pool stick.

“
You suck!” I teased him after barely hitting the cue ball.

“
No, you suck. You missed the shot,” he fired back at me.

I tried to crack him with the end of my pool stick but he quickly sprinted away, laughing.

Ryan leaned down to take his shot; he was just about to hit the cue ball when I faked a loud cough.

“
Huh, um, you suck.”

He miss-cued and didn’t even hit another ball. The cue ball slowly rolled into the cushion. That’s when he chased me around the table.

“
That’s it – you asked for it! Hey, where are you going? Like you could get away from me!”

I made two laps around the table, laughing and smiling all the way.

Eight games of pool and a pitcher of beer later, we were tied – four games a piece. We were having a really, really good time. The whole time we played, his charm never faltered. Even though we teased each other, he still complimented me when I made good shots, he encouraged me with kind words when I had a difficult shot to make, and he smiled at me incessantly.

We carried on just like two long-time friends. He made me laugh a lot. Being around him was surprisingly easy. That whole celebrity persona slipped away and he was just - Ryan - a genuinely nice guy.

“
All right, this one’s the tie-breaker. Winner gets all the bragging rights,” he said, playfully tapping me on my rear with the end of his pool stick. His face took a serious expression as he lined up for his next shot.

“
Can I ask you a question, Taryn?”

“
Yeah sure, what?” I was curious about what he wanted to know.

“
Well I was sort of wondering if you’re married or seeing someone. I don’t know if I could handle having a jealous guy attack me today, too,” he admitted.

“
Um, no. I’ve never been married. And, you don’t have to worry - there’s no jealous boyfriend either,” I answered quickly, trying to be light-hearted and reassuring about it.

After the words flew out of my mouth I wished I could have rephrased them. I stared down at the ground with embarrassment.
This is why I shouldn’t drink beer – you get too honest with people, you idiot. He probably thinks you’re some basket case that no man wants.

But I rationalized that he had already been accosted once today; I’m sure a bar fight would be the last thing he needed to deal with.

“
You’re not dating
anyone
?” He sounded sort of shocked.

Looking him in the eyes was like taking a shot of truth serum.

“
No, no one,” I answered honestly.

My mind flashed back to the last man I dated. How Thomas (‘The Asshole’ as he was referred to now) asked me to marry him, how he promised to love me forever, and how I gave the ring back after I found out that he had an insatiable appetite for random sex with strangers. He was the last entry on a short list of guys who smashed my heart into pieces.

“
Hmm, that’s good to know.” Ryan nodded while leaning over to take his next shot on the pool table. “So why is that?”

“
I suppose the right man hasn’t walked through my door yet,” I answered casually, trying to redeem myself.

In reality, men walked in and out of my door every day, but I’d been numb for so long I didn’t even care to notice them. My need for self-preservation was stronger.

His eyes locked on mine as he purposely missed the last shot of the game.

“
Guess I get all the bragging rights then,” I whispered after I sunk the last ball on the table. He congratulated me with another soft high-five.

I noticed him glance at his watch as he finished his drink. I assumed he was thinking about leaving so I peeked behind the window blind slightly to see if there were still people loitering on the sidewalk.

“
Is the coast clear?” he asked, even though he knew my answer.

“
No. There’s still a crowd out there. I see guys with cameras and a lot of women.”

“
This is ridiculous,” he sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers.

“
What’s worse, the paparazzi or the T-shirt ripping psychos?”

“
They’re about even,” Ryan muttered. “Most of the fans are great, but some of them go to scary extremes – like today. And the paparazzi, well, they’re relentless.” His voice sounded so defeated.

“
You really have no freedom or privacy, do you?” I said matter-of-factly as I glanced back at him.

“
No,” he whispered. “Not anymore.”

He looked completely forlorn. I felt so bad for him. How someone could have everything and at the same time, have nothing at all. I had to fight back the urge to go over to him and wrap him in a big hug. I didn’t know what else to say, besides, “I’m sorry.”

He gave me a brief smile, but the anguish on his face was so plain to see.

“
They aren’t going to leave until they’re sure you’re not in here, are they?” I didn’t want to say this out loud but it was a question that had to be asked.

“
No.” His eyes shot up to lock on mine.

“
Well, you can’t just walk out into
that
! No way!” I envisioned him leaving through the front door and getting attacked again by the throng of screaming women.

“
What choice do I have?” he sighed. “Even if I manage to get to the street...” his voice trailed in defeat.

My mind was plotting – how to gain him safe passage out of here. The thought of him getting accosted by that horde out there pissed me off.

“
Let me go check the back door, see if the way is clear. Stay here, okay?”

Ryan didn’t reply; the gleam of hope in his eyes was confirmation enough that he was willing to accept my help.

I peeked out the back door; the alley was empty. Where the heck would he go from here though? My eyes searched the alley to be sure that there was no danger and then I had a brilliant idea.

“
Can someone pick you up?” I asked.

“
Yeah.” He nodded assuredly.

I reached for my cell phone.

“
Maggie? Hi, it’s Taryn. I need to ask you a favor. Well, you see, I have a very special guest inside my pub and he is in need of a safe exit. I mean, he’s very well-known and, um, there are cameras and crazy women outside my bar. Yes, he’s one of the boys from the movie.”

My eyes shot up to him and I gave him my best crooked sorry-smile. “Can I send him through your shop… through your back door? No, he just needs to get to the street - safely. Okay, thanks Maggie. You’re the best!

“
Tell your driver to park directly in front of Maggie’s Bakery on 5
^th
Street, between Elm and Mulberry Streets, and to call you when he is in position.” Why did I all of a sudden feel like I was masterminding some great caper in a really bad thriller?

“
You’ll be safe. Maggie is a nice, older lady. She won’t even know who you are. She’ll leave you alone.”

I looked up to see him beaming at me – like I was a lifesaver.

“
The things we take for granted,” he muttered.

“
Hmm? What do you mean?” I wished he would explain.

“
Nothing,” he whispered, shaking his head as a twinge of a smile touched his lips. He pulled his phone from his pocket to call his driver.

Ten minutes later he said his goodbyes.

“
Thank you, Taryn, for everything. I’m very sorry for putting you through this today.”

“
It’s okay, Ryan. You don’t need to apologize. It was nice to meet you.”

“
It was very nice to meet you, too. Huh, I can’t remember the last time I felt this relaxed. It was nice feeling normal for once, even if it was only for a couple of hours. I had a
really
great time!”

“
I’m glad to hear that. I had a really great time too.”

“
Taryn, I hope I can trust you to keep our time together just between us – our secret.” His eyes were pleading, and I knew that no one could ever be told about our encounter.

“
Don’t worry Ryan,” I assured him. I purposely looked him directly in the eyes so he’d know I was telling the truth. “Please know that you can trust me. It’s as much my secret as it is yours. I swear I will never say a word about it to anyone. Never - I promise.”

He held his hand out to shake mine, so I reflexively responded. I was all prepared for a friendly handshake, but instead he twisted my hand in his and ever so gently he kissed the back of my hand.