Love Unscripted (92 page)

I took it from her hand and threw it at the garbage can. “Those aren’t mine. You can throw all of those blue ones in the garbage.”

“
Listen! I know you’re hurting. And I also know you’re miserable and confused. But don’t piss me off on top of it!”

Tammy handed her a cup. Marie repeatedly filled it with water and dumped it on my head to rinse my hair.

“
I made spaghetti,” Tammy informed while Marie was helping me get dressed. “That’s about all the food she has in this apartment. I’ll have to go grocery shopping.”

“
Thanks, Tammy,” Marie said. “But I think it’s time that Taryn resumes her life. Tonight we’ll just relax and make sure she eats and takes her medicine. Tomorrow she is going to get out of this apartment and start pulling her life back together.”

Marie tossed a T-shirt from the dresser to me. It was one of Ryan’s.

“
This isn’t mine, it’s his.” I cast the shirt aside on the bed.

“
So what? Put it on.” Marie tossed it back to me. “Maybe you’ll remember all the reasons why you love him and
used
to trust him?”

The sobbing started again. “I don’t want to remember.” I threw the liar’s shirt at the wall. “The sooner I can forget the better.”

“
Does it smell like him?” Marie asked, sniffing the cotton shirt she retrieved from the floor. “No? Well I can fix that.”

She took his bottle of cologne off the dresser and spritzed his shirt. Then she spritzed the air a few times, wafting the air with her arms.

“
Stop! Don’t do that!” I cried out. I didn’t want to deal with anything that reminded me of him.

“
Stop what? Stop remembering the man who loves you? Stop remembering that he exists?” Marie yelled.

“
Marie!” Tammy barked. “Is that really necessary right now?”

“
Yes! Yes it is! It’s called ‘tough love’ and she needs to snap her ass back into reality as quickly as possible!” Marie insisted, stabbing her finger at me. “Time is of the essence here.”

She threw his T-shirt at me. “Put it on,” she ordered - almost a dare.

“
Go to hell!” I spit my words at her.

Marie spritzed his cologne in the air again. The smell of his scent permeated the air, reminding me of happier times.

“
So help me God, I will kick your ass if you do it again!” I screamed at her.

“
Go ahead and try! You’re so weak from starving yourself that a light breeze could blow you over,” she sneered. “Put on Ryan’s shirt.”

“
Why are you doing this to me?” I cried in my hand. “I flew all the way down there. I went to the restaurant that they told me to go to!” I started to hyperventilate.

“
It’s over! I saw it! I saw it with my own eyes! I saw him lean over the table to kiss her and watched as he shoved his tongue in her mouth! Right there in a public restaurant! Just like Thomas. Just like a fucking coward. He’s a liar! All those rumors of him cheating on me with that whore were true. Why are you doing this to me?” I cried again.

“
Because you’re wrong and I can prove it,” Marie sighed. “Come on… put a shirt on.”

She led me by the hand to my computer, where my friends proceeded to circle around me so I couldn’t escape.

“
You need to see these.” Marie opened an email from Ryan. “Is this what you saw?” she questioned as she opened the files attached.

The first picture was the same view of what I saw in that restaurant window. There was Ryan and Lauren sitting at a table, visible from the street.

It was like reliving the nightmare all over again, seeing Ryan kissing Lauren. The searing pain made me look away.

“
What time did you go to this restaurant, Taryn?” Marie asked.

“
Why? What difference does it make? Didn’t the cheating bastard
want
me to see this?”

Marie asked the same question again, emphasizing each of her words.

“
I don’t remember. Four, four-thirty?” The tears were streaming down my cheeks. Tammy was rubbing my shoulders tenderly.

“
Why did you even go here?” Marie pointed to the screen. “The plan was for you to go from his hotel to Key Biscayne.”

A moment of total surprise slipped into my sadness.

“
Key Biscayne?” I questioned her comment. “What are you talking about?”

“
Nevermind,” Marie quickly dismissed.

“
Wait, how do you know where I was going when I didn’t even know?” I asked.

Marie ignored my question and tapped her fingernail back on the image of the restaurant window.

“
How did you know Ryan was here?” she asked a second time.

“
Someone called my cell and told me that I needed to come quickly and see what was going on with my own eyes.”

“
Who called you?” Marie’s head whipped around to look at me.

“
I don’t know - some guy. He said I needed to know the truth.”

Marie gave Pete a dreadful look. “Did he give you a name? What did he say exactly?” She pressed anxiously for answers.

“
He didn’t give a name. He said he was a reporter or something. He told me where Ryan was – even gave me the address. I had a cab drive me there.”

“
Shit, Pete! Ryan needs to know this!” Marie flashed her eyes back to me. “Taryn, where did you think Ryan was?”

“
I thought he was going to be at the hotel.” I wiped my eyes. “He was only scheduled to film until two o’clock. I tried calling him but his voicemail picked up. I went into the bedroom to unpack and I found a love note from Lauren to Ryan.”

Marie bowed her head in disgust.

“
I know. Ryan found the letter on the sidewalk by the cab stand,” she muttered.

“
He was planning on leaving me,” I sputtered. Tears streamed down my cheeks again from the pain of his betrayal.

“
No, he wasn’t!” Marie insisted loudly. “I don’t get it, Pete.” Marie groaned, questioning him with her eyes. “Taryn, I asked Ryan point blank if he ever cheated on you and he said no, absolutely not,” she stated firmly.

I scoffed. “And you believed him?”

“
Well, there are other things. I can’t say - I promised. Yes, I believe him.”

“
You’re right! You don’t get it! None of you get it!” I shouted, angry that my friends were siding with him.

“
I saw them having dinner together! I read her little love letter encouraging him to break up with me. I found the whore’s panties on his bedroom floor. I saw him touch her and kiss her with my own eyes! That’s it, it’s over! She can have him!” My throat strained from screaming. I had no fight left in me. “Turns out I wasn’t enough after all.”

Tammy wrapped me in her arms, gently trying to shush me while I became more and more hysterical. I was shaking all over.

“
Taryn, come on! You have to admit this doesn’t sound right. I mean how would some
reporter
find out your cell phone number?” Pete asked.

“
What does it matter?” I sobbed into Tammy’s shoulder. “Feel free to go down there and break his face.”

“
No way! Not knowing what we know. I agree with Marie. Ryan wouldn’t lie about this - not now. Somebody set you up… but who?” Pete pondered.

I glared at him. “Yeah, sure. There’s some big conspiracy going on.” I wiped my eyes. “What else could it possibly be?” I said sarcastically. I didn’t understand why my friends were so gullible.

“
Taryn, look at this picture. Is this what you saw?” Marie pointed to my computer screen.

“
Are those the pictures he sent to cover his tracks? They could have been taken on any number of days.”

“
Turn around and answer my question! Is this what you saw?” Marie showed me another picture.

“
Similar,” I murmured. All the pictures she showed me were taken from inside the restaurant.
Why are there pictures of this quality from inside the restaurant?

“
No, this is exactly what you saw. Do you see that?” Marie pointed to a long, thin block at the bottom of each picture. “Ryan said all of these are date/time stamped as they film it.”

The date and time matched when I was there. My birth date was on all of them. My pulse quickened from the shock.

“
What’s that?” Marie pointed to something gray at the top of the picture. It was hard to discern what it was.

“
I don’t know,” I whispered out.

“
How about in this picture? Don’t look at him kissing her.” Marie covered them with her hand. “What is that?” She pointed again to something gray at the top of the picture. The elongated oval shape was more pronounced.

I gasped.

Marie turned to look up at me. “Do you see it now?” She smiled.

It was crystal clear what the gray thing was now… it was the microphone boom.

Ryan
was
on location filming, and the date and time stamps proved it.

“
No, but why?” My vision became blurry and the room started to spin. “She left note… I read… wha? Not stupposed be filmin.”

A high-pitched tone started ringing in both of my ears and I couldn’t feel my legs. That’s when the room tilted sideways… and disappeared.

“
Taryn?” I heard the familiar voices urgently calling my name. Something cool and wet was touching my face. Something annoying was smacking my cheek.

“
Hey there! Welcome back.” Pete smiled, dabbing my face with a cold washrag.

“
What?” I tried to sit up. “What happened?” The room was still spinning slightly.

“
You blacked out. You’re okay. Here, can you drink this?” Pete held the cup to my mouth.

“
Ugh! That tastes awful!” I picked a small chunk of something grainy off of my tongue.

“
Tammy crushed some vitamins into a cup of water. We need to get some nourishment into you,” he gently spoke. “It’s either this or we’re going to take you to the emergency room.”

I reached for the cup. “I don’t want to go to the hospital,” I muttered. “Reporters…”

The next hour was spent quietly getting me to eat and drink, and most importantly – to stay calm.

Parts of my trip to Florida flashed through my thoughts, but I couldn’t remember all the details for some reason. Perhaps my last fragments of self-preservation and survival suppressed the memories deep in my subconscious to protect me from having a complete mental breakdown?

I remembered crying on an airplane. I remembered Kyle helping me into a car.

“
I can’t do this anymore,” I whispered, staring blankly at my bowl of spaghetti. Tammy was sitting in front of me on the ottoman. She patted my leg.

“
You need to eat some more, Taryn.” Tammy nudged me. “Marie will get to the bottom of it.”

I couldn’t eat. Marie was filling Ryan in on my current state of mental collapse.

“
Stop it, Ryan! She is not sneaking around with Kyle behind your back!” Marie groaned angrily. “Because you didn’t see the state she was in when we found her, that’s how I’m sure!

“
Ryan, what part of
we had to kick your bedroom door in to get to her
is unclear to you? We almost called for an ambulance – she was that bad! Believe me, Taryn is far from happy and in love with some other guy right now. Yes, she knows I’m talking to you. I’m looking right at her.”

I scoffed. Of course this would get turned around on me! My supposed infidelity with Kyle gave him an excuse.

“
Ryan! Listen to me! Taryn said she found the note in your suite, and then right after that someone called her on her cell. This mystery caller guy is the one who told her where you were! He led her to believe you were cheating on her. I mean, how else would Taryn be able to find you when you were out on location?”

I watched Marie pace the floor while she talked to him.

“
No, Taryn said he never gave a name. He told her that they were taking pictures of you, so I guess he was paparazzi?”

She moved the phone away from her ear. I could hear Ryan shouting.

“
Ryan! Calm down, all right? Think. Who else has her number?” Marie asked.

She looked at me. “Taryn, do you remember if there was a name or number on your cell?”

“
No, there wasn’t,” I whispered.

“
Where is your phone?” She grasped the air. “Get it for me.”

I regretted my foolishness, but there was nothing I could do to change it.

“
It’s on a highway in Florida,” I admitted.

Tammy rolled her eyes at me.

“
Ryan, I’m telling you, she didn’t know you were still filming! Well, did
you tell her
that your schedule changed?” Marie yelled back at him.

“
He said the morning shoot got pushed back because Lauren was feeling sick but later she felt better so they were behind schedule when they filmed the restaurant scene,” she whispered to me. “He didn’t get a chance to call because you were already on the plane and he was on location.”