Okay guys this is the last chap of this series. Hope you enjoyed the story.
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It had been over 2 months since Chris's departure. I managed to go on with life, not letting it affect me as much as it could have. I still loved Chris, and I spent many nights wishing he were there with me in my bed. He did stay true to his word and kept in touch. He made it a point to call me at least once a week, times that I treasured dearly.
Hearing his voice was what helped me through it all I guess. Even though we weren't together, we still care about each other and somehow that made it all okay.
"Dude you're never going to believe this." Ryan said, walking through my front door without so much as a knock.
"Once again, just waltz right in." I said, turning my head to look at him from the couch. He walked over and sat down next to me.
"Dude you're not going to believe who I just asked out?"
"Sam." I deadpanned. The excitement on his face disappeared.
"How did you know?"
"Dude I was the one who told you she likes you." I said. I know I said I wasn't going to meddle in Sam's affairs but she didn't hear what Ryan said. He had actually told me that he likes her so I couldn't help it and spilt the news. I didn't really think Sam would mind.
"Oh right." He replied. I shook my head. Ryan could be a little dense at times.
"You seem really happy about it? I guess you're over Amy Reaver?" I asked.
"No I'm not over her. She has a special place in my heart. It's just that I found another place for Sam too. Anyway you yourself said that Amy was no man's land. It's not like I'm actually going to meet her, let alone go on a date."
"Aw that's too bad, because I convinced Chris to let you meet her."
"What!!! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He said, jumping off the couch.
"Dude I'm just messin' with you."
"Not cool man. Not cool at all." He sat back down on the couch. I was about to say something when my phone started to ring. I picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It was Chris and I answered it.
"Hey man, how's it going?" I said.
"Good. You'll never guess where I am right now."
"Somewhere in L.A." I said, not really wanting to guess.
"Well yeah but...you are such a killjoy." He said.
"Okay sorry. Where are you?"
"I'm backstage at 'Tony Live'." He said. I could hear the excitement in his voice. 'Tony live' was the highest rated talk show in the country and he had mentioned once or twice that he wanted to appear on it.
"No way. What are you doing there?" I asked.
"What do you think I'm doing here? I'm going to be on the show."
"That's great." I said.
"Will you tune in to watch?" He asked. The show was a live one, hence the word live in the title.
"You really need to ask?" I asked. He laughed over the phone and I could have melted at his laugh right there.
"Oh hey I need to go. I just wanted to tell you the good news." He said.
"Sure thing. Bye, I love you." I said. As those words slipped past my tongue, I wanted to pull them back. I was horrified that I uttered that last part. I hadn't told Chris that I loved him and I wasn't going to anytime soon. I waited for him reply, hoping that he didn't hear that.
"Bye. Talk to you soon." He said and I hung up. It seemed like he either didn't hear it, or thought it was some casual remark. Either way I was glad and relieved at the same time.
"That was close." I said, dropping the phone onto the couch. I turned to look at Ryan and he was staring at me. "What?"
"I thought you said you weren't going to tell Chris." He said. Of course I told Ryan about my feelings for Chris. He was my best friend after all.
"I hadn't meant to. It slipped out. Besides it seems he didn't realize it."
"I don't know if that is lucky or unlucky." He said. Ryan had made no effort to hide his disdain for my lack of action since finding out that I loved Chris. He felt that if I loved him, I should have been with him, whatever difficulties that came with it. I didn't reply to his comment.
Later in the day, I sat in front of the T.V. watching 'Tony Live'. Ryan had left a some time back, receiving a call from Sam. He took off in a flash, leaving me sitting in my living room alone. Probably fifteen minutes into the show, Chris came on. Seeing him, even on the T.V. made me smile. Of course he looked amazing as usual.
I watched at Chris sat down in the chair opposite Tony Brall. "Well hello Chris, it's good to finally be able to have you on the show." He said.
"Thanks Tony, I seriously can't believe I'm sitting here right now next to you. I may not look it but I'm freaking out on the inside right now." Chris said, rubbing his hands on his thighs. I smiled at his enthusiasm. He reminded me of an excited little kid on Christmas morning.
"Great but just don't pee in your pants from the excitement." Tony said, making the audience laugh. "You guys laugh but it's happened before." He said to the audience.
"I'll try to maintain my bladder control." Chris replied. I watched at Tony asked Chris a series of question, each one being answered by Chris. In between question, a joke or two would be thrown in, making the audience laugh in response. It was obvious Chris was comfortable doing interviews; probably from the number of them he has done in the past. You could really tell Tony and him were feeding off each other's responses, making sure it was entertaining at least.
"So Chris, everyone has been anxiously waiting for your upcoming movie. Care to tell everyone what it's about?" Tony asked.
"Okay well the movie is called 'Broken'. Basically it's a love story revolving around a girl called Anne, who had felt a lot of loss in her life. She was orphaned at a very young age and grew up in a foster family that wasn't very caring. The only person she could confide in was her best friend Harvey, who is the character I play. I don't want to give too much away but I guess things don't really go very smoothly for Anne." Chris finished.
"And you shot this in Miami right? It's my hometown you know" Tony asked.
"Really? I didn't know that. But yeah we shot in Miami. The filming was actually done around eight months ago, but we went back a couple of months back to film some changes." Chris said.
"I see. So you like Miami?"
"Yeah definitely. Met some really nice people there." He said. I smiled, having a strong feeling he was referring to me.
"You brought a clip didn't you. Let's play it shall we?" Tony asked. Chris nodded before the screen cut away, changing to a scene from the movie.
I saw Victoria Oakley on screen, sitting in the couch from the set apartment. My memory of the day I was there flooded my mind. I noticed the outfit she was wearing wasn't the same as the one the day I was there. I knew then that the scene was shot on the second day. I watched as the camera shot over to Chris, sitting down next to Victoria.
"Hey, is everything okay?" He asked. Victoria's expression was downcast, looking solemnly at her hands.
"It's nothing." She replied. My eyes widened when I finally realized what this scene was. It was the same scene that I practiced with Chris, the one where he kissed me.
"C'mon Anne. You know I can read you like a book." Victoria's expression changed, her face now showing frustration and anger. I remembered my sad attempt at trying to look angry and I would have chuckled to myself if not for the memory now running through my brain.
"Oh really. You must be illiterate then because you obviously aren't reading correct." Victoria shouted.
"I think I do know though. But Anne, you and I. You know we can never be. I just don't see you that way." The way he said it differed from the Chris in my memory. He seemed genuinely sad in the video, something that he didn't portray during the practice at my house.
"You think I don't know that? I know you won't ever like me like that but hell I didn't ask for this Harvey. You think I want to be miserable?" Victoria sounded like she was on the verge of tears, credited to her great acting skills.
"I'm sorry Anne." He said. There was an aura of distress surrounding him.
"I'm sorry too Harvey. I know a lost cause when I see one." Victoria said, getting up off the couch. The shot changed to show Chris reaching out and grabbing Victoria's wrist, stopping her in her tracks.
"Look I can try. For our friendship, I can try."
"You can't try to love me Harvey. It just won't work like that. I can't have you force yourself to love me just because of our friendship. I'm going to be fine." Victoria said, tugging her wrist out of his grasp. This was it; the next part was the kiss. Chris got off the couch too, grabbing Victoria and spinning her around, pulling her to him. The video ended, just before their lips touched. In my mind, I remembered the kissed we shared; I remembered how electrifying his touch was. How my lips were still tingling even after we broke the kiss.
"Wow." Tony exclaimed, the camera now cutting back to their interview. "So the girl that play Anne, her name is Victoria?" He asked.
