by Angela Blake
Ashlyn smiled, knowing her friends’ words were true. “Yeah, except with that guy, his name is Brandon, I really think he’s a gem. He’s a gentleman to begin with. He has that whole Southern charm thing going for him. I might see if he can hang out at the beach house after filming. Let me know what you think of him.”
“Now, you want my opinion,” Pamela gave Ashlyn a serious look. “I thought you could navigate these waters by yourself.”
Ashlyn shrugged. “Maybe I can, but I don’t know. I think Brandon may really be a good guy for once.”
Pamela shrugged. “Invite him over. See how he does with groups. It’s hard to get a true perspective of a guy when you’re the only one observing him.”
Ashlyn agreed and repeated her effort to invite Brandon over. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted it to happen. As soon as they were done filming for the day, Ashlyn hurried over and invited Brandon to the beach house. She didn’t want to sound desperate, but she really didn’t want him to turn her down. That would be a true indication that he was not interested in her.
“Hey, what are your plans for the night?” Ashlyn asked.
“I don’t have any plans,” Brandon replied. “I’m a pretty boring guy, remember?”
“Well, the crew always has a good time. I’m sure we have enough food for one more. Sometimes, we play games or something after dinner or we just talk. You could get to know the crew.”
Ashlyn pushed her hands into her back pockets and turned her eyes away from Brandon in an effort to hide how much she cared what his answer would be.
“That sounds fine to me,” Brandon said. “As long as there truly will be enough food and I am not intruding.”
“It’s fine,” Ashlyn assured him. “Why don’t you just walk back with us?” The crew stored their equipment after carefully wiping it down to get rid of any spare sand particles. Dinner was tacos, and everyone began chowing down. Ashlyn found a place at the table across from Brandon and found that he was easily fitting in with the crew. Everyone asked him about his job and what he did, etc. Ashlyn sat back and smiled as she watched him interact. It seemed like she had picked a real winner this time.
When they were done eating, Brandon casually picked up Ashlyn’s plate and rinsed it off at the sink for her. Ashlyn looked over at Pamela who had also noticed his action. Pamela gave a small thumbs up. That was all the encouragement that Ashlyn needed.
She got next to him to play a game of Phase 10, but the game was taking forever. They had six people playing, and it seemed as though she would never phase up. The points were quickly mounting, and one person was even in the thousands. Ashlyn didn’t want to quit the game, but she couldn’t help feeling a little bored. She wanted to talk to Brandon. She wanted to have his attention, not be shoved behind other people.
Ashlyn nudged Brandon as she started her fifth round on level six. “What time do you need to get back?” It was a subtle hint that maybe she should walk him back to his car, but he didn’t seem to be getting the hint.
Brandon merely shrugged. “Maybe in an hour or so. I have to feed the dog, but she’s outside and she can wait some more.”
Ashlyn nodded and waited another five minutes for her turn. She wondered if Brandon would be up for a walk outside on the beach. It was too tempting to pass up. Ashlyn finally spoke again.
“Do you want to walk on the beach?” she was trying to speak quietly so that not everyone would hear her.
Brandon looked at her for a minute then nodded. “That’s actually a really good idea.” He looked at his watch. “We should go right now.”
Ashlyn wondered at his sudden change in attitude, but she didn’t give him time to change it again. “I fold,” Ashlyn laid her cards in the middle. The other players protested, but she knew they didn’t mind. They were probably just as annoyed by how long the turns were taking as she was. Ashlyn stood up and stretched. She was ready to talk to Brandon and see if he thought of her as anyone special.
Chapter Three
As soon as they got out on the beach and had kicked off their sandals, Brandon started talking excitedly. “There’s been this nest on the beach for a few weeks now. I’ve been coming over to walk every night and see if the eggs are hatching, but someone told me they will only hatch when there is a full moon. Tonight isn’t quite a full moon, but it’s close enough. Have you ever seen turtles hatch?”
“Turtles?” Ashlyn asked. “No, I didn’t know that was something you could see. Don’t they hatch in the ocean?”
“No,” Brandon shook his head. “The mom turtle lays her eggs in the sand and buries them. Then she goes back in the ocean and leaves them there for a few months. When a full moon comes, the baby turtles, hundreds of them, hatch and use the light of the moon to guide themselves to the ocean.”
“Wow!” Ashlyn had never known this about turtles, and she started getting excited about the thought of seeing them. “But if the eggs are buried, how do we know they are there?”
Brandon shrugged. “There are wildlife preserves monitoring the beach. They are able to locate them. When they do locate a nest, they rope it off so that people don’t accidentally step on it and kill the baby turtles. There is usually someone sitting at the hole watching for when they hatch.”
Ashlyn could see a small group of people huddled up near the dunes. She wanted to hurry ahead, but she also wanted to stand back and enjoy her time with Brandon. Suddenly, she felt his fingers clasping at hers. He was taking her hand!
Ashlyn’s heart skipped a beat as his hand firmly gripped hers. She wanted to tell him or show him somehow that she appreciated it, that she was glad he was taking her hand. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Nervously, Ashlyn looked at Brandon by turning her head slightly. He was smiling at her, and Ashlyn smiled right back. How beautiful it was to be on the beach with Brandon making her stomach flutter!
They finally reached the small group. There was a narrow passageway, like a tunnel dug into the sand, and they carefully stood on the side. Ashlyn looked up the little passageway to a hole that disappeared beneath the dunes. There was no sign of turtles tonight.
An older man sat in a folding chair by the head of the passageway.
Brandon waved down the man’s attention. “Do you know when the turtles might hatch?”
The man shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. It will definitely happen in the next week, before the moon begins to wane. However, I can’t begin to tell you the hour. Nature has its own way, Son.”
Brandon took a step back from the passageway and turned back to Ashlyn. “I saw a turtle’s nest hatch before, and it was right before midnight. Do you want to wait a while?”
Ashlyn looked at the few people that were seated comfortably in chairs or on blankets. She didn’t know if she wanted to wait a few hours when there might not even be anything happening that night.
“I don’t know,” Ashlyn replied. “I know you need to get back to take care of the dog, and I don’t want to wait if nothing is going to happen. It might be better to try another night. After all, I need to be up nice and early for filming tomorrow.”
“That’s true,” Brandon agreed. “Well, I don’t want to keep you then.” Brandon let go of Ashlyn’s hand, and she felt a little irritated. Was he just going to stay here and let her find her own way back to the house? Maybe he wasn’t the gentleman she thought him. But now, he was just turning around and taking her other hand.
Ashlyn smiled and shook her head just a little at his silliness.
“What did you do before it was summer time?” Ashlyn asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you weren’t getting your housing for free, so how did you make money?”
“I was working in a recording studio, mashing buttons. It was okay work, but it wasn’t my kind of music. I would love to record a CD, but you have to have startup funds if you’re going to do that. Even then, you need to advertise as well if you are going to sell
anything other than to your friends.”
Ashlyn nodded. “So, you’ve always worked with music?”
“No, not always. There were times when I kind of ignored my love for music and movies. I just worked a minimum wage job and went to school. I worked as a sales clerk and at the register. That was even worse than working in the recording studio.”
“What are you going to do in the future?” Ashlyn asked.
Brandon shrugged. “I don’t know exactly. I can still have the hope that I’ll become rich and famous, right? Or am I too old for fantasies like that?”
Ashlyn shook her head. “I still have them. I dream that one day I’ll be able to direct movies, but I know that won’t happen anytime in the near future.”
The two fell silent as they continued their walk down the beach. Ashlyn saw the house where she was staying at the time, and she pointed it out to Brandon. “There’s my house. Where did you park this morning?”
“I parked on the other side of the boardwalk,” Brandon said. “I’ll walk you to the back steps, though.”
Ashlyn was silent again as they walked up to the steps. There were their shoes. Ashlyn had almost forgotten and sent Brandon off without his shoes. “Well, good night,” Ashlyn said, dropping Brandon’s hand and turning toward him. She was wondering if she should do something to show that she was still interested. Brandon took care of that, though. He leaned forward and took her lips in hers, his hand resting just under her chin. He kissed her gently, his lips soft on hers.
Ashlyn’s heart thumped at double time as Brandon took her upper lip in his and pulled it toward him, gently biting down. She hungered for more, and she didn’t resist as Brandon planted a hand in her hair and pulled her further toward him. He hungrily consumed her lips, sending shivers down her body. Finally, Brandon pulled back, and they were both breathing hard.
“Sorry,” he whispered. He cleared his throat. “See you soon.” And with that, he was gone.
Chapter Four
Ashlyn didn’t know what to do as Brandon quickly scooped up his sandals and made his way toward the boardwalk. He didn’t even given Ashlyn a chance to say that she hadn’t minded. He hadn’t pushed himself on her at all. She felt warm all over, and her lips were still humming from the intensity of the electricity between them.
Ashlyn considered calling after Brandon, but neither did she want someone in the house to see their interaction and think her desperate. She didn’t want to be the center of the house’s gossip, even though she knew that the crew probably already talked about her.
Ashlyn watched Brandon’s form until he had mounted the steps and disappeared over the bridge into the parking lot beyond. Ashlyn closed her eyes and listened to the crash of the waves on the shore. The waves receded then crashed once more. Ashlyn wondered if it was safe to sleep out on the beach. She knew that the sound of the waves would lull her to sleep in a minute. Ashlyn sighed.
She needed to go inside and get ready for bed. The day was over, and that was that. Worrying over Brandon or trying to understand his hurried goodbye would not change anything. But even Ashlyn’s excellent advice did not help her. She knew that she would still lie in bed that night thinking over every moment of that kiss and its aftermath. When she saw Brandon again, she would kiss him hard and let him know that she enjoyed his kiss.
***
Ashlyn woke up the next morning ready to see Brandon. She wasn’t sure what the filming schedule was for the extras, but she knew that it would take a minimum of three days. There were a lot of scenes with extras on the beach. Ashlyn determined that she would get a moment alone with Brandon to say something.
Sure enough, he was at the set the next day, and Ashlyn hurried over to him. Her camera was all set up, and they still had ten minutes until it was time to film. That was plenty of time to talk.
“Good morning, Brandon,” Ashlyn said.
Brandon nodded at her and sipped his coffee. “Good morning, Sunshine.” Ashlyn wondered at the weird nickname and looked for signs of trouble. Brandon didn’t seem bothered by anything. Should she even mention their kiss?
“How was the dog last night?” Ashlyn said to fill up the conversation as she tried to figure out what to do.
“She was just fine,” Brandon replied. “She’s a very calm pup. I might bring her to the beach sometime so you can meet her.”
He was planning on seeing her in the future. That was clear from what he had just said. Ashlyn decided not to mention anything. There didn’t seem to be any problem, at least from Brandon’s point of view.
“I better get to my camera, but I hope to see you at lunchtime.”
Ashlyn hurried over to her camera stand with a smile on her face. All was well. She watched as Brandon, so personable, struck up conversation with Gary. Gary was normally quite agitated on mornings like this, but he seemed fine talking to Brandon for about five minutes before he was needed to solve a problem. Ashlyn was amazed at how good Brandon was with people. She thought of a saying she had once heard that really applied to Brandon. He could sell ice to Eskimos. Brandon was excellent at making himself likeable and easy to be around. Even if someone didn’t want to like him, they probably would.
Ashlyn certainly liked being around him.
When it was lunchtime, Ashlyn immediately headed over to Brandon, but Mark interceded her. “Have you had a good morning filming?” Mark asked.
Ashlyn nodded cautiously. She always felt self-conscious when she was around Mark. She could never be sure if he was really just trying to patch things up or if he only saw her someone he had slept with. She certainly couldn’t place as much trust in Mark as she could in say, Pamela. Pamela would never do something purposely to hurt Ashlyn.
“I saw you talking to that extra,” Mark said, nodding in the general direction of Brandon. Ashlyn instantly crossed her arms and readied herself for confrontation. “Hey, Ashlyn, I’m just trying to take care of you.”
Ashlyn raised her eyebrows. “Obviously, that’s what you want to do. Maybe I wasn’t great at judging your character, but I’m normally quite good. Brandon is a gentleman.”
“I agree,” Mark replied. That surprised Ashlyn. She thought this was some case of ex-boyfriend’s revenge, but Mark seemed to be telling the truth. “I just want to tell you something as a friend, because I still care about you even though I know you don’t think anything of me now. How did Brandon become an extra? You told him about the spot, didn’t you?”
Ashlyn wondered how Mark knew so much. Had he been a spy before he worked on filming? “And once he knew about the spot, he got the idea of moving up the world. Most people don’t know the acting world well. They think it’s easy. They think that once you’re in, you earn big bucks. Brandon is using you to get a higher place. He’s using you just like the lowest rung on a ladder. He doesn’t mind walking all over you if it means getting higher up.”
Ashlyn opened her mouth to protest. She was not going to let Brandon walk all over her like she was some piece of trash. “I know what I am doing thank you very much. You’ve already taught me one lesson, and that’s all I need from you. I won’t get drunk, and I’ll keep making intelligent decisions. You don’t know the conversation that has passed between Brandon and I before he even knew where I worked. You don’t know anything about him. So just move on and ruin someone else’s day.”
Ashlyn turned away from Mark, but she already didn’t have an appetite. She saw Brandon jovially talking with a few crew members. Ashlyn just wanted a few moments by herself to think. Mark wasn’t right. He couldn’t possibly be right. He was just jealous, but Ashlyn couldn’t keep the doubt from creeping into her mind.
Chapter Five
Ashlyn felt grumpy. She hated the feeling of distrust, and right now, she didn’t know who she could trust. Mark had obviously done something to break her trust. She wouldn’t trust herself in his hands again, but did that mean that she should trust his words? Brandon hadn’t done anything to break her trus
t. He had been the joking, considerate gentleman that she had always wanted to find. But Mark’s claims could be true. There was always the possibility. How was she going to be able to get rid of her doubts without ruining her relationship with Brandon?
Ashlyn felt tears pricking at her eyes. No fantasy could ever really be a fantasy. Something always shattered her hopes of a romance like there was in the movie. Ashlyn hurried over to her camera and forewent having lunch, preferring to call her mom.
“Hi, Ashlyn!” her mom answered in a perky voice. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. How is Aunt Jennifer?”
“She’s doing much better. I wish that you could have come out to see her, though. I think she would have really appreciated it.”
“I know, Mom. I wish I could have too, but by the time I would have gotten there, she would have already come out of the hospital. I will fly back to see you guys at Christmas if all goes well.”
“That’s a long way away.”
“I know, Mom. I miss both of you.”
“I miss you too, darling.” Ashlyn had been planning to ask her mom for advice when it came to the guys, but now just talking to her mom seemed to make her feel better, even without having a solution to her problem. Besides, how would she be able to privately explain what was going on when anyone nearby would be able to hear here?
“What were you calling for?” Mom asked.
“I just wanted to talk to you. My schedule is so crazy that I hardly have a free minute,” Ashlyn was trying to make an excuse for not calling earlier.
“I understand, Sweetheart. You’re an adult now. You have your own life.”
Ashlyn smiled bittersweetly. Suddenly, she wanted her mom to tell her exactly what to do, so she walked away from all the cameras and poured out everything that had happened in the last few weeks, not leaving out anything. She even told her mom about the confusing situation with Mark. She ended with, “I don’t think he would hurt me. I think Mark cares for me, but I don’t know if I can trust what he says.”