by Angela Blake
“Yes,” Ashlyn nodded.
“Let me settle the bill, and then. . .” Javon trailed off as he opened his wallet.
“And then what?” Ashlyn asked, wanting to know exactly what Javon was thinking.
“Maybe they’ll let us step out on the patio. I’m pretty sure the sun is setting in about,” Javon glanced at his watch, “about ten minutes. I don’t want to miss it.”
Ashlyn smiled. Javon was oddly romantic. It was as though he had just planned the dinner time so that they could catch the late summer sunset. Ashlyn watched as Javon slapped enough money down on the table to cover the meal and pay their server. He apparently was not interested in waiting for change. Who was he that he had so much money yet had been scrounging up extra acting jobs?
Javon stood and took hold of the back of her chair. Ashlyn stood as Javon pulled the chair back. He offered his arm, and Ashlyn slipped her arm through his, feeling like a princess. He led her out onto restaurant’s patio. It had cooled down a few degrees, and Ashlyn didn’t feel as hot anymore.
Javon led Ashlyn over to one side of the railing. The sun was just touching the horizon. Hues of purple, pink, and orange filled the sky as the sun inched down toward bed. Ashlyn stared in wonder, wishing she had her camera with her. This sunset was a beauty. Ashlyn freed herself from Javon’s hand and moved to a better viewing place along the rail. Javon came up behind her and placed one of his hands on either side of her.
Ashlyn immediately felt the warmth of his body, and it caused her face to heat up. He was so close. She could turn and kiss him right now. No one would fault her. Her body was screaming for her to move, to make a decision. Ashlyn slowly, inch by slow inch, moved her ass backward until she was pressing into the front of Javon’s pants.
She could feel, now clearly against her pants that he was hard. Ashlyn froze as though unsure what to do now. What was she thinking? Javon wrapped his arms around her, pulling her even closer, and his words came into her ear. “What are you trying to start, you little firecracker?”
Ashlyn couldn’t answer. She just wanted to freeze, not have to make any decisions but just freeze and enjoy the moment. Javon slowly moved himself away then slowly pushed himself into her again. He let out a low moan just next to her ear.
It undid Ashlyn, and she turned away. She pulled his hips toward her and closed her eyes, needing his lips on hers, needing to let go of some of her built-up passion. His lips pressed down hard onto hers. Then, he seemed to consume her. His lips hurriedly kissed hers over and over. He bit her lower lip gently and pulled it toward him.
Ashlyn’s stomach felt as though it was on fire, and she knew she was wetting her panties. She knew he wanted to have her as much as her body was telling her to take him. Ashlyn pulled back, dread settling over her. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t get in trouble. She had to be back in her hotel room that night. Gary was strict. If she acted now on purely passion, she might regret it in the morning.
Javon’s voice was low. “Do you want to come to my place?” he asked.
Ashlyn quivered as she imagined what it would be like to open her legs to him and feel him touch her. She already knew that he would be able to take her to an amazing place, but Ashlyn didn’t know what she felt about giving herself away to a man she had just met. The only time she had done it before was with her boyfriend of two years. She couldn’t.
Chapter Four
“I need to go back,” Ashlyn said.
Javon’s eyes focused directly on hers. They were so close. She seemed able to read every thought as it passed through. “Ashlyn, come on, can’t you come with me? Don’t you want to?”
“I want to,” Ashlyn acceded before she had a chance to really think through her words.
“Then, come on,” Javon said. “You’ve turned me on now. If you’re turning me on just to leave me, that’s mean.”
“I want to go with you,” Ashlyn said as she pulled away to look at the front of Javon’s pants. She was suddenly very self-conscious as she realized that there were other people out on the patio. Her cheeks turned red. “I think I need to go back. Thanks for dinner. It was delicious.”
Javon walked Ashlyn silently around to the front of the restaurant. “I don’t know what I did to make you want to leave me, but I’m sorry for whatever it was.”
Ashlyn halted as she tried to explain her conflicting feelings. She didn’t even understand herself, but she just knew that she should go back to her hotel room that night. She should wait and see if Javon was really interested in her, if they had a chance at anything. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” Ashlyn said, “you did everything right. But,” she paused, her mind scrambling. “I never do something like that with a guy on a first date.”
“I guess I’ll have to take you out again then,” Javon said as they parted. His words echoed in Ashlyn’s mind as she hoofed it back to her room. Would she do it if they went out again? She wasn’t sure, but she did know that her mind could not take any more heavy-thinking right now. She needed to figure things out.
The next day, Ashlyn was up and ready early. She couldn’t wait to get on set and see Javon again. She wondered if the new day would give her a new perspective on things. She might think her desire from the night before to be overrated or she might regret not taking the opportunity when she had it.
“You are very chipper to have been out so late,” Pamela said as they shuffled around before breakfast.
“I wasn’t out that late,” Ashlyn said. “You just went to bed super early.” In truth, she had gotten back about nine thirty, not late at all for her usual. Ashlyn couldn’t even devote part of her mind to thinking about what Pamela might think. She was too busy thinking about Javon. Ashlyn dressed up a little more than she usually would to film in the forest, but she wanted to make Javon have that same reaction to her this morning as he had had the night before.
When Ashlyn arrived at the forest with the crew, they were busy setting up their materials. They wanted to take full advantage of the light, so it was only six o’clock by the time they finished setting up. Ashlyn felt tired, and now she knew that sleeping in her own room had been a good decision the night before.
Ashlyn spotted Javon. He was talking to another extra, a male. Ashlyn waited for Javon to look her direction, and when he did, she smiled at him. Javon bit his lower lip and looked her over approvingly. Ashlyn couldn’t help but feel the desire building up in her belly.
She scolded herself. Now was a time to focus on filming, not on the attractive extras. She took her place and adjusted her camera just so. She always moved into a different world when she was filming, but today, that world seemed to evade her. Ashlyn could barely focus on starting and stopping the filming at the correct times.
At their first break, Javon made a beeline for her, and Ashlyn fidgeted with something so that her watching him was not too obvious. Javon reached her and pulled her a little closer to him. He grabbed her hand and manipulated it to his chest. Ashlyn seemed to freeze just as she had the night before. His lips came right next to her ear.
“Ashlyn, it is so hard to focus with you here. Maybe I should be the one asking you to leave. When I saw you in those jeans today, mm, I just want to grab your ass in my hand and pull you toward me.”
Ashlyn felt her underwear becoming wet as Javon’s low voice filled her ear. “Please don’t make me wait any longer. I don’t know if I can.” Javon’s tongue then flicked in and out of Ashlyn’s ear sending shivers down her body. She fought herself to pull away. She couldn’t do this right now. She was working, and when he was that close, saying things like that to her, it made her unable to think.
She took a deep breath as she looked Javon over. She still had a lot of desire to take his clothes off, and she just might. Fantasies began to play through Ashlyn’s head. She imagined just what it would be like to be in a bedroom alone with him.
Ashlyn snapped out of it as the cameramen began scurrying back to their positions. She had a job to do. Ashlyn looke
d around to see where Javon was. She found that he was done already. He was off to the side, talking to another one of the extras. But this extra was a girl. Ashlyn’s stomach knotted up. Surely the girl had started the conversation. Javon was interested in Ashlyn. Still, if that girl was trying to get Javon into bed, it might be easier than it should be. Ashlyn couldn’t do anything to stop her either. She was working, and she couldn’t leave her post. Ashlyn took another deep breath as she tried to steady herself.
She adjusted her camera on its stand, but it didn’t quite seem right. She didn’t hear the clicking noise, but it was time to film. There was no time to fidget with it and try to figure out what had gone wrong.
The scene started, and Ashlyn took a wide shot of the characters talking. This was a boring scene, and they didn’t move around a lot. She didn’t really need to be looking at her camera a lot. Ashlyn peeked up to see what Javon was doing. He appeared occupied talking to this girl, but Ashlyn couldn’t see his face. Was he laughing? Was she funny? Did he think she was sexy too?
Ashlyn focused back on her camera. She didn’t even need to zoom in or anything. Her camera could basically maintain itself. She peeked up again, and Javon was not with the girl anymore. Ashlyn frantically looked around. Where had he gone?
She suddenly felt someone right behind her, and Ashlyn jumped away in surprise.
She banged into her camera, and it tumbled off the stand onto the ground. Ashlyn stared down at it in horror.
Chapter Five
Ashlyn looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Everyone was looking at the camera on the ground. Ashlyn hurried toward it to scoop it up and evaluate its injuries. Maybe it wasn’t so bad. Ashlyn knew that cameras like this were worth thousands of dollars, and she didn’t have that kind of money. Ashlyn kept trying to assure herself that it might not really be so bad. She just needed to look it over. It still seemed to be in one piece, and it had landed on a bed of pine needles.
Gary was already coming over toward Ashlyn, and his face was red with anger. Ashlyn backed away, leaving the camera where it was.
“Get out of my sight!” Gary sputtered, getting two other cameramen to carefully lift the camera onto a table to assess its damage. Ashlyn stopped for a moment. This didn’t mean she was fired. Did it? No, she wasn’t fired.
Ashlyn backed away, and she bumped right into Javon. He had seen the whole thing. He had caused the whole thing. He must have been what had startled her into jumping. Ashlyn suddenly felt angry. It was his fault! If she lost her job over him, she was not going to be happy!
All of those fluffy, fun feelings from the morning were gone as she turned on him in the full force of her anger. “I can’t believe you did that!” she shouted, her anger pouring out of her. “If you hadn’t startled me, then the camera wouldn’t have fallen!”
Javon shook his head and crossed his arms. “It was cute yesterday. It isn’t cute today.”
“What? Are you even having the same conversation as me? What were you even doing close to where I was filming?”
“I wanted to watch you, just so you know,” Javon said. “I didn’t know that was a crime. You said not to make any noise yesterday, so I didn’t. I guess nothing is right for you.”
Javon wasn’t shouting, but his tone was condescending which was enough to annoy Ashlyn. She wanted him to feel bad or apologize or tell Gary that it was his fault. If Ashlyn lost her job, that would stamp her resume. If Gary lost his part as an extra, no one would care.
“No, it’s not that. But you shouldn’t even be here. I thought our deal meant that you would leave me alone every single day of filming. I didn’t know we had to go on a daily date to pay off my debts.” Ashlyn crossed her arms, her voice becoming sarcastic.
“I never said that,” Javon said, his beefy arms crossed as well. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”
“Fine, maybe I’ll stuff them up your asshole,” Ashlyn replied. “That’s about where they belong.” She shook her head in disgust. “Are you trying to make me lose my job?”
“If you don’t know how to take care of your camera, I don’t think that’s my fault, even though you’d like to blame it on someone else. Maybe if you had been paying attention, if wouldn’t have happened.”
“I was paying attention!” Ashlyn yelled. “I don’t know what else you want.”
“I think you know what I want,” Javon said. He bit his lip and looked her over as though he wasn’t bothered at all by her problem. Ashlyn wanted to scream and tear her hair out all at the same moment. She stomped away. Maybe she was acting like a baby, but this was the worst possible thing that could have happened to her right now.
Gary called her over, and Ashlyn hurried. She had to beg him for forgiveness, explain what had happened. She didn’t know what exactly, but she had to do something, and she had to do it quickly to save her little career.
Gary’s face wasn’t nearly as red and angry as it had been before. Ashlyn wondered if this was his “you’re fired” face, like the calm before a storm. “Ashlyn,” he said, “it is Ashlyn, correct?”
Ashlyn nodded respectfully.
“This camera is worth over three thousand dollars.”
“Yes sir.”
“You are very lucky that nothing happened to it. It must have fallen just right on these pine needles to have not been hurt, but it functions correctly.” Ashlyn felt a little spot of rising hope within her. This wasn’t as bad as it had seemed. “You have one last chance. If anything like this happens ever again, then I will have to let you go. Do you understand?”
Ashlyn nodded. “Thank you! Thank you, Gary.”
Gary was already turning away. Ashlyn wanted to kiss the camera for its strength under inspection. She still had a job! She still had hope for the future! Ashlyn turned around to tell Javon that it was okay. The camera wasn’t ruined. Javon wasn’t anywhere around her. Ashlyn visually searched every square foot of the space used by their filming crew. He had left.
Chapter Six
Ashlyn felt unsettled as she tried to carefully finish her day. Javon had left. She didn’t think he had any more parts in the movie. He was just an extra after all. She was surprised he had been there as much as he had. What if she never saw him again?
Ashlyn felt sick to her stomach. She had been such a fool. Why did she always become so angry? It was like when she felt angry she couldn’t control herself. Her mom had always told her that her anger would ruin her one day, and now, Ashlyn felt like that day had come. Her anger had now ruined the blooming relationship she was experiencing with Javon.
Ashlyn was super careful to clip her camera on correctly to the dolly. She didn’t want another mistake, but even her perfect filming for the day did nothing to settle her stomach.
“You are a lucky girl,” Pamela said as they rode together back to the hotel. “I can’t believe the camera didn’t break.”
“Great, is that what everyone is talking about?” Ashlyn asked. “About me being a fool on set today?”
“Honey,” Pamela said, giving Ashlyn a sympathetic look, “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way. We obviously have a lot more time that we will be spending together, but you are still very childish. You don’t keep your problems and emotions inside to deal with in a private manner. You just let them explode out of you. You’ve only been on set a few days, and it seems as though you are always arguing with one of the extras.”
Ashlyn clenched her jaw, not liking Pamela’s words at all. “It’s not a bad thing to let your emotions show,” she said as she had always told her mom. “People always know where they stand with me. You don’t think I like you when I really don’t, not because of some game.”
“But when people are angry, me too, I act like a totally different person, a person that I don’t even like myself. So, if you want some life advice, here it is. Don’t do anything or say anything when you’re angry. Let it pass over.”
Ashlyn nodded like she was listening, but she knew that Pamela’s words would
n’t actually help her in a real-life situation. When she was angry, she had to let the person know how she was feeling. She didn’t think she could change that, even though it was coming back to bite her now. Ashlyn wanted to cry as she thought about her lost opportunity with Javon. Maybe she hadn’t known him very well, but sometimes, when you meet a person, you immediately feel something for them. Javon had been one of those people.
“I’m going out,” Ashlyn said to Pamela when they reached their hotel room.
“I know you love this job,” Pamela said. “Make sure you don’t forget that when you are dealing with whatever you are doing tonight.”
Ashlyn wanted to stick her tongue out at Pamela, like who asked you to be my mom, but Ashlyn didn’t. She just showered and changed. She didn’t really have anywhere to be, but she wanted to go back to the Red Lobster. She wanted to see the sunset again and see if it was really as amazing as she remembered.
Maybe a tiny part of her was hoping that Javon would be there. She didn’t have his number, and her visit was sort of a final effort to fix what she had broken.
Ashlyn went up the back stairs onto the restaurant’s patio. She never would have known about the passageway if Javon hadn’t shown her the night before. Ashlyn sat on a little bench on the edge of the patio and looked up at the sky. The sunset was still an hour away. She had a long time to wait.
Ashlyn closed her eyes and let the warm sunshine wash over her upturned face. When she was young, she had always tried to get as tan as possible during the summer. The last few summers since college, she had been too busy going here and there looking for work that she hadn’t had time to enjoy being outdoors as much.
Ashlyn took a deep breath and tried to mentally prepare herself for moving on. They would be done filming in eight days anyway. She didn’t know if she would ever come back to Georgia. It was probably for the best that things had ended quickly and cleanly,