Someone I Used to Know - By Blakney Francis Page 0,4

vehicle through interstate traffic.

“Oh, did I forget to mention?” He avoided my eyes, putting way too much focus on changing lanes. “We’ve got to stop by the studio for a minute before we get you settled into my place.”

“What?!” I was wearing my pajamas! My coworkers would never take me seriously. It was already bad enough that I was there. They probably thought I was some gold digger, trying to jump on their gravy train. Oh God, there were ducks on my shorts!

“Sorry, Addy.” Again with the nicknames when he wanted something. “We’ve been shooting a week, and it has been a freaking disaster. Today we found out that we can’t get a permit for one of our on-location shoots, and now I have to meet with the other writers to discuss a rewrite. It’ll take an hour at the most. I just have to get the list of other plausible options for the new locale.”

Whatever nostalgic cloud of warm fuzzies that had enveloped us in the newness of reuniting began to dissipate, and I was reintroduced to one of my least favorite qualities of Cam’s. He had no problem springing things on me last minute, knowing the later he waited to tell me, the less time he’d have to hear me complain. Knowing him so well, I understood his logic, but that didn’t mean I had to be okay with it. As unhappy as I was, there was nothing I really could do about it, and as much as I hated to admit it, his procrastination paid off.

I decided to make the most out of those few minutes of anger anyways, shooting him vicious glares as I punished him with silence.

The quiet would be what affected him the most. He hated silence. Cam liked to fill every moment with words. Sometimes, when I’d really, really decided that I hated him, I used to accuse him of being in love with his own voice, but at the end of the day (and when I cooled off a little) I understood it wasn’t just his words that he liked to hear. He loved to listen as well. It was one of the things I’d admired most.

By the time we arrived at the fenced in grouping of buildings where the studios logo was scrawled in giant crimson letters, I’d forgotten the reason for my silence, sitting back to take it all in.

I don’t know what I expected of a movie set, except for maybe that it would be a little more glamorous somehow. Flashing identification to the mountain of a man at the guard stand, entering through the back lot, and proceeding through another round of security – it was all just a little too procedural for my imagination. Besides the cameras, sets, and crafts table, it was just like any other work place. People were doing their jobs and minding their own business. No one was even particularly attractive.

I stopped in my tracks, leaving Cam to stride on without me. Realizing my absence when I didn’t laugh at one of his snarky comments, he backtracked to my side.

“I recognize that guy,” I explained my blatant stare. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the real reason the man sitting in a director’s chair across the room had caught my attention.

He was beautiful – uncommonly so – with dark brown hair and cheekbones that were every plastic surgeon’s dream. A woman fluttered about his hair, artfully crafting it into a messy masterpiece. He smiled genuinely at something she said. Even from where we were standing, I could make out the famous birthmark that decorated his jaw – small and inconspicuous – but somehow undeniably sexy.

Cam chuckled at my reaction. I hadn’t fooled him.

“I would hope so. The studio’s banking on him to bring in the big bucks from the ladies… Australian heartthrob and Indie movie extraordinaire, Declan Davies.”

“And he’s playing…?” I inquired, trying to assimilate myself with his handsome features.

Cam coughed and looked decidedly uncomfortable.

“You?” I burst out laughing. Cam was good looking on his own merit, but Declan Davies was in a league of his own, not to mention they really didn’t look a thing alike. Where Cam was honey, Declan was chocolate. “That’s a little egotistical don’t you think, Cam?”

“He’s not playing me. He’s playing a character in a movie.” His lips stuck together in a sour expression, and I felt a smidgen of guilt. Well, I did until he grabbed my arm and started dragging me towards Declan Davies