Love Unscripted

The first thing Kyle took out of the bag was an ordinary can of wasp spray.

“This is better than mace and it sprays farther too. Spray this in an attacker’s face and they’re instantly

incapacitated. I only got you one can but you should probably buy a few more.”

I watched as he dug into the bag again. Kyle barely made eye contact with me.

“This is a strobe light alarm with mace; it disorients and blinds an attacker,” he muttered. “This is called a

‘Screecher’ – it’s really loud. You can put it on your keychain or keep it in your car.”

I was looking at one of the packages, wondering why I would ever need to use any of these things. I never

needed them before; Ryan’s fans had been keeping their distance.

“Just remember that you can’t take any of this stuff on an airplane if you are going to fly anywhere. I was

going to get you a taser too, but they are illegal in Rhode Island. Do you know any self-defense?” he rambled.

“Not really,” I admitted.

Kyle didn’t smile. “You should probably think about taking some classes when you’re healed. I could show

you some moves, but…”

Kyle put all the items back in the bag and sighed heavily.

“Have you seen Angelica in the area?” he asked, quietly changing the subject.

“No.” I shook my head. “I haven’t been out of the house much. The two times I went out was to go to the

doctor. Jamaal escorted me.”

Kyle nodded. “Good. Mr. Jones is an excellent bodyguard and a good man.”

Kyle looked nervous and depressed when he talked to me. “I’ve been trying to track Angelica down but

she hasn’t surfaced anywhere yet. I have a few people watching to see if she pops up on the map again. Just

don’t worry. I’ll find her soon enough.”

Kyle grabbed his keys from his pocket and started to slide out of the booth. “Okay, well… that’s all. Take

care of yourself.”

He started to walk off but I stopped him.

“Kyle?” I called out, secretly wishing he’d stay just a bit longer.

He stopped abruptly in his tracks, but barely glanced back at me over his shoulder.

“Would you like to stay for a drink?” I asked apprehensively.

His eyes were so sad and it pained me to know that I was the cause of his melancholy. As if I needed one

more reason to be sad myself.

I grabbed the bottle of tequila.

“All you have to do is stamp on their foot real hard,” Kyle chuckled, telling me about some self-defense

maneuvers.

“So, in other words, hitting them over the head with this bottle wouldn’t work?” I giggled. I was feeling

quite tipsy from the beer, shots, and pain medicine.

“You could always use your big, blue club here,” he teased, tapping his fingers on my arm cast. “Swing it

hard enough and you could probably knock some teeth out with that thing!”

I smirked at his joke.

“I’m not afraid. If someone wants to try and hurt me, I’m going to put up one hell of a fight. The majority of

his fans are harmless, although I’m sure I’ll have to deal with a lot more of them hating me over the next forty

years. Oh well, whatever.”

Kyle became awfully quiet.

“Hey, I remember what I wanted to ask you!” I blurted out. “Where is that corner deli where you got that

chicken soup?”

“Did you like it?” Kyle asked, gri

“Oh yeah! It was delicious! You’ll have to give me directions to that place.”

He started to tell me what roads to take but after the fifth turn I lost him. I was quite buzzed after that last

shot.

“Can’t you write it down for me? I’ll never remember,” I whined.

“You have a pen?” he asked.

I returned with paper and a pen and two more bottles of beer. Kyle started writing directions.

“You’re a lefty, huh?” I teased, noticing he wrote with his left hand.

Kyle smiled at the paper.

“Did you know that I can write with my left hand?” I taunted. I pulled on the edge of the paper to mess with

him while he was writing. “Yep, I’m ambidextrous. What do you think about that?” I tugged on the paper

again.

He was gri

“No way! You are not!” I took a sip of my beer, waiting for him to confirm. He a

As soon as Kyle finished writing, I slipped the paper out from under his hand. He tried to stop me from

taking it but he wasn’t quick enough.

In an instant his whole demeanor changed. We were just having a fun time teasing each other, but now he

seemed agitated.

Kyle looked at his watch and quickly downed the last of his beer. “I’ve got to go,” he muttered and slid out

of the booth.

I was completely confused by his abrupt departure.

“Well, thanks for the stuff.” I patted the paper bag.

He was obviously distracted by other thoughts as he put his leather jacket on.

“I’ll see you later. Get some rest,” he ordered.

I watched as Kyle ran his hand through his hair on the way out the door. Marie and Tammy were staring at

me, giving me the disapproving look that I spent too much time with Kyle.

Feeling guilty, I immediately went back upstairs and called Ryan.

“I still think you could make it,” Ryan whined in my ear. “I’m sure there’s an open seat on a flight.”

I looked at the yellowish-brown marks that still covered my cheek through my slightly drunken eyes,

thinking that no amount of makeup would ever conceal them. I was glad that we had finally moved on from

the umpteenth Kyle argument.

“Ryan, I asked my doctor. He doesn’t want me to fly for another two weeks. Besides, my face is still black

and blue or more like yellow and brown now. You can’t be photographed with me looking like this.”

“I don’t care about that,” he breathed. “But if the doctor is the one saying no, then I understand why you

can’t.”

“Honey, I want to be there too, but a trip to L.A. isn’t possible right now. I still have some pain in my ribs.

I’m pla

“I fly tomorrow and then I have a rehearsal so I don’t mess up my lines. I’m really nervous,” he admitted.

“You’ll do just fine. You’re a pro at this!” I tried to encourage him.

“This schedule is crazy. I leave out of LAX at nine the next morning. And then I’m scheduled to do some

scenes later that night back in Miami,” he groaned.

“No rest for the weary,” I stated.

“Tar, would you try to come down here in two weeks? Please? Since I can’t see you this weekend at least

come down to Miami. I have something very special in mind for your birthday.”

“Don’t go overboard. It’s just another day,” I groaned. “Seeing you will be more than enough.”

“Nevermind what I plan,” he whispered. “I’ll get arrangements made for you to fly down here and I’m going

to make sure you make it safely to the airport this time, so don’t give me any shit about a bodyguard, okay?”

“All I need is for you to hold me,” I said.

“Yeah, me too,” Ryan whispered.

“Why are you talking so quietly? Is someone there with you?” I asked.

“No. Hang on,” he said. “Hey, I’m go

I thought I heard a woman’s voice speaking in the background and what sounded like Ryan shushing her.

“Okay, well I guess I’ll talk to you later then,” I muttered. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” he whispered quickly. The phone clicked abruptly. Ryan didn’t even say goodbye.

The phone call I had with Ryan was still playing over and over again in my mind the next day. I knew he was

flying to L.A. and he had a lot of things to do, but it still surprised me that he didn’t try calling me. It was out of

character for him.

I called him the following day, bothered that I didn’t hear from him. I tried to keep my a