I shoved the business card in my back pocket and let out a sigh, asking the next person in line what they wanted. When I got off work that night I went home and felt extra exhausted. I wasn't physically exhausted. I was mentally exhausted. It had been a really long week and getting back into my regular routine had been a lot harder than I thought it would be.

When I got home Dad was in the living room reading a book and he gave me a smile.

"Hey I haven't gotten to talk to you much since you got back. Why don't you come sit down and tell me all about your trip," he said with a smile, patting the couch next to him.

"I would love to Dad but I'm exhausted and I have a test to study for. Can we take a raincheck?"

"Of course pumpkin," Dad said, giving me a smile that made the wrinkles around his eyes appear. I didn't like the fact that Dad was getting older. I couldn't even stand the thought of losing him. I bent down and gave him a kiss on the cheek and patted his shoulder.

"Love you Dad," I said as I started heading upstairs.

"Love you too Bren."

I flopped down on my bed and peeled the shoes off my aching, tired feet before stripping off my work uniform and taking a quick shower. I brushed my teeth and put on some pajamas before snuggling up in bed with my textbook and a notepad. I read and then highlighted all the important parts in the chapter and then went back and made flashcards for those and started quizzing myself. After getting most of them right I did the ones again I got wrong and I finally felt ready for my test. As ready as I was gonna be anyway.

I threw my textbook on my desk and laid back and exhaled, looking over at my crumpled up jeans on the floor, remembering they had that guy's phone number in them. I got up and got out the business card and sat back down on the bed.

I unlocked my phone and opened a new text message tab and sat there staring at it, looking back and forth between the card and my phone. For some reason I just couldn't do it. It didn't feel right and something (or someone) was holding me back from texting him.

I flopped back on my pillows with an exhale, looking up at the ceiling and searching for answers, running over everything in my mind. I missed talking to Dylan so much. I just really needed to talk to him one more time to have some closure.

I clicked on his name and typed out, and hovered my finger over the send button. I squeezed my eyes shut and pushed that button like it was painful and then threw the phone on my bed and covered my face with a pillow.

He probably wouldn't even answer me. He was probably so mad that I turned him down and left that he hooked up with another woman right away. All these thoughts were running through my head when I heard the phone ding and I scrambled to pick it up.

My screen was lit up with a text from Dylan.

Dylan: 'I've been better. How about you?'

My heart leaped and I squealed because I was so happy to hear back from him.

Me:

Dylan:

Me:

Dylan:

Me:

Dylan:

Me:

Dylan:

Me:

Dylan:

Me:

Just the thought of seeing his face again gave me butterflies in my stomach and made me smile.

I opened Facetime and clicked his name and the screen lit up when he answered. Damn he looked good. Seeing his gorgeous face tied my stomach up in knots.

"Hi," he said with a smile. "Long time no see."

"It's only been a week," I laughed.

"It feels like a lot longer though," he exhaled, letting out a breath and running his hand up through his hair.

"Yeah it does," I sighed, laying back on the bed and snuggling with my giraffe as I talked to him. "I figured you'd be out with your friends tonight since it's Saturday."

"Nah," he said, shaking his head. "They invited me but I didn't feel like going out."

"I got invited out too. This guy came into the coffee shop today and asked me to come watch his basketball game tonight."

"Did you go?"

"No, I decided to call you instead."

"Good choice," he said, making me laugh.

"Yeah it was a good choice," I told him with a smile.

"So how did your Chem test go?" I asked, as I walked through the studio lot, giving a couple of my co-stars a head nod as I passed them.

"I got an A," Brenley said proudly and that made me smile.

"Nice. Beauty and brains."

"You know it," she said with a smirk, wagging her eyebrows at me and then laughing.

Man I loved the sound of her laugh. It was my favorite sound in the world.

"So your graduation's next week and we're wrapping the movie tomorrow so we'll both finally have some free time. Maybe we should celebrate," I said, running a hand through my hair as I approached the makeup trailer and walked inside. The special effects makeup artist was there waiting for me. I'd be sitting there for at least two hours getting a wig, fake scars, blood and scratches put on my skin.

"How should we celebrate?" Brenley asked.

"I don't know. I'll have to think about it. Sorry I have to run and get ready for this shoot. They're waiting for me. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Ok. I'll be waiting by the phone all day," she said sarcastically, and I laughed.

"Ha! I'm sure you will. Bye beautiful," I said before hanging up and letting out an exhale. Damn, I missed her so much it physically hurt. Talking to her made me have a pain in my gut, like an ache I couldn't get rid of.

For the past five weeks Brenley and I had been talking several times a day and when my phone lit up with her name I always felt giddy like a damned schoolgirl or something. At night we'd talk for hours on Facetime until we both fell asleep on the call and I'd wake up the next day to her voice telling me good morning.

"That's a wrap!" the director shouted and all the cast and crew started cheering and clapping. Some people were crying and everyone was hugging. This cast had become like family over the past couple months but even still I was relieved that it was over.

"Don't forget. The wrap party is tonight at a club downtown! I want everyone there. I'll text out the details!" the director shouted.

I let out an exhale. I wasn't excited about hanging out longer. Wrap parties always ended up getting wild and crazy by the end of the night and I wasn't feeling it. I was ready to just get back home.

That night at the wrap party all the cast was there plus the director, producers and some high up Hollywood executives. Everyone was drinking and the dance floor was packed full of people and the bass was pounding.

For my co-stars this was a chance to schmooze the big wigs to earn another movie role. In Hollywood, getting in the good graces of the ones that made the casting decisions was critical. Casting was a glorified popularity contest. The big name actors & actresses that could sell the most movie tickets usually got the best roles and all it took was one big budget box office flop to put you on the shit list permanently. My last movie, The Long Road to Redemption had broken box office records so I could pretty much get any role I wanted right now, so I left the schmoozing to the others that needed it.

Wrap parties used to be my favorite part of filming a movie but I just wasn't feeling it tonight. I was standing close to the bar by myself sipping on a sweet tea because I wasn't in the mood to get drunk.

My co-star Drake came up and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "C'mon man. You've been sulking around the set for weeks. It's time to get over this chick that rejected you and move on already! You're Dylan fucking Chase for Pete's sake. You could have any woman you want. What's so special about this one girl that you're so hung up on her man?"

I took a deep breath in and let it out. "Brenley's amazing. She just gets me and she's funny and smart and brutally honest, but I love that about her. I've never met anyone like her. Talking to her is like talking to an old friend I've known forever and I never get tired of it. We could talk for hours and when we get off the phone I already miss her voice. That's why I'm so hung up on her dude. When you find a woman that makes you feel like that one day you'll understand."

"Shit man," he laughed. "You sound like you're in love."

I took a deep breath in and shoved my hands in my pockets, leaning my back against the bar.

"I am man," I said, exhaling deeply. "I'm so fucking in love it's driving me insane. She's all I can think about."

"So why aren't you guys together then?"

"Because she lives in Iowa. Her Dad's there and she wants to buy a house and start a family there. I already asked her to move in with me in Cali and she said no because Hollywood's no place to raise kids. She hates the Hollywood lifestyle."

He sat his drink on the bar next to mine and stepped forward, putting his hands on my shoulders and looking very serious.

"Look man. Think about it like this. Pretend I've got a time machine that can skip into the future twenty years. Picture it," he said, waving a hand dramatically over his head.

"The time machine only has two buttons. The first one takes you to a future where you've got a mansion even bigger than the one you already have, a star on the Walk of fame, you own a fleet of private jets and yachts and you've won enough Oscars and Grammy's to fill a fucking room. They're making TV specials about you and your life and you've become a legend, like Elvis. But Brenley ended up marrying another guy."

"Damn. Ok," I nodded..

"The second button on the time machine takes you to a future where you moved to Iowa and bought a huge house. You married Brenley and filled that house up with a bunch of kids and grandkids and spent the rest of your life with her by your side. You make a few more songs and movies here and there but you're no Elvis."

I nodded.

"So picture you're in this time machine. And those two buttons are in front of you and you can only pick one and once you choose one, you're stuck with your choice forever. Which one are you going to hit?" he asked.