Page 101 of Heavy Shot

"And the lawn chair, and the shrubbery, and the hot tub, and the--"

"Enough!" Rhiannon interrupted with a shriek of laughter. "I saw the pictures, too!"

"I haven't actually seen the pictures," Jill said, still giggling.

"I think you may be the only person in the world who hasn't. They're all over the internet. Whatever lawsuit Kline claimed to have filed didn't do any good at all," Rhiannon said, an edge returning to her voice. "I swear, I almost believe that Roland orchestrated that whole thing. I wouldn't be surprised if he paid the photographer to camp out there."

"He's sneaky, but I don't think he'd stoop that low," Jill said, doubtfully.

"I'm not so sure," Rhiannon sighed. "So much for fading to black."

"What?"

"That's what Kline told me I would do when I broke up with him. Fade to black. The reporters are only interested in him. Not me. That may be true, but other people are plenty interested. I've had to change my email address at work three times and I'm looking to move out of this bungalow. Too many people know where it is. I'm getting a rottweiler."

"It's that bad?"

"Well, it's not just going away. I'm fortunate that I don't get recognized everywhere I go. Mostly. There have been a few times. I can't even consider men for anything at this point. If they look at me with anything more than passing interest, I'm sure they're just picturing me naked."

Jill was quiet for a moment, her hand trailing in the warm water. "I didn't know it was still like that. Things like this usually pass quickly in the face of a new scandal," she paused, considering. "Is that why you called off your date with Rick? You're worried about his reasoning?"

"The thought did cross my mind. I know he saw the pictures and he's one of Kline's close friends. Who knows what Kline had to say about me, especially since I slept with him on the first date," Rhiannon said, with another sigh. "Mostly it was because he's hired me to work the script for this film. I don't want to go into a production environment dating the executive producer. Then it's not about my work, it's about who I fucked to get it--even if that's not the case. Plus, if I start dating him and things don't work out, it becomes this uncomfortable, tense situation and I'm just not willing to deal with anymore of that at the moment."

"I understand," Jill said, paddling towards the steps. "He seems nice, though, and I thought you liked him?"

"I do like him, and he does seem nice, but how can I really be sure that he's not just playing me? I can't, and rather than be disappointed, I'm just not going to let it go there with him. We can be colleagues and friends. That's good enough."

"That's probably for the best," Jill agreed. "At least for now. Caution is good, right? I mean, I'm cautiously optimistic about Thad and we're just keeping it casual for the moment."

"Well, if you get a tsunami when it's just casual, I can't imagine what you'll get when it's serious," Rhiannon said, the humor returning.

"I can't either, but I can’t wait to find out!"

"I bet. Listen, thanks for the chat. I'll let you go get ready for the weasel patrol."

"Rhi!"

"What? I think I'm allowed. Anyway, congrats on your burgeoning 'casual' love affair with Thad."

At that, Jill squealed, and Rhiannon could almost hear the blush and smile on her face. "Thank you! Really. I'll call you later! Bye!"

Rhiannon said goodbye and Jill hung up, grabbing a towel to wrap around her before she bounced her way back into the house to get dressed.

Kline Scott

Kline was early to the Simon Says set for his guest starring sweeps role and was happy to be met with the excited buzzing of the crew and interns. All of them were anxious and happy, getting ready for his grand arrival.The girls on the set were in a mad frenzy, so he went to find the one he knew would be calm as the day.

"Hey," he called, poking his head in Rhiannon's office a little surprised to see Thad sitting there, "What's up?"

"You're on time!" Rhiannon gasped playfully. "Great, now I suppose the earth is going to tilt off its axis."

"No, no, no," Thad shook his head, "but one of the whores of the Apocalypse is following close behind him."

"Horses, Thad, horses of the Apocalypse."

"This is Kline we’re talking about," he said grinning.

Kline asked, "Where's the script?"

---