Timonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
Rumors of her had circled throughout the world for years and this set was no different. Even as the cast and crew of a hit show, it was awkward to be surprised by a visitor but when it came to someone as notorious as Kathleen Young arriving unannounced, everyone was astounded. Her natural curls bounced over her shoulders and her unnatural honey-blonde highlights stood out in the florescent lights. Everyone she past looked at her in amazement yet she merely smiled and flashed her visitors pass. And though they worked with actors all day they all thought the same thing about this actor, how in the world after a five hour flight can she still look like she's ready to take on Pat O'Brien?
As Kathleen approached the final door of the long hallway, she smoothed out her blouse and slacks, she went to reach for her hair but put her hand down as the thought of her hair products passed her mind. Her smile grew into a wicked grin when she peaked through the small window of the last door and she caught in her sight the reason she'd come to Orlando. He sat alone by the catering table and it forced Kathleen to roll her eyes at the back of the man's head.
She shook her head as she thought of the reception she was to get. Seeing the man take a piece of fruit from the table beside him, Kathleen opened the door, flashed her pass, and entered. She quietly made her way to the man, who's eyes were now closed. He seemed exhausted and that made Kathleen have to swallow a laugh.
Sneaking up behind him, Kathleen started to give him a back rub and said, "What a hard life you live."
He jumped up and out of his seat. Staring at her, catching his breath, he managed to get out, "Kathleen? what the hell? You scared the shit out of me."
Still smiling, "Well, hello to you, too."
"Oh, yeah." With his breathing calming he walked the two steps between them and gathered Kathleen into his arms. The peppiness fell from her and now they were just Kat and Ben and everything was normal, no act. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed this man's embrace and she knew that he was enjoying hers. It'd been too long for the two apart, Kathleen counted it as almost two years since they'd gotten together last.
They finally broke apart and Kat and Ben quickly became Kathleen Young and Benjamin Timonds. Kathleen stepped back and let out a heavy sigh. "Been too long, BeTi," she laughed as Ben took her into a small huge.
His eyes smiled back as they broke apart and they just stood there, looking at her for several seconds before coming back to Earth. "So, seriously, what the hell? I thought you were in San Francisco filming another fantabulous movie."
Ben let go of her hands, which he'd been holding, and got a nearby chair for her. They sat and as if it was nothing, Kathleen waved at him, saying, "Oh, I was but when I say 'Stop, I'm going to Florida' they listen." At Ben's raised eye-brow, Kat shook her head. "I'm kidding, we closed down because of the rain."
"Isn't always raining up there?"
"Usually but it wasn't supposed to this week and we had some out door shots to shoot," Kat explained as she reached over to the table to grab a cookie.
"So they sent you on your merry way? Doesn't sound likely." Ben broke off a piece of her cookie and shoved in his mouth. Kat made a small whimpering noise until Ben gave her a can of Diet Coke he took off the table. "Why do I get the feeling that you're playing hooky? They wouldn't waist thousands of dollars because of a little rain."
Now Kathleen raised her eyebrow, "Oh, look at you, so smart. But yeah they did close down shooting. It seems we were ahead of our schedule anyway and the director thought hat 'your's truly' needed a break." She closed her mouth to Ben's laughing. "I'm serious, that's what he said."
He finished laughing and said to her, "Oh, I'm not doubting that. I'm just trying to figure out if this was before or after you screwed him." Again, he fell in to laughing.
With a general look of offense on her face, Kat began slapping Ben's leg in shocked silence. When Ben finally managed to shu the tall, hispanic girl off she regained her compositor and said, "I didn't screw him, you ass. You'd think after almost a decade of acting you'd take me seriously."
"I'll never take you seriously. You'll always be the annoying daughter of the Mariners' star short stop, who'd steal my father's baseball glove and run around the field with it. Even if you have two decades of acting under your belt and two Oscars to boot."
Making a face at him, "I do have two Oscars to boot." She stuck out her tongue in a juvenile matter as Ben mocked her in a juvenile manner. In true Kat-ways, she pulled out her wallet from the purse that she'd place beside her, and said, "At least I never mooned 'Baseball Digest'." She pulled out a picture from her wallet.
Ben's eyes grew as round as a pair of grapefruits as they fell upon a magazine cut out. The piece of paper was laminated to keep from telling it's years, but these two knew the age and place and time. "Why the hell do you have this?" Ben said slowly as an embarrassed smile crept across his face.
"Why do you think? To show everyone here who there star is, a little white-assed daddy's boy," Kat's face and voice were in pure tease mode as she tried to take the picture back from the man beside her. He pulled it away and just looked at her with wide eyes that held both shock and fear, he simply looked at her and mouthed, "You wouldn't." She made a face and said, "It's up to you. What have you said about me to your fellow set-dwellers?"
"What? Nothing."
Raised eyebrows, included, Kat asked, "You mean to tell me, after a year with these people, the year when Star magazine stalked me mercilessly, you never once said anything about me to these people? And I know that they know we know each other, we've been practically inseparable for our entire lives, and you said nothing? I find that hard to believe."
"I don't know why, it's not like this is high school." Ben's eyes were staring across the set. He was avoiding Kat so much that she was able to take the picture back without him making any kind of defence.
"No, it's Hollywood, worse." She then sat back and looked where Ben was staring. "And by your avoidance, I'm gonna say that you have said something. Just, maybe, something I don't want to here."
The two sat in silence, Ben neither confirmed nor denied Kat's accusation. Slowly, as Kat felt more-and-more awkward, she got up, picked up her purse and said, "Call me when you get off. We'll hang out, talk."
Still not looking at her, he answered, "Yeah, sure."
Hurt and disappointed, Kat started toward the doors she entered. She was within reach of the doors when she heard her name called by a new voice. Pushing her pain away, she plastered on a smile and turned. Delia Greene and Derek Zapos, of television fame, were walking up to Kathleen. They were both in their thirties, but by the way they were smiling, Katleen was reminded of the teenagers Comic Conventions she was affiliated with.
"Oh my God, I can't believe you are actually here," Delia started. Kathleen never thought she'd have to fake a smile when being approached by either fans or fellow actors, but here she was with two of both categories with a million walt phony grin. Either convinced of the actresses glee or blinded by stardom, Delia just continued on, Derek silent beside her. "I love you. Your work as the seventeen year old lesbian mother in 'Alternative' was life changing for me. I mean, it came out my sophomore year in college and I changed my major to acting because of it."
Persisting with her trained Hollywood smile, Kathleen tried to push Benjamin's face out of her sight of view and focus on what his costar was saying. Well, I didn't get those two golden men for nothing, she thought as she swallowed her anger at Benjamin and answered, "Well, thank you. That was a great role to do. And I'm glad you switched majors, you're a good actress."
Blushing the woman answered, "Oh I'm nothing compared to you. You are Academy Winning, that's amazing." Kathleen just shook her head modestly as she worked through the awkward feeling passing through her bones. Not being able to tell if the feeling came from the complements or the fact that Benjamin was watching her, the twenty-seven year old kept her facade on going.
As if sensing the tension, Derek put his hand out to meet Kathleen's. "Hi, I'm Derek Zapos. I work on the show."
Thankful for the semi-distraction, Kathleen shook his hand and said, "Oh, I know. I'm actually a fan." Derek made to roll his eyes in her direction but stopped mid-roll, as he saw Kathleen's eyes still on him. She was confused by the act but let it go as she turned to Delia, once again. "Yea, I love the show and seeing as how I finally got a break and decided to come down to see Benjamin over there."
"Oh right, you guys go back, right?" The stricken fan said as if Kathleen Young wasn't the one who made the statement. It always gave a certain pang when one hid the fact that they were excited, it made Kathleen feel as if they could be hiding something else. This time was different, instead of feeling that pang against Delia, she understood it. It was important to sometimes guard what one was truly feeling. "You guys grew up together?"
Unfortunately, Derek wasn't any good at keeping his own emotions in check at this. His faux-cough wasn't enough to hide his newest remark. "More than grew."
Kathleen did a double take as Delia elbowed her costar's arm and he looked at the visitor. Faking a smile, Kathleen answered Delia, "Yea, here in Florida. And seeing how we haven't seen each other in a while, I thought I'd come down."
"Of course, it's been a while for you," the tall white man said to the shorter hispanic girl. He now looked into Kathleen's eyes accusingly as her smile faded and Delia tried to elbow him again. But no body part seemed to have a control on this man. "From what I've heard, Kathleen, with your company, it hasn't been a while for anything."
Still holding onto her cool, as she'd learned from the pros, Kathleen glared up at him and quietly said, "I don't believe I gave you permission to call me by my first name, Mr. Zapos." Without another word, she turned her attention back to Delia and they silently apologized for what was not their doing.
Feeling the burn of a girl six years his junior, Derek let out a laugh and retorted, "I'm sorry it's Ms. Young if you're nasty."
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them, Kathleen never took her eyes off of the black woman that stood uncomfortably before her. "I'm sorry, Ms. Greene, I really have to be on my way. I'd love to get your cell number to talk more. Does Benjamin have it? Because I really have to go, I'll get it from him."
Off guard, Delia came back into the conversation, "Oh yeah, I'd love to talk some more. And, yes, Benjamin has both my home and cell so you could ask for it when you see him." The women smiled at each other and Kathleen turned back towards the door.
She could feel the tears forming behind her eyes but blinked them away. She didn't know how Ben answered to the tabloids at work, she never claimed to, but to hear what she feared she realized she'd never thought that an option. She opened the door but before it closed off the set, she heard Derek's last attempt at soul destruction, "I'm pretty sure she'll be getting something else from Benny-boy. Besides her mouth will be too busy to ask anything." The tears were beyond the point of blinking them away and Kathleen let them come as she cursed both Derek Zapos and Benjamin Timonds.
The door was mere seconds from closing when the sound of flesh connecting and Benjamin's voice filled the saddened woman's ears.
"Don't you ever talk about any woman, especially Kathleen Young like that again!" Chaos erupted within the room and Kathleen caught the door before it shut, closing off the ruckus. Entering, she saw Derek on the floor, nursing his jaw and Delia beside him looking at the attacker.
Above the two of them, Benjamin stood, held back by two security officers. His brown hair was hanging in his eyes and his breathing came heavily. No one spoke, everyone was now around the two men, but the air was not filled with any sounds other than Benjamin's heavy breathing.
Eyes wide in shock, Kathleen stared at the man she thought she was to hate. His breathing slowed and was able to get out, "I've been silent way too long. This woman has never done anything to anyone and yet she's become poster girl for American Sluts? No, she's not and I'm telling you: you ever say anything like that again, I'll aim below the belt."
On the floor, Derek was being attended to by a man dressed in medical gear. Be it a paramedic or actor, Kathleen didn't know. The one who had verbally attacked the set visitor was staring at Benjamin with a mixture of fear and loathing in his eyes. Benjamin wasn't looking at him anymore, his eyes were on his best friend, and his body shook off the guards. As soon as he shook them off, Benjamin took Kathleen into his arms in a tight hug.
"I am so sorry, I know it's too late but I'm sorry. I need you to know that." Kat buried her face in Ben's shoulder, letting the tears come freely. Holding her head against him, the tall, twenty eight year old cradled his life-long friend. He could feel all eyes on them but didn't care, in some way he excepted it, at least they knew what twelve months had done to this girl he loved.
After Kat felt the last of her tears leave her she looked at the man who had always been there. "It's never too late for you, Ben." She tried to smile but that only brought on fresh tears, forcing Ben to wipe them off. She chuckled as he did so, "You're so much like your dad," she said thinking back to her parents divorce. "But oh no, look at your jacket. I completely ruined it."
Smiling back, he said, "Screw it. It was too 'Miami Vice' for me anyway." They both let out a new laugh and Ben wiped more tears from Kat's face. "Besides, you were wearing too much makeup anyway. I see it as a favor to you," he smiled at her and kissed his girl's forehead.
Behind them the crowd still stood silently except for Derek who was pushed by Delia as he tried to oppose Ben's release. They watched Ben and Kat, Benjamin Timmonds and Kathleen Young, as they hugged and left the set to finish their joyful reunion. As they stood their, contemplating what they just witnessed, Derek spoke up, "Is anyone going to stop them? There's no way you're going to let that son of a bitch leave with that whore, is there? I'm going to press charges!"
Everyone rolled their eyes and began to disperse as Delia said, "Oh, shut up. You're the one screwing groupies all over the city, they're friends. F-R-I-E-N-D-S. You should get some" Kathleen's number one fan began to walk off but stopped and turned. "Whore."
Being tended to by the paramedic, Derek looked at him, "I do have friends, you know."
"Sure you do. You just ooze friendly-ness." With that he slapped an ice pack to the actor's face and left him on the floor.
"I do, don't I?"
