Beck Oliver winces as he rolls over, his eyes adjusting to the bright beam of sunlight falling across his face. As he sits up and looks around, he's momentarily disoriented...this isn't his bedroom. Then he remembers, he had slept in the guest bedroom last night...and the three nights before that.

He grabs his phone off of the nightstand and begins scrolling though the notifications he had missed while he was sleeping. Most of them are logistical information for the day, where he needs to be and by what time so that he doesn't miss his flight and where he's going once his flight lands. There's some other notifications too, social media and news alerts, but they don't interest him nearly as much.

With a yawn, he swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands up, stretching his arms as he does so. He makes his way lazily down the hallway and into the master bedroom, careful not to wake his still-sleeping wife as he enters their bathroom to shower.

This isn't the first time Ericka has banished him to the guest bedroom in their four years of marriage, but it is the longest amount of time she's gone without forgiving him. As Beck turns on the water and lets the spray hit his body, he can't stop himself from thinking about how stubborn his wife is being. She's barely spoken to him since their argument, which has been irritating because he's getting ready to leave to film on location for three months. If they don't work this out before he leaves, the problem will only fester until he returns. There's no way Ericka will fly out to see him if she's still upset.

Ericka Morgan is not Beck's first wife, although most of the time he wishes that she was. When he first moved to New York and started working on his first TV show, Mistview, he became fast friends with his co-star, Tracy Simms. Tracy was a big comfort to Beck when he and Jade broke up, and over the years that comfort and friendship became a relationship. He proposed to her four years later when the show wrapped its final episode, both of them thinking they had found their soulmate. They got married when Beck was 23 and Tracy was 26, but their honeymoon period didn't last long. Neither one of them was mature enough for the seriousness and responsibility that marriage brought with it. Beck was still very self-centered and selfish, and Tracy didn't know how to properly communicate her frustrations to him. They were divorced within eighteen months, and haven't spoken since.

Beck met Ericka, another actress, a few months after his divorce was finalized. He had moved on from television to movies, and had brought his reputation as Hollywood's most eligible, although narcissistic, bachelor with him. They met at an awards show afterparty through a mutual friend, and Ericka became the newest love of Beck's life. Although he was still a bit self-centered, she was much more patient than Tracy, or even Jade, had been. Ericka didn't mind his taste for only the finer things, because she was the same way. She didn't mind that he always wanted to go out, because she liked going out too. He felt like he could be his true self around her, and that was refreshing.

Every woman has her breaking point though, and Ericka's first came about a year into their relationship when Beck got a DUI. Although she knew that they were Hollywood royalty, she also knew that they weren't above the law...and that he had put the lives of innocent people in danger. She broke up with him, but they quickly reconciled two weeks later when Beck assured her that it would never happen again, and it didn't. They got married when they were both 28, and now four years later...there have been plenty of other instances where Beck has landed himself in the dog house. He has stormed out of a restaurant without paying because their waiter didn't recognize him, skipped his own movie premiere because one critic gave it one bad review and his management team did nothing to refute it, and gotten into his fair share of drunken fights, amongst other things.

The most recent occurrence to earn him an extended stay in the guest bedroom? Beck had stormed off of the red carpet at the premiere of Ericka's newest movie. The reporters had only been asking him about how proud he was of his wife or what he thought of her project, nothing about himself or anything that he had been working on. He couldn't take it, and Ericka had been embarrassed to say the least. When she returned home that night she immediately started giving Beck the silent treatment, only communicating with him through text messages. She'll say a few words to him now, but is still clearly furious.

When Beck emerges from the bathroom, he quickly dresses himself then moves back towards the bed. Ericka is still sleeping, so he leans down and gently places a kiss on her forehead. She stirs in her sleep a bit and when her eyes finally flutter open, she looks displeased.

"Good morning, beautiful." Beck smiles, trying his best to nudge his way back onto her good side

"I thought you were supposed to leave today..." She sighs

"I was...I am." He assures her "In about half an hour, actually. I just wanted to say goodbye before I left."

"Bye." Ericka says, then rolls over to face away from him

"Ericka..." Beck groans "How long are you going to do this for?"

"As long as it takes for you to take the hint."

"You're pissed, I get it." Beck tells her "Hint taken, messaged received."

"Do you even know why?"

"Because I left the premiere."

"You left my premiere because there wasn't enough attention on you." Ericka clarifies for him "You embarrassed me and made me look like a complete idiot in front of the entire industry!"

"How many times do you have to say I'm sorry?"

"As many times as it takes for you to actually mean it."

"I do mean it."

"If you meant it, shit like this wouldn't keep happening."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means when I first met you I thought you were just acting like this because you knew your worth, because you were confident." Ericka clarifies "Now I know that you overestimate your worth and you're acting like this because you don't care about anyone but yourself."

"I fucking care about you!"

"Then why couldn't you be happy for me at the premiere the other night?" Ericka asks him "Why did you have to make it about you?"

"I..."

"Exactly..." Ericka sighs "And even if you did care about me, there's more to this life than just you and me, Beck. When was the last time you saw your parents? Or even called them? How many friends do you have? Like real, genuine friends, not fake industry ones that you use to get ahead or that use you. What good is having all of this fame if you-"

"Alright, I get it..." Beck stops her "What...what does this mean? For us? Are you asking for a divorce?"

Divorced twice at 34 and no kids to show for any of it, his track record is fantastic.

"Not yet..." Erika admits "But..."

"But what?" Beck perks up "Tell me how to make this better, babe. I love you, I really want to make this work."

"I think you need to do some serious growing up while you're away on location." Ericka tells him "Show me you're capable of caring about the other people around you, and not just when it's convenient. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise...what?"

"I dunno..." She admits "I really don't."

If she's being completely honest, divorce had already been on her mind before this latest incident. Even if he does come back a completely different man, she's not sure it would change anything. They're grown apart over the past year, they're just too different. She'll tell him what he needs to hear right now, but she's going to have her own soul-searching to do once he leaves.

"Well, how am I supposed to do that?" He asks her "All of that soul searching?"

"You'll figure it out." Ericka shrugs "At least I hope you will."

"Babe..."

"Don't you have a flight to catch?"

"Yeah..." Beck sighs "Yeah, I do."

He moves to kiss her goodbye, but she turns her head away so he kisses her cheek instead of her lips. Beck sees it as a sign that she really does mean business and wants to see results, otherwise she'll follow through on her ultimatum and leave him. He mutters a quick 'I love you' and Ericka mutters something half-hearted in response, and then he turns to leave the bedroom.

He's torn, he loves his wife and wants to do anything to stay with her, but he doesn't think he should have to change everything about himself to do so. He doesn't even think any of his behavior has been all that bad.

Beck definitely has a lot to think about while he's away, and he has no idea just how much more complicated its all about to become.