The Truth Hurts

"MR SCOTT! MR SCOTT!"

Flash.

"MR SCOTT!"

Flash. Flash.

"LUCAS! OVER HERE!"

Flash. Flash. Flash.

"LUCAS!"

Flash. Flash. Flash. Flash.

The car wasn't that far away. He could get in, drive off. Be free. Escape. Nobody could possible realise how badly he wanted to escape. Escape everything. The pressure, the pictures; the people. Being perfect, being punctual. Why did he have to be like this? It was ridiculous.

"ARE THE RUMOURS TRUE?!"

Flash. Flash. Flash. Flash. Flash.

They just wouldn't stop. Why couldn't they stop? Why couldn't they leave him alone? He wanted to be alone. At least he thought he did. He couldn't figure out what he wanted. It seemed to change all the time. People would tell him things. Tell him what he needed, what he should do, what he had to do. But he never knew what he wanted, what he wanted to do. It had got to the point where it was like somebody else held the remote control to his life, his picture perfect, brilliant as blu-ray life.

But there was a problem. This brilliant blu-ray player, that played an Oscar winning film, was connected to a bargain store TV. His life was meant to be perfect. It had everything. The money. The looks. The pretty girls. The great job. But it was wrong. It was being lived by him. And no matter how great a quality everything was, how brilliant the film was, he could never do it justice, never be completely happy. Just like the TV would never be able to show the true greatness of the film.

"WILL YOU BE CONTINUING WITH YOUR PROJECT?"

He didn't look at them. He used to get blinded by the flashes, stand there like a deer in the beam of a car's headlights. But now he just pushed past, opened the door, stooped, climbed in and shut the door as the driver began to drive away. He was used to it, expert in the art of avoiding paparazzi.

What else was he expert in? Not much. Acting? Maybe, though he couldn't help feeling that wasn't the case...3 Razzie nominations don't do good things for your confidence. But he kept getting parts, so he couldn't be that bad, could he? Sometimes he wondered if he only had a job because of his looks.

Expert at relationships? That was a joke. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept with someone whose name he remembered in the morning, unless you counted her, which you really couldn't, because she was convenience. For both of them. Good publicity, something to talk about in interviews other than his latest disastrous attempt at serious acting. Sure, maybe there had been something there, something other than fame and beauty that attracted them to each other in the first place, but it certainly wasn't love and if you've been in a relationship for 3 years you'd expect there to be some love. Although, he doubted he could really say they'd been together for 3 years, with time spent filming and promoting he probably only spent about 9 months seeing her on a regular basis. So, they broke up. He thought sometimes he missed having someone to go home to on the odd occasion that he was in town but he couldn't really, her schedule had always been just as busy as his.

The only stable human relationships with women that he had been able to make last were with his mother and best friend; both brilliant women, incredibly beautiful and insanely kind and loving.

Haley would be the perfect choice for a girlfriend. Grounded, sensible, helpful, loyal, understanding, modest yet confident; but she had always just been the best friend-the girl who he could fart in front of, the girl who he could play fight with as a child, the girl who helped him through heartbreak. Sometimes he wondered if you could find the one, you know the woman who is meant to complete you, the one who you spend forever with-the only one-but not feel romantic feelings towards her. Could it be possible to not want to sleep with the love of your life? Because, from what he'd read or heard, Haley filled all the criteria that meant she was the one. He felt sort of lost when she wasn't around, he was pretty sure he'd need her by his side forever and even more sure that he would love her forever. Which meant she sounded just like the one that he'd had described to him his whole life, yes?

In some ways this helped him; knowing that no matter what he'd have Haley. But in others...it depressed him, destroyed him even. Not having someone to have kids with? Nobody to watch falling asleep at night? Nobody to nag him about not doing the ironing or forgetting to wash-up? Nobody to sit in silence with? Nobody to love, to properly love?

He didn't like the idea of that.

But what if it was the truth?

After all, the truth hurts.

Right?