"You know if you wanted a longer break from filming, all you had to do was pull a little of your movie star influence," Ginny said as she marched in.
I was just waking up so my only response was a groan.
She threw open the curtains and let the sunlight stream in. How long had I been sleeping anyway? And where was Colin?
"Colin told us what happened," Ginny continued.
"It's not like I did it on purpose, Ginny," I said evenly.
"I know," she laughed. "Are you hungry?"
"Yeah, I was thinking about running down to Wendy's and grabbing a bite to eat. That's the beautiful thing about shooting a TV show in a small Canadian town; you can go out whenever you want and not be assaulted by screaming fans," I remarked.
I got out of bed slowly and went to slide on my jacket and boots. Ginny helped me with the zipper on my boots so I wouldn't strain my hand.
"Want to come with?" I offered. "That is, if you're not needed on set."
"I'm not," Ginny said. "I'll be shooting tomorrow."
"Perfect," I said quickly. "Let's go."
My phone buzzed and I glanced at it half-heartedly.
Lance: I'm on my way to BC, baby. See you when I get there.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"What? What's wrong?" Ginny asked, snatching my phone from my fingers.
After a moment of reading the text, she rolled her eyes and slipped it into my purse.
"Hon, ignore that. You've got enough men here to chase him off if he really is on his way," she reassured me. "Let's go grab lunch."
I tried to shake the feeling of foreboding as I forced a smile and followed her out the door.
"I'll text Josh and let him know what's going on," she promised. "Believe it or not, he's dealt with crazy stalker exes before."
"That sounds like an interesting story," I laughed.
The whole time we were getting food, I was kind of out of it. Ginny seemed to notice. But she didn't bother me too badly about it. And she left me alone after she dropped me off at my hotel room. I laid on my bed and stared blankly at the TV that was playing a random channel. Colin knocked around dinner time but I ignored it and the texts from him that followed. Pretty soon, almost every member of the cast was traipsing past my door, trying to find out how I was doing. I didn't answer any of them.
Over the course of the night, I got regular updates from Lance. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. I dialed Adam's number and left a voicemail.
"I need a break. I just have too much going on right now and it's effecting my ability to act well in the show. I would appreciate a month or two of vacation and then I'll return to finish filming this season. After that, I'll have to think about signing a contract for another season. I'm sorry. I'll compensate you for the lost time."
I hung up and threw all of my stuff into my two big suitcases. And I mean everything. I left nothing behind except the dried rose that Colin have given me after our TV interview. For a brief moment, I considered climbing out the window and down the fire escape to avoid the risk of seeing anyone. But then I remembered it was the middle of the night.
I called a cab and wheeled my two suitcases out to the curb. Once I was actually in the cab, I felt strangely free. I gave the driver the address of the airport and settled into my seat. The sun wasn't even starting to rise when I boarded my plane.
"Welcome aboard our nonstop flight from Richmond to Salt Lake City, Utah…"