July 2009

Ana Maria

Ana Maria bounded into Chuy’s room the following morning with a wide smile. A wide smile that depleted the moment she saw him packing his army duffle bag. With a dark frown, Ana Maria circled around his arms that came out to grab her and settling on his bed, shoving the bag behind her.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

Chuy quirked an eyebrow. “Packing.” The ‘duh’, while not voiced, was implied in his tone.

“Why?”

Chuy blinked in confusion. “My plane leaves in like, six hours.”

“Plane for what?” Ana Maria asked coldly.

With a sigh, Chuy settled next to her. “What’s going on, Ana Maria?”

“Why are you leaving?”

“What do you mean, why?” Chuy barked. A vein in his neck started to be pronounced and Ana Maria could tell he was becoming annoyed. “We talked about this already, Ana Maria. We talked it out of submission.”

Ana Maria jumped off the bed, stepped in front of him, and glared. “We had sex last night, asshole!”

“Yeah, I know; I was there,” Chuy reminded her just as hostile.

The slap echoed through the room and the sound shocked Ana Maria. But she wasn’t willing to show an inch, especially with the way he was acting now.

With a snarl, Ana Maria turned and stomped out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

“Que tal, Ana Maria?” Maria Garcia asked as Ana Maria ran toward the door.

Ana Maria stopped with her hand on the knob but didn’t turn around. “Chuy’s a jerk,” Ana Maria told his mother through tears before bursting out of the house and running to her own.

Hannah

Hannah was flipping an omelet when Brice entered their kitchen. She didn’t turn nor did she acknowledge the fact that he was in the room with her. She knew it was he and not Erica simply because her entire entity came alert whenever he was in her vicinity-it’d been like that since before they married.

“You guys seem to have had a lot of fun last night,” Brice said quietly, opening the refrigerator and grabbing a bottle of water.

Hannah shrugged. She reached to the side and grabbed a grapefruit. She tossed it behind her without looking and knew Brice caught it when she heard him draw a knife from the holder.

“You have plans for the day?”

Hannah shrugged again even though her only plans for the day were to head into the office with Erica to plan for her first fashion show in mid-August. She also wanted to go into the Colombia offices to request some studio time. Being a housewife had been fun in the beginning when she and Brice were in newlywed bliss; now it was just painful to be in the same apartment as him.

“Damn it, Hannah-.”

“Watch it papi chulo,” Erica snapped entering the kitchen. She was dressed in a power suit ready to head into the office.

Hannah could tell Brice rolled his eyes even as she was turning off the stove, handing off a plate to Erica, and placing the skillet in the sink.

“Morning, Erica,” Brice replied cordially even though Hannah could tell he was annoyed.

Erica’s smile was quick and fierce. “Han-.”

Without a word, Hannah placed the omelet on a plate and handed it to Erica. She shut off the stove and left the kitchen without acknowledging either of them. As her feet carried her further away from the kitchen she could hear the hush argument between Erica and Brice determining which one would come see to her.

Brice won.

He stood in the doorway of their bedroom and watched her as she changed from her tank top and shorts into an empire wasted mini dress and tights. He didn’t say a word when she walked into their bathroom and began applying make-up; he merely moved to lean on the doorway of their bathroom instead.

“You can’t ignore me forever,” Brice told her softly.

Hannah snorted mentally; he just hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing the extent of her obstinacy before.

“H-baby,” Brice pleaded. “Cut me some slack, would you?”

Hannah dropped the mascara brush and it crashed lightly against the counter. “Don’t,” she ordered. “You can’t just come in here like nothing has been going on!”

“Nothing has been going on!” Brice cried. “I have no idea what’s going on.”

Hannah straightened and turned to glare fiercely at Brice. “Yeah? You need a list? How about you partying all hours of the night, canoodling with your ex, who,” Hannah reminded him loudly, “absolutely hates me and would like no better than to break us up. And you know what else? She just might get her wish!”

Before Brice could reply, Hannah stomped out of the bathroom, grabbed her black Chanel flats and walked out of the bedroom. She didn’t spare Erica a glance, only pausing to grab a bottle of water and slamming out of the apartment.

Ryan

Hell.

That was Ryan’s first thought when he awoke the next day.

After confirming that he was not needed on the set that morning and dropping Michelle off at school, Ryan decided that he should take the initiative and call his mother. He was completely dreading it but if the media caught wind of what was going on before he told Genae then there was definitely going to be hell to pay.

His mother answered on the first ring.

“She’s pregnant, isn’t she?” she questioned him before Ryan could even greet her.

“How do you do that?” Ryan asked in exasperation as he collapsed on a couch in his living room.

“I’m your mother,” Genae said simply. “Besides,” she added. “I dreamt about it a couple of nights ago. I was just waiting for the call.”

Ryan let out a long sigh. “What do you think?”

Genae snorted. “You know what I think.”

“I should’ve kept it in my pants,” Ryan recited just as Genae muttered, “you should’ve kept it in your pants.”

Ryan remained silent and before long he heard the remorseful sigh of his mother.

“I’m sorry. I can nag you when you aren’t feeling so confused,” Genae said.

“That would be much appreciated.”

“Damn it, Ryan! You know I don’t like her and now you’re stuck with her for life,” Genae cried. “What on earth were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t,” Ryan replied dutifully just as Genae snapped, “I’ll tell you what you were thinking: absolutely nothing!”

“What does Annelisse think about it?”

Ryan frowned. “What does she have to do with it?”

Genae remained silent. “Never mind,” she said quickly. “What have you and Alana decided to do?”

“I don’t know, Ma; that’s why I called you!”

“Cheri, I stopped making decisions for you when you won your first Oscar nomination,” Genae replied sadly. “You’re twenty years old, baby. Time to be a big boy now.”

“I don’t wanna,” Ryan said with a pout. “Mama, fix this.”

He could tell his mother rolled her eyes even though she was almost 3000 miles away.

“Ry-.”

“I can’t ask her to have an abortion, Mother,” Ryan said suddenly. “I…I just can’t. But I can’t be with her either.”

“I can respect that,” Genae sighed. “Look, Ryan, even if you and Alana aren’t meant to be, you have to remember whenever she’s driving you nuts that she’s carrying your baby.”

Baby.

The word left a sick after taste in Ryan’s mouth.

“Hell, I’m not even legally allowed to drink yet,” Ryan muttered.

With a laugh, Genae added, “I guess that means you were too young to buy condoms too?”

“Ma-please; stop.”

“You know I love you. Tell your sister to check in once in a while, that is, of course, if she’s not too busy,” Genae teased.

Ryan hung up the phone just as Annelisse walked in.

Hell.

That thought flew through his mind again at how he treated Annelisse the night before.

“Hey, Annelisse?” Ryan stood and met her in the foyer.

She smiled tightly but averted her eyes to a spot just over his shoulder.

“I wanted to apologize for last night,” Ryan said without preamble.

Annelisse’s eyes snapped back to his. “Seriously?”

Ryan smirked. “Yeah, don’t get used to it. Apologizing isn’t my thing.”

Annelisse smiled. “Okay. Apology accepted.”

It was Ryan’s turn to be confused. When he apologized to Alana, a shiny, expensive gift had to go along with it or else she wouldn’t accept it. Michelle usually sulked for a while before ultimately forgiving him. Meanwhile, Annelisse, a chick he barely knew, forgave him without flourish.

“Really?”

Annelisse’s smiled widened. “Yes,” she insisted. “You were stressed, I’m sure. I’m pretty sure I can let it slide.”

“Okay,” Ryan conceded. “I think.”

“You hungry?” Annelisse questioned as she walked past him and into the kitchen. “I picked some meat to make lasagna.”

Ryan shrugged. “Yeah, that’s cool.”

Annelisse smiled over her shoulder at him and Ryan had to remember to breathe.

Hell.

The third time the word flew into his thoughts.

This time it was because of the not so pure thoughts flying through regarding the redhead before him.

Michelle

“So,” Emmy asked as they lounged in the theater before vocal lessons. “What happened yesterday?”

Michelle snorted. “He left.”

“After you guys had sex?” Emmy hissed. “What a jerk!”

Impulsively, Michelle hugged Emmy to her. “He is a jerk. But he left before I could even offer it.”

Emmy frowned. “Am now confused.”

Michelle laughed. “He showed up and we were chilling in the pool house when he decides to kiss me. I’m going along with it until I figure that I’m not ready to go all the way with a guy that is definitely not seeing me exclusively. So I try to back off. He got pissed. He bounced.”

“Girl, I’m sorry,” Emmy replied. Her eyes zeroed in on Dylan who was talking to some incoming freshman on stage near the piano. “He moves on quick.”

Michelle had already followed Emmy’s gaze and snorted. “Yeah.” All she wanted to do was curl up and cry but that definitely wasn’t an option with Dylan was within a fifty foot radius of her.

“He’s spinning at Rave next Friday,” Emmy said. “You still in?”

“Hell yeah,” Michelle decided. “He’s not going to keep me from hanging out just because he-. No, I’m definitely in.”

Being in meant war and Dylan sure as hell wouldn’t know what hit him.

Sequels Galore!

According to our sources, Ryan Sharpe was offered a role in the sequel to Autumn Leaves. The movie won Sharpe a Golden Globe for Best Male Performance. The movie didn’t strike it big with critics but fans are clamoring for more. Sharpe’s reps denied comment as he is still under contract for the film Bet, in production now.