Blood Sugar

Part Eighty-Six: Shoot, shoot, shoot

John's POV

"How will you guys spend your days off?", Flea asked as we were hanging in the tour bus. Chad shrugged. "Ain't got nowhere to go. Probably just stay here."

"Ione's coming over. You won't see much of me", Tony said and winked. "Yeah.. as if you'd get it up more than once a day", Flea said and chuckled. "My love juice is everlasting. Ask your mom." "Picture that", Chad said and grinned. "Fucking gross you guys", Flea said and continued to ask me where I was staying.

"Taking the next flight to LA", I blankly said. "Me, too. We'll go together. Need to see Loesha and Clara. My wifey is becoming a pain in the ass lately", Flea said pursed his lips. 

"At least you have a girl to come home to", I said. "You have hundreds of girls to come home to, Johnny. They're all licking their chops for you", Tony said and patted my shoulder. "But they're not Kaya", I mumbled.

My comment was followed by lots of "awww's" and I decided to change the subject. Ain't no use to talk about heart-ache with a bunch of hormone-driven dudes.

The bus was taking us to the hotel Chad and Tony would stay in and proceeded to drive Flea and me to the next airport. I had absolutely no idea how this weekend would turn out. It was killing me.

Kaya's POV

Home, sweet home. I let my backpack sink on the floor and myself fall onto the couch with spread arms. Whenever I was away from home for longer than one week, coming back was like going on vacation all over. Not only did I miss my bed, I missed the smell, I missed my wardrobe, my fridge, my records.

Of course the silence was something I had to get used to. It's always the total cut when I go from spending days with Lara to being back home alone.

Lying on the couch became boring too soon and I frowned. What do I do now? From the corner of my eye, I saw the flashing light of my answering machine and hid behind a pillow. Then I threw it down and sighed. We're back in reality, I thought and wandered over to the small machine and hit the button.

"Kaya.. I know you're probably anywhere but home. But I just don't know..", John's voice sounded through the speaker. I quickly pushed it away.

Up next was a worried mom, a disappointed brother... and Monica.

"Honeypie... your hanging out about is officially over. I'm happy to see you tomorrow morning at six. Shooting starts pretty early. You might as well get used to it. Anyway.. it's gonna be a fun day. I can't wait to share it with you."

"Jeez.. rings a bell", I mumbled to myself. But I couldn't quite figure out why on earth I would've ever agreed on beginning my "internship" on set of River's new movie "I love you to death" the day after coming home from our road trip. Present me was less than thrilled.

I grabbed a pack of chips from my kitchen cupboard and flopped down on my bed with a book until I fell asleep, totally exhausted.

It was a mystery to me how I made it to wake up in time. I took a quick shower and put on a pair of ripped jeans, a wide black shirt with Joe Strummer on it and deep red sneakers.

"Wakey, wakey, rise and shine. I brought coffee", Monica greeted me punctual at 6 on set. I took a cup and smiled. "Thanks, Monica." "Welcome, sweetie", she said. "Now first.. let me introduce you to everyone."

I had never met as many people in such a short period of time before. There was the camera team, sound and lighting guys, production management, writers, makeup artists, stylists, assistants and of course the actors.

River rushed past me and smiled. "Hey Kaya, look at my awesome hat. I'd become a pizza guy immediately if they let me wear this hat at work", he said and pointed to the ethnic-looking cap he was wearing. The corner of my mouth quickly formed a wide smile and I gave him a thumps-up.

"Just wait until we shoot that murder scene.. you'll get to wear such an awesome vest, you'll love it", Shirley, the costume girl said to Rio who grinned from ear to ear. "You know me good, Shirley", he said and walked towards the recreated pizza joint where he was greeted by his co-stars.

Everything and everyone was totally relaxed on set. I made a few walks to get some water, made some calls and organized lunch break with Monica. Wasn't so easy to find a joint where we could have vegan food but also t-bone-steak and wine from South Africa. Since it was one of the first days of shooting, Lawrence, my mom's friend and the director, wanted us to arrange a jointly gathering for the production team and the actors.

River talked me into trying eggplant which was his favorite. I had never eaten it before but was stoked for it. Of course our conversation touched John sooner or later and I went on to tell him about everything that happened in the past weeks. He let out a deep sigh and put his cutlery to the side before he began to speak.

"Wanna hear what I got to say to this?", he asked and I nodded with my lips pursed. He took a deep breath making his head fall slightly backwards and his eyes fixing the ceiling. "Um.. honestly.. you really got to deal with this and talk to him... actually I absolutely can't believe you didn't talk to him. It'd be the first thing I'd have done. It's not always.. that's the way it is. And life's full of surprises. I really.. I never understood why you always do that", he said and rested his elbows on the table. "Do what?" "You just get mad at him instead of confronting him. It's a real bad habit in my opinion", he said and shrugged his shoulder.

I rested my hand on my neck and cocked my head to the side. "But I know he cheated on me. That's enough for me to not wanna talk to him." "Maybe he's heard the same thing about you. They actually thought we were a couple once. Bullshit spreads. ...no offense", he said and grinned. "But really.. talk to him.. please. I've heard he's coming home for the weekend."

I let my fork fall down on my plate and stared at him. I looked to my watch as if it was gonna tell me when he'd be here. "But that's.. the weekend's.. it's only two days", I said in awe.

"Got it", Rio said and grinned. "I can't possibly do this", I said and looked to him helplessly. "Don't look at me.. unless you think it's a good idea if I dress up as a girl and do the talk for you", he said and chuckled. "Can I count that as an offer?" Rio laughed but I couldn't share his happiness. "I make a really ugly girl. Not sure if you want that to happen", he said. "Alright..", I finally said. Reality was a damn bitch.