room 207 | shyland ✓

epilogue

ten years later - shane 27, ryland 26

shane dawson liked whisky. in fact, he loved it, and as he drank it neat at the ocean palace bar, he contemplated on how many shots it would take for him to completely forget what a monumental disaster today had been. some may say he was living the dream – hell, so would he – but days like these were tiring and with three stuck up disney childhood stars on his back demanding cages of puppies and buckets of norwegian chocolate in their dressing room, alcohol was the only escape that could suffice his exhaustion.

still, he couldn't complain. he was one of hollywood's wealthiest movie directors, had a list of millionaire film deals as long as his arm and had a net worth of five hundred million dollars. life was good, and los angeles film institute had done him well - he lived in a world of armani suits and expensive aftershave and a personal assistant who practically ran his life. this wasn't really a world he could fault.

chewing his lip – a habit that in the last decade he still hadn't grown out of – he glanced around the bar he currently sat in. his feet were swinging from the highly risen bar stool and from his slightly bruised eye, he could see how well looked after this hotel was. the floor was polished to the degree where his own reflection glowered right back at him, and the second whisky glass that hit the counter in front of him glimmered from being shined.

screw not being able to complain, he thought, wrinkling his nose and sharply exhaling as he asked for another. he'd just been punched in the face by some adolescent prick who thought he had the world at his feet, surely he could moan and rant for just a second. despite going absolutely ballistic and demanding that the young actor was thrown of his set, shane had resonated with the young boy. he remembered being seventeen and believing that the world spun on his fingertip. regardless, not only did he now have a blueish bruise covering his eyelid, he also had the burden of finding a new extremely attractive teenage kid to play a young girl's love interest. another sigh blew out his lips.

that was the thing, though. he was surrounded by people day by day, yet never in his life had he felt so alone. well, that is, if you don't count whisky as your best friend. the bar was pretty busy for a thursday evening, and it was the first time in years that shane had stayed in a hotel where he wasn't waited on by half a dozen assistants. just an hour, after feeling slightly fed up with his team and wanting to just feel normal for a moment, he had come to a four star hotel just to be alone for a few minutes without feeling bombarded by everyone and everything. his director's trailer would be full of different staff asking different questions, and the catering service that the company had organised was different to the usual since they were filming in colorado for the next few days instead of los angeles. shane had never been to colorado, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. the weather was slightly cold, since it was december and snow was falling quite heavily outside (thank god this fit with the setting of his movie) and in an all black shirt and suit, only inside was he warm.

many people were dotted around the large bar, yet the bar stools on either side of him were empty and cold. a perk of being a director instead of an actor is that no one ever really sees your face, so unless the person approaching him is in the film industry themselves, its rare that hes asked for an autograph or photo. shane liked this, because deep down behind his notorious bossy streak when it came to directing his own movies, he was actually quite shy, and therefore being left to his own devices every time he set foot out on the street was a blessing.

"would you like another, sir?" the young female barmaid asked once he had finished his third shot, offering him a small and naive smile from behind her dark curly hair.

shane screwed his eyes closed in contemplation for half a second before nodding, pushing the empty glass towards the girl. "why not? make it a double. thank you." he simply responded and began observing the people around him, a frown flickering onto his face when he noticed a man laughing into the shoulder of his boyfriend - or maybe fiance, perhaps even husband - with a wide grin.