Chapter Thirty - Too much Too soon?

It was late when Rob appeared in the kitchen doorway. He was alone. And even though Kristen inquired as to where Seren was, he only shrugged and mumbled something as he headed towards the fridge to get a drink. He cracked open a beer and pulled out his cigarettes.
"And I thought my sisters were hard work..." He said, his shoulders slumping as he sat at the breakfast bar.
Kristen took one of the cigarettes and lit it for him. "What the hell happened?"
"One minute we were having something to eat the next we're in the middle of family warfare. Something to do with her sister, and a failed marriage, and how the whole thing had upset their mother. But their mother didn't even know she'd left her husband, or something along those lines. I had to get out of there."
It had never been his strong point, when women flew into a rage. He had never seen Seren so incensed. He was utterly turned on by it, and a little shocked. It was a side of her he had not seen before, and wondered if he would see it often. Kristen was bemused by it, as she always was, whenever he came up against something he had no idea how to handle.

"I have brothers, I can't relate." She said, in that dead pan way she had. "So where is she now?"
He turned and pointed to the front door. "Outside. They're sat in the garden."
Kristen listened for their voices which would have travelled into the kitchen if they were shouting, but all was quiet.
"They must have calmed down." She said, taking a swig of Rob's beer before passing it to him.
But he sighed and his shoulders slumped.
"Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" He asked suddenly, his voice sullen and low.
Kristen looked at him in genuine surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Why aren't you telling me I'm crazy?" He asked. "That it's too much, that I should be concentrating on my career and that it's too soon."
But Kristen shrugged. "Is that how you feel?"
He looked utterly lost. "No....I don't know." And then the doubts faded. "No...of course not. It's just.... Ever since I met her it's like I've been on this rollercoaster and I wondered if I loved her too soon or too much. And I've got to finish filming in New York to the best of my ability. But I'm having these insane ideas about taking days off to bring my girlfriend to LA because she needs a break! I've already got them to change the schedule for me twice so that I could be with her. And she never asks me to, she never asks anything of me. Believe me, if she were any more demanding then I'd be glad so then I'd know she needed something of me."
Kristen placed a hand on his arm and squeezed it lightly. "Man, you've got it bad."
And he knew she was right. He'd all but lost his mind over her.
"I love her Kristen, ever since that night in the elevator I've loved her. And it goes against everything I've ever done before."
"Maybe that's why it feels so weird. Because you've never felt like this before." She suggested.
He thought about it for a moment. "Maybe you're right. How could it ever be normal with her? I could have started seeing her, taken her out for a drink and seen how it went. But I guess if I'd done that....well, who knows?"

He was glad that she didn't try to tell him otherwise. If anyone had confirmed how absurd life had been since he met her, then he'd probably have punched that person square in the face. Which would have gone against his nature, and therefore confirmed everything he'd needed to know. But then again, these life altering changes were happening all the time. Only a year before he'd been a nobody, trying to make a living making little movies nobody would ever watch. He hadn't even been sure he wanted to be an actor, with aspirations of living a life making small change with his guitar in back street pubs in London. He still had that dream, but knew it would never become real. Not now the crowds who followed him became too hysterical. He wasn't Elvis. And part of him wanted that romantic idea of being that struggling musician that nobody listened to. But it wasn't to be. And Seren had come along at a time in his life when he had had his life blown so far wide open he almost mourned the fact she hadn't come to him sooner. When he could have taken pleasure in being completely hers. They would be leaving in the morning to return to New York. And back to the reality which was theirs for the moment. But he knew it was coming. The end of the shoot. And with the crazyness of the whole situation in mind, he could not believe what he was going to ask her. But he was going to ask her, that much he knew.

"You're gone again." Kristen said, breaking into his thoughts. "Go out there and see if she's ok if you want to."
But he shook his head. "You don't interrupt sisters, trust me." He sighed and stretched the weight of the world off his shoulders. "You'd tell me if I was being a complete dick, wouldn't you?"
Kristen smiled. "It would be my pleasure."
"So if I ask her to come to Vancouver, would I be a dick?"He said, his face deadly serious.
Kristen rolled her eyes. "You're a dick for thinking it's happened too quickly, and then thinking it's a good idea to ask her to join you on your travels."
And he knew it was cruel, to make her move again. "I don't know what I'm thinking." He sighed, and then put the thought away.
But it was coming. He knew that, and he knew she did too.

It was gone midnight when Seren slipped into the bed. He was not fully asleep and turned to her.
"Kendra's staying the night. I ok'd it with Kristen." She whispered, "Then she's going to take us to the airport in the morning."
She was exhausted. Emotionally and physically. It had been the longest day. Curling up into his arms was the sweetest relief.
"I'm sorry, this shouldn't have happened. My family drama has effected you too much already. I promise you, when we get back to New York everything will go back to normal. No more insanity."
And it would have been nice, to remain there. And have a normal life. It hurt, that it couldn't be so.
"That doesn't mean my life isn't any less crazy than yours." He said quietly, resting his lips against her temple. "You know in a few weeks I wont be in New York anymore."
She closed her eyes against the thought. Of course she knew. She had buried the inevitability.
"I've told you I would come with you but you would not say the word."
He knew she would follow him, if he asked. All he had to do was say the word.
"We wont have this conversation again Rob. I know I came to New York to settle. But the reality is...I don't think I can. I felt restless as soon as I got there. And it was only for you that I settled. You know that, there would be no reason for me to stay there without you now. If I had never met you, I'd have given it my best shot. But I'd be back on the road by now....that's the truth."
He swallowed hard and lifted her head up to meet his eyes. "So will you come with me then? To Vancouver? And live in my shadow? And wait for me for hours on end? Because that's the reality."
He should have known it did not matter to her.
"You think I'll be miserable there? When compared with not being near you at all in New York. Going to work like I give a damn and then coming home to India and sure...that was the plan. That was TOTALLY the plan. And then I met you. And the plan changed. I don't even have a plan anymore!"
He half smiled in the dim light and she felt her heart plummet. To be without that? There were some things she could live with, others she could not. And that was one of them.
"Lets just go back to New York. We'll figure the rest out as we go along." She whispered as she felt his breath go deep and his eyes close.
She was too wired to sleep and so watched him for a while. His chest rising and falling, his eyes flickering in dreams. Too much too soon? Probably. But when compared with too little too late she didn't care. There was nothing left to say. He was the one. And to deny it would have been to deny her own heart. Tomorrow was a new day. And she couldn't wait for it come, because she knew it was another day with him.
"

Chapter Twenty Nine - The Beach

The sand was hot and smooth, and the sun was already at it's peak. There were enough bodies that Seren could hardly make out the waves as she laid out her towel and lowered herself down onto it. Rob was looking at her and smirking, then with a swift movement he pulled her bikini bottoms straight. She blushed, but he only winked in that mischievous way and laid beside her. Bodies heaved from the sand to the ocean, but nobody looked at them inparticular.

"Nobody's noticed yet." She sighed, slipping her shades over her eyes and lying back to face the garish sun.

"That's because Actor's are ten a penny out here." He replied, and she pushed her shades aside to eye him confusingly.

He rolled his eyes. "It means there's so many of us, nobody gives a shit."

"It's like that in New York too. Not that you would notice." She almost seethed.

"They just know where to look for me out there, they knowing I'm filming a movie. Out here, it's like oh a movie..."

She wondered if he would remove his shirt. But he didn't. He placed his arms above his head and fell silent.

"You know...You'll burn unless you put sunblock on." She warned, and his eyebrows moved underneath the shades before blindly passing her the bottle. 

She obliged, and sprayed his face until he protested and snatched it back. She was already in fits of giggles as he tried to rub it in. 

"Thanks for not writing 'Wanker' on my forehead." He said, pulling the cap off and pouring it over Seren's body. 

She screamed as the cold cream hit her warm skin and playfully pushed him away.

"I wish it could always be like this." She lamented, as his hands came across and started to rub it over her back. 

"You'd get bored eventually." Rob said, " Life aint always a beach!"

She groaned at his bad joke and fell back, rubbing the sun cream against his tshirt. 

"No silly....Like this...just me and you. Nobody bothering us, nothing in the way."

His arms came around her. "You'd get bored of that too. What would we talk about?"

"We wouldn't talk at all." She said, leaning her head back into his chest and looking out across the rolling waves. 

"I like the sound of that."

For a moment, it seemed, they both were able to appreciate that longing to live in a world of their own. But they both knew reality would always overcome, and in the end there would only ever be these snatched moments. 

"Let me come with you." She said, and braced herself for his reaction.

At first he didn't say anything. Only laid his cheek against her hair, wondering what to say. He thought about it. He ached to say yes. 

"If you come with me, then it would just be as it is for you now. Waiting around while I have my career. That's not fair on you."

But he didn't say no. And that was the one thing she clung to. 

"You said you wanted to start singing again. How will you do that, when you're in Vancouver with me?"

"They got bars in Vancouver, right?"

"You ever sung in a bar before?" He asked.

"No, but I've only ever done small audiences. Bars are perfect. Anyway....I'm not sure I want to perform just yet. I'm not...I have to...."

She turned around to meet his face. "I'll play for you. For now."

The look on her face was almost as if she was remembering something too awful to contain. He held her close to him and regretted that he had brought it up again. 

"If I say yes, and you come with me, it wont be like Remember Me. I have to spend a couple of hours in make-up and the whole set up is huge, with more security and enclosed sets. There's a lot of green screen stuff, it's a whole different thing."

But there was only excitement. "Do I get to be an extra this time?"

His smile was all the confirmation she needed. "You can do whatever you want, I don't think I'll ever be able to say no to you."
But there was only a slight sense of accomplishment. She knew she was about to make a change in his life neither of them had any idea would work or not.

But then her attention moved. Looking out across the beach she watched the direction of Rob's eyes. There was a small group of girls standing by the water's edge, whispering to each other and looking right at them. Checking Seren's face, Rob looked down and made a point of rolling onto his stomach. It wasn't that he wanted to be rude, he just wanted to draw away the attention from their perfect afternoon. Maybe they're not looking at us, maybe I'm just being stupid he thought to himself.
"I'll go get us a drink." Seren said, and slipped away.
For a moment he watched her walk across the sand, navigating her way awkwardly as the sand gathered inside her open toe shoes. She pulled them off when she was only half way towards the beach bar, and began to walk gracefully barefoot. And he laughed to himself, because it was that same unawareness of herself which he loved so much. He barely noticed as a shadow approached, and his heart sank. But he couldn't bring himself to be rude, especially when he looked up and saw the face of the girl standing before him. She was only young, no older than fourteen. Her smile was infectious and beaming, and the group of girls who had been whispering by the water had moved on. He noticed her parents sitting a little way back, watching with expecting eyes. But he didn't mind. She had crept up so quietly nobody had noticed her approach, not even him.
"Hi....um..." She said nervously.
Rob said Hi and asked how she was. Somehow, it was much easier to do these things when they were screaming in a crowd of thousands. Always, and he wondered why it was, did it feel more awkward when they came to him like this. Quietly, politely....
"I'm fine." The girl replied sheepishly. "I hope you don't mind...it's just...I'm on Vacation...and I recognised you...I just wondered if you would sign my bag? I don't want a picture or anything..."
She was clutching some Twilight merchandise bag with his face on it, and as she passed him her Sharpie marker he made a point to scrawl all over it.
"Have a good holiday." He said, and watched her walk away as if he had made her entire life complete.
If that was the only attention he was going to get all day, he was grateful. But already the beach was wearing thin on him.
As Seren approached carrying two cans of coke, he began to pack up.
"Something I said?" She shrugged.
"No, I can never sit on the beach for too long. I wanna take a walk to the Pier, You wanna stay here?"
But she shook her head, and he was glad. There was a preposition in him that meant he couldn't sit still for too long. As they packed up and began to make their way along the sand, it occured to Rob that he could wish for it thousand fold, and his life would never be the same no matter where Seren was. He wanted her with him, and that was that.

As they made their way towards the pier, they descended into silence. But it was mutual, appreciative. Both lost in thought, they went for a walk through the fair ground but paid little attention to the rides. They stood looking out to sea, and when finally Seren spoke Rob was already wondering how much time had passed since they had said anything.
"It's been a strange day." She sighed. "A strange, but good day."
Rob agreed, and took her into his arms as they stood facing the ocean. "Back to reality tomorrow."
"I'm not even sure what reality is anymore."
But Rob squeezed her and reminded her. "All of this is reality, now. And so will Vancouver, and any other movie set in the world. And whatever you want to do, wherever you want me to go, that's real."
"I need to figure that part out first."
"There's no rush."
And it seemed there was no rush at all as night began to descend on the water, turning is from it's usual ocean colour to the same black of the sky. The beach had been deserted, there were only a few lifeguards hanging around and the last of the sun worshippers packing up. There was something haunting about the beach at night, hearing the sounds of the waves but only seeing them as they crash upon to the shore in the moonlight.
"I'm hungry." Rob suddenly said, and it suddenly occured to Seren that she was hungry too.
"Yeah, me too. Shall we go back?"
He shook his head. "Not yet, let's grab a burger or something."
She suddenly felt ravenously hungry for a meaty burger with relish and cheese, with bacon strips and ketchup. With extra fries. They went to a little place not far from the beach, and even though they were dishevelled, it didn't matter. It was an inconspicuos place, where they blended in with the other beach bums. They ordered some beers and sat in a booth in the corner of the bar. It was a retro place, with 80s memorabilia on the wall and 80s music blasting out from a Jukebox. They ordered some burgers, with onion rings and fries and as Seren placed her cold beer to her lips she almost closed her eyes against the sweet refreshment of it.
"I think today has been more perfect than perfect." She proclaimed, holding her beer up in a toast.
"More perfect than perfect, huh?"
"Yes. Perfect is every other day except this one. Which is more perfect."
He smiled at her indulgently and nodded in agreement.
"Think we'd better quit while we're ahead, incase there's a meteor or tidal wave."
"Don't joke! You never know, I bet all those people in Indonisia were saying the same thing that morning of that huge Tsunami."
He raised an eyebrow. "I think we both know anything's possible. It's kinda in the movie, Emilie's character likes to eat desert first in case of meteorite."
"I think she might be on to something." Seren said, opening the desert menu. "I like the sound of chocolate mousse."
But she couldn't get through her burger. She pushed her plate away with a few mouthfuls left. Her belly felt full to burst, but Rob was a trooper and finished the lot.
It was almost ten as they prepared to leave. Tired and full, Seren wondered if she could muster that last shred of energy to get back to Kristen's.

And then it happened. The Tsunami. Figuratively speaking. She was about to open the door, walk out into the night air. But something held her back. She looked into the glass of the pane in the door and almost choked.
"What the..."
She turned and spun, hoping the reflection was just a distortion of her imagination. That the face she'd seen wasn't the one she thought it was. Rob looked at her troubled.
"What's the matter, what is it?"
She moved past him, because it was too late to ignore it. How had she not noticed? How had she been sat there for two hours and not seen? And then it dawned on her. They'd been hiding from her. Only now as she prepared to leave had she seen...
"What the hell are you doing??!" She demanded, and Rob watched as she approached one of the waitresses.
The waitress looked away, almost ashamed. For a moment, he thought Seren had gone mad until he saw the flicker of recognition in the waitresses eyes.
" I was hoping you wouldn't see me." Said the meek waitress, picking up the empty plates from the table before them.
"Well you didn't hope enough then." Seren said coldly. "Why didn't you say anything?!"
Rob looked more closely at the girl. She was the same height as Seren, with long blonde hair pinned up on top of her head. She had a pierced nose and tattoos winding up her arm.
"Because I didn't want to. And anyway, aren't you meant to be in New York? I could say the same to you, what the hell are you doing?!"
Seren went quiet and suddenly defensive. "I'm taking a trip with my boyfriend."
The waitress looked over Seren's shoulder to where Rob stood. "Boyfriend, huh? Well I'm glad for you."
She didn't know who he was, and Rob wondered if this was someone from one the communes. Their conversation wasn't drawing any light on the situation.
"What happened? Why are you here?"
The girl pulled off her apron and put down her pad in defeat. "Things just weren't working out. I went to stay with my Dad for a while but I can't stand his new girlfriend. So then I came here, and got a job."
Seren was shaking her head. "But you got married, you made a big deal about it. When everyone told you, you swore you'd make it work. Why'd you give up?"
The waitress shrugged. "I'm not perfect Seren. I can't make everything work out just because I say I want it to."
Seren sighed heavily and sat down at the table. She beckoned for Rob to join them.
"Rob, this is my sister Kendra.....Kendra this is Rob..."