Chapter 5

Emily was not one to let things go.

Not even two minutes after my shift ended she began throwing question after question at me. 'What were you doing with him?', 'Why didn't you tell me?', 'Please tell me you got his number.'

More than once on the walk home I had tried to explain that I was just talking to Ryan on my break, nothing more, and that she didn't really need to read any more into it.

She was adamant however, that I was withholding details. It was when I told her, for quite possibly the fifth time, that nothing more than a friendship would emerge from this situation that she finally let the subject drop, although I did expect to hear about it again sooner or later.

My shift the following day was less eventful, and with no sudden appearance from Ryan, I was left to act as though nothing strange had happened the day previous. Despite the odd smirk or teasing comment thrown my way by Colette, it was an alright day, and it seemed that the more comfortable I got working behind the counter, the more I was picking up. By the end of my second shift I had successfully figured out where a majority of the buttons on the till rested, as well as successfully made a few drinks with little to no assistance.

As Sunday came to an end and the new week began, school really started up. The first week was a teaser of what the semester would bring, and as I went to bed Wednesday night feeling utterly exhausted from the three assignments I had stayed up to finish, I figured it would only get worse. Seeing that it was almost two in the morning as I closed my eyes, I fell asleep calmly, knowing that Thursday would come with a day off; a day to spend with Abbie.

"Momma," I heard Abbie's voice whine from upstairs the next afternoon as I sat in the living room studying for a test scheduled for the following day.

Looking down at my open books, I sighed, abandoning the notes I had been taking. "Coming Abbie," I replied loudly, standing up from my place on the sofa as I quickly headed upstairs, peeking into Abbie's bedroom where I had left her to play. "What is it baby?"

My eyes latched onto her small body, leaning next to her dresser, as she tried to reach on top of it. "Necklace," she stated simply.

Shaking my head with amusement, I walked over to where she was still attempting to reach, picking up the small ice cream necklace I had bought her for her third birthday. "Now why do you need this?" I asked, crouching down in front of her as I dangled it the chain in the air.

"Polly needs a necklace," she replied, smiling widely as she picked up the doll that had been resting by her feet.

"Well," I started, unclasping the chain before reaching behind Abbie's neck, "I think Polly looks beautiful just the way she is, but you my dearie, would look amazing with this necklace on."

I rested my hands by her sides as she brought her small ones up to feel the necklace that now hung loosely around her neck. "Do I look pwetty now momma?" she asked, looking down at the necklace with a smile.

"You look very pretty Abbie," I replied with a soft smile, poking her nose gently as she a high-pitched giggle escaped my little girl. "So, are you hungry?"

"Hungry?" she asked, her small head tilting sideways slightly in confusion.

I nodded, standing up slowly. "Yeah, I was thinking about making some grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, how does that sound?"

A toothy grin appeared on her face as I mentioned one of her favourite meals. "Gwilled cheese!" she exclaimed excitedly, grabbing onto my hand as she attempted to pull me into the hallway.

Laughing as I moved along behind her, I picked her up, settling her on my hip as we made our way down the stairs. "After lunch what do you want to do?" I asked her, sitting her down in a chair as I started on the grilled cheese. "Do you want to watch a movie?" I continued, to which she thought about it before shaking her head. "Hmm... how about a trip to the park?"

"Park?" Abbie repeated, stumbling slightly on the pronunciation as her eyes shone with excitement.

I nodded, smiling in response. "Yeah, we can walk around, play on the swings and the slide..." I trailed.

"Yay!" Abbie replied, cutting me off with a yelp as she clapped her small hands together in happiness.

That's how, half an hour later, we found ourselves walking down the side streets of Los Angeles, on track to a park I'd seen near the university.

"I'm gonna go on the swing and the slide and pick flowers and..." Abbie listed off as she skipped merrily beside me.

"You're going to do all that baby girl?" I asked with wonder, my mom voice coming out as I looked down at my daughter, who was nodding her head. "Well then, we'd better get there fast."

Pushing her ahead slightly as I let go of her hand, I let her run a bit in front of me as I quickened my pace the tiniest amount to keep up with her. Five minutes later the cement beneath our feet had turned to sand as I helped Abbie sit up on one of the free swings.

"Do you need a push?"

Abbie, although she tried to pump her feet, wasn't really going anywhere when I asked if she needed help. She nodded, looking a little put out that she couldn't swing by herself.

Crouching down in front of her, I took her ankles gently and slowly started moving the swing. "Remember to move your legs back when you're moving back and move them forward when you're going forward." I said slowly, moving her legs as I explained the motions to her. I stayed pushing her for a couple of minutes stepping back only when I saw her slowly starting to understand the motions herself.

"Look, I'm doing it!" she cheered ecstatically, and although she wasn't moving nearly as fast or going as high as the other children, my heart beat with affections I watched her.

"Yeah, you are."

I stood watching her for about five minutes before she asked for me to continue pushing her. Seeing her have fun was enough for me to stay, and as the time passed, follow her around to the different structures the park had. When the slide was free minutes later, I watched from the ground as she slowly climbed up the stairs before sitting herself down at the top and smiling freely as she slid down quickly.

The laughter and playfulness continued for a little more than a half an hour before Abbie grew tired of the playground.

"So, what do you want to do now?" I asked as we headed for the grassy area of the park. When we came to an area that wasn't all that occupied, I stopped and crouched down, shaking the sand off her clothes as I tried to clean her up a bit.

"I dunno," she replied, her small face scrunching up in confusion.

"What about..." I started, but before I could continue, a dog's barking cut me off. Confused, I looked around to see a man walking through the park with a small dog, a very familiar looking man.

"Puppy!" Abbie cheered as she noticed the dog coming towards us, making me laugh as Ryan stopped next to us, letting Abbie pet his dog.

"Hey, I thought I recognized you," Ryan said.

"Well Mr. Hollywood," I greeted teasingly, standing up as I did so, "What were you going to do if I wasn't who you though I was."

"Apologize and walk the other way before they recognized who I am," he replied sheepishly, to which I replied with a light laugh. "But yeah, shouldn't you have class or something?"

I shook my head. "No class on Thursdays."

"Really? And how'd you manage to swing that?"

"I packed the other four days full," I shrugged. "Thursdays are for me and Abbie."

At the mention of Abbie, Ryan looked down at her as she continued to pet and play with his dog. "And I'm assuming this little cutie is Abbie," he stated, and when I nodded, he crouched down and smiled at her. "Hi Abbie, my name's Ryan."

"Hi!" she chirped, looking between Ryan and I as she smiled. "Are you my momma's fwiend?"

"Momma?" Ryan repeated questioningly, raising an eyebrow as he looked up to me for confirmation. When I nodded slightly, I didn't miss something flash through his eyes, before he focused his attention back on Abbie. "Yeah Abbie, I'm friends with your momma."

"Cool, so what's you puppy's name?" she asked.

He let loose a laugh, rubbing his dog's head playfully. "This is Rocky, and he seems to like you."

"I like him too."

Letting Abbie and Rocky play a little more, Ryan stood up, looking straight at me as I stood there nervously. "So, you have a daughter?"

There was something off to his tone, as though he was trying to mask how he really felt. "Yeah," I replied nervously.

He nodded. "And her father?"

I shook my head slowly, a sad smile on my face. "Bailed the minute I told him," I said, making sure to keep my voice quiet enough so that Abbie wouldn't hear. She understood that her father wasn't in the picture, but I'd rather her not know anything about him until she was old enough to understand it.

"Dick," Ryan mumbled angrily under his breath, making a burst of laughter escape from within me.

"You can say that again."

"Well," he started, "The guy's missing out on a cute kid."

When a smile appeared on my face at his comment, he smiled back in return, noticing that he had cheered me up. Instead of replying I looked around, quickly noticing that there were quite a lot of people walking through the park, also picking up on the fact that Ryan currently didn't have much of a disguise on.

"So you're actually walking through Los Angeles without any sunglasses on," I spoke, stating the obvious.

He rolled his eyes. "I still have a hat on," he pointed out, "Plus, I doubt these people are looking to spot me on their walk through the park."

"Well you never know," I replied teasingly, "What, does an A-list Hollywood actor not need a bodyguard when he goes out to walk his dog?"

"Actually," he raised an eyebrow with a smirk, nodding to the left, "He's right over there."

Sure enough, when I turned my head to the left I spotted a man that seemed slightly out of place. He wore sunglasses, a black t-shirt, and had his bulging muscles on display as he leant up against a tree, keeping himself to the shade.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Looking back at Ryan, I was able to pick up on the slight disappointment in his voice, but I didn't think it was my place to be prying into his life.

"Well, I was thinking about taking Abbie out for ice cream before we headed home," I started, but when Abbie heard both her name and the words 'ice cream', she stared up at me with wide eyes and bright smile.

"We're getting ice cream?" she asked excitedly.

"Do you want to?" I returned, looking down at her as she nodded her head quickly. "Then I guess we are."

"Yay!" she cheered, abandoning Rocky as she launched herself at my legs, hugging them tightly. "Thanks momma!"

"No problem sweetie," I smiled, as I picked her up and rested her on my hip before returning my attention to Ryan. "You're welcome to join us."

"With a dog? And the big guy over there watching my every move? I don't think that'll go very well," he said, shrugging it of. His eyes however, betrayed his true emotions. He didn't want to reject my offer, but obviously felt he couldn't sit out and eat ice cream like a normal person.

Biting my lip, I looked down at Abbie, who was still smiling with the thought of ice cream on her mind before looking back at Ryan. Before I could say anything though, Ryan spoke.

"It's okay Zoe," he stated, the side of his mouth tilting upwards, "Have fun, and I'll see you around."

I wasn't given the chance to reply, as seconds later he was walking past me, leaving me standing there shocked, and Abbie confused with the situation. Taking a deep breath, I spun around quickly.

"Wait," I said, and he immediately halted his steps, turning back to face me. "I have some ice cream at my house, and I'm sure Abbie wouldn't mind eating there instead of at a parlour. Plus, it's free and my house is dog friendly."

"You know, you don't have to do this."

"Do what?" I asked, worrying that I was doing something wrong.

He cracked a smile as he and Rocky walked back over to us. "Be so nice all the time," he commented, "Especially to someone that you barely know."

"Oh umm..." I stuttered, not sure of what to make of his words.

"I didn't mean that to be a bad thing," he pointed out in a rush. "I guess it's just refreshing to meet somebody that thinks of me as an actual person rather than an actor."

I bit my lip, trying to keep a smile from emerging at his compliment.

"And if you're sincerely offering," he continued slowly, "I wouldn't object to some free ice cream."

I laughed at his words, smiling up at him as I bounced Abbie slightly on my hip. "What do you think Abbie, should we let Ryan and Rocky come over for ice cream?"

At the mention of Rocky coming over, she smiled. "Yeah, then I can play with him some more."

"I think my daughter is getting quite attached to your dog," I commented, nodding down to Rocky, who was currently sniffing the grass beside Ryan's feet, "And she doesn't seem to mind you either, so the offer's open."

A smile grew on Ryan's face as his gaze turned to Abbie's for a few seconds before turning back to me. "I'll just go talk to Chad real quick," he said, before jogging over to his bodyguard, Rocky following behind him with the leash.

"So, you really don't mind Ryan coming over?" I asked Abbie quietly, looking down at her curiously.

She shook her head. "He seems nice," she explained simply.

"Yeah, he does," I replied under my breath as my gaze travelled to where Ryan stood, under the shade of a bunch of trees as he spoke to his bodyguard.

I didn't know what he told him, or how the whole bodyguard situation worked, but less than a minute later Ryan and Rocky were heading back towards us as Chad made his way towards the exit of the park.

"Ready to go?" he asked, stopping a few feet in front of me.

Nodding, I tilted my head towards the exit. "Yeah, let's go."

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It wasn't until the three of us were halfway home that I realized that Ryan's bodyguard was following us. I thought I'd seen him leave the park after talking to Ryan, and up until that moment, I hadn't seen a glimpse of him again, thinking he had gone off duty.

"So does mister tall and buff always follow you around?" I asked quietly, taking a glance over my shoulder to see his figure almost a block away from us.

Ryan chuckled in response, noticing the wariness I had with the situation. "Most of the time," he replied, before shrugging and sticking his hands deep in his jean pockets. Abbie, after begging and pleading for a few minutes, had been given the privilege of walking Rocky, and the two were situated a few steps in front of us. "I know it's a little bit weird," he trailed, "But my agent insists that if I'm going places with a lot of people, especially out in LA, that I should bring a bodyguard with me."

"It's not what I'd call weird," I offered.

"Oh trust me, it's weird," he returned, cracking a small smile.

"Umm, is he coming in?" I asked apprehensively as we reached the street I lived on.

Ryan shook his head. "Don't worry, he's actually heading back to my place once he sees I'm not out in the open any more. He'll be back eventually with my car so I don't have to walk back through LA."

Nodding in understanding, I felt a little bad for his bodyguard. I understood that it was the guy's job, but I figured that Ryan didn't live that close to my suburban neighbourhood, so he was in for quite a walk.

"Well," I said as Abbie, who was still a few steps in front of me, turned onto our lawn with Rocky, "This is it."

"Nice house," he said as I picked my key out of my pocket and unlocked the front door, ushering the three of us in as Rocky's leash was returned to Ryan. "Is it okay for me to let him off the leash?"

I looked down at Rocky, who seemed pretty mellow as I kicked my shoes to the side. "I don't know," I replied, raising an eyebrow at Ryan, "Is he housetrained?"

Ryan nodded, smiling down at me as I bent down to help Abbie with her shoes. "He's good."

"Then he's welcome to roam free," I replied, petting Rocky gently as Ryan unhooked his leash, leaving him with his collar as he encouraged him to move further into the house.

"Are we still having ice cream?" Abbie asked, hopeful for the right answer.

I smiled at her. "Of course we are sweetie," I replied. "Just go wash your hands in the kitchen and I'll be there in a second."

She didn't need any further encouragement as a wide smile spread across her face, and without another word, her little legs turned around and headed quickly into the kitchen, Rocky following after her.

"So, you share this place with your sister?" Ryan asked as he stepped into the living room with me, stopping briefly to take a look around.

"Yeah. Emily and I were close growing up, but she moved down here when she was finished high school, and when I mentioned wanting to move out, we thought it'd be nice to share a place for a while."

"I wish I still lived with my brother," Ryan commented as his eyes travelled around the room, only stopping when he noticed the books that I had left out earlier this afternoon. "Studying hard?"

I ducked my head embarrassedly, rushing over to the couch to gather my things. Not speaking, I stuffed the loose papers in the front of my binder, but was surprised when my textbook was picked up.

"Media Culture: A Handbook to New Aged Journalism," he read, listing off the title of the book before quickly flipping through it. He handed over soon enough, raising an amused eyebrow as he did. "Are you sure you're not studying to out my private life to the public?"

His question seemed to ease my worries. I knew I had told him that I was studying for journalism, but I didn't fully know if he was comfortable hanging around me because of it. He seemed, however, quite relaxed at the moment, and if could dismiss it, then I would to.

"Studying for a test tomorrow actually," I replied as I took the textbook, along with my things that had been lying around and moved them onto a free shelf.

"Did you want to study?" he asked hesitantly. "I mean I can leave if you need me to, it's not that big of a deal. I'll just get Rocky and we'll go."

I shook my head, the sides of my mouth tilting upwards at his rambling. "Don't worry about it," I said sincerely, Ryan's shoulders and posture relaxing as I turned to head into the kitchen. "I'm going to be studying a lot tonight after Abbie's in bed anyways, plus, the test isn't worth that much of my grade."

"Oh, okay."

I went to reply as I entered the kitchen alongside Ryan, but as I did, my eyes widened at the scene before me. There, standing on a chair that she had leant up against the fridge, was Abbie, reaching her hands into the freezer in search of the ice cream. Ryan started laughing as I quickly stepped up to Abbie, picking her up from her place on the chair and putting her feet back on the ground.

"Don't do that Abbie," I stated worriedly, my motherly instincts kicking in as I ran my eyes over her to make sure she was okay. "That's dangerous sweetie, you could've gotten hurt."

"I just wanted the ice cream," she said, her bottom lip jutting out in sadness.

"Well, you've certainly got one ambitious daughter" Ryan said, amusement still clear in his voice as he walked up to the freezer, pulling out a tub of cookies and cream as he knelt down beside me, facing Abbie. "Is this what you were looking for?" he asked her, shaking the tub in his hand.

Abbie's mood went from sadness to happiness in less than a minute as her eyes glowed in excitement and she nodded her head.

"Then you're going to have to apologize to your mom first, she was worried about you." he stated, surprising me as he tossed the ice cream my way and stood up.

Abbie glanced down to the ice cream quickly before looking back up at me. "I'm sorry momma," she pouted, "I just wanted the ice cream."

My heart clenched at the apologetic look she was giving me, and either she was developing one strong puppy dog face or she was truly sorry. I sighed. "I know sweetie," I said, hugging her to my side as I lifted her up to one of the dining room chairs, "Just promise me that you won't do anything dangerous like that again."

"I pwomise," she replied, her eyes looking up at me hopefully.

"Good," I nodded, cracking a smile. "Now, who wants some ice cream?"

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"Are you sure eating all of that ice cream fits into your Hollywood lifestyle?" I asked teasingly.

The ice cream, which was unsurprisingly delicious, had pretty much been emptied as both Abbie and Ryan pigged out on the desert, while I kept to a reasonable amount in fear of getting a brain freeze. Once the ice cream had been finished and I had cleaned up Abbie's face, as she had somehow managed to look as though she'd grown an ice cream beard, she went off to play with Rocky, leaving me alone with Ryan. Him and I were currently lounging on the couch, simply talking to each other as the time passed by.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, I didn't eat that much."

"The nearly empty tub of ice cream begs to differ."

"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not really working right now, so there's no real reason for me not to eat a tub of ice cream," he countered, extending his arm across the back of the couch. With his arm now resting there, his hand was dangerously close to where my head was settled.

I tried not to focus on that as I replied. "What do you mean you're not working right now?"

"Well I finished filming a movie a little over a month ago, and at least for the next few months I don't have any big projects scheduled," he explained. "I mean I have a few interviews and public appearances over the next few weeks, and I signed on for a movie that starts filming in the new year, so that script should be sent my way soon, but I shouldn't really have much press stuff until December when the movie comes out."

"Mmm... sounds nice being a big ticket movie star," I commented, closing my eyes as I jokingly tried to picture it. "No tests to study for, no side jobs that you need to pay the bills, you get time off when you want it."

"It's not always that great," he pointed out, and I don't know if it was purposeful or accidental, but his fingers slowly started to twirl the ends of my hair that were splayed out near his hand. "I mean yeah, after high school I never really had to hold down a part-time job or anything, but I still had to work to be where I am. I was constantly turned down for parts and I had my agent hounding me constantly to be better and get in shape. It wasn't until probably two years ago that I actually got a leading role when he laid off a bit and just handled my meetings and appearances instead of how I lived my life. Plus, being in the public eye isn't always a good thing when you want a private life."

Listening to him talk, I realized that, other than the few times I'd spoken to him, I really didn't know much about him. Ryan seemed like he had his life together at the moment, but as he spoke, I figured that he must have gone through a lot to get to where he is. "It must be tough sometimes," I responded, absentmindedly playing with the couch cushion, "Being in the spotlight I mean."

"Sometimes," he replied vaguely, lifting the side of his mouth into a small smile, "But other times it has its perks."

I thought I saw something meaningful flash across his face, but as I opened my mouth to respond, I heard the front door open and two familiar voices waft into the house. Turning my head quickly to the clock on the wall, I saw that time had flown by and it was approaching four thirty, meaning that Emily and Dustin were already done work.

"Since when did we get a dog?" I heard Emily ask worriedly, as Rocky started barking. Emily stepped into the living room, Dustin right behind her as they rounded the corner, but as she noticed that I was not alone, she stopped abruptly. "Oh, hello."

"Hey," Ryan greeted in reply, sitting up a bit as he raised his hand that had been entangled in my hair for a small wave. "Emily right?"

She nodded, looking at me with wide eyes before shaking herself out of her shocked trance. "So I'm guessing the dog belongs to you," she commented as Rocky ran into the living room, Abbie not far behind.

"You'd be right with that guess," he replied, rubbing his dog's ears as he came to sit by his feet.

"Dude, you're Ryan Adams," Dustin commented, looking star struck as he stared at Ryan.

"Oh right," I said, standing up as I gestured between the two of them. "Dustin, meet my friend Ryan. Ryan, meet Emily's boyfriend Dustin."

"Good to meet you man," Ryan said, standing up beside me.

Dustin, who seemed to have been shaken out of his star struck state, nodded. "You too."

"I actually should get going though," Ryan stated, taking a look at his phone before smiling down at me. "Thanks for having me over."

"I'll walk you out."

As I led him towards the entryway, Dustin and Emily walked further into the house while Abbie and Rocky scrambled behind us.

"Are you leaving?" Abbie asked with a pouty smile, leaning down to wrap her arms around Rocky. I smiled lightly at the sight, wrapping the cardigan I was wearing tighter around my stomach as I watched Ryan crouch down to her level.

"Yeah sweetie, I've got to go," he replied, clipping Rocky's leash onto his collar as he spoke, "But I'm sure I'll see you and your mommy again."

"Okay!" she cheered at his words, "Bye Ryan!"

He chuckled lightly. "Bye sweetie," he returned with a smile before Abbie turned and headed into the living room where I could hear her talking with Emily and Dustin.

"Weren't you waiting for your bodyguard to come back with your car?" I asked. "I thought you didn't want to walk home."

"Why, you don't want me to leave?" he replied teasingly, to which I rolled my eyes. "Actually he texted me a while ago telling me he was here."

My eyes widened slightly. "Why didn't you just tell me? You could've left if you wanted to."

He shrugged. "I didn't want to," he replied, smiling as he saw a dust of pink colour my cheeks, turning as he opened the door. "I'll see you around Zoe."

"Yeah, see you around," I responded, just loud enough for him to hear it as he closed the door behind him.

"Well, well, well," Emily said teasingly as I walked back into the living room to see her bouncing Abbie up and down on her knee. "Did you have fun on your ice cream date?" she asked, and when I raised an eyebrow, wondering how she knew that, she tickled Abbie's sides. "This little monster spilled the beans."

"What I can't have friends?" I asked, deciding not to comment as I breezed past them and headed into the kitchen to start on dinner.

"Not ones who are that hot!" she fired back, making me laugh as I shook my head.

Ryan Adams had snuck up on me. He was a mystery that I had yet to solve, and as I set to work on dinner for the four of us, I wasn't sure if I wanted to or not.

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This chapter basically had a lot of talking, a lot of interaction between characters, and was a tiny bit of a filler for what's to come. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Also, at risk of repeating myself at the messages I sent out this week, I've decided to stick to one upload a week, which will happen every Friday. If you aren't already following me, head over to my profile and click the follow button so you don't miss any more important messages!

This chapter was a fun one, so leave your opinions below and click the little vote box <3

Question: What do you think of the playlist for this novel? Any predictions based on the songs?

P.S. if you didn't know, you can copy and paste the link below to check out the novel's playlist: http://8tracks.com/rosieszalai/hollywood-hearts

Until next time xx