On Location

by Sarah Echavarre Smith

  I step forward and around the statue. My stomach turns at the scene: there’s Blaine cornering Rylan against the wall, gripping her arm so hard, I can already see her skin turn red.

  “Get the hell away from her,” I say.

  Blaine whips his head around to me, frowning. “Get lost. This isn’t your business.”

  I step closer to him and shove him. He lets go of Rylan and stumbles back.

  “Fuck you. It’s absolutely my business.”

  I turn to Rylan, who has tears in her eyes. She immediately starts rubbing her arm. It makes me rage on the inside.

  “Are you okay?” I ask her.

  She nods. “I came out of the bathroom and he cornered me,” she mumbles, staring at the floor.

  I whip around to Blaine, who’s standing a few feet away, his face twisted in anger. And then I snap. He’s angry that I interrupted him trying to force himself on Rylan.

  “You are fired,” I growl.

  Blaine’s eyes go wide. “What the— You can’t fire me! We still have two more days of shooting!”

  “I don’t give a shit.” I step in front of Rylan so she doesn’t have to look at Blaine while he freaks out. She must be shaken to the core after what he tried to do to her. “You are a disgusting predator, and I’m not putting up with you a second longer. You’re done.”

  I expect Blaine to shout more obscenities or even threaten to have me fired after he talks to his buddy Byron at the network. What I don’t expect is for him to scoff, then walk up to me, the vilest evil smile plastered on his face.

  “Your bullshit, worthless series is ruined without me,” he says. “You realize that, don’t you?”

  I grit my teeth and straighten up my posture. In my heels I meet him eye to eye. I refuse to let him intimidate or taunt me right now.

  “We’ll manage just fine without you. Your stand-in, Drew? All those shots he spoon-fed to you because you were too high or hungover to do your job? We can use all of those and make him the host. We don’t need you, Blaine. We never needed you.”

  He takes a breath, his too-tan face reddening. He shakes his head. “Drew’s saving your ass, huh? No surprise there given the shitty job you’ve done. Tell me, Alia. Who’d you have to screw to get this show? I mean, you’re a pretty girl. That’s obviously how you got this job.” He lifts an eyebrow at me. “That might be a nice way to make things up to me, you know.”

  I take a deep breath at his repulsive words while keeping my eyes on him. Behind me I hear Rylan gasp. I know exactly what Blaine’s trying to do. Whenever a guy like him makes a comment like that to a woman, he wants one of two things: to make her feel worthless and small or to make her cry.

  I pause for a beat, then rest my hand on Blaine’s shoulder. His eyes widen, like he’s surprised I’m touching him. And then a split second later, I shove my right knee square in his nuts.

  He drops to the floor like a sack of bricks. Judging by the deafening scream he lets out, he wasn’t expecting my response.

  “Assault!” Blaine yells between wheezes as he writhes on the floor. “You bitch! That was assault!”

  My heart thunders in my throat at the adrenaline rush. Behind me I hear heavy footsteps. I turn and see Drew, a worried look on his face.

  “What the . . .”

  His brow flies to his hairline as he stares at Blaine.

  “That wasn’t assault, you creep. You were threatening her and she defended herself,” Rylan says as she comes up behind me to stand on my other side.

  I turn to her and check on her arm as my heart pounds against my rib cage. My throat squeezes at the red mark. “That’s probably going to bruise,” I say. I grab her hand in mine, hoping it’s a comfort. “We’ll get some ice on that.”

  She nods. I take a breath, then explain to Drew how Blaine had Rylan up against the wall as he groped and harassed her, and how the subsequent event led to him squirming around on the floor. His eyes go from wide to angry. He glances down at Blaine. “You piece of shit,” he mutters.

  Then he turns to Rylan and asks how she is.

  “I’ll be okay,” she says softly.

  Just then Wyatt saunters in, probably in need of the bathroom. His eyes bulge at the scene in front of me.

  “Damn . . . What did I miss?”

  “I’ll explain in a minute,” Drew says, his gaze fixed on me. He cups my face in both hands. “Are you okay?”

  I nod, closing my eyes for a second at the warmth of his palms.

  “You’re such a bitch,” Blaine mutters, still rolling around on the floor.

  Just then Drew’s face reddens and his jaw clenches. His hands fall away from me and he turns around to Blaine. Then he crouches down to help Blaine off the floor.

  “Thanks, man,” Blaine says, still heaving for air.

  Drew aims his stony expression at Blaine; then he punches him in the gut. Blaine falls to the ground gasping for air once more. Then Drew hunches over him.

  “If you so much as breathe in the direction of Alia or Rylan or anyone else on this crew, I’ll end you. You will stay the hell away from everyone. Understand?”

  All Blaine can seem to do is wheeze and nod.

  “Whoa,” Wyatt mutters behind me. I turn and fill him in on what happened in the last few minutes. His drunken expression sobers quickly when he soaks it all in.

  When he turns to Rylan to see if she’s okay, I pull my phone out of my clutch and dial Colton. I don’t have the energy to fight the crowd back to our table and then loudly explain what has happened. He answers on the second ring, and I explain everything.

  When I hang up, I glance over at Drew, who’s still standing over Blaine, like he’s a guard keeping watch over him. He fishes his phone out of his dress pants pocket. “I’ll call Joe and tell him to settle his tab so we can all leave.”

  “I’ll call Haley and tell her the same.”

  Just then Colton comes running over to Rylan and hugs her. “Are you okay?” The way Colton’s voice trembles makes my heart ache. “I was talking to Joe and Haley at the table; I wasn’t paying attention. I should have—”

  Rylan shakes her head. “It’s no one’s fault. Other than Blaine’s.”

  When I hang up after talking to Haley, I notice Colton’s pale face turn red. He walks over to where Blaine’s rolling on the floor. “I quit, asshole.”

  His chest rises as he glares at Blaine; then he walks back over to Rylan and hugs her. We all walk back into the main area of the bar to our table. Haley runs over to the burly security guy to report what happened; he glares in the direction of the bathrooms before stomping over.

  “We should call the police too. To report him.” I turn to Rylan. “Is that okay with you? Reporting what he did?”

  Rylan pauses for a moment. Colton squeezes her hand.

  “It’s okay. Whatever you want to do, we’ll support you,” he says.

  She nods. “Yes. I want to report him.”

  Drew calls the police, and I walk over to Rylan and give her a hug while we wait for them to arrive.

  “We’re all here for you,” I say to her.

  22

  I watch as the police car pulls away from the parking lot of the Moab Brewery with Blaine handcuffed in the back. Then I turn and walk to the far end of the building, where Rylan is standing with Colton. He hugs his arms around her.

  Everyone else is milling around the parking lot trying to figure out who’s sober enough to drive.

  “How are you feeling?” I ask her.

  She hugs her arms. “I feel . . . weird. Unsettled.”

  “You’re really brave for what you did.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “You absolutely are, Rylan. It takes courage to report a creep like Blaine.”

  “He’s probably going to post bail and get out,” she says softly.
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  “Maybe. But we’ll make sure he doesn’t get away with this. I promise.”

  Everyone gathers round and echoes their support for Rylan.

  A gust of cool, crisp, evening desert air whooshes around me.

  “I just hope this doesn’t mess up the series,” Rylan says. “Blaine is buddies with one of the executives. They might be mad that I reported him to the police. And it could be bad publicity for the show.”

  “Don’t even worry about that,” I say. “Tomorrow I’m calling HR. I’ll file a report and fill them in on everything. And when I present the show to the execs, I’ll tell them everything that happened. Blaine’s not going to get away with what he’s done.”

  As confident as I sound, I’m still riddled with doubt. The television industry isn’t known for being especially progressive when it comes to handling celebrities who harass people and abuse their power.

  “And honestly, they’ll probably be more pissed at me than anyone because I fired Blaine without asking them first,” I say.

  Just then Wyatt chimes in. “We all stand behind you one hundred percent on your decision.”

  Everyone voices their agreement with Wyatt.

  Drew looks at me. “We’ve still got a series to finish—your series,” he says. “Once everything is filmed and edited, you’re going to present it to the execs and they’re going to fall in love with it. They’re not going to care about Blaine and his bullshit after you’ve blown them away.”

  “And if for some reason they do, we’ll support you,” Haley says. “Every single one of us will tell them just how horrific Blaine was and that you didn’t have a choice but to fire him.”

  Rylan, Joe, and Wyatt reiterate what Haley says. My eyes water; I am completely heartened at how much they support me.

  Drew steps up to me and pulls me into him. “You don’t have a single thing to worry about. Promise.”

  I cuddle into his chest and whisper, “Thank you.” When we pull away, everyone except Haley is staring at us with surprised looks on their faces.

  Oh shit. With that affectionate embrace, Drew and I just outed ourselves to the crew.

  In the chaos of this evening, I didn’t even think about it . . . I just needed Drew’s comfort so badly.

  “Well, um . . .”

  Drew shuffles next to me as I stammer. “We have an announcement to make,” he says.

  Wyatt turns to Joe. “You owe me twenty bucks.”

  Joe rolls his eyes before digging into his pocket, pulling out cash, and slapping it into Wyatt’s palm. Haley bursts out laughing.

  “What was that about?” I ask.

  “We figured you two were together. We had a bet going on whether or not it would come out before shooting wrapped up,” Wyatt says.

  “Oh . . .” I drift off and catch Rylan smiling at us.

  “You two make such a cute couple,” she says. Colton nods his agreement.

  I let out a scoff of disbelief, then glance up at Drew, who’s sporting a flustered grin.

  Wyatt levels a stare at us. “Look, I know I was in the middle of having an allergic reaction at the condo in Bryce, but even I figured out what was going on.” He looks at Drew. “You were in your underwear, man. Come on.”

  Drew and I let out dual flustered chuckles. “Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask.

  Joe shrugs. “We figured you guys wanted to keep things private.”

  “I can finally do this now.” Drew scoops my hand in his. “And this.” He leans down to peck my lips.

  “I honestly had no idea until I overheard Wyatt and Joe talking about you guys the other day,” Rylan says.

  “Me either,” Colton says.

  Haley tilts her head at them. “That’s because you both are so sweet and innocent and uncorrupted by life.”

  We all chuckle, then disperse to walk to our cars. Drew and I stop at his truck before getting in. Drew shoves his hands in his pockets and looks at me.

  I let out a chuckle of disbelief. All the adrenaline drains from my body, leaving my limbs feeling heavy.

  I blink and fight back a yawn. “Well . . .”

  “That was . . .”

  “I honestly have no words to describe this night.”

  Drew lets out a breath, then steps closer to me. “Me either. We don’t have to talk the whole rest of the night if you don’t want to.”

  “Can we stay in the same hotel room? I mean, now that everyone knows, we don’t have to sneak around anymore. I could really use a cuddle after tonight.”

  This time when he smiles at me, I can see his whole heart in his eyes. “That sounds perfect, Dunn.”

  * * *

  • • •

  “I think I’m all packed,” Drew says as he crouches on the floor of his hotel room near his suitcase.

  I sit up in bed and smile up at him. The bedsheet falls from my bare chest.

  Drew raises an eyebrow. “Now that’s a view I could get used to seeing every morning.”

  I bite my lip and smile. “When we get back to the city, I’ll try to make that happen for you.”

  After the last two days of filming in Moab, we’re finally wrapped on Discovering Utah. Today we’re headed home to New York with Drew and me embarking on a whole new adventure: a relationship.

  Drew walks over to the bed and bends down to kiss me. “Too bad we’re not on the same flight. You sitting in the seat next to me would make enduring a long flight a hell of a lot nicer.”

  My heart races at the soft growl of his voice. I press another kiss to his lips. “At least we’ll both be in New York for the foreseeable future—in the same borough even. Maybe while I’m hunkered down editing the series over the next few weeks, you can stop by and visit me to make sure I’m taking the appropriate number of . . . breaks.”

  He grins. “I can do that.”

  I check the time. I’ve got a little more than an hour left before I’m due at the airport with the rest of the crew. “I need to pack. My room looks like a tornado hit it.”

  “Fine.” Drew leans back up to stand at his full height, groaning in mock disappointment.

  I hop out of his bed and throw on my clothes from yesterday. I’m pulling my shirt over my head when I feel Drew’s massive arms wrap around me from behind.

  “I don’t mean to sound like a total softie, but I’m gonna miss you, Dunn.”

  He kisses the side of my neck. I close my eyes and take a breath to steady myself. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up back in bed with Drew, and we’ll both miss our flights back to New York.

  “I like it when you’re a softie. I’m going to miss you too.” Reaching behind me, I run my fingers through his hair.

  Then I turn around and give him a proper kiss.

  “Text me when you land,” I say through a gasp as I pull away from his mouth.

  “I’m not getting in until after midnight,” he says, his mouth on my neck once more.

  I yank at his T-shirt. “That’s okay. You can stay over at my apartment. I owe you after spending the last two nights in your hotel room.”

  His expression softens. “You still doing okay?”

  I melt on the inside at the question. He’s asked it every day since what happened with Blaine.

  “Yeah, I’m okay,” I say softly. It’s the truth. I’ve been so busy focusing on the series and my new relationship with Drew that I haven’t had a lot of time to stress about Blaine.

  He hugs me tight against him.

  “I haven’t heard anything from the network execs so far, so I’m guessing Blaine hasn’t worked up the nerve to go to Byron. Yet,” I say.

  Drew shifts and looks down at me.

  “I’m just nervous about how it’ll all go down when we’re back.”

  “What do you mean?” Drew asks.

  “I mean . .
. other than kneeing Blaine in the balls the other night at the brewery, I think I did everything right. I emailed Brooke and called the head of Human Resources at Expedition the day after everything happened to let them know what went down. And I helped Rylan file a report with HR. I just wish . . . I just wish that was enough.”

  “You don’t think that’s enough? Alia, the whole crew has yours and Rylan’s backs. We’ll all make HR reports when we get back. You don’t have to worry.” Drew’s eyebrows knit in concern.

  “I know that, but honestly . . . given that our executive board is all straight white males who have never experienced a day of sexual harassment in their lives, it makes me wonder how this will all go. When I explained the situation to the execs and then told them I had a backup plan ready to go, they didn’t seem convinced.”

  “They’ll be convinced when you show them the first episode after you edit it,” Drew says.

  I shake my head. “Blaine’s agent is pals with Byron. And yeah, Blaine is the one at fault, but sometimes that doesn’t matter when you’re connected to the right people.”

  Drew’s expression goes hard for a second; then it turns thoughtful. “We’ll figure out something. Blaine won’t get away with this. I promise.”

  Despite the knot of anxiety in my chest, the way Drew stares at me, unblinking and with conviction in his eyes, I feel heartened again. When I look up at him, there’s the faintest ping in the center of my chest. His eyes shine bright, like there’s something behind them I’ve never seen before.

  It’s a whole different rush of emotions that flood me in this moment. The intensity has me almost shaking. I could tell him I love him right now . . .

  But I nuzzle into his warm and broad chest and hold back. I don’t want to say it just yet, not when we’re about to leave each other. I’ll tell him tonight at my apartment when we’re together again.

  We kiss again, and then I pull away and head for the door.

  “Have a safe flight, Dunn. I’ll see you tonight.”

  I walk out of his room and head to mine, then spend the next hour trying to pack up all my belongings. When I finish packing, I realize I never finished my tuna sandwich from yesterday. I wrinkle my nose at the thought of it stinking up my room and how unpleasant that will be for housekeeping when they come to clean. I grab it and quickly run it to the trash on my floor.