I nodded.
“I have an idea, if you’re up for it.”
“I’m all ears.”
“A break from here. A day outside of Barry Park. Have you set foot outside the gates since we’ve set up here.”
I looked at him and smiled. “No. Not one bit.”
“An afternoon in town might do you good. You know, a bit of window shopping, a cup of coffee here, a light lunch there. Or maybe a beer at a pub and a picnic in the park.”
“All of that sounds lovely.”
“How about we meet down at the front foyer in...let’s say twenty minutes?”
“I’ll be there.”
We parted ways and I watched him walk away with a myriad of questions. The idea of leaving the walls of Barry Park appealed to me, but I still questioned Ricky’s motives.
*****
“YOU SEEMED DISTRACTEDtoday as we shot our scene,” Ricky said.
We stopped at a small café and sat sipping our cappuccino and espresso at the outdoor terrace.
I didn’t know how to respond to his observation. I wasn’t about to let him in on my thoughts about Matt and Susie.
“Why does it bother you to see Susie and Matt together?”
I nearly spit out my sip of coffee. Was I really that transparent?
“You mean as we shot the scene?”I managed to say. “To tell you the truth, I don’t understand what they were doing there to begin with.”
He chuckled. “I once heard that when one starts a statement with ‘to tell the truth’ or ‘to be honest’, chances are they’re not telling the truth or being honest.”
“Are you telling me that you were completely at ease with their presence?”
He shrugged.
“Whether it be Matt and Susie, or Hugh and Jai, or Penny and Gabriel, having people on the set who have no reason to be there is always a distraction, especially if they’re whispering and giggling.”
He nodded. “I’ll give you that.”
I sipped my coffee, happy to hear him agree.
“How are you enjoying your time here in the United Kingdom,” I said, eager to change the focus of our conversation.
“It’s not what I expected. I guess all I’d ever seen were images of London. You know, Big Ben, the Tower of London...Versailles.”
I let out a laugh and looked at him to ensure he was teasing.
“Actually, I expected a lot more castles. And of course, I was disappointed when I didn’t see the Leaning Tower of Pisa.”
Again, I laughed.
“And, I was hoping to see some royalty...some pomp and circumcision...”
“What?”I blurted out through my restrained laughter. “Oh, Ricky. You’re ridiculous.”
