I was in a local Café, reading a book and sipping coffee, when I looked up to see Cameron Hex and Colton Jacobs walking in, hand-in-hand.

I had met Cameron a few years ago, he was a great guy. He was kind to me and was a friend to me during a time when I didn’t really have anyone, and for that I was eternally grateful. We still hung out when we could, but lately that had not been very often, I don’t think that he and Claudia got along. He was bi, but I didn’t think he had a boyfriend, I guess I should actually read those tabloids once in a while, just to see what my friends are up to.

Cameron had lightly tanned skin, with longish black hair which framed his face nicely. He had a body to die for, his workout routines were always hectic. He wore jeans and a printed shirt. He was only twenty four, but he always was one who seemed older, not physically, but emotionally. He was level headed and that was a trait I had come to rely on when I was having a bit of a crazy freak-out. He was a fantastic actor, Cameron was, and he had been on the same show, ‘Murder and Marriage’ for years now.

The man whose hand was connected to his had white blonde hair, and fair skin. The blonde stood a little shorter than Cameron and less bulkier as well, making his body attractive in a different way to the bulkier build of the other man. His face was attractive, with a soft look. He wore dark pants and a white shirt. I recognised the man as Colton Jacobs, a male model who I had never met in person before.

Cameron’s smile was happy as they entered the Café, and I wondered what it would be like for Max and I, if we would ever be able to just go to a Café together, our hands linked and share quiet secrets across a small table, to laugh at inside jokes while others envied our love.

Cameron spotted me and in moments he and Colton were standing right next to the small table I sat at.

‘Ryan!’ Cameron exclaimed, reaching over with his free hand to shake mine.

‘Hey!, sit’ I gestured towards the empty chairs at my table, and Cameron gave Colton a nod and they sat down.

‘Ryan, this is Colton,’ he looked over at the blonde and smiled brightly, ‘my boyfriend.’

I reached over and shook Colton’s hand, and he gave me a warm smile, just a tinge of nervousness at the edges.

‘It’s nice to meet you Ryan, Cam has told me a little bit about you, I wish that we would have met sooner,’ The boy said, he seemed genuine and I had a good feeling about him. I wondered what his age was, he looked young, probably around my age or a year younger.

‘It’s lovely to meet you Colton, I can’t say I know much about you, but I do hope that changes.’

‘Yes,’ Cameron drew my attention to him, ‘We will have to have dinner some time, the four of us.’

When he said that I could imaging Max and I having dinner with them, a cute double date. I could imagine how happy Max would be to meet Cameron, not as a colleague but as my boyfriend. I knew that it would mean the world to him. I saw images of us four laughing and being ourselves, ignorant of the pressures of the judgemental world around us.

My thoughts were changed when he mentioned Claudia and I suddenly felt like I was stuck with second best. Claudia was my friend, but Max was so much more, and to think that Cameron didn’t know that hurt me. Cameron was always there for me, but I rewarded that by lying to him? I felt a pang of guilt.

‘You are still dating Claudia right?’ He spoke her name with the smallest bit of venom but I could still recognise it.

‘Yep, going strong,’ I lied, a smile on my face.

‘Cam, I’m going to get us some coffees,’ Colton got up and walked towards the counter.

‘You’re looking good Ry, I’m sorry that I haven’t kept in touch too much,’ Cameron gave me a sad look and I knew that us not being as close had hurt him as much as me.

‘Hey, I’m just as guilty,’ I offered.

‘I was serious about dinner, I know that our schedules are hectic, but I am sure there’s time somewhere.’

‘That sounds great Cameron, really,’ the man gave me a warm smile at my words.

He looked over towards Colton who was ordering drinks and I smiled at him.

‘Colton seems nice,' I told him and his smile broadened, attention turning back to me.

‘Cole, he is amazing. I am really lucky.’

‘That you are,’ I agreed with him and he pulled his hand through his thick black waves. He was luckier than he realised, to be able to be this free, to have the world know of your love for someone was a pipe dream for me, yet it was his reality. I was jealous of that, yet I knew the only reason I didn’t have that was because of my decisions.

‘You know, I always thought that you might be gay,’ I held in a laugh at that.

‘Well, Claudia and I have been together for over a year, and I couldn’t be happier,’ I was used to lying, but lying to someone who I considered a friend was harder than usual. I had a lot of people I worked with, but I had few real friends. I wasn’t use to this secrecy and lies between friends and it furthered the guilt I felt and the longing to go public.

‘Yeah,’ he said, but his tone conveyed that he didn’t entirely believe me.

‘Here you go,’ Colton returned, two cups in his hands and set one down next to Cameron who kissed his cheek lovingly.

‘Thanks love.’

Colton sipped at his coffee, ‘Ryan, I saw Claudia’s new movie the other day, she’s a beautiful girl, your very lucky, and your story, the golden couple, how you saved her from alcohol and drugs, it’s a moving story.’

And a story it was.

‘That it is,’ I nodded, before checking my watch, ‘I have to go to dinner with Claudia, but it was nice to see you both’ Cameron moved and I assumed he was going to shake my hand but I had to get out of there. I hurried out of the café and onto the busy streets, making my way to my car.

Lying was becoming hard, and Cameron was always so kind to me. It was hard to lie when I knew that he would be the perfect person to talk to about the truth, and seeing him and Colton, it just made my heart sore. I wished so badly that I could be like that with Max, but I couldn’t.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

‘Hey,’ I walked into Claudia’s kitchen to see her, Zach and sexy robber – wait Sexy Chef.

Claudia was sitting at the bench next to Zach while Sexy Chef cooked something, by the delicious smell I could tell I was going to enjoy dinner tonight.

‘Hey Honey,’ Claudia smiled and I joined her at the bench.

‘What are you cooking Sexy Chef?’ I asked the gorgeous Frenchman, who smiled at me and said something, but I was too mesmerised by his body to really listen to what was coming out of that sexy mouth of his. Gosh, just look at those sexy lips move. I had assumed that I had been thinking out loud again due to the soft laugh that came from beside me.

‘Did you just call the chef sexy?’ Zach questioned, looking less high for once, his usual bloodshot eyes were replaced with pretty brown ones. His skin had slightly more colour and his hair looked actually styled today. He looked somewhat healthy?

This is new.

Good on ya Zach, I guess you’ll live to see another day.

‘Who can blame him, he is one sexy chef,’ Claudia laughed and Sexy Chef laughed, stirring something in a pan.

His laugh was amazing. Just like his body.

He was no Max, but god, was he hot.

I was glad that Claudia probably thought that I was joking. I wasn’t joking. He was one Sexy Chef.

Much better than the Sexy Robber Slash Serial Killer that I had first assumed him to be, because now I get to see his sexiness whenever I am at Claudia’s.

I wondered how much Sexy Chef knew about our relationship, seeing as Zach and him were casually talking and I assume that he would have figured out that usual boyfriends don’t have dinner with their girlfriends as well as their girlfriends secret boy toys.

‘So I take it he knows about our arrangement?’ I asked Claudia nodding towards Zach and Sexy Chef.

‘Yeah, he figured it out since Zach spends more time here than you do.’

‘That’s true’ I laughed.

‘I’ll be back’ Zach left, probably to get high.

‘Have fun killing yourself boy toy,’ I called out after him and he flipped me the bird as he walked off.

‘Don’t be mean to Zach,’ Claudia lightly slapped my arm.

I knew that she and Zach were more than just fuck buddies, they had been together for about six months and they were quite happy just being together. He was the son of some famous actor and had grown up with more money than he knew how to deal with, that lead to his drug addiction and lack of a job. They had met at some Hollywood party and clicked.

Once when Claudia had taken too much of something I talked to Zach while the doctor was in with Claudia, and the worried look on his face surprised me. The way that he talked about Claudia, you would assume that they were married. Zach did love Claudia, and Claudia did love Zach, but I am not too sure if Claudia loves Zach as much as she loves her career and her image.

I turned to the blonde woman next to me, her eyes were clear and she seemed to have put some effort into her hair and make-up that morning. She didn’t smell like alcohol or pot, so I assumed that she must be having a good day.

Maybe she and Zach were getting clean?

It would do them well.

‘So, anything new Claudia? You’re looking well.’

‘Yeah, I got offered a new television show so I’ve been trying to get clean.’

Ah, that’s why. She needed to look healthy to keep her image up, and a new show would be great for her career right now, seeing as she just finished her most recent project.

I was glad that Claudia was getting clean, even if it was just for the new television show. I wanted her to be happy and she loves her work, just not all the stresses that come with it.

‘Good for you,’ I smiled.

‘Actually I need to talk to you about the new show,’ she said, but her smile was tinged with sadness as she spoke the words.

‘Ok.’

She led me into one of the numerous rooms of the house, this one holding a couple of couches and looked like it had come straight from a magazine, everything looked new and shiny.

‘Sit down’ I plopped myself down on the black sofa and she sat next to me, the ends of her blue dress pooling around her as she sat.

‘This show I’ve been offered, it’s in Australia.’

Australia? Claudia may be annoying at times, but she was still my best friend, we had been through so much and to think of being away from her while she filmed was hard. I didn’t love her the way people thought, but you don’t spend that much time with someone without becoming attached.

‘Wow, how long will you be gone?’

‘They think it will get picked up, so eight months of the year while it’s in production.’

‘Eight months a year! That could go on for years! That’s basically moving there.’

‘I know, but we won’t have to pretend as much? I’ll only be home for a few months of the year and the rest of the time you can just act single, no more sleeping in the spare room all the time. It will be hard, but we can keep in touch.’

That was an advantage I suppose, and I would still have Max. Plus it might be good to have a break from pretending to be in love with her for the cameras.

‘Will Zach go with you?’

She smiled fondly, ‘Yes, I don’t think I could move that far away without him. And you could come and visit!’

‘Of course I will come and visit! I will miss you,’ I told her and she smiled, and leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek.

‘I’ll miss you too honey.’

‘When does filming start?’

‘Just over a month we will head down there.’

‘We? Who are you working with?’

She smiled at me and started listing those involved, ‘A great cast! Steven Mathers is the director, the main cast is Casey Gold, Heather Holloway, Bruce Karl and Max Stark! How wonderful is that! I get to work with Max again, he is such fun to work with, such an amazing actor.’

Max? My Max?

He was going to leave? For Australia?

He was leaving me?

Why didn’t he tell me?

I felt betrayal and dread build up in my chest as the idea of Max leaving, of the man I loved moving to another country without me, swirled around my mind.

How, what, how? Why?

Why didn’t he tell me that he was leaving, maybe he was going to break up with me?

‘It’s alright honey, I will only be gone six months’ her hand cupped my cheek and I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing then.

Max was leaving?

She pulled me into her arms and I sobbed into her chest.

How could he do this to me?

I held onto her tightly for what felt like forever, my two best friends were leaving and the thought of being all alone ripped into my heart.

I have to know the truth, I have to know why all of this was happening.

‘I have to go,’ I pulled away from her and ran out of the room, wiping tears from my eyes as I went. I passed Zach, who gave me a confused look, but I didn't say anything and neither did he. I left the house and ran to my car. I needed answers and I needed them now.

What do you guys think? Do you think Max really took the job?