Shane

"I have an interview for you if you're ready for that kind of thing. Someone local. They want to do a piece on the big celebrity coming back to the little island—something like that."

"Already? I've only been back here a couple days."

"Well, you know how it is. The last thing you want is for them to forget about you. You gotta keep moving, like a shark, or … you know … you'll sink faster than the Titanic."

"Thanks for all the analogies, Frank. I think I got it."

I had just returned from taking Maggie back to her place and was settled down on the couch for some mindless channel surfing when my manager's name popped up on my phone. I wasn't really ready to get back into all that yet, but he was always looking out for me, especially since I had a tendency to keep to myself. If it were up to me I'd never speak to a single fan or reporter, but not because I didn't appreciate them. I did. I just preferred it if we could all appreciate each other from afar, without all that up close and personal, face-to-face crap.

"So how are you settling in up there at your new place?"

"Fine, it's nice and quiet here—"

"Just the way you like it, eh?"

"Yep, just the way I like it. So how's the deal coming along?"

"Well, we're waiting on some signatures, but everything seems to be going as expected. We haven't hit any snags with permits or anything, so things are pretty much on schedule."

"Awesome. Let me know if you need anything from me."

"Oh, I will, don't worry."

"Thanks, man."

"All right, I'll have the reporter call your PR phone, you got that one handy?"

"Yeah, it's around here somewhere. Give me a few minutes to find it."

"Alrighty, oh, and do me a favor. Don't mention anything about the land deal. We don't want any inside info getting out about it before the sale goes through. We're in a pretty coveted spot and there are plenty of bloodhounds that would love to find any loophole they can to take us out of the game."

"Yeah, no problem."

"Okee dokee, talk to you later. Holler if you need anything."

"I will. Later, Frank."

I rummaged around in my suitcase and found the phone I had for interviews and other public relations type stuff. Frank and I shared the line, so if someone called or texted and I didn't want to deal with it, he would take over. I usually didn't even look at it unless Frank set something up for me.

A few minutes later, as I was killing time by jumping my robot unicorn over a chasm, my work phone flashed an unlisted, local number.

"This is Shane Holloway."

"Hello, Mr. Holloway. This is Darlene Simms from The Garden Island. I spoke with your manager, Mr. Frank Jennings, and he told me he'd set up a short interview."

"Yes, I talked to him earlier. I'm happy to answer a few questions."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Holloway—"

"You can call me Shane."

"Thank you, Shane. I'm thrilled to be getting this opportunity. The whole island is thrilled to have you back."

"Well, I'm really happy to be back. I've missed this place."

"So rumor has it that you're revisiting a lot of your past now that you're back. Including the property you're in the process of purchasing."

"Yeah, that's true. I grew up here, so there's a lot of history for me. I have to tell you up front, I can't address any rumors you may have heard about a land purchase. But everything else about my career is on the table."

"Okay, I'll stay away from that topic. Let's see, do you have any upcoming projects you'd like to tell us about?"

"I just wrapped up filming The Impossible Deal, in Mongolia. It's an action flick with an awesome cast. It was a really incredible experience. You can get all the info about it from Frank—the release date and the synopsis."

"So do you like traveling to far-off locales when you're making movies?"

"Yeah, that's one of the best parts of the job as far as I'm concerned. I've gotten to see places that most tourists never get to."

"Can you give me some examples?"

"Well, in this last shoot, we stayed in some yurts with a tribe in northern Mongolia. There were a few down days and some of the members of the tribe took us on a wolf hunt. It was insanely beautiful. We rode these massive reindeer out into snowy fields that looked like they went on forever."

"So did you bag a wolf yourself?"

"Oh, no, we weren't allowed to do any actual killing since we were all residents of other countries. They just let us come along for the ride. I honestly don't think I could bring myself to kill an animal for any reason."

"I hear you on that. So when you're off shooting a movie, how long are you usually away from home?"

"Oh, it depends, sometimes a month, sometimes two."

"And do you miss your special someone while you're out there? Are you allowed to have them on the set with you?"

I laughed at the question. I figured that's what she really wanted to know all along—about my love life. There were always interviewers hounding me for stories about the women I was dating, or photographers following me down the street to get a shot of me holding hands with one of them. It bothered me a lot at first, but I just answer questions as simply as possible now and don't let it get to me. "I've had girlfriends stay with me in hotels during some shoots, but I honestly don't know a woman who would be willing to stay in a yurt with me for a month, no matter how many animal skins lined the sleeping area."

"Yeah, I can imagine," the reporter said with a laugh. "My sources tell me that your last relationship was with Brittany Lake, but that she's returned to the States. Is that correct?"

I wondered how these people got their information so fast. It was entirely possible that Brittany had already talked to some entertainment site, maybe even right when she landed, letting the world know that she was on the market again. "That's correct." I had no interest in giving out any more information than that, though.

"And my sources tell me that you were seen wining and dining an old flame, Maggie Alana, here on Kauai just last night."

I was startled by that last comment. I didn't understand how this reporter could possibly know anything about my and Maggie's past. She specifically told me that she had never mentioned that night we spent together to another person.

"Shane, are you still there?"

"Yeah, I … uh … where did you get your information?"

"Are you saying you didn't have dinner with Maggie Alana last night?"

"No, I'm … well, I'm just curious about your sources."

"I don't have anything listed here, it may have been someone who didn't want their name revealed. Is there a problem with this information?"

"No, I mean, yeah, I think I'd prefer to end this interview."

"Did you move back here to reunite with Maggie Alana?"

"I'm sorry, I have to go." I hit end, then just sat there and stared at the phone in my hand for a long time.

What the hell? I thought to myself. It wasn't a huge deal, but knowing that Maggie had lied to me suddenly didn't make me feel very good. There was no reason for her to have said anything at all, really, let alone lie about it. I hadn't even asked her. I was hoping that maybe it was a misunderstanding and I decided to give her a call. I switched to my real phone and hit her number. It rang a few times but went to voice mail. I didn't feel like leaving a message, and didn't really know what I'd say anyway, so I ended the call.