Spark in the Dark

"Where have you been?" Lyla asked as Shawn walked into the studio. "You've never been this late."

"Juice showed up at my place last night."

"Did you two hook up?" Lyla asked in shock.

"Yes and then Tig found him at my place this morning. So, long story short, me and Juice are back together and everyone knows."

"That's great, but what are you going to do about Brent?"

"We're broken up."

"I'm not sure he knows that."

"Why?"

"Because he's been waiting in your office for you for over an hour," Lyla told her.

"Oh... Shit."

"I can get rid of him," Lyla offered. Shawn gave her a skeptical look. "Okay, more like I'll get one of the guys to get rid of him."

"No, don't do that. I'll talk to him."

"What are you going to say?"

"I have no idea," Shawn said and walked down the hall to her office. She opened the door and Brent looked up at her, then stood.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," Shawn said and stepped into the room before closing the door. "Listen-"

"No, please, let me start. I'm an idiot. I should have talked to you about getting married first. I was just so excited about surprising you. I thought you'd like it. You know, getting engaged in front of your friends and family."

"And my ex?"

"I didn't really care about him."

"Really? And all the glaring you did at him? That was you not caring? Did you propose to me just so he'd know who I belonged to?"

"Of course not. Look, if you're not ready, I get it. I can wait until you are."

"Brent, look, I'm sorry, but I didn't say no because I'm not ready. I said no because I don't want to marry you. Not now. Not ever," Shawn said in as gentle of a tone as she could.

"You don't mean that," Brent said.

"I do. I'm sorry. I care about you, but not in the way you deserve."

"Because of him? You're not over him?"

"Yes," Shawn said.

Brent turned away from her and rubbed his hands over his head. "So, what? Dating me was just a mistake? You just used me or something?"

"I said I was sorry," Shawn said shamefully.

"I don't believe you," Brent said as he turned back to her.

"I am sorry! I am."

"No, I don't believe we were a mistake."

Shawn stepped closer to him. "One day, you will find someone who makes you happy. I promise. I'm just not that person."

"Or one day, you'll see that you're meant to be with me," Brent argued.

"That's not going to happen," Shawn said uneasily. "I love Juice."

"Did you fuck him last night?"

"That's none of your business," Shawn told him angrily.

"You did, didn't you? You stupid fucking whore."

"I think it's time for you to leave."

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are that I wanted to marry you? I mean, you, a porn producer? You're nothing but white trash and I was going to pull you out from all this and turn you into something better, but no. You'd rather stay here with that piece of shit? You really are a dumb bitch."

"Get the fuck out of my office!" Shawn shouted.

The office door opened and Dondo stepped in. "What's going on in here?"

"Nothing. He's leaving."

Brent went to move passed her, but looked her in the face first. "Cunt."

"Get out before I get someone to throw you out!" Dondo ordered him.

"Yes, sir," Brent said and walked out.

Dondo watched him walk down the hall before turning back to Shawn. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Thank you. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Sure. You mind taking a look at these?" Dondo asked as he held out a stack of papers.

"Absolutely," Shawn said and took them from him.

Dondo turned to leave, but paused at the door. "You need anything? Want a bottle of water or something?"

"Isn't it my job to get you bottles of water?" Shawn asked sarcastically.

"I can just this once," Dondo joked and walked away.

Shawn sat at her desk and began looking over scripts he had handed her. Dondo reappeared a minute later and handed her water. She thanked him and he left, shutting the door behind him.

Her chest began to hurt and she had a hard time catching her breath. She remembered the night before when Gemma said she was having a panic attack. Shawn took a few deep breaths and placed the cool water bottle against her forehead. How could a day start off so shitty, then get good, and then go right back to shitty? She put the water bottle down and opened it to take a sip. Then she grabbed the stack Dondo had given her as she decided to try to distract herself.

She read through everything, making notes in the margins as she did. Once she was done with that, she went out into the studio to find Dondo.

"Here you go," she said to get his attention. He turned and took them off her. "I made some notes."

"Thanks. Take over for me?"

"Sure thing," Shawn told him.

He rose from the director's chair he had been sitting in and Shawn took his place. She finished directing the scene when she was satisfied that Dondo would be happy with it. She called a cut and stood from her seat. Lyla approached her.

"You okay, darling?"

"Yeah. Work always makes me feel better."

"That's because you're weird," Lyla laughed as she picked up her phone. "Gemma called me a bunch of times."

"You going to call her back?"

"Yeah, I'll do that now." Lyla hit a button on her phone and put it to her ear. Shawn listened as Lyla talked to Gemma. Her interested peaked when Lyla became increasingly upset. Lyla hung up the phone. "Someone has Jax and Opie. They're threatening to kill them."

"Oh my God," Shawn said.

"The guys are going to get them, but..."

"It's going to be okay. Opie will be fine."

"Gemma said I should get to TM."

"Okay, I'll drive you. Go get changed."

Lyla headed for her dressing room and Shawn went to Dondo's office. She explained the situation and Dondo told her it was okay for them to go. By the time Shawn walked back towards Lyla's room, Lyla stepped out, ready to go.

They headed for Shawn's car and Shawn drove them to TM, trying to convince not only Lyla that they would be okay, but herself, too.