Free My Brother's Best Friend by Becky Andrews

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    “Rob, tell me you have it.” Terry sounded desperate.
    Robert held up what Devin had given him, and Terry ran to grab it. “Tell Devin we need more like him,” he said and looked down at me. “Who are you?”
    “She’s someone ‘more like him’.” Robert smiled.
    I extended my hand. “I’m Christy Walsh, I’m—”
    “Christy!” Larissa yelled as she ran up. “This is Devin’s girlfriend.”
    “I, uh, that’s actually—”
    “Devin’s girlfriend, huh? Well, you are welcome to stay and if there is any validity to your skills in sound mixing, I want to hear more about it later. Right now, I better go take a look at this. We’re supposed to air it Wednesday. This is the closest we’ve ever been to a deadline.” And with that he turned and walked away.
    “Christy, I didn’t realize you would be here today.” Larissa smiled. “I was so excited to tell everyone this morning. You and Devin are definitely top news.”
    “About that, Larissa. I need to tell you something.”
    “Don’t tell me you’ve broken up already. I just placed a bet that you and Devin would get married. I can’t lose the bet. I mean I never lose a bet.”
    I started laughing. “Marriage? Oh, Larissa, you really shouldn’t have made that bet.”
    “So you guys did break up?”
    “No, that’s not what I meant,” I tried to explain.
    “Good. Because—”
    “Larissa!” someone called out to her, and she looked up.
    “Oh, that’s my cue. I’ve got to run. The assistant director wants to start filming,” she said, quickly hugging me and then running off.
    “Hey, congratulations, by the way. I didn’t say anything to you or Devin because you two seem pretty private,” Rob said with a quick grin.
    “How long has she said me and Dev have been dating?”
    “Hasn’t it been at least since last Christmas? Devin brought you as his date, right?”
    “Quiet on the set!” someone yelled, and I was prevented from speaking.
    Robert motioned for me to follow him. We walked a little closer and he pointed to a vacant chair right near the action. He waved and left, so I was powerless to stop him or even to explain the real situation.
    I sat down and watched as the cast took their places and someone called, “Action.” It was interesting to see something being recorded and to see the final product. It was a lot of stop and go, perfecting the tone used here or the gesture used there. It was interesting to see how it all came together.
    “Cut! Come back in ten minutes!” the assistant director yelled.
    Larissa bounded up, followed by Zach. “So what did you think?”
    “I mean it’s the first time I’ve watched something like this. But it seems really different from the final product,” I told them.
    “Yeah, I still can’t believe how they make it look so awesome after we do so many takes of the same scene.” Zach smiled. “So you came to work with Devin again?”
    “Yeah. I wasn’t feeling good this morning,” I told them. They exchanged looks and I realized what they were concluding. “I was hung over,” I clarified. We weren’t even dating and suddenly I had an imaginary possible pregnancy. I had to put an end to their assumptions. Devin and I were not dating. “I’m glad you’re here though, because I have to tell you something.”
    “What are you going to tell them, Christy?” I looked over at the sound of Eric’s voice.
    My heart was racing, and my palms were sweating. What was he doing here?
    “Do you know Eric, Christy?” Larissa asked. “I try to get to know everyone on set. I think it's good for team spirit. He was just hired a few days ago to help…well, to do something behind the scenes. Oh and get this, some guy punched him last night while we were all at the club, that’s why he has the black eye,” she explained.
    “It was Dev. Devin punched him,” I blurted. “He was the one who was bothering me last night.”
    “Dude!” Zach exclaimed. “What did you do to make him punch