The next day Calista was reading over her new script, trying to memorize her lines, with the radio playing softly in the background. She wasn’t getting very far along in learning her lines, however, because her mind kept wandering back to the day before. She still couldn’t believe what had happened on the set. She’d had such a funny feeling when Barry had begun singing that song and although she had played along with the improvisation and reacted as she thought that Ally would have, it really struck home to her how closely Ally’s feelings for Larry mirrored her own for Robert. And when she’d actually seen Robert on the stage, for a minute there, she couldn’t breathe. It had been so long since she’d seen him and his presence, the physicality of him and his charisma, had leaped right off the stage at her and she couldn’t help but feel that his singing, and his words of love and forgiveness, following the song, were more for her than what was scripted for Ally. She had felt that he was reaching into her soul. And then that kiss, oh God, that kiss. Ironically, at that moment, Faith Hill’s song of the same name came on the radio, and as the song played, Calista reflected on how appropriate the lyrics were to her feelings about both Robert AND his kissing.

I don’t want another heartbreak

I don’t need another turn to cry

I don’t want to learn the hard way

Baby Hello, oh no, goodbye

But you got me like a rocket

Shooting straight across the sky . . .

It’s the way you love me

It’s a feeling like this -

It’s centrifugal motion

It’s perpetual bliss.

It’s that pivotal moment

It’s Impossible

This Kiss, This Kiss

(Unstoppable)

This Kiss, This Kiss

“That certainly is exactly how I felt when Robert was kissing me,” thought Calista, as she replayed the kiss in her mind. She was still shocked that she had responded with such utter abandon, completely blocking out the fact that the entire cast and crew were witnessing their reunion. Robert’s kisses had always left her breathless and seeking more, but this time, the depth of her response stunned her.

You can kiss me in the moonlight

On the rooftop under the sky

You can kiss me with the windows open

While the rain comes pouring inside

Kiss me in sweet slow motion

Let’s let everything slide

You got me floating, You got me flying

It’s the way you love me

It’s a feeling like this -

It’s centrifugal motion

It’s perpetual bliss.

It’s that pivotal moment

It’s Subliminal

This Kiss, This Kiss

(It’s Criminal)

This Kiss, This Kiss

As the song ended, so did Calista’s reverie. She looked back at the script and then at the clock and realized she had just wasted 2 hours and had not learned a single line! And Liam would be waking up any minute. Thank goodness she had thought to arrange for the nanny to stay all day and spend the night as well. It looked like she was going to need every moment of that time so that she’d be ready tomorrow for filming.

She also realized that until she finally sorted out her feelings, she was not going to be able to concentrate. She got up and went in search of Jennifer. She told her that she was going out for awhile, but would be back later. Jennifer told her not to worry, she’d get Liam fed as soon as he awoke.

Calista got in her car and started driving and a short time later, ended up at one of her favorite spots, an isolated beach not too far from where she lived. She got out of the car, and walked down the beach until she reached a spot where she finally sat down and stared out at the ocean. She thought back on her conversation with Robert in her dressing room, following the kiss. She realized that she had been very harsh and maybe even unfair with him, but she’d simply been lashing out. She’d been caught off-guard and felt that her privacy had been invaded. “Everyone knows how I feel now, and it’s just a matter of time before it shows up on Entertainment Tonight,” she thought. “I’ve got to put a stop to it.” She realized that even though her feelings for Robert were just as strong as ever, that she wasn’t sure if she could set herself up again for the kind of hurt he’d put her through with his rejection of her. If Robert wasn’t willing, or able, to share his troubles with her, and turn to her for support during the bad times, was he really someone that she wanted to be in a long-term relationship with? The more she thought about it, the more resolved she became that going back into a relationship with Robert would be too destructive to her well-being and that, in the end, she would only wind up being hurt again, perhaps this time, beyond recovery.

She knew she’d have to be on her guard when filming with Rob. He could be so devastatingly charming, and knew it too, she thought with a small smile. But if she prepared herself, perhaps he wouldn’t have as great effect on her. She just wouldn’t let herself relive that kiss again and she would keep her feelings buried this time. And she wouldn’t let herself be alone with him again.

Satisfied that she had effectively solved the problem, Calista took one last look at the ocean and then headed back, to start preparing for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Robert was having similar difficulty in learning his lines. He too was reflecting on the events of the previous day. And while Calista had been trying to find a way to sort it out and put it all behind her, Robert was finding that, more than ever before, he was determined to win Calista back. The depth of his response to seeing Calista again still amazed him and he knew now, that he’d been a fool to push her away when she’d come to him in rehab. He knew that he loved her, beyond any love he’d ever felt for any other woman, beyond the youthful love he’d shared with Sarah, beyond the love he had for Deborah (and would always have, because of Indio). This love he felt for Calista went to his core and he realized that, before Calista, he’d been like a puzzle, with that final piece missing. Calista, quite simply, completed him.

He remembered all the hurtful things she had said to him yesterday, but also realized that she had been lashing out, to protect herself. He knew, above all things, that Calista cherished her privacy and that privacy had completely and utterly been breached when they had kissed. And there would be no stopping the talk now. But maybe that could help him.

And, while he had not realized before how hurt Calista had been by his rejection of her, he was fully aware of it now. At the time, he had thought (foolishly in hindsight) that he was doing the right thing for her and Liam; he had thought he was keeping her from being dragged down with him in his struggle against his addiction But he now realized that what he had really been afraid of was that she would reject him, once she realized just how messed up he was. So, rather than be dumped, he had dumped her, and he had justified that despicable act with the idea that he was “protecting” her and Liam. Oh, how foolish he had been.

Well, he’d just have to win her back. Because, just as John had told Ally about Larry, Robert knew now what he had and he wasn’t about to throw it away again. He would have to play his cards very carefully, using everything he had ever learned about her because he knew she could be stubborn. But, oh, he knew her weaknesses, too, especially when it came to him. “Just wait, Calista, the fight has just begun,” Robert thought, with a smile. And as he starting reading the script again, his smile grew. Because David, good old David, was supplying him with the script to win her back.