“Let’s go to your house,” I said. “I’d love to see it.”
He agreed and we headed to his house, where we hung out in his living room. He started his fireplace with the press of a button and I opened my eyes wide. So this was what being rich was like.
He sat down on the leather couch beside me, smiling. “When I’m done with you, you’re going to be so famous.”
That sounded like a threat but I smiled through it.
He put his hand on my leg, giving a soft squeeze to my thigh.
“You are so beautiful, Jane,” he said. The orange glow of the fire crackled on his face. “Gorgeous, I just love these lips,” he said, putting a finger against my lips. Probably smearing my red lipstick off. I was just hoping he wouldn’t smear my bruise protection off too.
“I want to give you the world, I want to give you everything, Jane,” he said. “Do this movie with me and I’ll give you everything,” he said.
I didn’t know what to say other than this was probably the easiest job I’ve ever gotten in my life. I felt a little guilty about it.
He moved in to press his lips against mine and I kissed him back.
I woke up the next morning with barely a recollection of what we’d done but I was…naked under white sheets. I looked over to my right and there was nobody. To my left were double glass doors that overlooked Hollywood, and it was stunning in the early morning light.
The bedroom door opened and in came Michael with a bottle of green juice.
“I juiced some kale and cucumbers for you, really healthy stuff,” he said.
“I heard everyone in LA survives on kale and cocaine, is that true?” I asked with a smile.
“Yeah, but some with more cocaine than others, yeah.” He chuckled.
He sat down at the edge of the bed as I swallowed the entire thing. It had a very putrid taste and I tried not to show it but it was clear he could see it on my face.
“Needed some more green apples, hm?” he asked. “Will do on the next round. Listen, last night was fantastic.” He leaned in to kiss me.
Wait, were we dating now? Was this the nonverbal contract I’d signed?
“Today, we got a busy day,” he started. “We’re going to get your hair dyed blond and a little styled for the movie, which will be fun. Then you’re going to get a personal trainer to work off at least ten or…twenty pounds okay,” he said with a completely straight face.
“Twenty pounds?”
“More or less, then you’re going to get your teeth whitened and later you’ll meet the producers and the leading man of the movie,” he said. “It’s an audition just for the producers to meet you and see you opposite our guy, but you got the part, trust me, they’ll love you.”
“I hope,” I muttered, wanting to scrape the vegetable acid taste from my now-green tongue.
“You’ll do great! Now don’t anything eat anything else because I need you to look trim as a clothing hanger.” He was laughing but it sounded like he was serious.
What had I gotten myself into? It was fine to change some things about myself, but if I started changing now, where would it end?
How could I be winning when it felt like losing?
***
I spent the day at the hair salon and when I left I looked like Taylor Swift, except a few years younger. Suck it, Taylor! Just kidding. Then I spent an hour at the gym with a trainer who was an Iraq vet with a prosthetic leg, which gave me no excuse to slog it up and be a lazy butt.
The only thing I was worried about now was meeting Michael again. What was he going to say now that my hair was blond and I was maybe a quarter of a pound lighter from my exercise?
A private car picked me up from the gym and I headed to the movie studio, entering through the gated archways that I had always seen in film magazines. It was the same studio that my mom made several movies at.
I headed into an office where I asked for the room where Michael Shoemaker was staying and the nice receptionist pointed me down a hallway that was decorated with pictures from classic movies. I even spotted one of my mother’s movies, “Tears On Fire,” which was a good one. I still cried when I watched it.
Opening the door with a heavy hand, I cracked it open and saw three suited people at a long table, two men and one woman, along with Michael talking with a young man at the end of the table.
“Hello, welcome Jane Roadborn, everybody,” Michael announced.
“Hello, Jane,” the executives said to me.
The young man walked up to me and my legs trembled as he came closer. He was a very attractive man, to say the least. I’ll say it, he was the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. Hot as the sun itself, I tell ya.
“Hello, Jane,” he said. Oh my God, he was British with that beautiful accent of his. He handed me a script page, smiling. “I guess we’ll be going through the lines together, should be fun.”
Oh, please being buried alive would be fun if it was with you, I wanted to say.
“Well, Michael told us so much about you, Jane,” the woman exec said. “We’re so happy to meet you.”
“I hope he didn’t say too much.” I laughed, trying to make a joke but no one else laughed. “Well, I’m happy to be here.” My cheeks were probably a blood red, blushing from the near-death experience. Don’t screw this up.
“Wait, I didn’t get your name, Mr. British man,” I said.
“Henry Bermejo,” he said.
“Wow, is that a Mexican last name?”
“Yes, my mother’s Mexican, but my dad was born in London, so I’m kind of all mixed up, you could say. I’m now playing a character from New York too.” He smiled.
“Cool, where’s my character from?” I asked, scanning the page for any info.
“From Texas,” Michael said. “Your character is Emily and you’re looking to travel the world to escape your abusive husband and you meet Donny, played by Henry, who’s a multimillionaire. He takes you on a journey around the world as you try to escape your violent husband.”
I sat there in silence, it almost sounded like my life story but I couldn’t say that. I would burst into tears.
We went through all the lines and at the end, the script demanded I cry as I thanked Henry’s character for everything he’d done. It wasn’t a stretch to get me to cry and Henry, looking in my eyes, stayed in character, reaching out to wipe the tears from my eyes with his finger.
It felt like he understood me but it wasn’t him, was it? It was Michael who’d written the script, but he was far from showing the same amount of warmth that Henry was.
I felt Michael watching us intensely, like we weren’t supposed to be this close, but this was what he had written. This was what he wanted.
Or maybe what he wanted was me, and me alone.
***
After the script reading finished, I was still wiping the tears from my eyes and I looked up to the studio executives who were wiping their eyes dry too.
“That was great,” one of the suited men said. “Really terrific, you picked a great girl, Michael. Better than the rest, I think.”
“Yeah, she’s something else,” Michael said. “I got really lucky finding her.”
I looked at Michael and smiled softly. Then looked at Henry and gave him a bigger smile.
“I think we’re happy, let’s make a deal,” the suited woman said. She walked over and put a contract the size of a novella on the table. “If you’re ready, you can sign it.”
“Sure,” I said, trying to flip through the pages.
“Jane, we have a really busy today, I know you want to read it, but it would really save us time if you just signed it,” Michael said.
“Um, but I should read it first, right?” I asked.
“You should,” Henry said, backing me up.
The suited trio looked uncomfortable, antsy for me to sign the contract but I felt like something wasn’t right.
“Jane, we have to start making this movie as soon as possible. If you have any questions
or problems with the contract later, you can tell me, okay? We’ll work it out, don’t worry,” Michael said.
I took a deep breath. I didn’t believe him but I also didn’t want to not believe him. What choice did I have? I could start getting paid more quickly, but maybe get hurt in the longer run? Maybe it would be better to deal with that hell when I came to it?
I didn’t have any answers, so I picked up the pen and I signed the damn contract.
Michael clapped and everyone followed his lead, including Henry, although he looked slightly less enthusiastic. Maybe he was actually worried about my safety.
“Of course,” the blond exec said “Please keep this secret. We don’t want the press to get a hold of this, the movie doesn’t come out for a whole year. We want to build marketing interest for about twelve months, rolling you and Henry out together will be part of that marketing campaign, okay?” she said.
“Uh, sure,” I said, looking to Henry. He smiled at me.
“Should be fun,” he said.
We left the office and I started talking to Henry about the project.
“How long have you known Michael?” I asked.
“For a few months, getting this project up and going,” he said.
“Cool.”
“Did you hang out with him yesterday? I know he likes having dinners with all the actresses,” he said.
“Um, yeah, he did,” I said, uncomfortable with the idea that this was the usual plan he had with other women. Maybe the reason the other redheaded actress quit the movie or was fired from it was because she hadn’t wanted to be the director’s girlfriend.
Michael came and grabbed me by the arm. “Let’s go, we have a busy night. Take care, Henry,” he said.
I looked over my shoulder to Henry who looked a bit worried for me. What a caring hunk of a man.
I couldn’t help but feel that I’d made a terrible mistake with Michael. But if I hadn’t met Michael, I wouldn’t have met Henry.
***
Michael took me out to lunch and to get fitted for clothing, which meant I wasn’t allowed to eat anything other than salad with no dressing, save for two squeezes of lemon. I could see where this relationship was going. He was very possessive, but was it the director in him or was he always like this?
I couldn’t stop thinking about Henry, and I wanted a reason to leave the clothing designer’s office and go back the movie studio. I checked my recent calls and saw my grandmother had tried calling.
“Excuse me, I have to talk to my grandmother,” I said.
“Okay,” he said. “Not too long, okay.”
Sure, jackass Shoemaker. I called my grandmother knowing what she was going to say.
“Where are you?” Grandma June asked.
“I’m sorry, Grandma,” I said.
“Don’t ‘sorry’ me, young lady. Where are you?” she demanded.
“I’m in, uh… I’m in Hollywood,” I said.
“What?!” she shouted.
I felt sorry for her now, like I was about to give her a heart attack.
“You need to come back now,” she said.
“I can’t, Jake is looking for me.”
“I know, Jake’s been knocking at the door for the past two days looking for you, he thinks I’m hiding you.”
“If he comes again, call the cops, he has no reason to bother you,” I said. “I’m worried if he finds me, he’ll come to LA.”
“Please be careful out there. At least call me every day so I know you didn’t become some street walker,” she said.
“Oh, grandma, please. I just got a big job on a movie, but I can’t say what it is.”
“Jane, it’s time to go,” Michael ordered from the other side of the door.
“Sorry, grandma, gotta go to work now,” I said.
“Okay, but please be careful, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she said.
I laughed. “I’ve probably done half of ‘em already, sorry, grandma.”
I wasn’t ready to go back to hang out with Michael and was looking for any reason to stay outside when I saw Henry turning the corner and heading to the exit.
Looking over my shoulder, I checked for any sign of Michael and did a quiet run to follow Henry out of the building.
“Hey,” I said.
He turned back, startled to see me. It felt like high school all over again, ditching class to hang out with the one you like. The one you wanted to go to the park and lie in the grass with.
“Where you going?” he asked me.
“I was just finishing up with getting fitted. I didn’t know you had to get so many pieces of clothing custom fitted,” I said.
“Yeah, Michael’s a bit of a perfectionist.” He chuckled.
“You should’ve seen the list he gave me, dye my hair and get a trainer.”
“You dyed your hair? Looks natural. Brunette before?”
“Yep, brown and proud,” I said.
He laughed. “Wanna get something to eat. I can drop you off at your place after?”
I looked back at the studio to see if Michael was standing there and, nope!
“Sure!”
***
“What are you looking to eat?” he asked me as we drove through the sunsetting streets of Hollywood.
“Maybe Mexican food? I haven’t tried that yet.”
“Cool.”
“I tried sushi yesterday and it was so good!” I exclaimed.
Henry found a place that he really liked. He grabbed a fried fish burrito and I grabbed a carne asada burrito. It tasted so good with a mix of guacamole and Mexican hot sauce, both things I’d never tasted before because of their rarity in my white bread town.
After dinner we grabbed some beers and headed to the beach to just relax. Chill, I believe was the word he’d said with the coolest accent ever.
“So you and Michael tight together?” he asked me.
“Tight? Like…?”
“Like dating,” he said, matter of factly.
“Um, stuff happened last night and I think he thinks we’re dating now but, my mind, we’re just co-workers.”
“Right, you do realize the reason the first actress was dropped the movie last week was because she wouldn’t sleep with Michael?” he asked me.
“Yeah, I kind of figured that after.”
“You know, movies are tough to make and you’re going to get thrown into the whirlwind of the machine. The movie making machine. If you need help,” he said, moving a little closer to me across the sandy shore. “I’m here, Jane.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking a hard gulp. As much as I wanted to kiss him, I didn’t want to seem so easy. It was my first two days in LA for heaven’s sake.
My phone rang and it was a text from Michael. Where are you?
I wanted to ignore him but I knew I couldn’t. I was torn between two worlds. The world of Michael and the world of Henry. In one world I was decently employed and having a road to fame paved for me, while the other road was one with a man that was so sweet and so nice that he must be setting me up for a joke or something.
As much as I liked being with Henry, I had to choose Michael, no matter how disappointed I was with him. Here we go.
I texted him my location and I looked up at Henry.
“Listen, Henry, I’m so sorry, but I have to run. I have a meeting.”
I could see his heart melting in his eyes but he tried to brush the pain away, like all men do.
“Oh, no, that’s okay. But at this time? It’s night time,” he said, quite correctly. Think, Jane, you’re caught in a trap.
“Just last minute stuff, you know how Hollywood is,” I said.
“Yeah, I do. Well it was nice talking to you, I guess we’ll see each other soon,” he said.
“Yeah, that’d be nice,” I said. He got up from his seat and walked away as I waited for Michael to come. About three dozen gossip articles later, he arrived.
“Hey.”
He stood there with a bouquet of rose
s in his hand.
I was shocked. “Hey, Michael, who are the roses for?”
“They’re for you.” He smiled and handed them to me.
They were so rich in red, a real treat for the eyes, but I couldn’t think of a reason why he would give me such a gift.
“Let’s talk,” he said, a little solemnly.
He led me down to the shore of the beach. “Listen, I just wanted to say that I know sometimes I can be a little difficult. I know that. People have told me. Endlessly.” He smiled. “But I want you to know that I do care about you, Jane. I really do.”
As much as it would have been nice to kiss Henry, I felt the odd urge to kiss Michael. Before I had a chance to act, Michael placed his hand at my back and gave me a kiss. The moon looked down on us as he pulled away.
He was looking for a reaction from me. Continue or call it quits.
He did have a sort of nerd-in-authority appeal, like a cute high school math teacher. So I gave in. His hand drifted to my ass and he pushed his pelvis against me nice and hard. I couldn’t help but smile as my urge to fuck him grew and grew.
Michael saw the smile on my face and knew I wanted him. I wanted him deep inside me. He kissed me, guiding me down to lay on my back on the sandy shore of the ocean. My legs grew cold and a chill ran up my skin. Luckily, his hands kept me warm as they held me.
“I want to make love to you, Jane,” he said with a low voice, rumbling like a tongue against my clit.
“Take me,” I demanded. “Fuck me.”
He grabbed the back of my head and pushed it closer to his soft lips. He kissed me like he hadn’t seen another woman in thirty years, touched me like I was his first. I wanted him to fuck me like I was his first. And last. I felt his smooth jawline beneath my fingers, inhaling the smell of his aftershave.
As the pillowy bed of the sandy shore cushioned my body, I put a hand on his chest and felt his muscled body. His hand rubbed through my hair as I felt his tongue softly touching my own. My eyes closed as I kissed him. I could feel his hand wandering around my pussy, feeling it from the outside of my panties.
“Oh, you’re soaking wet,” he whispered in my ear. A ravenous hunger was thick in his voice.
“Take me, Michael. Take me and fuck me,” I demanded. I wanted to feel him rip my panties off. I wanted to be left breathless, drowning in his cock. Just thinking about it made my toes curl with anticipation. He knew I wanted it. I was almost squirming, parting my legs like castle doors. Waiting for my holy king to fuck me, his queen.
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