Fame, Love, and other Lessons

by Frances, Jo

  Chapter 16

  Sean was waiting for her when she arrived at the airport, just himself...and a bouquet of flowers. He wrapped his arms around her. "I couldn't wait for you to get here," he told her. They kissed as everyone else scurried around them, anxious to get their bags. Sean covered her mouth with his lips, his hand on her lower back, holding her against him. "I've missed you too," she said, and meant it.

  He drove them into the city, giving her a spirited tour of his hometown. Although instead of pointing out tourist landmarks, he pointed out his own personal landmarks. "How are you feeling?" he asked her. "Would you like to rest, or do you want to go out for awhile?"

  Jamie was still on New York time, so it wasn't as late for her. "No, let's go out," she said.

  They dropped off Jamie's bags and Sean's car at her hotel and walked to a bar where he was clearly well known. They were soon surrounded by his friends who had seemingly drifted in from the street. Jamie recognized his band mates Neal and Gavin, as well as Gavin's wife Kim. It was an easy crowd of people, similar to the friendly, down to earth group she and Chase used to hang out with.

  Jamie didn't really drink, but she accepted a black and tan, holding it more as a prop so she wouldn't be the only one not drinking. Sean stuck to his drink of choice, top shelf whiskey in a highball glass. He kept his arm around her, although as the evening went on and his speech grew more and more slurred, Jamie began to move farther away from him. Finally, when there was no more denying the fact that he was drunk, Neal came and matter of factly began to carry him out of the bar. Jamie followed them to the street. "Are you coming home with him?" Neal asked when he saw her.

  Jamie stepped back. "No," she said, shaking her head as if he were going to offload Sean onto her. "But his car is at my hotel---in case you're looking for it."

  Sean smiled lazily at her. "Yes, you see, I have to go back with you...to get...my...car." he was able to get this out before collapsing against his friend.

  A taxi came. Neal pushed Sean into the backseat and pushed himself into a spot next to him. "Will you be OK to get home, then?" he asked.

  Jamie pointed to her hotel's distinctive red and blue exterior in the distance. "I can walk from here." She looked at Sean, who was not completely passed out on the seat. "He drinks a lot," she said matter of factly. Neal shrugged. "He enjoys his whiskey." Changing the subject he said, "Are you going back in there?" as he looked towards the bar.

  Jamie shook her head. "No, I think I'll go back to the hotel. I'd better get some sleep if we're going to start filming tomorrow."

  Neal nodded approvingly. "OK, then. I'll put Sean to bed and I'll see you tomorrow."

  They drove off and Jamie began to walk down the street, glad for the fresh air. She was also relieved that for tonight at least, she was spared from having to say no to Sean.

  The next morning, a car arrived to pick her up and drove her an hour away to the location of the shoot, an Irish castle on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The crew was already there, along with Neal and Gavin. Neal brought her over to the director, a wiry, intense looking guy who looked like the only grownup in a sea of awestruck faces surrounding him. "Chris, this is Jamie Cameron."

  Jamie knew of Chris Gantt's reputation as a cinematographer: her agent told her he had been nominated for an Oscar for his film work, and that it would be 'amazing' to work with him on his first video. Jamie had worked with well regarded, but diva photographers, and she was prepared for an insult or a dismissive comment about being "just" a model at this introduction. Instead, Gantt surprised her by ignoring her outstretched hand and bringing her in for a hug. "So you're the girl everyone has been talking about, eh?" Before Jamie could ask what he meant, he thrust a piece of piece of paper at her. Gantt was nice, but his vision made him impatient.

  "OK, these are the scenes in the video." He began talking with his hands. "Obviously you're not going to have any lines," he placed both palms down and moved them away from each other like a blackjack dealer. "But I want you to know what the story is about."

  Jamie took a quick glance at the sheet in front of her. Gantt continued. "The story is simple; you're a ghost who haunts Sean. The first scenes are of him with his friends, he's a rich playboy, enjoying the good life, pretty standard stuff. Then you start showing up, and you start driving him mad because he can't have you. Then the next to final scene is the two of you in bed, making love. The final scene is we see how he finally made you real; he jumps off that tower up there." Gantt gestured to the highest point in the castle. "Now, let's have you go to hair and makeup, shall we? But can you review the scenes? Because we may not go in order." He pushed a thirty-something woman with very short hair towards her. "This is Mariel, she's one of my assistants. She'll show you where to go."

  As Greta walked her into a trailer marked, appropriately enough, "makeup", Jamie began to feel nervous. It was one thing to pose in front of a camera, and another to act, especially to act like a ghost. She reviewed the scenes, until she had practically memorized them. Then it was time to move to her own trailer where a rack full of costumes awaited her.

  Her first scene's dress was a floaty white ball gown, the kind that an 18th century duchess would wear. Mariel had just helped her into her dress when a knock on the door told her that she was wanted on the set. The extras were seated around a large banquet table with Gavin and Neal interspersed among them. Sean sat at the head of the table, playing a debauched playboy with authority. Gantt was filming them as they silently drank, or mimed a conversation, occasionally stopping to tell someone to be more animated, or to look in the opposite direction.

  "Now, Jamie." he grabbed her and placed her on the opposite end of the table, facing Sean. "What I want you to do is make eye contact with Sean, then very, very slowly walk towards him. Seductive, yes? Then you will stop, hold his gaze, then when he stands up to go towards you, you run up the stairs, like, er, Cinderella at midnight." He turned to Sean. "And Sean, you just stare at her, like you can't believe she's real. You're in shock, yes? She walks towards you, and when she gets close enough that you think you can catch her---you stand up and boom! she runs off." Sean nodded, and Gantt continued. "Everyone else, you just keep doing what you're doing. You don't see Jamie so no one look at her, OK?" He moved behind the camera, "alright, let's just practice that a few times."

  "Action!"

  Jamie began a slow walk towards Sean.

  "Cut!"

  From behind the camera, Gantt instructed, "Um, yeah, it's a ghost story, but that doesn't mean I want you to look you're going to yell 'boo'." There were a few titters behind him. "Just look at him as if you love him, but can't understand why he would hurt you. Forget the ghost part. OK---go."

  Jamie began again and was able to take a few more steps before hearing, "Cut!"

  "That was a little better, but I really want to see a sense of longing when you look at him." As Gantt yelled 'action', Jamie pretended it was Chase she was looking at, not Sean. Ignoring the camera just a few feet away, she brought up the sense of loss she felt seeing him at the game.

  "Perfect." Gantt's voice brought her back. "OK, now do it again---exactly like that."

  To her relief, Gantt seemed satisfied with Jamie's performance because they moved on after several takes. Jamie returned to her trailer, changed into the next outfit and waited to be called again. She finally had a chance to go online to check her emails. Several people had emailed her a link where the headline breathlessly pronounced that she had run off to Ireland for a "romantic interlude" with Sean. Jamie's first thought was to wonder how Chase would feel. He wouldn't have known about the video, so he would think the headline was true. And this, after he had gone out of his way to treat Luke well on his birthday.

  Even though she knew she shouldn't, Jamie checked Twitter. Sure enough, there was a tweet that mentioned Chase at a private party in L.A. Her day ruined, Jamie called her brother. "Hi," her brother sounded surprised. "How's it going?"

  Jamie got to the point. "Luke
---did you tell Chase why I was going to Ireland?"

  "What? No!" Luke said, confused. "Why would I do that?

  "The tabloids are saying I'm here, like, visiting Sean, or something." Jamie knew she was babbling.

  "Yeah...so? What does Chase have to do with it?"

  "Well, I just don't want him to think that I've moved on that quickly. I'm here to shoot a video."

  Luke sounded exasperated. "But you have moved on. You just don't want him to do the same."

  "That's not true." she said in a small voice.

  "Jamie, listen. You're my kid sister, and you know I'd do anything for you. But you want me to lie to Chase and tell him, what? That it's all business between you and Sean?" Luke made a sound of irritation. "I think you should just leave him alone, Jamie. You never even gave him a chance, and now he's gone." Another phone rang in the background. "I've gotta go. Just---have fun there, OK?" The phone went dead on the other side.

  Jamie was still holding the phone when a knock on the door told her she was wanted back on the set. The next scene was going to be the love scene. Well, this should be fun, Jamie thought. This time I'll pretend that Chase is watching, and he can eat his heart out.

  After shooting three more scenes, Gantt called it a day. He wanted to shoot early the next day to capture the mist as it rolled in and asked if Jamie and Sean were willing to stay in town. "I'm put up in a great little inn down the road from here," he told them. "Why don't you join me, we'll have dinner together tonight, discuss the video and have an early start the next morning."

  The thought of a quiet evening in the Irish countryside sounded tempting, especially if it meant she could perhaps learn something from Gantt. "I'm in," Jamie said.

  Sean smiled. "That's all I needed to hear."

  Gantt was pleased. "It's settled then, Mariel will make all the arrangements."

  The three of them rode in the same car to the inn together. Gantt went over his thoughts about the day's progress. "Jamie, the scenes I shot of you today were mostly from a distance. Tomorrow I'm going to spend a lot of time on close ups, but what I want is for you to think about being ephemeral in some shots, and less so in others. That's going to be your challenge."

  Sean, who was sitting in the back, leaned forward. "I get it. You want her to become less ghost-like as she becomes more and more real to me."

  "Exactly right. And meanwhile, Sean, I'm going to take some close up shots of you as you descend into madness."

  As they drew closer to the inn, Gantt told them about the in-house restaurant with a renowned chef. "I'm a foodie," Gantt confessed to them. "I follow chefs the way children follow football stars, and trust me, my friends, we shall have a good meal tonight."

  During dinner, Jamie saw a different side of Sean. The hard-drinking rocker was replaced by a thoughtful intellectual. He and Gantt discussed Irish history, politics, and travel. Jamie sat and listened until the conversation veered towards film, and she was finally able to contribute. Her father was a film buff and she had grown up watching, then discussing, lots of movies with him. Their table was next to the fireplace, suffusing everything with a warm, comforting glow. Jamie was amazed at how...luxurious...it felt to have an amazing dinner in a 300 year old manor, having a cerebral discussion with a cinematographer and a famous musician. It was the most 'adult' experience she'd had so far.

  At the end of the evening, Gantt went upstairs with a glass of brandy, while Jamie and Sean went to get their room keys. "Ah, yes, your room is on the second floor," the hotel manager said, handing Sean a key. Jamie looked at him expectantly. "And my room is---?" she asked.

  The manager looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, we only had a reservation for one room."

  Sean handed Jamie his key. "No worries. But I'll need another room, please." The manager was already busy typing on the keyboard, the bad news obvious on his face. "I am sorry, Mr. Foley, but we are fully booked tonight."

  "It's fine. We'll share a room." Jamie spoke with an indifference she didn't feel. "Second floor, right?"

  Sean hesitated. "I guess Gantt's assistant just assumed we would only need one." They both considered their options, and found there were none. "Are you sure?"

  "I'm sure we can share a room together," she said lightly.

  Inside their room, Mariel had left a nightgown for Jamie and a toiletries as well as a change of clothes for them both. "Wow," Jamie declared. "I can see why celebrities turn into divas." She held up the items which were not only her size, but also what she would have chosen for herself. The white cotton nightgown was simple but feminine. "With people anticipating your every need, it really makes you into a baby."

  Sean nodded and pointed towards the fireplace. "Look, even the fireplace is ready to go. All I need to do is light a match."

  By the time Jamie finished dressing and brushing her teeth, the fire was burning really well. "I think I like this Irish tradition of having a fireplace in every room," she said. "In L.A., fireplaces are only for show." Sean walked past her towards the bathroom. "Turn off all the lights and get into bed," he told her. "You can stare at the fire from there."

  Jamie slipped into the crisply starched sheets and sat up watching the fire burn. Sean got in next to her, wearing only a pair of boxers, and pulled her down to him. Jamie found herself looking into his seawater blue eyes, admiring his regal nose and full lips up close. "You really are a handsome man, you know that?" she said breathlessly.

  "You sound surprised," he said, before kissing her fully, covering her body with his. Jamie ran her hands down the length of his body, unable to shut down the comparisons between his body and Chase's, between a masculine, muscular body and an athletic, chiseled block of marble. The comparison was unfair; no man would ever measure up to Chase. She rolled over and straddled him, her eyes locked onto his. Sean clamped his hands down on her hips, moving her against his body, using his erect rod to rub against her nub, controlling them both, until she gave a low moan of pleasure that he met with his own.

  She fell forward and began biting his chest lightly, moving her lips lower still until she felt his cock against her chin. "Do you have a condom?" she asked.

  "Ahh, Jamie, do we really need one?" he pleaded, twisting with desire.

  "Yes," she said firmly. By his own admission, Sean was a man-whore, and as sexy as he was, she didn't want to take any chances with her health.

  Sean sighed in frustration. "I don't have one. I don't suppose you carry them?"

  She sat up. "No." The heat between them hung like a curtain.

  "Then I guess there's nothing for us to do except...talk." Sean said sarcastically, but with humor. Jamie hid her surprise. She and Chase could pleasure each other without sex; apparently the legions of women he had slept with had turned Sean into a selfish lover; not a creative one.

  Jamie settled next to him. "I wouldn't be too disappointed," she said. "I wasn't necessarily ready to have sex."

  "Oh, sure." Sean rolled his eyes. "But, uh, what were you doing down there then?" Jamie grabbed a pillow to hit him, but Sean intercepted it and threw it off the bed. "Now what?" he asked, pinning her down beneath him.

  "Is it so bad to talk?" she asked him, suddenly serious.

  "No, it isn't." Sean said drawing her close to him. "It isn't at all."

  Chapter 17

  Jamie awoke to the disconcerting feeling of someone sleeping next to her before remembering that she and Sean had shared a room. She also realized that it was 4:30 in the morning, and Gantt had asked them to meet him downstairs at 5:00. She shook Sean gently awake. "I'm going to take a quick shower," she told him. He grabbed her wrist as she turned to go. "Do we have a condom yet?"

  She kissed him on the forehead. "Not yet, but you'll be the first to know."

  Although it was hard to get up, they realized Gantt was right when they were on the set. No lighting wizardry could have captured the soft sheen coming off the castle walls, no special effects could have created the mist rolling through their feet. Because of their
discussion the night before, Jamie felt that much more comfortable about what Gantt wanted from her. The rest of the filming went along smoothly and by 3:00 that afternoon, he had called it a wrap.

  As Jamie took off her costume and makeup in her trailer, her agent called. "When can you get to London?" Liz never bothered to exchange even simple pleasantries when she called.

  Jamie hesitated. She was scheduled to fly out of Dublin and back to New York the following afternoon, and Liz knew this. The only reason for a question like this was that she wanted her to fly out to London immediately and Jamie didn't want to take another job in the meantime. But it must have been important for Liz, and not a booker to call her. "Umm, why?"

  "Merlin Nast needs a model for his London show tomorrow. He had to fire the last one because of a five pound weight gain that she forgot to tell anyone about---that girl will never work again, I'm telling you." Liz was always delighted to hear of other agencies problems. "So you're the only one who is close. Well, at least the only one on the list of models he wants." Walking in a Merlin Nast show would be huge. Jamie had been in demand as a model that season, but she had not walked for anyone as iconic as Merlin Nast. If she were lucky enough to model an outfit that the fashion editors liked, her picture would be in all the fashion glossies and she could enter the first tier of models.

  Jamie did some quick calculations. She was about an hour away from Dublin, but she would still need to return to her hotel, pack and check out before heading to the airport. "I can be at the Dublin airport in about two and a half hours," she replied.

  Liz was elated---in their industry, an agent who could "deliver" was unusual, so her stock stood to rise, as well. "Great," she said before hanging up. "I'll text you the flight information."