“We’ll worry about that when the time comes.”
I then kissed him goodbye tentatively, worried that I would tear up again.
Will gazed into my sad eyes. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”
“I love you. Tomorrow.”
Will kissed me far less tentatively than I had kissed him and walked out the door with his carry-on bag. I remained in the suite so that we wouldn’t be spotted together by any paparazzi who may have followed him.
I could have stayed in the room for as long as I wanted since it was booked for the night, but it would have depressed me to be there without Will. Since I needed to wait a little while before I could leave, I decided to take advantage of the spa tub.
Sunday night and Monday passed painfully slowly for me as did my Bar review class. My Criminal Procedure professor from USC was on tap this week for the live lecture series. Even his jokes and his entertaining manner couldn’t take my focus off my watch all evening. When class was over, I quickly said goodbye to Carrie and practically ran to my car. When I got there, I checked my phone. I had a text message.
“We have a problem. Ppzzi prkd in front of house. Call me when u get this. We’ll figure something out.”
My heart sank. I knew that Will would forego seeing me rather than have me harassed by photographers or take the chance that the tabloids would get wind of our relationship. I placed my Bluetooth earpiece on my ear, and called him. I decided to head off in the direction of the Palisades so as not to create any delay in seeing him, whatever the plan was.
“Shannon, I have an idea. Meet Colin at the Royalist. He’ll drive you over here. You can lay down in his back seat when you get close. He’ll park in the garage. The photographers won’t see anything. These blokes don’t seem too aggressive anyway. I let them take photos when I arrived and I later went outside and tried to be friendly. They got a few more shots and I told them I was leaving tomorrow for London. It’s just that they didn’t leave after that.”
“Why don’t we meet somewhere else then?”
“They’ll just follow me and, if I don’t stay at my house, they’ll smell blood. My admission last week on TV about seeing someone has stirred everything up. I was really grilled on the chat show today in Chicago. You would have sworn that the talk show host was a barrister and I was in the witness box. Katherine helped me dodge the questions, but it was tough. I am sure the tabloids are no doubt dying to find out who my girlfriend is. I imagine the first lucky photographer to catch us together stands to make a bit of cash.”
“Are you sure it will be okay?”
“Yes. I need to see you.”
“I feel the same way. I’ll be at the Royalist in about ten minutes.”
“Colin should already be there by now.”
“See you soon.”
“Be careful. I love you. I’m sorry about this.”
“No need to be sorry. I love you too.”
Will had made everything sound far more low key than it actually was. Before I ducked down on the floor of the backseat of the Jeep as we entered the street, I caught a glimpse of the scene. There were a couple of cars and motorcycles parked across the street from Will’s house and about six photographers standing in the middle of the street, likely because they could claim it was public property. There was also a group of girls, maybe ten or so, standing in the street with them. There were a couple of bulky bouncer types standing at the edge of the yard standing guard to keep the paparazzi and the fans off of Will’s private property.
The guards must have moved the crowd out of the way as Colin pulled into the driveway. I couldn’t see anyone around the car windows so I guessed that we were safe. We quickly entered the garage and the door closed behind us with a thump.
“That went well.” Colin breathed a sigh of relief.
“Has it ever not gone well?”
“Yes. I’ve had Will’s fans get in front of my car. That can be scary. I almost hit someone once.”
“Yikes. This is just so bizarre to me.”
“You get used to it. It’s not all the time as you have seen. It’s usually just around the time big movies of his are released.”
Will ran up to me as I walked in the door, worry written all over his face.
Before he could say a thing, I informed him, “I’m okay. No one saw me.” He kissed me and must have felt that I was still a little shaken from the ordeal.
“Thanks, Colin, for taking care of her.” He patted Colin on the shoulder.
“No problem. I’ll just need to add this to my resume now: Bodyguard to Girlfriends of the Stars. You think I’ll get more work that way?” Colin laughed.
“Nice. Like you need more work anyway. You’re a pretty popular guy these days.”
“Not as popular as you.” Colin entered the family room to have a seat in one of the recliners and Gemma joined him.
“Well, why don’t we ignore what’s going on out there and have a nice, normal evening, okay? I’m sure our neighbors will make sure that LAPD gets here eventually to clear the crowd. Shannon, can I get you a glass of wine or a beer? I think Gemma may even have bought some cider.”
“Cider, if you have it.”
As Will grabbed one of the bottles of cider from a six pack and opened it, I asked him, “What do your neighbors have to say about all this?”
“It’s fine. We know a lot of them. Sometimes it can be a nuisance and they don’t like it. But, mostly, they’re friends and they feel a little protective of us.”
Stephen continued where Will left off. “Yeah, they really like Will. He buys lots of Girl Scout Cookies, magazines, wrapping paper, and donates to all the school auctions. He’s a big sucker when it comes to the kids. The parents appreciate that. Plus, you know, they get to say they live near a famous person.”
“It’s not like I’m the only actor that lives around here,” Will said, attempting to downplay things.
“A few minor TV stars, maybe, but no one at your level.”
“Please.”
“Most people who are as successful as you live behind gates and you know it,” Stephen argued.
“I like it here.”
Colin responded this time. “We know and Stephen and I appreciate that you do, but times like this would be easier for you if you didn’t.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“Yet.” Colin looked wary. Will glared at him.
“What do you mean ‘yet’?” I asked.
“We’ve had people wandering around our backyard and once we even had some girl get into the house,” Stephen answered.
“Oh my God, really?” I gave Stephen a look of disbelief.
“Yeah. We’ll have some private security for a while until the storm passes. We know these guys from some of the films we’ve all worked on so it’s actually kind of fun having them around.”
When everyone had been served a drink, we all settled down and decided to watch the latest blockbuster on cable. I sat in Will’s lap in one of the recliners, Colin and Gemma sat in the other recliner, and Stephen and Kate spread out on the sofa.
“Are you sure you’re comfortable? I’m not a little person like Gemma is.”
“I am more than comfortable. I can never get close enough to you and I certainly don’t want to let go of you. Tonight, you’re mine,” he whispered in my ear.
During the course of the film, the boys engaged in some running color commentary. Stephen would comment on some of the shots being a little over the top, Colin commented on the lighting, and Will would occasionally comment on the acting and the stunts.
“That guy was probably in pain for a week after that,” he mentioned during one fight scene.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “It’s not like they’re really hitting each other.”
“No, the punches aren’t real or at least really hard, but for all those shots of him being knocked across the room, he’s in a harness and those harnesses can be painful. They dig into you.�
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“But is that the actor being thrown across the room or a stuntman?”
“Probably both. They need to get reaction shots from the actor. They just don’t pull the harness as hard on the actor. But I’m sure both the actor and the stuntman were in pain after that day of shooting.”
“Have you ever done anything like that?”
“Oh, that’s right, you only saw Midnight 1.”
I was embarrassed to realize that I hadn’t taken the time to watch any of Will’s movies other than Midnight 1. Will certainly wasn’t pressing me to watch them. I hoped that he didn’t think I didn’t care enough to do so.
“There were a few stunts in 2 and 3. There will be even more in 4. Then it looks like I may do a more traditional action movie after Midnight 4. Broaden my appeal.”
“You already appeal to me,” I whispered as I kissed him on the neck.
“We don’t really need to see the end of this movie, do we?” he asked as he focused on what I was doing.
“No, I’d rather we didn’t.”
We said our goodnights quickly and almost ran to Will’s room.
Chapter Nineteen
Will woke up before I did and, by the time I awoke, he had already repacked for the trip to Europe and beyond. I crept into the bathroom for my morning clean-up when he left the room to get something. By the time he returned, I was lying in bed again. He was dressed and appeared ready to leave.
“I really don’t want to go, but I have an interview this morning. Will you wait for me? I should be back around lunchtime and will have a couple of hours before I have to leave for the airport.”
“Of course.” This was just one more instance of breaking my promise to treat studying for the Bar Exam like a job.
Will sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over to kiss me. I grabbed his neck and pulled him closer to me almost pulling him on top of me.
“That’s not fair. As it is, it’s taking all the willpower I can muster to get out the door.” He got up. “See you in a few hours. Go back to sleep, and don’t get dressed. Promise?”
“Promise.”
I showered and threw on some jeans and a shirt to go out into the kitchen to get something to eat. I was startled to see one of the guards sitting at the dining table shooting the breeze with Stephen.
“Hungry?” Stephen asked as I approached them.
“A little. Mostly thirsty though.”
“Help yourself. We should have some cereal in the pantry and milk and orange juice in the refrigerator. Or I can go down to the shops and get you something if that doesn’t sound good.”
“No, no. This is fine.” I found a bowl and poured myself some dry cereal. I never liked cereal with milk. I wasn’t much of a milk fan in the first place and hated soggy cereal. I grabbed a spoon out of the drawer and a diet iced tea from out of the refrigerator.
“Stephen?” I asked, embarrassment reflected in my voice. “While I wait for Will, I thought I would watch a movie in his room. You don’t happen to have DVDs of any of his movies, do you?”
“Yeah, we do.” He chuckled. “What do you want to see?”
“You tell me. I’ve been in law school for the last three years. I haven’t paid much attention to movies during that time.”
Stephen opened a cabinet under the counter behind the dining table. He rummaged around and pulled out a few movies.
“Here’s Midnight 1 and 2, Maida Vale, and The Funeral Party. There are others, but that should do you for now.”
“Thanks.” I took them, along with my cereal and iced tea, back to Will’s room.
I changed out of my jeans and into a dark green short silk nightgown despite my promise to Will that I would not get dressed.
I took a look at the DVD covers and considered what Stephen had said about there being others. I wonder how many films he’s done?
The DVDs Stephen gave me did not include Will’s first British film. I was a little disappointed. I had already seen Midnight 1. I decided on Midnight 2, but wanted to look at the DVD covers of the other two movies first. Maida Vale appeared to be a British period piece and The Funeral Party appeared to be a big-budget American ensemble piece with some of today’s most well-regarded actors. I wondered, possibly aloud, whether he attempted an American accent for that one. I was going to have to check it out when I finished Midnight 2.
I had been so upset when I watched Midnight 1 a few weeks back that I don’t think I fully appreciated it. At that time, I thought that Will was a liar and was cheating on his co-star/girlfriend with me. Watching it had been a painful experience. It made me believe that Will could not possibly have cared for me and I hurt as a result.
My experience watching Midnight 2 was just the opposite. I could fully appreciate this time how good the movie was and how good Will was in it. Although I believed Will was the most gorgeous man on the planet all of the time, he took my breath away in this film. I could see why all the women swooned. His hair, his body, his clothing, his voice and his body language were all pitch-perfect.
Although Midnight 1 had ended with the characters finally coming together in a sort of happily ever after, Midnight 2 set up another obstacle to overcome at the outset of the film and the main characters spent the majority of the film in attempts to overcome it. As in the first film, Will’s character spent most of the film brooding over Katherine Sullivan’s character. He was very sexy when he brooded.
Time flew by as I remained mesmerized by Will’s performance. I wanted to reach out and grab him out of the screen.
At the end of the movie, there was another happily ever after, with another obstacle looming on the horizon that served as the set up for the plot of Midnight 3. I was going to have to go to the movies soon because I was dying to find out what happened next.
I was just about to check out Will’s accent in The Funeral Party when Will walked in the door. I was so wound up after watching him in Midnight 2 that, when he sat on the bed, I practically jumped him.
“What brought this on?” he asked as I was a little urgent in my attempts to get what I wanted. He looked over and saw the DVD for Midnight 2 and said, “Oh,” with a little disappointment in his voice. As I continued, he perked up and said, “Well, I’m not going to complain.” He rolled me over on the bed.
As we were sprawled across each other afterward, Will said in my ear, “Well, if that’s going to be your reaction, I’m going to have to let you watch my movies more often.” He smiled at me and he seemed torn between happiness at what had been the best time we had been together and a sadness that I couldn’t understand until he spoke.
“You know I’m not that guy?” he asked quietly and indicated the DVD cover.
“I know.”
“People have trouble differentiating me from him. You were the first person I’ve met in a long time who knew me before knowing about that. I want you to love me.”
“I do love you.”
“Then why did you just react the way you did? That was about him, wasn’t it? Not me?”
I found it interesting how he spoke about his character like it was a different person, but I understood what he was trying to say.
“I promise it was about you and not your character. I just spent the good part of the last two hours watching you, watching your face, watching your body, watching you move. Unlike all the other times when I’ve watched you when you’ve actually been with me, I couldn’t touch you. I felt impotent, if you’ll excuse the term. By the time you got here, I thought I would explode. So you see, it was about you and had nothing to do with your character in that movie.”
“I’m glad.” He seemed satisfied with my answer.
“So what would you have done if I hadn’t been here?” He raised one of his bushy eyebrows.
“I’m sure you can figure it out.”
“I would have liked to watch that.”
“I’d rather have you do it.”
“Your wish is my command.”
As Will got ready to l
eave yet again, he tried to keep it light so there would be no tears as there had been before.
“So if you watch any of my movies while I’m gone, call me. I’d like to listen.”
“Funny.” I was very likely blushing. “Besides, not gonna happen. I have a roommate, and we share a bedroom. No privacy whatsoever.”
“I wasn’t being funny. I was being serious. I have to have some way of getting through the next few weeks. Phone sex might just do the trick.”
“I wish you didn’t have to go.”
“Me too.” He kissed the top of my head as I leaned it into his chest.
“I’ll let you know the specific plan for coming home when we’re finished with everything. If there is any chance I can get back here to see you on a break, I will. Otherwise, I’ll see you in a fortnight.”
“You shouldn’t worry about me. This is your time in the spotlight. Enjoy it. I don’t want your thinking about me to ruin it for you.”
“You’re not ruining it for me. I’ve been doing this since I was nineteen, remember. It’s not new and exciting anymore. I do it because it’s a necessary part of the job and because I owe it to the fans who allow me to make my living this way. But it’s not my favorite thing to do. Although you might think this is strange coming from an actor, whose profession is rampant with narcissism, I actually don’t like all the focus on me. It makes me uncomfortable. I think it’s funny that my costars always think I’m so generous trying to pull them into the spotlight with me. I’m really not so generous. I’m trying to get the spotlight off of me.”
“Regardless, please don’t worry about me.”
“I can’t help that. I’ll always worry when you’re not with me.”
He kissed me long and hard before grabbing his bags and heading out to the car waiting outside. I could hear a little commotion that I imagined was probably some of the paparazzi and a few fans getting pictures and autographs.
I stayed at the house for a little while after Will left until I had to leave to get my car in Santa Monica to make it to class by six. I ducked down in the back of Colin’s Jeep as I had the night before. Apparently, I needn’t have bothered as the crowd had disbursed when Will left for the airport.
Away From the Spotlight Page 13
