The Actor

by Maya Brooks

  “So… When does this party start?”

  Hopefully, she could take a bus to the hotel and change clothes without him forgetting about her.

  Marc waved the question off.

  “Soon. Hey, would you do me a favor?”

  “Sure.”

  He hung a crew pass around her neck and tucked a card key in her hand.

  “Run up to my room and get me some whiskey. It’s 1622. There’s an elevator right behind here.”

  “I… Are you sure?”

  His attention was already on something else, and he didn’t answer.

  Leaving the convention the back way made her heart thump and her eyes darted from side to side. Surely someone would see her, know she didn’t belong, and stop her?

  There was a security guard by the elevators, but he just glanced at the oversized badge around her neck and nodded. She was still relieved when the elevator doors closed, isolating her from the world.

  Room 1622. Would that be on the sixteenth floor? Did the building even have that many levels? The elevator boasted two rows with eight buttons in each. Going to the top…

  I can’t believe he trusts me to go to his room. I could be anyone, do anything. Or, maybe he just doesn’t care.

  When the lift came to a smooth stop, she stepped into another world. The walls were light blue, decorated with white woodwork and chandeliers, and the carpet under her feet thicker than anything she ever saw.

  “Wow. Luxury.”

  She fidgeted with the key card. Maybe the door wouldn’t even open. A place like this might have a more advanced security system, designed to keep people like her out.

  Do I want to see his room? Hell yeah.

  The lock swallowed the key without effort or complaint. The door gave a little beep, and an LED shifted from red to green. Right key, right room.

  Instinct told her to open the door carefully and peek in, but a housekeeper came down the corridor, pushing a big cart with towels. She should probably look like she knew what she was doing. She pushed the door open and stepped in.

  “Whoa.”

  It wasn’t like any hotel room she ever saw. Large windows bathed the rooms in sunshine, and the living room seemed bigger than her apartment. The carpet was so thick and white that stepping on it with shoes must be a crime. She kicked them off right inside the door.

  Whiskey. She was supposed to get whiskey, but surely no one would blame her for looking around just a little? It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to glance into the life of someone rich and famous.

  That must be the bedroom. I wonder if he has a naked girl in there.

  She pushed the door open anyway and peeked in. It was empty, except for some shirts tossed over a chair.

  She should leave his stuff alone, but touched them anyway.

  “So soft.”

  Would smelling a shirt be sinful? Probably, but she couldn’t help herself.

  Heavenly.

  A number of bottles stood on a wet bar to the side of the living room.

  I should have asked what kind he wanted.

  And, what did he want her to do with it? She couldn’t trot through the entire hotel with her hands filled with bottles. She grabbed the only one that would fit in her purse.

  Stop snooping around, Laura. He trusts you, and you need to live up to it.

  Leaving the room was still hard. She wanted to sink down in the sofa and put her feet up. Maybe stay for a couple of weeks or a lifetime…

  *****

  When Laura returned to the conference level, she expected her new friend to have vanished. He was still there, and her heart skipped a beat when he greeted her with a wide smile. How could his teeth be so perfect? Maybe they were veneers.

  “Good girl. Good choice.”

  Good girl… Good thing I’m not a dog or my wagging tail would give me away.

  Time went by so quickly. Now, when she allowed herself to relax and have fun they had a lot in common, and shared the same sense of humor. Marc paused his recapitulation of a fan who tried to steal shingles from his roof and fixed her with a stare making her want to melt.

  “Laura, I’m so glad you’re here. You’ve made this day worthwhile.”

  The kind words made her cheeks heat.

  “Well, you’ve made my day too.”

  Stop being such a vulnerable little goose. Why don’t you just put a sign on your forehead saying gullible?

  Mentally yelling at herself didn’t help at all. She was almost hypnotized by him.

  Looking at his watch, Marc frowned and put up the closed sign.

  “Where the hell did this day go? Are you ready?”

  Most definitely not.

  “No… I need to go change clothes, brush my hair…”

  He held her at arms’ length.

  “Nonsense. You look fine.”

  “But…”

  “I get it. It’s a girl thing. Are you in this hotel?”

  She shook her head. Even if she were, she wouldn’t let him anywhere near the kind of room she could afford.

  I thought my room was pretty nice until I saw his.

  “Alright. Let’s go to mine.”

  He pushed her towards the elevators.

  What good is that gonna do me?

  Protesting was out of the question. Maybe she had enough stuff in the handbag to make do. Or, maybe she could just hide somewhere in his room. As large as it was he might never find her. He might forget about her while he was searching.

  Once in the room, Marc headed for the bar.

  “Want a drink?”

  “No, thank you.”

  He shrugged and stretched out on the sofa with his feet on the table. Where might the bathroom be? Her investigation earlier in the day hadn’t taken her that far.

  “Go through the bedroom. The hotel has all sorts of girly stuff in there. If you need something else, call room service and they’ll bring it up.”

  Was her confusion that evident?

  Why is he doing this for me?

  She couldn’t force the question over her lips; she hurried to the restroom instead. It really was well stocked. Well paying guests were evidently cared for.

  Once she opened the make-up kit, it would just be thrown out anyway, right?

  No harm in keeping it?

  No, he would know, and she forced herself to leave it well visible.

  Staring at her own reflection, she murmured, “I’m in Marc Allender’s hotel room. He’s waiting for me.”

  Putting words to the fact didn’t make it any less surreal.

  When she stepped back into the living room, Marc had put on a fresh shirt. He squinted in her direction.

  “You’re adorable.”

  Should she confess the theft of a hotel toothbrush? Naah.

  “It’d feel better if I could change clothes. I wasn’t prepared for an adventure like this.”

  “Well, you can always take some of mine. It’d be cute, pretend a shirt is a little dress. Or run down to the Hotel Shoppe and buy something. Here…”

  Oh yes, just like in Pretty Woman. They wouldn’t even let me through the door.

  He fumbled for his wallet and she shook her head.

  “No, I’ll live with it. Thank you.”

  “Alright.”

  He got to his feet and headed for the door. Her stomach tingled when he held his arm out. Wrapping her hands around it made her feel like Cinderella on the way to the grand ball in the castle.

  Wow. This is really happening.

  “Laura… I’m a little drunk.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you still love me?”

  Whoa. Who said anything about love?

  “Of course I do.”

  He nodded, looking content.

  “Good. Let’s go to a party.”

  *****

  The event was exhilarating.

  So many faces were so familiar she almost thought she knew the person, until she realized it was from TV or the movies. Marc was glued to
her side, for better and for worse. He seemed fascinated with knowing a normal person, and pulled her into a crazy celebrity carousel where she soon confused peoples’ real names with their characters’.

  Some guests seemed pretty serious, but others partied like rock stars.

  Was this a situation where people would throw TVs out of windows?

  “This is great. You’ll keep me from doing anything really dumb.”

  The plan didn’t work all that well. By the time evening turned into night Marc was very drunk, and pulled her along everywhere he went, either holding her hand or keeping an arm wrapped around her.

  Any thought of escape was futile, but to be honest, she didn’t really want to escape.

  She wanted to kiss him and rip his clothes off.

  Bad Laura. Bad, bad Laura.

  Oh well, it had to become morning eventually. Time usually moved faster than she wanted, and it would return her to reality whether she wanted it or not.

  Just after midnight, a man walked by and gave her butt a good squeeze, making her yelp.

  “Yikes, what are you doing?”

  He patted Marc on the back.

  “Hey, wha’cha got here? Share her, will ya.”

  Even her naïve eyes could see many of the women in the room were groupies and it was probably an honest mistake, but Marc was far past any logical reasoning. He punched the other man right in the face with heart and soul.

  “Oh no, don’t fight, no…”

  Dark blood trickled from butt-pincher’s lip, down over his chin. The man felt his face with an expression of pure surprise, and she could almost hear the impact of his fist on Marc’s jaw.

  Laura jumped out of the way just in time and squeaked as her new friend fell backwards into a serving cart. Glasses and silverware tumbled to the floor in a crash loud enough to catch everyone’s attention.

  Keeping you from doing something really dumb, yeah, that’s working out well.

  “Stop. Guys, stop.”

  She wanted to crouch beside him and see if he was alright, but strong hands pulled her away. Glancing over her shoulder, she looked into a familiar face. The man tugging on her looked completely sober, and had played a colonel this or that on a show she used to watch.

  “Stay out of it. Stay over here.”

  It was sound advice. Someone stepped in to help Marc up, and before she knew what happened, at least ten people were bleeding, parts of the room were trashed, and sirens pierced the air.

  “Shit.”

  The man next to her lifted an amused eyebrow.

  “This is your first time around Marc, isn’t it? He has an affinity for trouble.”

  “I’m not one of those girls. I’m not.”

  “I know. Just sayin’.”

  Her protector patted her shoulder. “You have common sense, you’ll be alright. I’m leaving now. You should too.”

  He walked away, quickly yet without looking like he was in a hurry.

  Go with him, get out of here!

  The voice of reason fell quiet when her sense of duty choked it with a pillow.

  She should stay by Marc’s side.

  He got into all this trouble for her.

  It might be misguided chivalry, but it was more than anyone else ever did.

  Her efforts to stay with him were thwarted by the crowd pushing her away until she had her back against the wall. Police officers marched in, pulling people outside. Peeking between well-dressed bodies, she saw Marc throw up on an officer’s shoes.

  Great. That’ll speak in his favor…

  She couldn’t make out their words, but suddenly people pointed in her direction.

  Why?

  She hadn’t done anything.

  Did they know she didn’t belong and should be eliminated?

  The crowd opened up around her, and an officer walked towards her. Seconds later, a firm grip on her arm dragged her through the room, outside, towards a waiting police car.

  “No… God, no.”

  To her surprise, the office smiled.

  “Don’t worry about it. It’ll be fine.”

  He still locked her in the back. She touched the seat and pulled her hand back. It was sticky and smelled bad.

  “Eeewww.”

  A thick sheet of glass separated her from the driver.

  I’m just gonna die now and get it over with.

  This was clearly the most humiliating moment in her life, locked up like a criminal on Cops on TV. Where did all these photographers come from all of a sudden? She kept her face turned away, hoping she wouldn’t be interesting to them. Just imagine what her boss would say if he saw her on TV, in the back of a police car. And her mom…

  If this was the punishment for straying out of the ordinary, it seemed overly harsh.

  “I don’t even have a speeding ticket, let me out of here!”

  If anyone heard her shout, no one cared enough to answer.

  *****

  When the car pulled up at the station, Marc was nowhere in sight.

  What did they do to him?

  She was too scared to ask, and didn’t even look at the officer leading her inside. When he opened the door, she stopped on the threshold, and her mouth re-found the ability to speak.

  “I’ve never been to a police station before, but this can’t be normal.”

  A long row of drunks in colorful superhero costumes cheered for a woman with pink hair pulling her top off.

  The officer sighed.

  “They get worse every year.”

  A woman in civilian clothes stepped up to them.

  “This her?”

  The man nodded.

  Her? What do you mean her? I’m a person, not a parcel.

  “Come with me.”

  The woman showed the way into a small office.

  “Sit there. I’ll be right back.”

  Sit. Yes, I’m a good girl and I do tricks.

  This urge to laugh must be brewing hysteria. Not good.

  Being behind a closed door was good in the sense that it sheltered her from the crazies outside, but it also made her heart thump and her hands sweaty. Was this where they interrogated suspects? She couldn’t be a suspect for anything, could she?

  Why am I in here? What does it all mean?

  The woman returned with a pile of forms.

  “Fill these out and drop them off at the counter over there when you’re done.”

  It was a big pile of papers and the pen barely worked. This must be a new and improved form of punishment.

  Relation to the detainee, what the hell are they talking about?

  She filled out the first page the best she could and headed for the counter.

  “This is crazy. I didn’t do anything.”

  The woman tapped her finger against the pile.

  “If you want your man to get out of here tonight, you fill out the forms. If not, we’ll keep him.”

  “He’s not my man.”

  Her objection drowned in the commotion from one of the superheroes climbing up on a desk in an attempt to fly.

  “Worst night of the year. Just do it, okay?”

  Moments later, Marc arrived, and she kept her eyes away from him the best she could. He had a cut over an eyebrow, an impressive bruise forming on a cheek, and his hands cuffed behind his back.

  Strange that his jaw isn’t dislocated, or something.

  The woman behind the counter kept her eyes fixed on Laura.

  “We don’t want him. As you can see, we have other problems than drunken actors and talking to the press. We’ll let him go, if you take responsibility for him. I don’t want to see him again. Sign there and there, and initial there, there, and there.”

  Laura sighed and tapped the pen against the forms. This night held more than enough of new experiences.

  Take responsibility for him? How?

  Marc looked at her with puppy eyes.

  “I’ll be good, I promise.”

  She sighed again and signed the form. />
  “I must be the most gullible schmuck ever.”

  Someone unlocked the cuffs.

  “He’s all yours.”

  What makes you think I want him?

  Marc wrapped an arm around her shoulders and smacked a kiss on her temple.

  “Thank you, Babe. I’ll be good. You’re going to have the night of your life.”

  She grumbled, “I was afraid you’d say that,” but followed him out of the station without complaining. There was something about him she couldn’t resist. Especially when he was touching her, and he touched her all the time. Telling herself it was just endorphins didn’t help one bit.

  Marc waved to a cab and pulled her close in the back seat.

  “Are you okay? This won’t happen again, I swear. I’ll make it up to you.”

  At least he seemed to have sobered up somewhat. She should make herself free from his arms, she really should, but her will was weak and she relaxed.

  Leaning her head against him just for a moment couldn’t be all that sinful.

  He was there, solid and strong, and she was more tired than ever before.

  Marc held her closer.

  “I know it’s late, but don’t fall asleep.”

  The driver looked back at them.

  “You two going somewhere or are you just sitting there?”

  Marc handed him a couple of bills.

  “Take us to a nice jazz club with food. I owe the lady dinner.”

  I don’t like jazz.

  The words never left her tongue. Sitting so close to him, with those arms she’d dreamed of so many times wrapped around her, made both thinking and talking difficult. He ran a hand over her hair in a gesture much more gentle than she expected.

  “You’re still awake, right?”

  “Sure…”

  Did he say dinner? Who eats at one in the morning?

  She wanted to stay in the taxi and sleep curled up to Marc. Forever would be good, or at least until the end of her natural life. Giving him her heart was the worst idea ever, but how was any woman supposed to resist him?