Hollywood Snowfall

by Heather C. Myers

  “No, no, no,” he said, smiling. His shoulder brushed hers as they began to walk through the exit of the theatre that led out to the street and Erin’s covered skin burst out into goosebumps. “You looked so… peaceful that I did not want to wake you.”

  “Thanks.” Erin smiled.

  ---

  The two walked through the little walkway in silence. Johnny stopped abruptly in front of the exit door and turned to Erin, an odd look on his face. Just outside, Erin knew that Jordan and Sam were waiting for them outside to escort them safely to his car and then to escort Erin safely back inside the theatre. Was something wrong? Did he want to exit through the front of the theatre?

  “Is everything okay?” she asked him with concern.

  “Yeah,” Johnny said, colliding his chocolate brown eyes were her sea-green ones. He reached behind his head to scratch himself; a nervous habit he picked up from his father. “Listen, Erin, I’m going to New York for a few months to shoot a new movie… but I would really like to keep in contact with you.”

  Erin raised her brow, but did not know how to respond. Johnny Barker was asking for her number without blatantly asking for her number. Although she was incredibly excited at this prospect of actually being granted the right to develop some sort of relationship with one of the world’s most eligible bachelors, she still had no clue as to who this guy was. Just because he was a movie star did not mean that her morals went out the window, which would result in her being easy, and Erin did not want Johnny Barker thinking she was easy.

  “Why me?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest, and quirking a brow suspiciously. “You’re Johnny Barker; you could keep in contact with any girl in the world. Why me?”

  Johnny paused for a moment, his eyes darting in the corner of his eyes, as though it would help him come up with an answer to her question.

  “I mean, I’m incredibly flattered,” she continued, babbling on, as she usually did when she was nervous. “But… um, yeah… why me? You don’t even really know me except that my name is Erin and I work at the Chinese theatre.”

  “I want to get to know you better,” he said. “I can’t exactly explain why but I would like to find out.” He smiled as though something suddenly came to him. “I mean, no girl has ever asked me why, so, that is why, if that makes any sense…”

  He let his voice trail off, placing his hands delicately on his hips and leaning forward a bit. He hated to admit it, but he was nervous. Not in a long while had a woman ever made him feel this nervous before, and in a way, he respected that she didn’t just turn herself over to him. She wasn’t spurting out innuendos left and right like a fountain spurting water, nor had she asked him about anything personal. All in all, she treated him like a normal adult.

  Erin pondered for a moment. His gaze looked imploringly at her, and she felt herself nearly succumb to his eyes as she knew many other women did, but she fought against it, and finally decided to compromise. “I’ll give you my e-mail address,” she said finally.

  “That’s a fair trade,” Johnny said, letting out a breath he did not realize he was holding in. How could such a young woman make him so nervous? Hell if he knew. He pulled out an old receipt and handed it to her while she grabbed a black pen out of her pant pocket. She took the paper and quickly wrote out her e-mail address and handed it back to him.

  “Don’t feel obligated to write, or anything,” Erin said, a nervous taint to her tone.

  “I want to,” he replied lowly.

  At the tone of his voice, Erin’s eyes drifted into his, and the two stared at each other for a moment. Erin felt as though he could see right through her, and wished that she didn’t feel as insecure as she did now. A million faults were on her face, and she prayed he would not notice and then change his mind.

  “We should go,” Erin said quietly, turning to push the door open. She stepped out into the unusually cold, California night, and Johnny followed her, watching her hair sway left and right, watching her hips curve with each step.

  “How was your movie, Miss Erin?” Jordan asked, the same adorable smile on his face as he walked with the couple, and Sam, who was on Johnny’s other side.

  “I fell asleep, actually,” Erin replied, causing Jordan to burst into laughter.

  “You’re so silly, Miss Erin,” Jordan said, and Erin smiled at him.

  When they reached his car, Johnny turned to Erin and stuck out his hand. His eyes found hers again and Erin inhaled sharply. Here it was, the moment when the two would finally touch, skin to skin. She glanced down at his hand; his round palm, his long fingers, and then back up at the man before her. He half-smiled; his trademark heartthrob grin that lifted half of his face up, an outline surrounding the grin that wooed the ladies at a remarkable speed. If Erin wasn’t outside, she probably would have fainted. Her heart hammered, as per usual, but she placed her hand firmly in his. At that moment, when they touched, a shock caught the two off-guard. It hit Erin harder that she nearly dropped his hand from hers, and for a moment, the two individuals believed they had imagined what they had just experienced. But it was not false, and from that moment on, the two were connected, somehow, and in some way that was undeniable and unexplainable.

  “I’ll be seeing you soon,” Johnny said.

  “Then I’ll be waiting,” Erin said, and this time, she did not blush at what she said. Something had changed in her at that instant, something she could not explain.

  Johnny grinned at her again, and slid into his car. After he drove off, Erin, accompanied by Jordan and Sam, made her way back to the theatre.

  ---

  Erin had her time card in her hand and slid it, finally clocking out after staying an extra hour on the clock. She sighed, opening her locker and grabbing her purse. After she took off her bowtie, she was about to step out of the break room when she was intercepted by none other than Victoria. Her eyes narrowed at the younger girl, and her face turned into an ugly sneer.

  “Just because Johnny Barker happens to know who you are doesn’t mean you’re special or anything,” she taunted lowly.

  Erin was currently floating on Cloud Nine at how the evening’s event played out, and not even bitchy Victoria could bring her down from her high. “Actually, my dear Victoria,” she said with a smile, “that is exactly what it means.”

  By the time she arrived home, she was incredibly exhausted as well as sore. She quickly changed into her pajamas, and curled on the couch, flipping on the television to E! After watching a couple of re-runs of The Girls Next Door, The Soup came on, and she smiled. Joel McHale was super-cute, and she let her mind wander in the humorous television show. At the first commercial, she got up from the couch and calmly walked into her room to grab a blanket. Her eyes caught sight of her laptop, sitting there, plugged in, and ready to use. She bit her lip, willing herself to have some sort of control of herself. The will failed her, however, because she quickly hopped on to check her e-mail. The only thing new in her inbox was a weekly newsletter for a site update, but nothing from Johnny Barker. Well, what did she expect? They only spoke a few hours ago. God, she was hopeless at times.

  Just as she sat back down to finish her show, both Zoë and Jessica burst into the apartment with expectant looks on their faces. Four eyes narrowed at Erin when they saw her, innocently watching her favorite show.

  “You have a story to tell us, Miss Sanders,” Zoë said, almost tauntingly. She slowly made her way over to the couch, with Jessica following, and they both plopped down on either side of Erin, surrounding the poor girl so she could not escape.

  “Even I am curious about this situation,” Jessica added.

  “Well,” Erin said, her index finger tapping her chin and her eyes looking up at the ceiling as if she was deep in thought, “besides Zoë embarrassing the heck out of me, what more would you like to know?” Before her friends could respond, Erin suddenly shifted her position, holding up her hand. “No!” she exclaimed. “Wait! The show’s on.”

  Zoë grunte
d with impatience, but Jessica leaned back in the couch with Erin, the two intently watching the show. Once the show was over, however, both faces simultaneously turned towards their friend. Erin’s eyes darted in between the two, trying not to burst out laughing at the imploring looks they were giving her.

  “Spill,” Zoë said.

  “All of it,” Jessica put in.

  “We watched a movie together because Bert told me to,” Erin explained. “What more can I say?”

  “Um, I don’t know,” Zoë said sarcastically, “like maybe what happened?”

  “Well, after the previews, I fell asleep on his shoulder,” Erin said, pretending to be hesitant about what she had just said.

  “You what?!” Zoë exclaimed. Suddenly, her attention was shifted from the story and to the impeccable details of it. “How was his shoulder? Like a rock-hard piece of stone? Was it soft like sheep wool? Or was it somewhere in between, like a perfectly sculpted pillow?”

  “You’re a lunatic,” Jessica said, staring at her friend incredulously.

  “It was actually what you said, Zoe,” Erin put in, serious for the moment. “It was like a perfectly sculpted pillow. I didn’t even know I fell asleep until he woke me up.”

  “He woke you up!?” Zoë echoed. “Like with a kiss?!”

  “Let’s be realistic here,” Jessica said.

  “He kind of nudged me awake,” Erin explained.

  “And then what?” Zoë asked, her brow raised in anticipation.

  “I walked him to his car with Jordan and Sam,” Erin said. “Apparently, he’s going to New York to shoot a movie.”

  “And that’s it?” Zoë asked in disbelief.

  “Well, there was there one other thing…” Erin let her voice trail off to heighten the suspense. “He said that he wanted to keep in contact with me while he was away. So, I asked him why.”

  “You did what?!” Zoë exclaimed, throwing her arms out in surprise.

  “Good for you, Erin,” Jessica said with a smile.

  “And did he answer your question?” Zoë asked, furrowing her brow.

  “He said he didn’t know why but that he wanted to get to know me better,” Erin said, finishing up her story and sinking back into the couch.

  “Aww!” Zoë said, clasping her hands together and holding them to her chest.

  “What a line,” Jessica mumbled with a roll of her eyes.

  “So did you give him your digits?” Zoë asked.

  “Nope,” Erin said, shaking her head. “I gave him my e-mail address.”

  “How many times have you checked your e-mail since you got home?” Zoë asked, a smirk appearing on her face.

  “Why would you even think that I would check my e-mail just because there’s a possibility that Johnny Barker might be e-mailing m?,” Erin said, her tone surprised. “Don’t you think I have some sort of control over myself?”

  “How many times?” Zoë asked, narrowing her golden eyes at her friend.

  “Once,” Erin admitted, glancing at the coffee table in front of her.

  “Oh my gosh,” Zoë said. “Do you know what this means? You and Johnny Barker are about to embark on a beautiful relationship together!”

  “If he even writes,” Erin muttered, rolling her eyes at her dramatic friend.

  “You know what else this means?” Zoë asked, ignoring Erin’s previous comment. She glanced over at Jessica with a smirk. “I won the bet. Jessica, I believe you are on dishes duty, sucker!”

  Two

  Johnny Barker was driving through the night to the Los Angeles Airport. When he told Erin that he was leaving to go shoot a movie, he was not kidding. He was scheduled to leave at eleven so he had barely enough time to check into the airport, go through security, and board his plane. Although Johnny prided himself in being environment-friendly by using a commercial plane instead of taking a private jet, he had gotten a first-class ticket for himself. The flight was long, but there were no layovers, and since the plane was leaving late at night, Johnny slept the whole way through. Every now and then, he would slip his hand into his jean pocket, just to make sure he still had Erin’s e-mail address. He stared at it, not fully believing that he had a girl half his age gave him her e-mail address. Obviously, her attraction to him flattered him; she was young and beautiful, and beyond that, her poise made her stand out. When he first saw her, when the two first met, he noticed her due to the fact that she wasn’t screaming his name, she wasn’t expecting him to come over to her, and, of course, her journal.

  When he thought about her journal, Johnny couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. In his years as an actor, he signed plenty of things; anything relating to his movie such as posters, the soundtrack, the book it was based off of; he had signed pictures of himself so much so that at times, he would get sick of looking at himself; and body parts, usually a female’s. But something so simple, so practical, as a journal? Hardly. The fact that she was polite only added more to her allure; it was hard to find somebody to say please and thank you nowadays, but someone as young as she was was most rare. And the icing on the cake? Her eyes. Those gorgeous, sea-green eyes that he could not forget, not even if he tried. He even dreamed about them from time to time, before his actual first encounter with her.

  When Johnny saw Erin look up at him from the box office, he instantly remembered her. He believed she was wearing her work uniform to his premiere, so he had yet to see her in anything but. She had long golden hair and a heart-shaped face. When she first walked with him, he got a better view of what she really looked like, and he was instantly interested. An hourglass body and yet very petite; he was a head taller than she was but he liked that. Everything about her seemed beautiful; her voice, her looks, her personality. Of course, he really didn’t know her and maybe he was thinking too fast. He always one to get caught up in a relationship and yet he could not wait to get to his hotel to write to her.

  When he sat down in the suite he would be staying in for the next six weeks, however, he did not know what to write. Everything that seemed witty to him, he now questioned. He should have it easy; he was Johnny Barker, and he had the rare talent of being able to say the right words at the right time, whether he wanted to pick up a woman or to convey a particular emotion his character was experiencing. But the e-mail was blank, and he was sitting at the small, circular desk, staring at the blank screen, his talent apparently jumping out the window. When he did think of something, his long fingers typed away furiously up until the point when he thought it was bad writing and deleted it so that his screen was blank again.

  He sighed, running his hand through his short, dark hair. Johnny knew that if he snapped his finger, girls would flock to him in a manner of seconds. Hollywood was very fickle. Yes, he was a sex symbol now, but he remembered when he filmed movies and was not as famous. He knew there would be a time when just as suddenly as he was in, he would be pushed out, for someone younger. That had always been a fear of his. He was thirty years old and would turn thirty-one June ninth. He should be married by now, with kids. Of course, he never took for granted his fame or his lifestyle, there would be times when he would lie awake at night and think about how life would be if he wasn’t World’s Most Eligible Bachelor Johnny Barker, but plain, old Johnny Barker. And maybe that was why he was so drawn to Erin; the fact that she was shy, but when she did speak to him, she spoke to him like he was regular Johnny Barker.

  When he shook her hand, he felt something that he had never felt in a long time. He felt normal, and after such a humbling experience, he wanted it more. He liked feeling as though there was simply more to this crazy life. Someone in the public eye was convenient for Johnny; the two would understand the crazy schedules, the ridiculous lifestyle that fame brought them. But Johnny felt grounded when he spoke to her, and when she spoke back. He was immediately at ease with her and maybe it was naïve of him, but he trusted her to a degree as though she wasn’t mixed up in this Hollywood game, that she wouldn’t sell their story to the highest b
idding member of the press.

  Johnny’s dark eyes danced around the room. He knew that he would have to get up early in the morning to begin shooting, and yet he knew that if he went to bed without sending her something, he would not be able to sleep. Maybe it was a good thing she didn’t give me her number, he thought to himself. I would have no idea what to say.

  That’s when his eyes caught sight of her e-mail address, already typed in the necessary place. pyrateprincess@yahoo.com Suddenly, his fingers began typing, his mind racing fasters than his fingers.

  Dear Erin,

  I want to thank you for being so polite when I visited your theatre these past couple of weeks. I told you I wanted to get to know you better, and I do. I’m sorry we have to do this long-distance, and yet maybe this will be easier than back in L.A., where the paparazzi are ready for any sort of rumor to run on, and I would never want you to get mixed up in that. Even I’m not used to it.

  I notice your e-mail address; do you have a fascination with pirates? Or pyrates, in your case? When I was a young boy, I used to draw an eye patch on my eye with a permanent marker and color in a couple of my teeth with the marker as well. My two brothers and I had a hell of a time play pirate versus ninja, but I was always the pirate and almost always won. Except, of course, when my mother got home from work and started yelling at me about my new look. Did you ever dress up as a pirate?

  I hope to hear from you soon.

  My regards,

  J. Barker

  Johnny read through his letter once, twice, three times before finally hitting the send button. He nearly deleted his short story about himself, but thought better of it. Insecurities fluttered throughout his head, but it was sent, and there was nothing he could do from that point on. The ball was in Erin’s court now. Responding to him was solely up to her. With that last thought, Johnny turned out the lights and slipped into a dreamless sleep.