“Is that right?” Anna replied seductively, trailing her hand up and down his back. The thin cotton of his nurse’s top held no secrets about the firm muscles that lay beneath.
He smiled and nodded, clasping her cheeks with his palms. “Only one hour to go.”
Warmth spread throughout Anna’s face and her belly fluttered. God, he’s a good actor, making me feel like this!
“And then what?” she whispered, eyes fixed on his.
Charlie dipped his head and his lips approached hers. Anna tilted her head slightly. . .
“Cut!”
His lips retracted and hands slipped away, warmth draining from Anna’s cheeks.
“Not bad, guys,” Jake said. “But I’ve got a better idea!”
Oh man, Jake and his ideas. He was always causing the writers grief with his last minute script changes.
“Yeah?” Charlie ran a palm over his black buzz cut. Anna smiled at the memory of Charlie showing her a photo of himself as a teenager when he’d let his natural afro grow. Never again, he’d promised, and always kept it closely-shaven.
Jake nodded. “But it doesn’t involve you, sorry man.” He curved his finger to Anna, drawing her to him. “I still want you for this scene, and. . .” He glanced around. “Hey, Karl! I need you here, buddy. Pronto!”
Anna’s heart flip-flopped as Karl strode over.
“Sure, what’s the deal?” he asked.
“I think it would be more powerful to make your ex jealous rather than simply having her longing for love again. If she sees you getting friendly with another woman, a nurse at that, she’s bound to realize she still has feelings for you.” Jake gestured for Dr. Harper’s ex to return to her starting position then took Anna by the shoulders. “Stand here and twirl your hair as Dr. Harper approaches.”
Okay, stand, twirl hair. Right. I can do that. Except my straight-as-hell hair doesn’t twirl. Trying to command my hair is like trying to pick up a bar of soap with wet hands.
Focus, Anna! Breathe.
And twirl.
Jake gave directions to Karl, and Anna hooked her finger around a slippery strand of hair. It slid from her grasp, but she persisted. Twirl, slip, twirl, slip.
“Action!”
Doctor Ex strolled down the corridor again, but Anna’s focus was on Karl, er – Dr. Harper – who, on realizing his beloved ex would soon pass by had sidled up next to her to initiate Mission Jealousy. His hand caressed her shoulder and his eyes held a fierce longing. It was all an act of course, but for this brief moment she was his and he was hers.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” he whispered, the warmth of his deep throaty voice erasing all memory of Charlie’s convincing performance from before.
Anna almost whispered ‘me too,’ but it wasn’t in the script and she wouldn’t have had time, because no sooner had those words left Karl’s lips than his lips were on hers, pressing tightly; warm, moist lips, lifting and squeezing, pulling and enveloping her own. Anna’s eyes closed as she savored his delicious, spicy scent. . .
“Cut!”
Karl pulled away and Anna’s face flushed as Jake’s intrusion brought her back to reality.
“Great work, Karl, but I think you should glance over your shoulder before you kiss her. When your ex is getting close, then kiss. Okay, let’s go again, people!”
This was one scene Anna was happy to do over again. She even considered messing things up on purpose so the kiss could be repeated, but thought better of it. A crappy performance wouldn’t endear her to Karl.
Karl repeated his line then glanced over his shoulder. On turning back he leaned forward and pressed his lips urgently to hers. A lightning bolt of bliss shot from her lips to her toes and she barely heard the director’s voice as he wrapped up the scene. Karl seemed lost in the moment too, his lips lingering.
“I said ‘cut’, guys. Perfect. No need for another take.”
Damn.
Anna’s lips eased off Karl’s and he smiled. “Good job, Anna. I think we work well together, don’t you?”
She nodded, her voice box paralyzed, unable to string any words together.
“Okay, Karl, we need you at the nurses’ station now.” Jake gave Karl’s back a friendly slap and ushered him away from Anna’s now most favorite area on set.
A soft smile floated around Anna’s lips, then fell a little on glancing toward Charlie chatting to the new woman at the coffee stand. Poor Charlie. Shame his scene wouldn’t be aired. He really deserved a bigger role with his top acting skills. It didn’t seem to faze him though, he seemed happy just to be on set. He never moped around on his own, always kept busy, chatting to the nearest person in between scenes.
Her smile floated back when Charlie pretended to dance and the coffee woman applauded, both of them exploding into laughter. Anna chuckled, and before she realized what she was doing, hooked a finger around a strand of hair and twirled it.
* * *
At the day’s end, Anna emerged from the women’s dressing room at the same time Karl was about to enter his.
“Oh, hey,” she said.
“Hey, yourself.” He smiled and went to push open the door, then paused with one eyebrow cocked. “Do you, ah, want to grab a drink?”
“At the coffee stand?”
A smile crawled up the side of his mouth. “At a bar.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” The heat that had coursed through her body during their scene returned and she tilted her gaze to the floor.
“No need to say sorry,” he said. “Just say yes.”
Anna lifted her gaze to meet his and remembered what Lulu had told her:
I believe a proposition is coming your way very soon.
Man, she was good. So long as this was the proposition she’d meant. Though, he was only asking her out for a simple drink, it wasn’t like he was proposing marriage.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m very thirsty, so that would be good.”
Oh, why did I say that? Geez!
Karl’s crawling smile appeared to grow legs and walk across his face, clearly amused by her nervousness. “Well, we can’t have you suffering from dehydration now, can we? I’ll get changed, wash this gunk off my face, and meet you in a sec, yeah?” He raised his eyebrows.
“Sounds good.” Anna nodded, wondering whether to sneak back into the dressing room to remove some of her own excess make-up that’d been applied on set. No, she’d use this time to calm her nerves.
She leaned against the wall.
Inhale. . .
She’d chatted with Karl many times, but never outside work.
Exhale. . .
Part of her wanted to run home and hide, scared of making a fool of herself. The other part wanted to barge into the dressing room and kiss him again, preferably while he was half undressed.
Inhale. . .
His lips were like heaven, so soft and. . .
“Hey there, nursey.” Charlie appeared.
Anna straightened. “Who are you calling nursey, huh? I’m officially off the clock now, but you. . .” she eyed his blue scrubs, “you’re the only nursey I see around here.” She smiled.
“You got me.” Charlie held up his hands in defeat, then ran a hand over his head like he’d done earlier. He shifted his weight to one foot and leaned a hand against the wall. “So, ah. . .I was wondering. . .”
“Ready?” Karl re-emerged, along with a fresh spritz of his spicy cologne.
“Yep.” Anna hitched her handbag higher on her shoulder. Not that it had slipped but because she always did that when she was nervous. Before an audition – hitch. Screen test – hitch. Before flying – hitch. Imminent date with hot actor – hitch, hitch.
Charlie removed his hand from the wall and shifted to the other foot.
“What were you wondering?” Anna asked Charlie.
“Oh nothing, I was going to ask about, um. . .your plans for when the show ends, but we can talk another time. You’re obviously on your way out.”
“Right, yeah, let’s catch up sometime this week then.”
Charlie nodded and pushed open the dressing room door. “Have a good night.” He smiled briefly, but his eyes rolled downwards. Maybe he had news or something and wanted to discuss it? Oh well, she’d ask him about it another time. Right now, it was time to get to know the one and only ‘K’.
4
Lulu was onto her third soda at Pepper’s Bar while Anna and Karl were still getting through their first daiquiris. Words flowed in between sips, their conversation enriched with smiles and suggestive body language.
Oh, wing rot! Anna was supposed to be here with Charlie. If only he’d got to Anna before Karl did, Lulu wouldn’t have needed to be here tonight.
Seated at a corner table close enough to Karl and Anna at the bar, Lulu could hear most of their conversation, though she’d had to invoke her heightened hearing ability with a rub of her earlobe once a rowdy crowd of twenty-somethings arrived.
“So,” Karl said. “Has your sister been sharing her acting secrets with you? If it wasn’t for the show being in its final season, I’m sure they’d be promoting you to lead in no time.”
Anna’s cheeks became pink and she rested her elbow on the bar, the heel of her hand underneath her chin. “Aw, thanks. It’s a shame the show’s coming to an end. And no, my sister hasn’t been sharing any secrets with me,” she replied.
“No insider Hollywood gossip?”
Anna shook her head, sipped her mango daiquiri through a straw. “Rachel and I hardly speak. She has her life and I have mine.”
“Really? My brother and I speak every day, though we share a place together so we sorta have to.” Karl sipped his drink too, and for a moment Lulu could see why Anna was so entranced by him. He really was beautiful, and so nice. But she wasn’t here to drool – she was here to do her job.
“I couldn’t live with my sister,” Anna said. “We’d be at each other’s throats within minutes! Personality clash, plus. . .”
“Plus what?”
Anna flicked her hand. “Oh, nothing really.” She took another slurp of the fruity liquid while Karl leaned forward, curiosity in his eyes. “It’s just, she’s never really forgiven me for something.”
Karl leaned closer. “You’ve got me intrigued, Miss Anna Hilford. What did you do?”
“It’s more what someone else did. And I didn’t stop it,” she said.
“And?” he urged.
“Well, Rachel had brought a guy friend home from college to hang out at our parents’ place while they were away. I was only sixteen at the time. Problem was, he took a liking to me.”
“I don’t see how that’s a problem, and it’s certainly understandable.” Karl smiled.
Anna appeared to hitch her handbag strap higher on her shoulder, only the bag was on the bar.
“I didn’t realize at the time how much Rachel had fallen for this guy, but he showed more interest in me. I ignored him at first, didn’t want to upset Rachel. But he was persistent, and I felt the same about him. Eventually we started dating. Lasted three years in fact,” Anna explained.
“Wow, that’s a long time. Why did you break up?”
“He wanted to travel, I wanted to act. I was no match for the exotic destinations he planned to visit.”
“You weren’t tempted to go with him?”
“Of course, but I hate flying. I’ll do it once or twice a year at most, but only if I have to. So while he caught the travel bug, I caught the acting bug,” Anna said.
“It’s addictive, isn’t it?” Karl’s eyes lit up. “When you get a scene just right, it’s such a rush! I couldn’t do anything else.” He smiled and entwined his fingers with hers on top of her thigh. “Besides, it allows me to meet stunning, talented actresses like you.”
This date is going far too well.
Lulu tried tempting Karl with a couple of beautiful women, but his focus remained on Anna. She tried distracting him with an avalanche of phone calls, but he turned his phone off. Sometimes doing destiny’s work was a pain in the wings. Not that she had any, well, not while on Earth, but if she’d been able to bring them she was sure they’d be throbbing by now. It was time for Plan B, and Anna wouldn’t like it one bit.
Lulu eyed the half-full glasses (she was an optimist) in front of the couple, and focused her energy on them. Anna picked up her glass but it slipped and toppled over, orange-colored liquid spilling onto the crotch of Karl’s dark jeans.
“Oh God, I’m so sorry,” Anna said. “Here, let me get a napkin.” She reached over the bar but knocked over Karl’s drink too, adding to the spreading deluge on his expensive clothing.
“Ah crap, looks like this’ll need more than just a napkin.” Karl dabbed at his shirt and pants.
“Geez, sorry Karl. It just slipped.”
“It was an accident, don’t worry,” he replied, turning his wrist to check his watch. “I have to get going anyway.”
Anna’s shoulders slumped slightly and Lulu could sense heat emanating from her cheeks. Poor girl. Lulu hated to embarrass her, but the kinks in destiny’s path needed to be ironed out. Instead of Karl running his hands through Anna’s hair tonight and kissing her like on set, he’d be running his clothes through the wash.
“Sorry to cut the night short with my attack of the klutzies.” Anna smiled awkwardly.
“No problem, I had to get going about now. My brother’s cooking dinner and wants me to meet his new girlfriend,” Karl said.
Lulu raised her hands in the air and let them fall to a slap on her thighs. He would have left early anyway. Looks like I overdid things.
If her dog, Spark was here she was sure he’d look up at her with those big round eyes and shake his head. Striking a balance between angelic intervention and nature’s course could be a challenge. Too little and she’d risk not succeeding in her mission, too much and she’d create more kinks in destiny’s path. And the worst possibility – exposing her abilities and having everything revert to the beginning where she’d have to start her mission all over again. Anyway, a spilled drink would hardly disrupt the universal flow and at least Karl was leaving. With any luck the daiquiri deluge had spoiled the moment between him and Anna and things would go back to the way they were before. Lulu swirled the remaining liquid around the tiny ice cubes in the bottom of her glass as she waited for Karl to leave.
“Hey.” Karl smiled. “Would you like to have dinner with me on Friday night? There’s this hip new Thai place opening at Wallingford. You do like Thai food, don’t you?”
Anna would’ve been happy eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches off the pavement if it meant being with Karl.
“Sure, I love Thai.” Anna beamed. “And I promise to leave the klutz at home this time.” She grinned, and Karl chuckled.
“Sounds like a plan,” he said.
A plan. It was time for Lulu to make a new one of those.
5
Friday couldn’t come fast enough for Anna, and now it was here. In five hours Karl would pick her up from her apartment.
“Nervous about something?” Charlie asked, watching Anna prod and push chunks of chicken curry around her plate as they sat among portable chairs and tables on set.
“Nervous? Why do you ask?”
“Whenever you’re nervous you either don’t eat or you fiddle with the shoulder strap on your bag.” Charlie smiled. “So, what’s up?”
He knew her too well. They’d worked together before New Lives and one of her favorite memories was their time together in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Just like then, the past six months on set had resulted in barely a day going by without speaking to each other.
Anna placed her fork down. “I’m going on a date with Karl tonight.” She still couldn’t believe her luck. Only a week since her plea for help on Lulu’s website and things looked promising.
Charlie raised his eyebrows. “Ah. . .so that’s what’s got those butterflies flapping furiously inside?”
Anna instinctively touched
her belly. “A little, I guess.” She smiled feebly. “Okay, a lot.”
Charlie put down his cutlery and placed his chocolate-colored hand over her lily-white one. “Believe me, you have nothing to be nervous about.”
“Thanks, I don’t know why I get so nervous. I’m an actress for crying out loud! You’d think I’d have learned to master my nerves by now.”
“Acting is one thing, Anna, but real life is a whole different ball game. I don’t get nervous when I act – there’s a script. I know exactly what I’m supposed to do and what’s going to happen next. In real life. . .not so much.” He shrugged.
“True. If only there was a director to guide us through the relationship scene, huh?” Anna, her appetite resurfacing, popped a chunk of chicken into her mouth.
“As long as the director wasn’t. . .” Charlie glanced around surreptitiously, “. . .as demanding as Jake.”
Anna nodded. “Definitely. I’d prefer someone gentle, like. . .a guardian angel or something.” She smiled as she chewed another piece of chicken, wishing Lulu was here to somehow make things run smoothly like a finished scene on the show.
“If you find one, let me know.” Charlie scraped the remaining sauce onto his chicken and slid it into his mouth.
“Will do,” she replied, glancing at his empty plate. “You know, I’ve never seen you leave any food remnants on your plate – ever.”
Charlie placed his knife and fork together in the middle of the plate. “Can’t waste good food. We’re pretty lucky to get fed on the job.”
“You’re right. Gee, I’ll miss this.” Anna glanced around the set that had become a second home to her, to the people that had become like family – well, Jake was more like the strict father or irritating brother – but family nonetheless. The curly-haired woman smiled from the coffee stand. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do when the show’s over. Do you?”
Charlie straightened and cleared his throat. “Actually, I’m glad you brought that up. I’ve decided to move to L.A.”
Anna’s eyes bulged. “Really?” The calmness she’d always felt around Charlie quivered. He had family in Seattle and she just assumed he’d stick around. “Do you have a job lined up?”
Starstruck In Seattle Page 2
