"Is it now, Doctor Hiller?" Arun's voice had turned to velvet. "What else are you going to prescribe me?"
"Whatever gets you to relax as well. You've been working so hard on the script that you deserve a break as well."
"I guess it's a good job I've finished it then."
Cody straightened himself in surprise. "What, finished finished?"
Nodding, Arun grinned, feeling rather pleased with himself that he'd gotten to the point, finally, where he was able to say that it truly was finished.
The satisfaction in his face dropped suddenly though.
"I think so at least. I kind of want you to be the judge of that."
"I get to read it?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Ooh, when?"
"Soon enough."
"Awesome. I have high expectations for it."
Arun laughed, though it wasn't a steady one, containing all the fear and doubt that had built up over the months because of it. "Maybe you ought to lower them a bit." Fortunately, before Cody could query what he meant by that, Arun felt the car slow down. "Are we here?" he said, shuffling back over to the window.
Cody shot around to look through the window on his side. He craned his neck trying to get a better view. He could see a huge metal gate and a keypad in the wall next to it. The driver's arm (tanned with a fine shimmer of golden hair) poked out from the car and tapped away at the pad, punching in what seemed to be a lengthy series of numbers that Cody wasn't quite at the correct angle to observe.
The gate creaked open. The arm disappeared and the car pulled away smoothly. He had no idea who the driver was but he'd been superb at his job and Cody made a mental note to mention this to the appropriate person.
They were driven up a long, sloping driveway, circling around to the front of what was to be their home for the next twenty-one days, the huge villa that sat high up in the hillside looking down with grandeur over this Spanish coastal area.
"Holy shit," said Arun, stepping out of the car and catching his first glimpse of it. The driver opened Cody's door and stepped aside to let him out. They exchanged a glance and a smile.
Cute, thought Cody.
Arun let himself out and stood there, his hands on his hips, looking down towards the sea, at the lights that were twinkling along the way. Cody stared at him. The driver might be cute but Arun was perfect.
He went over and stood by Arun, as the driver unloaded the car and took their luggage inside.
"Here are the keys sir," he said, handing them to Cody, after having deposited their bags. His voice was deadly, a product of all the best things that Spain had to offer. "I hope you enjoy your stay."
"Thank you," said Cody. He looked at Arun. "We will."
The driver smiled and nodded then got in the car and drove away. Neither Arun nor Cody watched him go, their attention only on each other.
"Are you not worried that he might have realised what was going on?"
"It's fine. Dean assured me that his staff are the utmost of discretion."
One of the perks of being a successful movie star—and there were literally many—was that it put you into contact with all manner of rich and equally successful business men. Tycoons from around the world, who were all either looking to invest or simply wanted a new conversation starter. You'll never guess who I had lunch with the other day, they'd say at business meetings, hoping to make the best of impressions on prospective clients.
Dean Lord had made his money in cardboard. He'd devised a more cost-effective way of mass-producing it that was (if you truly believed the claims) much more environmentally friendly. The success with cardboard had led to a shift into plastics, with equally as fervent claims, which in turn led to an entire packaging empire and a whole host of sub-divisions, expansions, diversifications and, ultimately, money. Impossible amounts of it. Cody often used to wonder if Dean had a room full of gold coins, not unlike Scrooge McDuck.
That was the only similarity to the animated tycoon that Cody thought Dean had though. Going against the generally considered opinion that the richer a person gets (the richer a man gets, specifically), the more disgusting he becomes, Dean was the epitome of generosity and benevolence. They'd met at a charity function a couple of years ago, for a rare disease that Cody didn't like to admit that he'd never heard of. It had been organised by Maria, a women that Cody had met numerous times at gatherings like this one (Dean was her husband) and she deliberately placed Cody at her table, knowing that he and Dean would hit it off, which of course they did, because she was a woman who knew her stuff.
The acquaintance blossomed and Cody, whilst not exactly making it absolutely clear, found that he was comfortable enough to at least hint to Dean that his desires lay in a certain direction. Dean, to his credit, even though he'd understood perfectly what Cody was referring to, kept it to himself, offering a friendly ear whenever it was needed.
So, when Cody mentioned that he was thinking about taking a break for a few weeks and that he was looking to get away somewhere, with a special someone, Dean immediately offered him the use of his villa, in an area that he knew would give them guaranteed privacy. Cody had told Arun all about Dean and how he could be relied upon but still, Arun wasn't completely convinced that this seemingly random driver could be trusted, though Cody was sure of it and that was good enough for Arun.
They wandered through the villa, flinging the doors wide open in every room, just because they could and it felt kind of fun to do it. Everything was spotless. Classy and clean. Lots of white and cream and chrome, dots of colour splashed here and there, giving it a certain mediterranean vibe, with a touch of everyman chic. With the downstairs areas all properly surveyed they both came to a halt in the hallway and looked at each other.
"Bedrooms?" said Cody.
Arun's eyes widened. "Bedrooms!"
Cody pushed past him and ran towards the spiral staircase that stood in-between the living area and the kitchen. He bounded up it, Arun keeping pace behind, the pair of them behaving like a couple of school boys, jostling with each other, trying to keep or gain the lead. They dashed past three doors, leading into bedrooms that they knew they wouldn't use, darting across to another set of spiral stairs and up them towards the area where the master bedroom was. It had been described to Cody before they set off and he'd thought about keeping it to himself, as a surprise, but hadn't been able to resist telling Arun long before they'd even got there.
The stairs opened up into a large, spacious room. The entire front wall of it was one big window, with a glass door to the right that led onto a small patio, which overlooked the hillside leading down to the sea. At the end of the patio was another set of stairs ("this guy sure does love his spiral staircases," said Arun), that led up to the roof.
They stomped up there, the shiny, black metal rattling beneath their feet. The roof was flat, a simple square tiled the colour of bricks and bordered with waist-height white concrete. There was a simple round table and four basic chairs in the centre, and a raised section at the back, upon which there was a two-tiered wooden bench. The view from the patio had been lovely. The view from up here, however, was glorious, nothing blocking their line of sight no matter which direction they looked. There wasn't much to see by now though, for the light had gone, but the night sky was clear enough to make out teasingly indistinct shapes. Any disappointment at having to wait until the morning to get a proper sense of what lay around them was quickly offset by the gentle, intoxicating breeze that tickled at them.
Arun stood by the edge and leant on the concrete border, soaking up the atmosphere.
"Holy shit," he said, whispering it to himself.
Cody went and stood by him.
"Absolutely," he said. He put his arm around Arun's waist. "Think you can handle three weeks of this?"
Arun leaned into Cody's shoulder. "I think I'll cope."
The morning after they'd arrived started gloriously. There wasn't a cloud in sight and the sun was already quite high, a dazzli
ng yellow against the vast stretch of blue sky. Only two sounds could be heard - the gentle splashes of Arun, doing slow lengths in the pool, and the unexpected—and incessant—chirping of the crickets, and even they were projecting an almost otherworldly sereneness. Arun reached the edge of the pool and rested against it, pausing for a moment to take everything in. He'd half expected, upon waking that morning, to find that it had either all been a dream or that the hazy twilight which had enveloped their arrival had tricked him into believing this place was more than it actually was.
But it wasn't.
In the quietness of morning, it had revealed itself to be as perfect as anything could ever be, its own separate world, beyond the reach of anyone else.
Before getting in the pool he'd stood by the railings which, whilst not affording him as spectacular a view as the one from on the roof of the bedroom, still allowed him to see the vast stretch of unoccupied land that surrounded the villa. He could see other villas in the distance, presumably just as fancy (and expensive) as this one, and the tiny blobs of other human beings going about their business. He wondered if they were doing something similar - surveying their surroundings and wondering how they'd managed to get so lucky. Maybe they were staring up or across at him right now and had better eyesight than he had, and so could see the expression on his face, reading it clearly: This man doesn't deserve any of this.
It was a drastic change from what he was used to. The leap from a one bedroom mid-terrace, in a borderline undesirable part of Manchester, to this slice of heaven had been one that even Superman might have struggled to make. Likewise, the shift from having to downsize his ideas to being given the freedom to go as big as he wanted was just as momentous. He had Cody to thank for both of them. He wondered though if he might end up blaming Cody for them too. He was already thinking ahead. It was inevitable now that his and Cody's relationship would leak out to the public, or, better yet, they'd announce it themselves. Either way, the world would know. And he had a fair idea of what they'd say.
At their least stinging they'd say that Arun had done well for himself, punching far above his league. When the gloves truly came off though, they'd say, without even bothering to layer it in any pleasantries, that Arun was simply riding along on the coattails of someone better than him. That he was just using Cody for his own personal gain. It wouldn't matter how much he protested that this wasn't the case (which it wasn't. What it was—now that Arun actually thought about it—was an actual, proper relationship). The world would only ever see the handsome movie star and the plain-looking nobody. It was possible that there might be a storm coming.
He shook his head and let go of the concrete, allowing himself to sink underwater. The storms could wait. He flicked his legs and pushed towards the centre of the pool, coming back up to the surface with the grace of a professional swimmer. He wiped the water from his face, running his hand through his hair. Looking over to the villa he saw Cody step out through the sliding door that led from the dining area. He was in blue shorts and a simple white t-shirt, his feet smacking against the floor. He still looked tired, and the long fully-stretched yawn only made him seem more so. Treading water, Arun smiled at him, smitten by how cute he looked.
"You're missing all the fun," he said.
Cody stopped and stretched his entire body, arms high and behind his head, t-shirt lifting teasingly. "It's far too early for any sort of fun."
"It's gone nine o'clock," said Arun, shifting his focus to the giant clock that was hanging on the wall in the dining area, deliberately placed so it could be seen from outside.
"Yeah, exactly," said Cody. "Still too early. I am not a morning person."
He glanced up at the sky and caught the full force of the sun, which made him crumple his face and turn away. He meandered across to the sun loungers and shunted one of them over into the shade that was offered by the kitchen, which had been extended and now stuck out from the dining area, forming an L-shape to the building. He lay down on the lounger, with the effort of what might be mistaken for an older man, and closed his eyes.
"Are you always this energetic in the morning?" He didn't recall Arun being sprightly at this kind of time, not from the few occasions where they'd both been together after the night before.
"Not normally," said Arun. He'd swum back over the pool's edge, Cody's voice having been low, sleep still pulling at it. "I was in bed last night though and was so excited about this place that I could hardly sleep. I'm surprised I didn't wake you."
"Nothing would have woken me last night. Not even the impending nuclear war."
"Anyway, that buzz wouldn't go away, so here I am."
"Once I've woken up properly I'll be as excited as you are, but I need this break like you wouldn't believe. My batteries are in need of a serious recharge first. Then we can explore things fully."
"This place is huge."
"It sure is," said Cody, after letting out a sleepy sigh.
Arun turned around and began to swim again, leisurely breaststrokes moving him through the water. The smile was on his face again. The villa itself was huge, but the land it was on was immense, full of fields and pathways and roads to explore. He felt a thrill of giddy excitement bubble up through him, like a child who'd woken up on Christmas morning and was counting down the hours until he was allowed to get up and drag his parents out of bed.
He looked over at Cody, as he lay on the sun lounger, quiet and still. That man held untold excitement, he thought to himself. He stared at him, whilst treading water, wondering where this relationship might take him. He came up with a few possibilities but none of them mattered, for the only thing that was of any importance right now was how Cody just lay there, relaxed and peaceful, and how gloriously content he seemed. Arun yawned. It might be a good idea for him to lie down too. His eyes felt a little heavy now, probably the exertion from swimming having gotten the better of him. He swam to the side and hoisted himself out. It would have been easier, and less demanding, to have swum to the steps and gotten out that way but doing it like this was much cooler. Cody wasn't looking though, unfortunately. Arun had hoped that he would have heard him getting out and lifted his head up to look. Since hooking up with Cody, Arun had felt slightly more self-conscious than he normally did. Understandable, he thought. Cody was a toned and sculpted God of a man. Arun was not. He was slender and, in his eyes, rather weedy. He'd bought a set of dumbbells a few months ago and whenever he remembered (which was not especially often), he'd give his biceps a blast of work. The semi-effort he'd put into it had actually paid off though, his upper arms developing an increased thickness that he found quite pleasing. Cody hadn't noticed, of course. Really, there wasn't that much to notice, but Arun saw those arms of his every day and so was much more aware of the slight change. He couldn't bring himself to tell Cody about it though, presuming that Cody would simply squint his eyes and then laugh at the absurdity of the claim that Arun was clearly making up. His plan, therefore, was to seize any available opportunity to get Cody to notice unprompted.
Thank you. Yes, I have been working out is what he'd say upon Cody's delighted enquiry.
This was not that moment though. Making a deliberate noise, his feet kicking at the water as he lifted himself up and out of the pool, resulted in nothing. Cody remained horizontal and unstirred.
Standing by the edge of the pool, Arun asked Cody if he was still awake.
Cody mumbled something, his voice lethargic.
Arun padded over to him. "I think you've got the right idea. A couple more hours sleep sounds amazing suddenly."
The noise that Cody made was close enough to an agreement.
"Take your shirt off," Arun said to him. "It'll only get wet and uncomfortable."
Cody sat upright, rather slowly, and said nothing. His eyes remained closed. Arun bent down, hooked his fingers under the bottom of Cody's shirt and lifted it up. Cody raised his arms and let Arun pull the t-shirt over his head. With a flick, Arun tossed the t-shirt aside (his aim u
nintentionally resulting in the shirt landing in the pool, therefore getting wet anyway). Cody shuffled over slightly on the lounger as Arun lay down beside him, getting himself comfortable, practically on top of Cody. He nestled his head into Cody's shoulder. Cody wrapped his arms around Arun, clasping his hands together at the small of his back.
"Can I read the script later?" Cody said, his voice nothing more than a whisper. Anything louder would have been too much effort.
"It can wait," said Arun. "Let's leave it until next week. This week can be free of all shop talk. Let's put everything aside and just relax."
"Okay," said Cody, his voice drifting off.
Arun's reasoning was grounded in truth—it would be good to just forget about all things relating to moviemaking for a week—but there was something else behind his request that the script be left unread for another week. He was nervous about Cody reading it. Cody had been so enthusiastic along the way, asking Arun all manner of questions about it and offering up ideas whenever Arun hit a bit of a bump, that Arun had quickly got into the mindset that there was no way it could live up to expectations. All he could picture was Cody sitting there, reading the script and pulling a whole variety of uncomplimentary faces. By delaying things, Arun could at least now get one more week in—a nice, relaxing week—before Cody told him how dreadful the script was.
He'd managed to convince himself that it didn't matter. He thought it was a good script and that was the most important thing. But at some point, quite soon, the other important thing in his life was probably going to disagree.
If he did, would it really be the end of the world? Probably, but at least he'd still have the memories of how exciting it was to write it. Memories of how exciting everything had been so far with Cody, though that excitement must surely end. The honeymoon period would soon be over. He'd experienced so many wonderful things by Cody's side that it'd be churlish to complain if things now became less fantastic. Meeting him. Talking to him. Fucking him. It had all been too brilliant for words. He'd never been in a relationship with anyone that had left him so much in awe; that had him constantly picking his jaw up from off the floor. All his previous relationships combined hadn't held the same amount of excitement as this one. From the big things to the little things. And it was still ongoing. This villa, its location and all the possibilities it promised. Exciting! Hell, even travelling here had been exciting.
The Movie Star's Secret Page 7
