Just Like Me

by Dani Hall

  “Precisely.” He said, leaning back into his seat. He had on dress pants and a button up blue shirt and tie. Oh great, we match. How did I not see that coming?

  “Are we going to the movies first?”

  He raised an eyebrow at me.

  “Who said we were going to the movies?”

  “I’m sure you couldn’t go an evening without seeing your face on the big screen.”

  “Right.” He shook his head in exasperation. “No, we’re not going to the movies first.”

  “Then where are we going, exactly?”

  “Photos.” He said simply. “Before you ruin your face and attire, we’re going to take pictures for the T.V. show.”

  “Great. Maybe I’ll flip the camera off in every shot.”

  “No, I’m sure that’s against your contract. But you actually have to pretend like you can stand me.”

  “I’ll deserve an award for that performance.”

  He started looking out the window, avoiding my gaze. I took in his brown eyes, the way they were somewhat concentrating on the beach shop scenery going by. His dark hair was more fixed tonight. I wondered if they had made him shave his face six times. Maybe they put lipstick on him.

  “You’re staring at me.” He observed.

  “I was trying to figure out how much mascara you had on.”

  “You’re just jealous your lashes aren’t nearly as perfect as mine.”

  “Right, that was exactly what I was thinking.”

  He considered that for a moment.

  “You know, you don’t have to act like you hate me.”

  “No, I don’t have to act at all.”

  “I know you like me.”

  “What could I have possibly done to give you that very wrong impression?”

  He smirked. An egotistical smirk.

  “Coffee shop.” He said simply. I blinked.

  “What about a coffee shop?”

  “You were getting coffee.” He started the story like it was the best story I would ever hear in my whole entire life. “And I…was behind you.”

  I was about to open my mouth and ask if that was the end of his story, because if it was, that was the most pathetic story I’d ever heard in my entire life.

  Then it hit me. The other night after I left Lisa and Ben on the bridge, there was a guy in a hoodie that had paid for my coffee. A now familiar hoodie and sunglasses.

  “That was you?” I realized.

  “Yea.”

  “So? You paid for my coffee, that doesn’t mean I’m in love with you.”

  His grin got wider.

  “Do you remember what name they wrote down for my coffee?”

  My mouth opened in surprise. I quickly shut it, trying to rearrange my face in an angry expression.

  “That does not mean I like you.”

  “Yes it does.”

  “No it doesn’t.”

  “Out of all the names in the entire universe, you said Taylor. Taylor. My name.”

  “Everyone was talking about the stupid contest; it was the first thing that popped into my head.” I fudged.

  “You were thinking about me.”

  “I was thinking I was annoyed with you.”

  “Nevertheless, you said my name. Which means you had an interest.”

  The limo parked finally and I jumped out of my door before the driver could open it. Taylor lazily opened his own door too, stretching and shutting the door behind him, casual. I noticed we were parked at a beach access. So that means we were taking pictures on the beach. I faintly recalled my daydreams from yesterday, cool coffees and wide brimmed hats. I quickly shook the images away. Taylor had walked around to where I was and he was leaning against the limo.

  “You’re going to have to act like you can stand me with these pictures. And watch what you say, because they’re also going to be videoing.”

  “So I can’t call you a di-“

  “No. You can’t.”

  I spotted a fleet of vans and cars come around and park in the entrance we were at. Star Gaze was printed alongside a lot of them.

  “Now starts when you have to act like you adore me. No funny business.” He muttered. Taylor stood and greeted camera men and equipment holders. He looked to be barking instructions. Guards stood a fair enough distance away so they weren’t in the way. I brushed at the blue dress and looked at the white heels. It wasn’t smart for them to be white. They were going to get dirty on the beach. Heck, how was I going to walk with them on the beach?

  Taylor walked back over to me, smiling. His full-on perfect guy routine in place.

  “You won’t need your purse on the beach,” He said with a fake smile. He took it, opened a limo door and tossed it inside. “A few guards are staying with the vehicles, anyhow.”

  He nodded to the cameramen, some had already started filming. I swallowed.

  “Let’s head out onto the beach.” He suggested. He waved at the cameras and linked his arm through mine, smiling sweetly. Barf.

  We walked up the steps of the platform that led onto the beach. Some of the cameras had got a head start and were catching us as we walked down onto the beach. Damn heels. Damn. Damn. Damn.

  “Ok…Mr. Jett? We’d like to get several by the water. Probably at least 200 stills total.”

  I shot a look at Taylor to catch his reaction. He didn’t flinch. I felt my stomach flop.

  “That’s fine.”

  I wobbled as he steered me closer to the water. If I hadn’t been so paranoid I would have been looking at the water and at the shells. I loved the beach. I didn’t love this, though. The heels sunk into the sand and were making me walk very unsteadily.

  Cameras were set up all around us. A few talked to us and told us poses they were particularly interested in. I tried to pay attention, but everything seemed fuzzy.

  Before I knew it pictures started getting snapped. Taylor was pretty much moving me like I needed to be. One shot I stood kind of behind him as he looked back amused. One shot I was out front, glancing back at him.

  The cameramen grew bored of the casual poses quickly though.

  “Taylor, can we get a few intimate ones?”

  “Sure.”

  I turned quickly to face him, away from the cameras.

  “What?” I hissed, not moving my lips. I felt as if I had just tasted the sourest of lemons.

  “It’s not that bad. They just mean body contact.”

  Since I was already facing him he pulled me close to him, wrapping his hands around my waist. No. No. I don’t do body contact.

  “Put your hands up around my neck.” He suggested. I forced myself to, feeling awkward. I could feel my stomach pressed up against his. The term ‘abs of steel’ came to my mind.

  “Great! Now, Taylor, could you put one hand up to her face?”

  And on and on it went, I was struggling to keep from grimacing. At one point they had him swing me up in his arms for pictures. They had me take my shoes off and get our footprints in the sand. I hoped they didn’t notice when I decided to leave them off. One shot of us walking toward the sunset, holding hands. They asked me to look like I just heard the funniest joke of my life; my face probably reflected more that I had just found out Lisa was dead. Lisa, oh man, she’d so love this right now. I wish it was her here instead of me.

  You want to talk about uncomfortable? I don’t make physical contact with people I talk to on a daily basis. I mean, I don’t even hug Mom. I’m not a hug person. The one person I make physical contact with really is my little sister, and that’s only when I’m carrying her around or holding her hand.

  “These are looking great; I think we got about 220, which is over our quota. That’s great. We’ll have them printed out and bring them to you during dinner, alright? You can pick out the ones featured on Star Gaze tonight, and also the ones they’ll put in their magazine.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  Taylor waved them off and the camera men started exiting toward their vehicle.

>   “So, that’s it? No more pictures or video?”

  “No, they’ll be taking pictures of our reactions during the movie along with some video. Same at the restaurant, they’ll do some recording there too.”

  “So movie’s first, we heading there now?”

  “No, not yet.”

  I had started walking up the beach toward the steps, but he had caught my arm. Little sparks went through where he had touched. I yanked my arm back.

  No.

  I didn’t want sparks.

  “What?” I said, probably a little too sharply.

  “Man, you’re touchy. Have you ever even had a boyfriend?”

  “Yes!” Ah, defensive. That looks great, now I’m acting defensive. He held his hands up.

  “Ok, ok. You were just…really uncomfortable.” He smirked. Evil, he is pure evil.

  “It wasn’t that, it was the cameras.” I muttered. I crossed my arms.

  “Fine.” He put his hands in his pockets. I sat listening to the ocean for a second, waiting for him to say something else. When a few seconds passed, I caved and talked.

  “What are we doing now?” I asked, not looking at him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him pull out his phone.

  “According to the schedule Jerry set up, we’re taking a stroll on the beach.” He took in a deep breath. “Great.” He muttered.

  “What’s the point of that if there aren’t any cameras?”

  “Well, they probably stuck around. Trying to catch us off guard.”

  “They’d do that?”

  “Yea, Kale, they’d do anything for a good story.” I swallowed at him mentioning my name. A flight of butterflies went through my stomach involuntarily, and I hated myself for it. I cursed myself inwardly.

  “That sounds pretty harsh.” I bit my lip; I didn’t want this guy thinking that I cared about his feelings or something. Taylor didn’t seem to notice my comment.

  We started walking, slowly but surely. I watched the froth of the waves wash up and down shore. The waves selfishly took shells back into the ocean with them, but at the same time gave new shells to share with the sand. I glanced back at the white shoes I had left on the beach.

  “Don’t worry; no one’s going to take them.” Taylor glanced back to see what I had been staring at.

  “Not that I’d mind. I think they were cutting my circulation off. I’ll have blisters for days.”

  He chuckled. We caught sight of some cameras behind some brush beside the sand, trying to cleverly hide themselves. This tiny bit of honesty he had displayed washed away completely. Taylor stood straighter, a cocky grin on his face.

  “It’d figure that’d be all you worried about. Not the shoes, but yourself.”

  I shrugged it off. If the volume was on those cameras, he’d look like the douche. Not me. It seemed to irk him that I didn’t give a smart reply.

  “What, you don’t want to hurt my feelings or something?”

  “I signed a contract.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I have to be nice to you tonight, whether you’re nice to me or not.”

  He frowned.

  “Be mean, I can take it.” He said.

  “Well, tell that to your agent.”

  “I can. So for right now, talk how you want. What did you really want to say about the shoe comment?”

  “I wanted to say I could find a nice place to shove them once I put them back on.”

  He grinned at that.

  “Yea, I like that better than being nice.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The local theatre was a lot nicer than the one I worked at back home. While our theatre was all purple and orange looking, this one was red and black, retro looking. It had silver and red chairs and old fashioned looking clocks. I loved it.

  “What’re we seeing?” I whispered as he pulled out our tickets.

  “It’s a private showing. Just you and me. And the cameras.”

  “That didn’t answer my question.”

  A cameraman came right up to us, a red light blinking, recording.

  “We’re watching one of my movies, of course.” That arrogance annoyed me, but particularly when the cameras were around. What, did he have something to prove?

  “Which one?”

  “It doesn’t matter. It’s got me in it.” He winked at the cameras.

  At the concession counter Taylor asked what I wanted. I asked for bottled water. He asked for a large popcorn, layered butter, and a diet drink caffeine free. They had our order right up. When he went over to the various salts to put on the popcorn, he glanced over at me.

  “You work at a theatre, don’t you?”

  “Yea.”

  “What salt is good?” I shrugged.

  “It depends.”

  “Which one is your favorite?”

  “White cheddar.” He nodded and began sprinkling the salt on top of the popcorn. I shook my head sadly. He looked up sharply.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, you’re just an amateur.” He slit his eyes, annoyed.

  “Why is that, Ms. Del-…Kale?” He said, continuing to shake salt on the popcorn.

  “Well,” I took it from him; he glared, but allowed me to. I started shaking the container, letting the salt fall throughout the different layers instead of just on top. “To get the best popcorn, you have to piss the conessionist off. You would have to ask them to fill it up halfway. Then you take it and get salt put on it. Then you take it back and ask them to fill it the rest of the way, then put the rest of the salt on. But…you had already ruined that.”

  I stopped shaking and added a little more to the top, shaking it a little more before handing it back to him.

  “Impressive.” He remarked, and we walked over to the usher. He handed him our tickets and we made our way to the end of the hall.

  “Are you going to tell me what movie we’re watching?”

  “No.” He answered firmly.

  I sighed as we entered into the auditorium, it was getting dark.

  “Are we late?” I whispered. He shook his head as we got to the end of the hallway and looked up at the seats.

  “We’re the only ones watching it, Kale. Where do you want to sit?” He asked, shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth. I shrugged.

  “You’re the movie star; do you want to sit so far upfront so that I can see the pores in your face when you show up on screen?”

  He snorted.

  “You couldn’t handle my close ups.”

  “And what do you call this exactly?” I said motioning from him to me. He ignored me, walking to a seat towards the middle. I sighed and followed after him. He plopped down, setting his drink in the cup holder and eating more popcorn. I uncapped my water and sipped from it.

  Cameramen started coming around the corner, getting a few pictures and videos. Taylor ignored them, staring at the screen as it started previews.

  “How can you just ignore them?” I asked, glancing over at them.

  “You get used to it.”

  “You’re not worried you’re going to show up on their fat segment? Slow down on that popcorn.”

  He rolled his eyes and shushed me. And wouldn’t you know it, a preview for Zombie Grave came on.

  A dark scene was on, a guy stood at the end of a hallway. A zombie guy, actually. The camera slowly zoomed in on him, anticipating music in the background. Finally, when the camera got right up close, I saw Taylor’s head shoot up and look at the camera.

  “It’s time.” He said, and the camera shot to a girl running through a graveyard. The screen then went to a zombie army outside the gates and some little village.

  “If I have to be a zombie.” The girl was saying to Taylor “I’ll become one.” It flashed to Taylor, running through a swamp. “For you.” She said.

  “I won’t let that happen.” Taylor’s voice said on the screen. There was a scream as the actress went falling down some dark looking hole. The last shot was of Taylor doing a slow-mo turn t
oward the camera, looking determined to take the camera out. Then the title played across the screen along with the actors and the date it was coming out next month. I laughed.

  “I think I’ll miss that one.” I heard Taylor whisper. I turned and whispered in his.

  “I think that’ll be a bust.”

  “Ya think?” I heard him crunch on more popcorn. I settled back into my seat.

  Another commercial came on for some kind of love comedy. An actress was sitting with her family at the table, talking about morals. Then a hot guy came on the screen. Taylor looked over at me, and I realized I was leaning forward. I quickly sat back.

  “Want to take a road trip?” The hot actor grinned at the actress on screen. “Sure.” She said as a picture of a red convertible appeared on screen, going really fast down a long winding road. Different pictures of different tourist attractions came on screen. Forests, deserts, wild life looking places, then the hot actor said “You know, we could get into trouble.” You heard the girl actress giggle as the title came on the screen-Tourist Trap-with their names. I made a mental note of the actor so I could show Lisa when I got back.

  “That guy’s a douche.” I heard Taylor whisper. “If you don’t like me, you definitely wouldn’t like him.”

  “Huh, maybe you could introduce us sometime. So I could see for myself.”

  “Yea, right.”

  Finally the movie came on. The opening credits revealed to me that this wasn’t a film with Taylor in it at all. I glanced over at him, surprised. I had totally expected him to want to show off. He was still eating popcorn, bored looking as he observed the screen. I reached over and grabbed a handful; he looked at me then, raising an eyebrow. I popped a few pieces in my mouth and smiled back. No, he hadn’t layered it right, but it was still pretty good white cheddar popcorn.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “I can get my own door.” I muttered as I scrambled out of the limo. In the final stop (I hoped) on this date, we were at the restaurant. It was a cute little seafood place that looked out over the ocean. To my surprise, he hadn’t rented out the whole place.

  “Yea, yea.” He said, slamming the door behind me. He placed a hand on my lower back and guided me to the door. I jumped at the initial contact, but allowed him to keep his hand there.