by Cara Dee
It seemed more peaceful here. Tucked behind the small town center was a narrower street lined with three- and four-story, industrial-looking brick buildings, and that was where the driver pulled over.
Aside from an auto shop, it seemed this street had been taken over by artsy people. There were cute cafés, a store that sold organic stuff, and an art gallery.
"Welcome to Pali." Noah grinned and squeezed Sophie's thigh before getting out of the car. She followed and found herself looking up at the red brick building with a smile on her face. She liked this. "Maggie, my aunt's ex, turned this into condos years back," Noah told her. "I moved out here after college, before she sold the building."
Sophie nodded, knowing he was originally from Pittsburgh. "How many roommates did you say you have?"
"Three." Noah opened the door and let Sophie enter first. "Eli and Moshe are almost never around, so they share a room, but Josh should be home."
"Moshe," she repeated. "What an odd name."
Noah chuckled and pushed the button for the elevator. "He and Eli are brothers—from Israel. They're photographers for National Geographic, so odds are greater to see them in some random underwater cave than here."
They exited the elevator on the fourth floor, and there were only two lofts on each floor, so Noah pointed out the one that would go on the market soon before unlocking the door to his place across the hall.
"So yeah, they look exactly the same, only…mirrored. And the views, I guess. This overlooks the street, and the one across the hall overlooks hills." Noah stepped inside his loft and looked around. "Josh!"
Sophie was in love. The large loft was like one big open space. High ceilings, hardwood floors, brick walls on the eastern and western sides, and big windows.
The spacious kitchen was to the right of the hallway, and then it was all living room space.
There was a sound of a door opening and closing to the left, so Sophie turned and saw a half-naked man leaving what she presumed was his room.
Sophie wouldn’t need three bedrooms, even less so with all that additional space, but the loft was really cool.
Best part? She could afford it now, and she would keep being able to afford it by working her actress ass off.
"You couldn’t put some clothes on?" Noah smirked wryly and bumped fists with his roommate. "Are those my sweats? Dude."
"I was taking a nap." This Josh guy grinned and scratched his exposed chest lazily. "Good to have you home, man. Did you bring me back a T-shirt?"
"Clearly, you could use one." Noah snorted and then draped an arm around Sophie's shoulders. "This is Sophie Pierce. She might buy Owen's place. Sophie, meet Josh Reynolds. He steals my clothes when he's too fucking lazy to do his laundry."
"Nice to meet you." Sophie extended her hand.
"You, too." Josh shook her hand and raised a brow at Noah. "I didn’t know you were dating actresses these days."
"We're not dating, asshole," Noah chuckled. "Don’t you read the news? She's all over Tennyson Wright." He elbowed Sophie's side playfully.
It wasn’t funny, given the situation, but Sophie smiled.
"Gossip isn't news, buddy." Josh laughed through his nose. "Anyway, I should get back to sleep. I gotta be back at work in a few hours."
When it was just Sophie and Noah again, he turned to her and said, "So, how about I show you around?"
*
Approximately thirty-six hours later, Sophie was on her way to Toronto. Businessmen in nice suits filled up first class, and then there was Sophie in jeans, a pink sleep mask, and a University of Michigan T-shirt.
Ignoring the complimentary champagne, she curled up in her seat and tried to sleep, but that only made her dream about Tennyson.
She missed him so much she ached.
It would get easier, right?
At times, she got mad. Mad because her feelings were fucking her up. She had so many things to worry about; she didn’t need to get her heart involved, too. That was supposed to be reserved for the man she would spend the rest of her life with. The man she'd meet years down the road when she wasn’t so damn confused about life.
Yet, all the way to Toronto, she only saw Tennyson. She remembered their dates going from uncomfortable and full of bitching to sharing laughs and little touches. She remembered the look in his eyes when he kissed her in the rain, like he couldn’t help himself, like he just had to kiss her.
They knew each other perfectly at the same time as they didn’t know each other at all. Sophie hadn't shared much about her family, or lack thereof, nor had she opened up fully about her fears. For some reason, it had seemed…useless. Out of place.
Childhood memories were another thing. It was like sharing pictures. You let someone see a glimpse, but only the one who'd been there knew what was going on behind the camera.
When they were getting ready to land, Sophie's stomach rolled, and she realized she hadn't eaten today. Shit. She would have to put alerts on her phone or something because she refused to go down that road again.
It was still odd carrying some extra pounds, but that was only pressure from the past. She felt healthier, even though she sometimes forgot to eat as often as her diet plan instructed.
Adopting a little bit of Tennyson's style, Sophie pulled out a ball cap and a pair of sunglasses from her carry-on when it was time to get off the plane. She'd been to Toronto before; the paparazzi weren't bad here, but they also knew she was arriving today, and gossip about her and Tennyson was still hot.
Sophie didn’t have any baggage to claim, so she headed straight for the exit and checked her phone on the way. Daniel had left a message, saying he was waiting for her, and she saw him outside before she could reply.
"Since when are you a hockey fan, darling?" He flicked the brim of her cap before hugging her tightly. "A Pittsburgh team no less."
She shrugged and hopped up to pop a kiss to his cheek. "Noah let me borrow it."
No, she definitely didn’t care about hockey as a sport, but she remembered a time before her dad became a douche. He used to be a hardcore LA Kings fan, and she'd pick a random team to root for before the game to tease him. They'd watch the play-offs together and go out for chili fries and shakes.
Daniel chuckled. "You ready to see Max? He's not very fond of me."
"God, I've missed him." She sighed and followed Daniel to their car. A couple photographers took photos of them, but they kept their distance. "Has he been any trouble?"
"Nah. He's just huffy around me." Daniel winked.
"Which is the technical definition," she giggled. "Was your beloved Zane mad because you didn’t go home?"
"No, it's all good." He smiled and opened the door for her. "He's in New York this week, so he might come up to visit before he heads west again."
That was nice. Sophie hadn't met Daniel's boyfriend yet but knew the man was a model. Apparently, Zane loved fashion but hated the industry, and he was modeling to pay for college.
"So…" Sophie raised a brow at Daniel as he pulled away from the curb. "Did the thinking go well?"
Daniel side-eyed her and tried to withhold a smirk.
It was enough to make Sophie let out a small squeal of excitement. "Really? You'll be my manager?"
"Jeesh—calm down," he laughed. "We'll take it slow, okay? The fact that you want me as your manager shows how unprepared you are." He gave her leg a gentle squeeze. "You should go with someone who has all the connections, but I'll do my best. I'll take over step by step, all right?"
"We have to celebrate," Sophie stated. For the first time in…oh, two weeks plus change, she felt content. In Daniel, she'd found a great friend, and it looked like Noah and Brooklyn were in her life to stay, too.
It was an amazing beginning.
All of a sudden, she got a little emotional. There was so much that had her stomach tied in knots, but damn it, she was going forward. Right pace, right direction.
"I think I love you," she told Daniel randomly. "Like, honestly. You rock
, Daniel."
At that, Daniel gave her a strange look before he grinned and shook his head. "I love you too, darling. God help me."
Sophie faced forward and nodded to herself, clinging to that feeling of contentment.
I'm ready to fly, Tennyson. Even if a monster truck ran over my wings.
Epilogue
Two months later…
Flying when you were sick fucking sucked, but thankfully it was only a short flight between Barcelona and London.
They were a few weeks into the shoot in Spain, though she was in London today for interviews about Unrecovered. Claire and Kelly would be joining her, as well.
"You okay?" Daniel was waiting for her outside the bathroom at the airport.
She nodded weakly and stuffed four pieces of chewing gum into her mouth. "I don’t have time to be sick."
Yesterday had been awful. She'd woken up to Daniel bringing her breakfast in her hotel room, and she'd barely made it to the bathroom before she was puking her guts out. She'd felt okay enough to work, but around dinner she'd gotten so tired and physically weak she could barely stand on her own.
She'd spent the rest of the day throwing up and sleeping.
Nobody liked getting sick, but Sophie welcomed it whenever the nausea got to be too much because she felt better once she'd thrown up. At least for a while.
Daniel hummed as he felt Sophie's forehead. "You're not warm. Want me to call you a doctor while we're here? Just in case?"
She waved that off. It was probably a bug.
On the way into the city, she texted Noah, who'd offered to help her with the furniture that would be delivered to her new loft today. She didn’t expect any response since it wasn’t even five in the morning on the West Coast, but evidently he was up.
Can't wait for you to move in. We're out of milk and you're not here so I can borrow some. And no, I haven't forgotten the delivery. At ease, soldier, and have fun at the interviews.
Sophie grinned tiredly and leaned her head against the window, hoping to catch some sleep. "I'm hungry," she yawned. "Do we have time to stop somewhere before the hotel?"
"Of course. And you're certain you don’t wanna spend the night and fly back tomorrow?"
"I'm sure." Sophie closed her eyes and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head. "I don’t wanna be away from Max." She wouldn’t have left him at all, but one of the actresses on set had brought her dog too, and they got along great.
A while later when they drove into the city, Daniel asked where she wanted to eat, and she had a wicked craving for pizza, so he looked up the nearest Pizza Hut.
"You gonna order a pizza without cheese?" he asked with an odd look.
Sophie chuckled. "Why would I do that?"
"Because you hate cheese, Sophie," he pointed out.
Oh. Well…she wanted it, okay?
*
It was amazing what a makeup artist and a stylist could do in half an hour. Sophie was still munching on her last pizza slice when they ushered her into a hotel suite to make her pretty for the cameras.
Her yoga pants and hoodie were replaced with skinny jeans and a cute, sleeveless blouse. The rubber band around her hair was pulled off, and various products made her chestnut brown waves look great. New shoes, subtle makeup, new accessories.
"Would you like the matching necklace to go with the bracelets, Ms. Pierce?"
She automatically brushed her fingers over the small silver feather. "No, thank you." By now, she'd gotten used to the painful twist of her gut whenever she was reminded of Tennyson. She could only hope it would fade one day.
Sophie was deemed ready after that, so she walked into the adjacent suite where they were setting up for the interview. A handful of people were milling about, but once Sophie spotted Claire and Kelly, she tuned out the others.
"Hey, you guys." She grinned.
"Hey!" Claire stood up from the couch and hugged her. "It feels like it's been longer than a couple months. You look good, honey."
"So do you. I love your hair." Sophie hugged Kelly next, and though they hadn't really gotten to know each other, it was good to see a familiar face. "How're you, Kelly? I heard you're in London to do a play."
"Yeah, we're busy with rehearsals right now." She smiled. "It's fun."
The three sat down on the couch, Claire in the middle, and a photographer came over to test the lighting. He also asked if it was okay if they started shooting stills now, and no one had any objections.
"You ladies just keep talking—don’t mind the rest," someone with a clipboard and two cell phones said in a posh accent.
Sophie had no issues with that because there was gossip she wanted from Claire. "Give me the deets, Claire. You've done some promo with Chris and Tennyson, right?"
"Last weekend." Claire nodded. "Tennyson's stressed out. They're still in editing, so I understand why he wasn’t in a good mood. It looked like he hadn't slept in months." She tilted her head at Sophie. "I thought—" She lowered her voice so nobody else would hear. "I thought the two of you became close with the whole showmance ordeal."
Twist, pang. Sophie inhaled slowly and pulled off a soft smile. "We're friends, but we haven't spoken in a while. Work gets in the way—you know how it is."
It was close to the response she'd been advised by the studio publicists to give during interviews. Either that, or dodge answering.
Claire nodded in understanding. "Definitely get it. And I suppose that’s why Tennyson sent his brother here last week. He didn’t have time to go himself."
"What do you mean?" Sophie frowned.
Asher had visited the set in Barcelona last week, but she didn’t know he'd been in London, too.
"He went to some benefit," Claire answered with a nod. "Tennyson sent him to buy a painting. I didn’t even know he was so interested in art."
Sophie nearly swallowed her tongue.
Painting. Benefit. London. September.
That…that bastard. That sweet, confusing, romantic, heartbreaking, motherfucking bastard.
He'd bought the painting they'd created for Safe, Wild, and Sound.
Did he want her to fall apart even more? This wasn’t exactly helping her move on.
"You look a little pale, honey." Claire touched her arm in concern.
Sophie was about to choke out some bullshit reply, but a PA walked over with a tray of snacks and beverages. The scent of strawberries made Sophie's mouth water, but the strong smell of coffee, on the other hand…
The nausea came on so suddenly that she almost didn’t have time to prevent something she'd be mortified over. But she managed to slap a hand over her mouth and run out of the suite and into the nearest bathroom.
Oh, my God.
She emptied her stomach into the toilet, then sat back on the floor and groaned. Goddamn flu—seriously? Like she didn’t have enough on her plate right now.
Standing up, she flushed the toilet and then rinsed her mouth. There was a small bottle of mouthwash among the other hotel products, so she used it all.
Makeup, perfect.
Smile, could use some work.
Hair, flawless.
Exhaustion, pushed aside.
Hurt, hidden.
Thoughts about Tennyson, buried.
Work called.
Sophie and Tennyson's story continues in With Brave Wings, which will be available in August 2015.
More from Cara Dee can be found at www.caradeewrites.com.
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