by Ivy Blake
“I had the worse night last night, man. The worst.”
“Shit,” he slammed the door closed. “Did you murder someone in here last night? Because if you did, we still have time to cover it up. I know a guy in Van Nuys who is an expert at…”
“For the love of god, Keith! Will you please just shut up,” I yelled. My raised voice caused my headache to throb even more. I put my hand on my forehead. “I’ve got bigger shit going on. Bigger shit with Simon.”
“The movie director?”
“Yeah. He has me backed into a corner and I don’t know what the hell to do.”
I explained to him what was going on and how Simon was managing to screw both me and Chloe over with his twisted demands. He listened with his hand over his nose and mouth, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Damn. I can’t believe he is pulling that crap. What a jerk.”
“Yeah. From what I can remember, his assistant said I have to back off Chloe or he’s going to fire both our asses. But I got so angry and so hammered after Ariel left, I don’t remember everything. Honestly, I don’t even know how the fuck I made it home in one piece. But, on top of all of that, Chloe is gone. She won’t answer her phone, she won’t talk to me, she won’t do anything. I’ve fucking lost her, and it is all because of this bullshit with Simon that I can’t tell anyone about because I know it will backfire on me.”
He sighed. “Yeah, man, I don’t know what to do. If you tell anyone right now, that is career suicide, but on the other hand, you are risking your relationship with Chloe. That is a tough choice, man, and I wish I had some good advice for you. I wish I did.”
I buried my head into my hands and curled up on the couch. I didn’t know what else was going to happen between me, Chloe and Simon, but I had to figure something out before everything got worse than what it already was.
Chapter 19
Chloe
I sat in my room crying the next day. I couldn’t get up to eat or do anything else. I just wanted to bury myself beneath my covers and sink into nonexistence. This was one of the reasons why I didn’t want to even consider starting a relationship with someone. Outside of trying to get my career going, I was just afraid of getting hurt. I wanted to protect myself and the best way to do that was just to avoid relationships, but when Hudson came along, I felt like all of that could go out of the window. I was wrong though, and now I wished that I could just erase the past few weeks of my life and forget that it ever happened.
I heard my door open while I was buried beneath the thick comforter that provided the warmth I needed to get through the hard times.
“Chloe? Are you ok?” Jade asked. I responded to her with sniffles and then I felt her sit down on my bed. “Have you eaten? You need to get something to eat, Chloe. You’ve been laying in here all day. I know you’re hungry. We have Chinese food in the kitchen.”
“No, I don’t want to eat. I just want all of this shit to go away.”
“I know, sweetie, I know. Hudson is an asshole and I am sorry that I pushed you into talking to him. I feel like a piece of shit now, because if it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have even gone this far with him.”
“No,” I sniffled. “You can’t blame yourself. You didn’t know.”
“And you didn’t know either. I mean, you said it the best when you came home last night. He is an actor. He gets paid to lie to people. To millions of people, and he is good at it, otherwise he wouldn’t have this job.” She rubbed her hand on my back in a circular motion. “I know it hurts. I’ve been hurt before too, but you will get through this. Heartache is the worst, but with time, it’ll all be better. Trust me.”
“I know, I just wish I could fast forward this shit.” I pulled the covers off my head. “It’s only been a month, but I swear that it feels like it’s been years that we have shared together. The way things were moving between us, the chemistry, the sex.” I exhaled. “It was all so perfect, but if he was acting with me, then I guess it makes sense. I just feel like such a fool, Jade.”
“I understand. But, you can’t let him kill your dreams. You said you wanted to come out here for your career, so just focus on that now. At least you found out the truth with him early instead of years later. I think that pain would’ve been much harder to bear.”
I wiped a stream of tears from my eyes. “You’re right. At least it happened when it did. I just wish it had ended differently, or never even started.”
Jade smiled and brushed a stray piece of hair out of my eyes. “I know, babe. I know.” I wiped another stream of tears from my cheeks.
“Ok, come on,” Jade said, grabbing my hand, “let me help you get out of this pity party. We have shrimp fried rice, orange chicken and General Tso’s, all from Sky Dragon.”
“Sky Dragon? What is that?”
She lifted her eyebrows to the middle of her forehead. “Only the best Chinese food in Los Angeles! Come on, let’s pig out!”
I climbed out of bed, still in my pajamas, and walked with her into the kitchen. Mariah sat at the table, dumping rice and chicken onto her plate. “Hey, Chloe. How are you feeling?” I shrugged and sat down in the chair. “Men,” she said as she put a plate in front of me, “and no good men, on top of that. It is all bullshit. But on the bright side, we have Sky Dragon.”
Mariah smiled as Jade took her seat. “She has never had Sky Dragon.”
Mariah’s mouth hung open. “Never?”
“Nope.”
“Well, let me tell you, if sex is no longer an option for now, just call Sky Dragon and order this orange chicken. I promise that you will have an orgasm as soon as that flavor touches your tongue. Here, taste it,” she said as she dumped some orange chicken on top of my rice.
The steam rose into the air as they both anxiously waited for me to take a bite. I dug my fork into the food, then slid it into my mouth. My eyes widened as I chewed. “Wow,” I said with a mouthful, “this really is amazing.”
“Told you,” Jade said.
We laughed and ate, and for a moment, it was exactly what I needed. Friendship. And it was more than enough.
Chapter 20
Hudson
“Hey, baby. I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Hudson.”
I laid in the bed with soft music playing in the background as Chloe walked slowly to my bed in white lace underwear and a see-through bra. She wore a white, silk robe that was opened down the middle, exposing her curves. The ceiling fan spun slowly above us, blowing her hair like a soft wind as she stepped closer to me, on beat with the song. I waited anxiously to feel her body pressed against mine. It had been a while since I felt her, but I dreamed about her every night. The scent of her body, the softness of her flesh while it was on top of mine.
The moonlight rippled through the window above my bed, highlighting every perfect inch on her body. She climbed on to the bed like a tigress slowly inching towards its victim, but I didn’t struggle to get free. I wanted to be devoured by her, whole. Chloe crawled her way closer to me. Her scent danced in my nose as she made a trail from my abs, past my chest, and circled my nipples with her tongue.
I gripped the pillows, squeezing them as she went higher and ended at my lips. Her breasts were against my chest as I slid my hands onto her backside, grabbing a hold of each cheek while she straddled me as if she was performing to the beat of the song. I reached for her shoulders and pulled her robe off. As soon as it fell, she grabbed my finger and pulled it into her mouth, sucking on it softly while she looked deeply into my eyes. I put my hand in the middle of her chest and moved it down to her abdomen while she moved rhythmically on top of me, her hips rotating clockwise.
“Yes, Chloe. Yes. I missed you, baby. Don’t stop.”
* * *
I woke up alone. She was gone. I was getting sick of being trapped in the world of my dreams, a world where Chloe wasn’t real. I groaned, then flopped my head onto the pillow. Chloe was trapped in my mind and I loathed it. I could hardly go a day without becomi
ng immersed in a daydream about us living happily ever after. But instead, it had been two months and we had barely seen each other, let alone held a conversation. I had agreed with Simon that I would not continue things with Chloe, and he agreed not to fire us both. Since then, Chloe did a good job avoiding me on set, and any time she had to give me some pertinent information, she usually left it on a note inside of my trailer and was gone before I even noticed she was there.
I got out of the bed and hopped in the shower, feeling like my heart was shattered in pieces. I still hadn’t told her, or anybody else, what Simon was pulling on me. He had been sending me e-mails, text messages, and calling my phone, telling me to stay away from Chloe or we were fired. And when we were on set, he would take special care to be as close to Chloe as possible, and make sure I saw them together. He was being vicious, but at the end of the day, I probably deserved it.
It didn’t stop me from trying to make things right, though. Except no matter how hard I tried to get a moment to explain things to Chloe, she didn’t want anything to do with me. I couldn’t blame her. From the outside looking in, it just seemed like I was an asshole, and without being able to explain myself, she had no reason to think otherwise.
We were almost done shooting the movie, but we still had a couple of weeks to go. After I got dressed, I drove straight to the movie set. I had barely been there a minute when my door opened, and I saw Ariel on the other side of the door.
“Hey, Hudson,” Ariel said as she walked into my trailer. “Do you mind if I come in?”
“I guess not?” I said with a shrug. “It’s not like I have a choice, do I?”
“I’m not the bad guy here, Hudson. In fact, we’re both in similar situations.”
I turned from the bar and raised an eyebrow out her. “What does that mean?”
Ariel sighed. “When I first started working for Simon, he made me promises about being an assistant director, or maybe even helming my own movie. All I had to do was… show him how much I wanted it.”
I huffed. “What a douchebag. I hope you didn’t…”
“I didn’t. And I’ve been languishing as his assistant ever since. The only reason he didn’t fire me was because I threatened to go straight to the press with my story. And the only reason I didn’t quit is I have a kid to take care of. So… I’m stuck. And I’m telling you, Hudson. If you don’t just let this play out, you’re going to be worse off than I am. He’s going to destroy your career before it even has a chance to start.”
“Ariel, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” I watched her, and I could see the pain in her face. She was genuinely miserable. “But what do I do? I’m really supposed to let him just manipulate all of us? Then he’ll get away with everything.”
“Welcome to Hollywood, kid. Simon wants you on set in twenty. And for both our sakes, please. Just stay away from Chloe.” She gave my arm a squeeze and then walked out.
Ariel closed the door behind her, and for the first time in my life, I felt helpless. My hands were tied and there was nothing I could do to free myself from the hold Simon had on me.
I sat down on the bed as memories of Chloe penetrated my imagination. Just then, there was a knock on my door. It opened before I could even respond. Chloe paused, slid a basket of muffins in the trailer, and closed the door behind her on her way out.
“Chloe! Chloe, wait!”
I got up and ran after her, flinging my door open as I jumped down the three small steps. She didn’t stop until I ran in front of her.
“What, Hudson? What do you want?”
“I want to talk to you. I haven’t spoken to you in months unless we are forced to. I just need two minutes.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “We have nothing to talk about, Hudson. My life has been slowly getting back to normal without you in it, so I want to leave it the way it is. Like I said before, you do you, but I’m moving on.”
I have to fight back a frustrated sigh. “Chloe, there is no one else. I mean, you haven’t even given me the chance to talk to you about what happened that night that you came over to my house. I’ve tried to talk and every time you push me away.”
“Oh, so you’re telling me that there is a logical explanation as to why you came home drunk, smelling like the entire Lakers cheerleading squad? Is that what you are going to tell me? What happened? Did you trip and fall into a pool of liquor and then use a perfume-soaked towel to dry off? Is that what happened, Hudson?”
“No. I mean, there is just more to it than what you saw or smelled.” I wanted to tell her, but I knew the consequences. I would tell Chloe and I was sure that she would go to somebody else, and after that, both of our careers would be over because Simon would rip us to shreds. “Just know that there is nobody else in my life. There is not, and there was not. It is just complicated right now. It is hard to explain.”
She scoffed at me. “Yeah, sure, Hudson. You wanted your time to talk to me and then when I give it to you, you just spew out more bullshit. Listen, I don’t have time for any more of your games, ok? So, please, you keep away from me, so I can focus on my life and you can focus on yours. Thank you.”
“Chloe…”
“That. Is. Enough. Stop wasting your time.”
I stood still, watching her walk away from me with a head full of unanswered questions. I couldn’t lose her over this and somehow, I had to get the truth out there to her. She had to know that I cared about her deeply and it was more than just a fling.
Chapter 21
Chloe
I left Hudson standing there even when everything in me wanted to turn around and hear him explain what he was holding back. I knew there was more to it, but if he didn’t have the balls to let it out, then I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for him to become comfortable enough to talk to me about it. As I walked past the set, Simon called me to her director’s chair. I don’t know what his deal was, but he’d gone from being a total jackass to dripping all over me like honey. I hadn’t yet decided which worse, but I was leaning toward this current version of him. It made my skin crawl.
“So,” he said absent-mindedly, “it looks like we aren’t far off the end of wrapping this. How are you liking your position?”
“Well, I’m not sure about it. Maybe it is not for me, you know? I came out here wanting to act and I haven’t decided if I want to work production. I don’t know, there was just a lot going on this time around, so my mind is all over the place.”
“I see,” he said looking up from his tablet, eyeballing me over the top of his glasses. “You should probably consider exactly what it is you are looking for. And how I can help you get it.”
My stomach dropped. What exactly was this guy implying? “Excuse me?”
He smiled. “Never mind. Did you deliver the call sheet for tomorrow to Hudson?”
“I will later. I think he was busy in his trailer. So, I will just talk to him another time. Maybe I can just send it to him in an email or something.”
The faintest hint of a smirk crossed Simon’s face, but it disappeared as fast as it appeared. “Is everything alright with you two? I mean, you seemed like buddies in the beginning, but now it seems like you’ve been avoiding each other.”
“It’s just personal things, you know? I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“Ok. Well, word to the wise,” Simon leaned closer to me, so he could whisper into my ear. “Men like Hudson? They only want one thing from pretty young things like you. It might be better for you to stay away from him. And focus on more important things,” he reached out and ran a finger down my arm. I thought I was going to wretch. “More important things… like grown men. Who can offer you opportunities beyond your wildest dreams.”
Oh, you have got to be kidding me with this. Is every man around me an ass? I shook my head, wanting to say more, but knowing that it was best to keep it to myself. “Alright, then. I have a few more things I need to take care of, Simon, so I am going to get on it. If you need me, just call me
, ok?”
“Sure thing.”
As I walked away from him, he yelled out to the set, “Alright, places! Places, everyone!”
I walked away from the commotion and into a small, makeshift office that was the size of a utility room. I closed the door behind me and sat down at the desk. At first, when Hudson hadn’t been around to talk to, it had been hard for me. It was hard to get used to not seeing him as much as I had been, but I couldn’t take the pain. The more I thought about it though, the more it didn’t make sense to me. Why would he just all of a sudden flip on me? I couldn’t put everything together, but right now, it just didn’t make sense. And after the crap Simon just said… something was weird. I had a sneaking suspicious whatever Hudson wasn’t telling me, he wasn’t telling me a good reason.
Jade told me that I was trying to subconsciously give him a way out because I liked him so much, but I didn’t think that was it. I opened my laptop to send him the call sheet that Simon wanted me to. I pulled up his email address and started to type but I was halfway through the message before I deleted everything. I had to say what was on my mind.
Hudson,
I don’t know what went wrong. I don’t know what changed between us, but I do think that you should have the chance to explain yourself to me. Maybe you couldn’t do it while you were here on set and I realize that I may have put you in an awkward position. So, I am willing to give you a chance to tell me the truth. All of it. But I won’t stand for any more lies, or half-truths. This is your last chance, so please use it wisely. Let me know…
Chloe
I reread the message what seemed like a thousand times, erasing things and adding to them just to make it sound better. After I was satisfied, I sent the email to Hudson. I looked at my watch. It was 2:49 pm and it was just about time for me to pick up the last of the sides.
