Four Reasons to Come

by Sarah J. Brooks

  “You have about five minutes to get ready; we will talk after the show,” she said firmly.

  I hustled through the makeup chair and into my wardrobe and landed on the stage exactly on time, to the surprise of everyone else around me. I suspected they had been preparing to have a delay. I had sent a text to both Cat and Dale telling them I might be a few minutes late.

  The show flew by, and I even had a few minutes to chat with Cat during intermission. She was a good friend, although she really didn’t understand the sort of chaos that a terrible story like the one that guy was trying to write could do to a career. When we finished our final curtain call, I quickly started changing so I could get to Angelina’s hotel and see how she was doing.

  “Dean, we need to talk,” I heard Bella say from the hallway.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I heard that Angelina got hurt. There’s a rumor that you hit her, I know it’s not true. I’m just here to help. I flew in with her manager Jeremy; he was concerned too.”

  “Oh, come on. Did he think I did it too? How is it that you two heard this all the way in Los Angeles when it only happened a few hours ago?”

  “Apparently, her mom posted a cryptic tweet and people are drawing their own conclusions.”

  “That little …” I started to say something horrible and then held it back. “All her mother wants is publicity; she doesn’t even care about what’s going on. It’s just about the story.”

  “Dean I support you, and if you don’t want to post publicly, I get it, but I need to put a statement out there. I need to put something official out.”

  “Can you give me until the morning?” I asked as I ran my fingers through my hair.

  I had to talk with Angelina. Our lives were crazy, and it was stupid that after two dates we were going to have to post some sort of public comment about our relationship. In no other situation would two people have to make such big decisions when they hardly knew each other.

  As Bella and I finished up, I went to leave out the back door, but she stopped me. Her hand held on tight to my arm, and she shook her head no.

  “I’ve got to get to the hotel; I promised Angelina I’d check in on her.”

  “Will you let me help you please, Dean? This is my job, trust me.”

  I did trust her, and within five minutes she had a stage hand leading me through some weird underground tunnel that led to the building across the street. All I could think about was why no one else in the theater had told me about the tunnel before. But I figured they probably liked that I went out the back entrance and took the time to talk with fans on most of the nights.

  Fans were some of my favorite people to talk with; I really did enjoy my interactions with them. It was the paparazzi that I hated. The paparazzi were always trying to angle a story or make up something that was totally false. Those were the people I wanted to avoid. Unfortunately, where there were fans, there were also paparazzi; they just seemed to follow each other.

  I arrived at Angelina’s room and found it was filled with people. Not only were Luke and Abigail there, but her agent and his assistants, as well as her mother and a couple of other people that I didn’t know.

  “Look who’s here,” Angelina said with a big smile.

  “You look like you’re feeling better.”

  “Perfect, I feel perfect.” She gave me a big and fake hug. “Okay, everyone, that was the deal. I spend time with you, and you all promised to leave when Dean got here. Let’s go, let’s go, hustle people,” she said as she started pushing people toward the door.

  “What’s going on here?” I asked.

  “Talk to you tomorrow Dean,” Luke said as he and Abigail left together.

  “It was nice meeting you Dean,” her agent said as he kissed Angelina on the cheek. “Tomorrow we will go over this some more. Get some sleep you two.” He winked at me.

  “You are pretty good at clearing out a room.” I laughed as the door shut behind her mother.

  “I’ve learned over the years that I need to give people something if I want something in return. I wanted my night alone with you. Sorry if I ruined your movie watching plan.”

  “Heck no. I was just saying that because I thought you wanted to spend time with your sister. Are you tired? Do you want to get some sleep?”

  “I do want to go to bed,” she said seductively.

  Her fingers started to unbutton her silk blouse, and I instantly became aroused. I thought I was going to be taking care of her and helping her feel better, but apparently, she was feeling just fine.

  “Didn’t the doctor tell you to rest?”

  “Yes, so let’s get going.” She smiled and reached for my shirt.

  I gently kissed my lips to hers and felt the rough skin around her cut. It was held together with some sort of invisible glue like substance, and I felt horrible for what she had gone through.

  “You never told me what exactly happened to your lip,” I said as I started to kiss down her neck and explore her body.

  “My sister and I staged a fight for the cameras. We were trying to give them enough footage so we could take you out dancing tonight.”

  “Oh, man … I was going to get to dance with the two of you,” I joked.

  “Yep, but seeing how Luke seems to be in love, I’m sort of glad things worked out the way they did. The two of them hit it off really good. Luke seems like a nice guy.”

  “He is. We have been friends since I moved to New York. He’s in my investment club,” I said between kisses to her body.

  Angelina held her hand out and pressed on my head until I looked up at her. She raised her eyebrow and stood there waiting for me to offer some sort of explanation why I was in an investment club.

  “Don’t you have someone to manage your money?”

  “Nope, I’m doing it myself. I lost a lot of money when I didn’t pay attention to the details; I’m not going to let that happen again. I know it probably seems dumb, but I actually really like learning about investing. Plus, I like knowing where all my money is.”

  “It’s not dumb at all. It’s really smart; I’d love to learn more about investing. I really have no idea where any of my money is.”

  Slowly I stood up and pulled her toward me as my lips slid over her nipple and up to her neck again. The feeling of her skin under my fingers was better than the silk fabric of her shirt. The energy between us electrified my body and drove me to want her right there and then.

  “I’m going to stop talking now,” she whispered as I pulled her onto the bed with me.

  Our bodies fit together perfectly. We didn’t seem to have that awkward issue that normally happened when you were getting to know someone sexually. The two of us just worked flawlessly together.

  My lips would move one place; her hands would move to another place. It was like a beautiful sexual symphony as we made love. My thrust brought her to a musical climax that eventually resulted in the neighbors banging on the wall and calling for silence in our room. We curled up in each other’s arms and pulled the covers up to our chins as we drifted off to sleep. It was as if I had known her for years and not just days.

  There was a pang of guilt that we hadn’t talked about the social media issues and publicity, though. I knew I needed to talk with my agent in the morning, and we were going to have to put a statement out. Perhaps her agent had already told her about the horrible lies that were floating around? Or maybe I’d have to break the news to her in the morning? It didn’t matter, though, for that moment we were happy right there in bed together. Our arms wrapped around each other, our breaths in perfect time together and our whole future waiting for us to move forward together.

  Chapter 12

  Angelina

  “Let’s leave our phones in my trailer for the day,” I said to Dean as he sat next to me while I had my hair and makeup done for filming.

  “Sure, I’m not nearly as connected as you are. I bet it will be easier on me than you.”

  �
��Girl, you are going to go into phone withdrawals,” Niall said as he did my makeup.

  “I’m not that addicted,” I protested. “Really, look, I can put it down right now.” I set my phone on the counter and did my best not to look at it.

  Both Dean and Niall eyed me skeptically as the notifications from my phone made it buzz on the counter. Dean’s smile made it nearly impossible not to smile back at him. I knew exactly what he was thinking; he didn’t think I could do without my phone. I could, though. I had done it before, and I wasn’t afraid to do it again.

  “I’ve closed the set to all media thanks to you two,” Gene said as he stood in the doorway.

  He was smiling, though, not at all the expression I expected after the chaos that I had caused the day before. Plus, it was still up in the air if Niall was going to be able to cover up my lip and the bruise that was starting to form around where my face had hit the ground.

  “Gene, it’s nice to see you again,” Dean said as he stood up and shook hands with the man. “I hear you are signed on for the next Marvel movie.”

  “Yep, it’s going to be epic. We still have a lot of casting to do and all the pre-production funding, but it’s in the beginning stages, so that’s a start, I guess. I’ve heard they are trying to extend your time on Broadway for another year. That’s pretty epic too.”

  The two men seemed to be trying to compliment each other to death as they continued talking back and forth for at least twenty minutes. I tuned them out and focused on what Niall was doing with my face. He had an ultra cover-up that he used first and then a matte concealer over the top. I couldn’t even tell my lip had been cut; in fact, it looked more like I had lip injections. I sort of liked the plumper lip look I had going on.

  “Normally for a closed set I wouldn’t allow visitors, but I think we can make an exception for you Dean,” Gene said as the men shook hands one last time. “I’ll see you out there Angie.”

  I hated when he called me Angie. It was a nickname someone gave to a person they knew nothing about. It wasn’t what I liked to be called, and all my friends knew it, but I was happy to see that Gene was in a good mood, so I could look past my nickname for the time being.

  “That was quite the bromance you two had going on there,” I joked.

  “He’s big in the movie industry, and I’m dying to get a film role again. You know how it is; you’ve got to play the game.”

  “I know that’s how it is in the reality world; I was hoping it was a little easier in the movie industry. Unfortunately, I think it’s much harder in this industry.”

  “You nabbed this role, that’s a start,” Dean said enthusiastically.

  “I know, but I’m bringing a few million loyal followers, and it’s a teen film. I’d like to get a real role. Something that other actresses want; something that wasn’t just placed in my lap. You know I’m pretty sure my mother is funding half of this movie. I really hope it doesn’t flop.”

  My mother didn’t realize that I knew she had a production company formed so she could help fund this movie. I did know, though, and it was killing me. I didn’t want her to lose a bunch of money, and although I had a lot of fans on social media, I wasn’t one hundred percent sure that was going to translate to ticket sales. Of course, everyone else thought it would, but you just didn’t know until a movie was released.

  “How about you go kick ass at the scenes today, and we can talk about all this nonsense later,” Dean said. “I’m going to stay for the day if you don’t mind?”

  “Yeah, that would be awesome.”

  “Just let me talk to her for a minute,” I heard Jeremy screaming from outside the trailer.

  “Oh, God,” I rolled my eyes. He was definitely going to cause a scene if he didn’t get to talk to me. “I’ll go talk to him really quick.”

  “I meant to tell you, my agent said there were some stories going around that I was the one that hit you. It’s ridiculous.”

  “Oh, my God, people need to get a life. Seriously, you weren’t even here, and the whole thing was caught on tape with my sister.”

  I stormed out of the room and right over to Jeremy. He didn’t look happy that I left him on the other side of the gate and didn’t ask the guards to let him in. But I was over everything. I just wanted to finish filming in peace and then take some time off. I had told him before that I didn’t want to post everything on social media, and this was no different.

  “Like I said before, I’m taking a break,” I said firmly.

  “No, you absolutely need to post to your social media. Your fans are freaking out. They think you’re in some sort of abusive relationship with Dean. You have to tell them the truth.”

  “I don’t have to do anything. This is how people get wrapped up in everything I’m doing, and I don’t think it’s necessary any longer. Of course, Dean didn’t hit me; he wasn’t even here. There isn’t going to be anyone that says it happened; it’s just a bunch of speculation. Now let me finish filming.”

  “Angelina, this isn’t like the dating rumors. This is big. People are talking all over the place; you need to address them. How do you expect to use Dean to build your movie career if you aren’t even going to post about him online.”

  “Use me?” Dean said from behind me.

  “No, those are his words and not mine!” I yelled as I pointed to Jeremy. “I’m sick of all these manipulations, Jeremy. I like Dean. He’s a nice man, and I want to get to know him. I’m not posting about it; I’m not taking photos, and I’m not putting out statements. I’m going to spend a couple of weeks living my life. If you can’t handle it, then I suggest you let me go and you can find a new client to pay your bills. Now I’m going to work; I’ll call you when I need you,” I yelled and stormed off toward the set.

  “Wow,” Dean sighed as he walked with me.

  “I’m sorry about that. He only thinks about my career and not what is actually coming out of his mouth. He didn’t mean to use you.”

  “It’s alright; I’ve got an equally vicious agent. I get it. If you think about it, dating me could help you build a different following. I understand what he’s saying.”

  “You’re way too nice of a man; you know I think I might just want to keep you around,” I said as I wrapped my arms around him, and he pulled me into an embrace.

  “I’d love to be a kept man,” he said before his lips pressed gently against mine.

  He was soft and took special care to kiss around my injury. His hands held onto my hips, and I felt his body harden against me as our tongues wrapped together.

  “Angie, can we get some work done please?” Gene yelled from the set where he and Matthew were standing.

  “On my way.” I smiled shyly. “You know that man isn’t this nice normally, right?”

  “Yep, I guess I still have a little pull in this industry after all. I was pretty sure my value was totally gone by now.”

  “What? You’re valuable!” I grabbed him and looked Dean right in the eyes. “People look up to you, Dean. Young boys want to be like you; hell, even old men want to be like you.”

  A smile flashed across his face, and I felt the eyes of Gene and Matthew on us while we talked, but I didn’t care.. How was it even possible that Dean Morrison didn’t know how much people loved him?

  “Get to work,” he teased and pushed me toward the set. “You can give me more compliments when you have a break.”

  I spun around and gave him one last quick kiss and then hurried off to the set. It was surprisingly easy to act with Dean around, and I even went over to talk to him a couple of times and hear his tips.

  “When you do that again, make sure you are looking at the bridge of his nose. If you keep looking at one eye and then the other, it looks odd on film.”

  “Why hasn’t the director ever told me that?”

  “He probably won’t notice it until post-production. Then he’ll be cutting out all your close ups, and we can’t have him doing that.”

  I did as he said, an
d sure enough, it was much easier to keep my eyes steady. I had so much to learn in acting; it was a blessing to have Dean there. For a moment, I let myself think about what life could be like with him around all the time. Of course, he wasn’t going to follow me to the set of my movies all the time just to give me tips, but I liked the idea of having a man around who knew the business so well. It was nice to think of all the long business discussions we could have and tips he could give me, and maybe I could even give him a tip or two.

  When lunch break came around, it was a blast to sit and talk with Dean alone in my trailer. We talked about all the other actors and actresses in the movie, the director, we even talked about what it would be like if Dean was my co-star.

  “They wouldn’t cast me as your co-star; I’m too ugly to be next to you on screen,” he joked.

  “I think you’d make a great love interest for me,” I teased as we snuggled together on the couch.

  “Oh, the press would say I was too old; I’m sure the fans would too. By the way, we should talk about the press. Are you okay with not making a statement? It’s perfectly fine with me if you want to post on your pages or whatever it is you do with all those selfies you take.”

  He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed it gently. I loved that he was trying to make an effort in my world, but I really did feel like I wanted to take a break from it all. I needed to see what my life was like if I wasn’t posting photos and updates constantly.

  “We do need to do a post or two for Instamatch, but other than those, I’m taking a break.”

  “For real? An actually social media break? Is your mother going to be alright with this?” Dean laughed.

  “I’m an adult! Seriously, I don’t know why I care so much what she says. She’s not even my agent anymore. But I still want her to be happy and proud of me.”

  “We all love our moms.”

  “Do you think we should say something? I’m sure the stories are horrible right now. Let’s look and see,” I said as I started to type into my phone.