Forever in Hollywood Read online

  My mouth made a popping sound as it flew open. Wait! I know exactly what happened, and no part of last night included vomit. Andrew raised one eyebrow, daring me to contradict him. I couldn’t believe he was playing with me like this. What should I say… No, I did not. We had sex, remember? It would be funny to see his friend’s reaction, but not the best option. Instead I opted for the ashamed, grimace look.

  He smiled knowing he had won this round. I’d have to find a way to pay him back for this horrendous teasing.

  “So did you have fun before you had to leave?” John interrupted.

  “Yes, the band was really good. Next time I’ll remember not to go shot-for-shot with you guys though.” I decided it might be in my best interest to go along with Andrew’s version of my night.

  Andrew turned to John. “Hey man, can you give us a minute?”

  “O-kay, sure man.” He was confused but complied and walked off.

  “They didn’t see much. I know you were worried.”

  “Much?” I picked up on his little slip.

  “Yeah, well…” He ran his fingers through his hair, and it brought on flashbacks of last night, his forehead decorated with moist curls that hung into his eyes. I wanted my hand in his hair again, pulling his thick mop out of his face and looking up to see those bright green eyes staring into mine. I rubbed my hands together to extinguish the awareness that I could almost feel him in my hands again. “They did see us. But they don’t think anything of it. I told them not to bring it up, that you were so drunk you probably didn’t remember. As far as they know, you passed out in the cab, and like a gentleman, I carried you to bed. Okay?”

  “So it’s not so bad then. Right? Other than the fact your friends now think I can’t hold my liquor.”

  “No.” He smiled at me. “Not that bad, they won’t bring it up to anyone. They like you and are concerned about your wellbeing. Let’s get to the morning briefing.” We walked in together, and I sat at the front left of the room with the rest of his cast mates.

  They greeted me with happy smiles and teasing drunken remarks.

  I sat next to Anne, but I caught something in the corner of her eye. A sparkle, a questioning glance maybe, and I instantly regretted sitting there. She accepted my apology for leaving abruptly but continued to peep at me making me uncomfortable.

  ****

  The day moved in slow motion. I didn’t have any lines today, but I was still required to be on-set, in full corset and bustle, simply so I could be seen in the background. Bored, I wandered to the special effects guys to pass the time away again.

  “You really like all the blood and gore, don’t you?” Andrew asked as I applied a bloody scar over his eye via a ketchup bottle applicator.

  “Shh, don’t move or I’ll mess this up, and they won’t let me help any more.”

  He grabbed my arm to stop me. “Marissa.” The tone in his voice was rousing. I held my breath, knowing I could get lost looking into his intense green eyes, even if there was a drop of crimson inching its way down his eyebrow. “I need to come by tonight, right after we wrap for the day.”

  I nodded and continued to methodically apply the effects blood. He seemed content and held still for me to finish. My nerves were another story, almost like they became a live wire. I could barely hold my hand steady enough to finish.

  ****

  Los Angeles traffic be damned, I made it back to my hotel in record time. I needed a moment to compose myself after a long day at work, maybe freshen up a little.

  Hopping out of the shower, I was crushed to find I’d missed a call from Andrew. The cryptic voice mail he left stated an unforeseen emergency had come up.

  My heart sank and doubt washed over me. I felt absurdly rejected and used. Had he really played me for a fool? Would I ever learn my lesson with bad boys? Of course he would, it must have been a fun challenge to seduce the woman going through a divorce. I was mortified at how easily he’d succeeded.

  A bang on the door interrupted my personal reprimanding. When I opened the door, Andrew leaned down and placed a hard kiss on my lips. Breathless, I gawked up at him.

  “I just had to have one more kiss. I couldn’t stand another instant without one.” He rushed the words. “But I really must run now.” Before I could collect my thoughts enough to get a word out of my mouth, he gave my bottom a playful smack and jogged away.

  Tomorrow was my big romantic scene, I needed to go over my sides, but all I could think about all night was our kiss. Never in my life had anyone taken my breath away with a kiss.

  I used the passion I felt in Andrew’s kiss to drive the scene between Billy and myself. Focusing on him kept any nervousness at bay while the cameras were rolling. It made me feel euphoric to sail through the scene.

  While browsing the craft table for a snack, I thought I felt someone slap my bottom, but several layers of petticoats made me second-guess myself. I snapped my head around, ready to scold the offender when I saw Andrew strolling on stage in his red officer’s uniform. He turned and gave me a wink that made my body quiver.

  There was a surprise waiting for me in my dressing trailer at the end of the day. Sitting on the built-in counter was a bird of paradise flower and a yellow sticky note that read ‘Going to miss you tomorrow but will stop by after work.’ It was signed with a scrawled A.

  I felt like I was living a dream, this was far too romantic for reality. Was he a figment of my imagination? I didn’t care, I decided to live in the moment and chase my dream so I tucked the exotic orange flower in my hair and left.

  ****

  Sure enough, it wasn’t twenty minutes after I got back to the hotel on Thursday when Andrew arrived at my door. I swung the door open and at the same time, my stomach growled. He shook his head and laughed. “Eat yet?” I thrilled at his sexy English accent.

  “No I was just looking up places that deliver, do you want something?”

  “Well, I don’t know. What’s around here?”

  “Pizza?” Los Angeles lacked good restaurants, delivery options were limited to chain pizza, Chinese, and Thai. I missed Boston restaurants.

  “Sure, order up!” He invited himself in and sat on the padded chair across from my laptop.

  “What do you like on yours? I’m down for anything but fruits and veggies.” He gave me a look that told me to explain. “Pizza is junk food. One should not try to pretend to make it healthy.”

  “You are very odd—has anyone ever told you that?” He smiled warmly and rose from the chair. “Cheese then?”

  Did this man have an attention disorder? He sauntered through my tiny hotel room picking up the odd bits and pieces of my travel items and placing them back on the table.

  “Perfect.” I flipped open my phone and dialed the number to the pizza chain. The operator thanked me and told me I would be eating in twenty minutes or less. I relayed that to Andrew.

  “I hope you don’t mind…” I tried to interrupt his perusing of my things. He was now disorganizing my makeup case, which I minded. He dropped the eye shadow brush in the bag, not in its case.

  My hand twitched wanting to retrieve it and place it back in the case before the bristles permanently bent out of place. “But I’ve got to catch up on some emails and phone calls to home before I have an angry mob of friends and family after me.” There was also an email from Dan I needed to address that was titled “Divorce papers” but that one would have to wait until Andrew was away. Next, Andrew turned his attention to the book on my nightstand.

  Let him read my trashy novel. Then maybe he will stop being nosy. Maybe I should have left out a box of tampons. Men are always frightened when they see those. I made a mental note to add one to my makeup case in the off chance he decided to rummage through it again.

  “Not a problem. Will you be very long?” Andrew leaned back over my pillow and flipped on the television with the remote. This was the same spot and position he was laying in when we first woke up next to each other.

  I smiled
at the memory. “I’ll be done by the time the food arrives.” I flipped through my emails writing a quick “hello, things are going great, lots of fun, did a little sightseeing, Hollywood is dirty, the cast is great” email with a few variations to the details to each person.

  Andrew answered the door before I could get to it and finished the transaction with the pizza delivery boy.

  “You know I haven’t forgotten the story you told everyone, about me vomiting on your shoe the other night. You should be nicer to me for going along with it.”

  “Ha,” he snorted. “I don’t see how paying for a pie is unkind. Besides, weren’t you going to call me a liar and let them question why I was lying?”

  I grimaced. He was right. He set the box on the table next to my computer and handed me a slice on a napkin. “Well, I lied, I’m not yet done with this barrage of emails. It’s insane how many people who never keep in touch all of a sudden want to be your best friend when word gets around you’re in a movie.”

  I typed through dinner, and Andrew displayed complete patience. I was about to shut down the computer when a new email alert popped up. When I clicked back into my inbox I was surprised but excited to see it was from my old friend Jocelyn. My elation only lasted a few seconds. Once I started to read her distressing email, tears welled up in my eyes. Involuntarily, I screamed out loud and flung the computer across the table. It knocked the pizza box onto the floor. The chair I was sitting in hit the back wall with a thud as I jumped to my feet.

  Andrew flung his hands out to catch the computer before it also landed on the floor. Not even the shocked look on his face could temper my outburst

  “No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening! How could this have happened?” I rubbed my face ferociously hoping to dispel the email from my head. As I tried to force the tears back, breathing became difficult to the point I began to hyperventilate.

  Andrew was at my side. “What is it, what’s going on? You look rather off color.” He pushed me to sit on the side of the bed. My head was spinning, and the breaths were sharp, cutting my lungs like glass.

  “He hurt her,” I choked out. Then the tears rolled down my face. I couldn’t stop them. Andrew took my face in his hands.

  “Stop, tell me what’s going on,” he pleaded. I tried to pace my breathing so I could explain.

  “My friend, someone I have known since elementary school sent me the worst email.” I bit my lip holding back tears that were pushing their way out. “Her husband put her in the hospital, she did not give me details. She said she’s hiding out at her parents’ house but didn’t tell them he did this to her. God, I tried to get her to leave him years ago, I knew something like this would happen,” I wailed. “I’ll kill the bastard!”

  “Bloody hell. Why did she tell you if she can’t even tell her parents? How are you supposed to help her?”

  “Because I was in that situation before and I escaped. She wants my advice on what to do.”

  His eyes were pained and confused. I had given him far too much information to absorb, I wondered how he would react if he knew the whole story.

  “Someone hurt you?” he rasped. His head moved down searching the carpet for answers.

  “I was young, and he was reckless. He had me convinced if I left him he would hurt himself. I didn’t want blood on my hands, so I stayed far too long. When I finally worked up the courage to break it off for good, he still wouldn’t let go. He showed up at my house, my work, even when I was out with friends.” Rehashing these memories was hard. Knowing Jocelyn didn’t have the strength to get out before she was seriously injured was even harder. My lip quivered as my past came to life again in my mind.

  “I would have given him a beating.” The muscles in Andrew’s forearm flexed as he balled his fists in a test of strength.

  His attempt at chivalry made me blush. “I eventually filed a restraining order when he broke into my dorm after a date dropped me off.”

  “Good for you.”

  “Yeah, well it didn’t stop him, it took moving and changing my phone number before he went away. Can’t find me, can’t stalk me. She’s coming out here.”

  “She is—when?” Andrew’s eyebrows shot up. My erratic behavior startled him, first I was crying and blubbering like a fool, now I was determined. Nothing was going to stop me.

  If Jocelyn was hiding out at her parents, she had to understand the gravity of the situation now. It looked like her husband, my ex, Raymond, was trying to test the theory that his family was powerful enough to get away with murder.

  “As soon as I tell her and get her on a plane,”

  “What? She’s married, how are you going to manage this?” Andrew eyed me with suspicion.

  “Minor details. We’ll figure that out after I get her away from him. If he can’t find her, he can’t hurt her.”

  “Marissa, she needs to call the police and let them take care of things. She can’t run and hide and expect it to go away. This is what the police are for, love.”

  “The police won’t touch him,” I said.

  “No one is that above the law.”

  “His family has been in politics for ages. They are very powerful, trust me. When he…when I filed a restraining order against him, he ignored it. The only way to get away from him is to hide until he finds someone else.”

  “What do you mean? You filed a petition against her husband for what?”

  I picked at my nails not wanting to answer. “I dated him before her. Some part of me thinks he started dating her in an attempt to locate me, but I don’t really know. At the time she was so head over heels for him, I couldn’t get her to listen to me. I never thought he’d get this bad, though.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  She’d just sent the email, which means she had to still be there. I got up and thumbed through the numbers in my cell hoping I still had her parents’ number programmed into it. The breath I’d been holding escaped, and I quickly hit send before hashing out my plan of attack. Andrew kept an eye on me, most likely wondering if I’d lost my mind.

  Someone picked up on the second ring. It was Jocelyn’s mom. She hesitated when I asked if I could speak with her.

  “Mrs. Trailman, I really need to speak with her. Is she there?”

  “Yes, let me go get her, she can’t talk long though. She took a nasty fall down a flight of stairs and needs to rest.” She spoke in almost a whisper.

  My stomach twisted into knots. What kind of monster would hurt her so bad she would have to use the excuse she fell down a flight of stairs?

  “Hello?” Jocelyn’s voice sounded feeble and raspy.

  “Jocelyn, what the hell happened? You cannot send me an email like that and not explain!” I screeched.

  “I really can’t talk about it right now.”

  “Where is the bastard?”

  “He’s away on business and can’t be reached.”

  “Where is he really?”

  “Probably out drinking with his friends, I’m staying at my parents for a few days. When he gets back, he’s gonna come pick me up and take me home.”

  “What, is he ashamed of what he did, or is he hiding out so he doesn’t have to be responsible for taking care of you while you need help?” I hissed. “Jocelyn, you can’t let him back in your life! Whatever he did to you is not going to stop, you know this! It’s only going to get worse.”

  Sobs echoed into the phone. She was aware. “He’s not that bad really, I can live with it. If I tried to leave again he might—” Her voice was a soft whisper between sobs.

  I froze panicked; this was my worst nightmare. I wanted to scream and claw the memory out of my brain. Most of all I wanted him dead more. He kept her in so much fear—no one with such a pure heart like Jocelyn ever deserved such treatment.

  “Again? Is this why he hurt you? Did you try to leave him?” Then I remembered the second part of what she said. He’s not that bad. “Are you insane? Not that bad? He put you in the hospital because you tried to leave h
im! Not that bad?”

  “Yes, I told him I wanted a break, and he went crazy. I’d never seen him so mad. That’s when he…when I fell down the stairs.”

  “Jesus!” I felt sick. “Well you’re on the right track, you want to leave him! I’m so sorry Jocelyn, I never thought he would get that bad. I should have never left you.”

  “No, I should have believed you when you told me to stay away from him, and I’m sorry for that.”

  Tears pooled in my eyes again. I’d told her I was leaving school and moving because I was scared of him, he wouldn’t stop harassing me even with a restraining order and a new girlfriend. At the time she was so enamored with love for Raymond that she refused to believe he could do any wrong.

  For months I lived in fear that he would find me, in the grocery store, or walking to class at my new college. When the police refused to believe me, I closed myself off to everyone. Then Dan showed up, and rescued me. I looked at Andrew, who was gently stroking hair across my back, and felt ashamed.

  “He’s gotten worse since you were here, Mari.” She sounded like a helpless child. “He actually spent a night in jail.”

  “Jail—what for?” My already-distressed aura crumpled further. What could he possibly have done that the prince of our hometown would actually spend the night in jail?

  “I don’t want to talk about it over the phone.”

  “Jocelyn, you can’t let him take you home! You have to stay far away from him. Come live with me, it’s perfect. He’ll never be able to hurt you again.”

  “In Boston? He’d never let me leave.” The sound of her voice was broken and defeated.

  “He won’t know! You said he was coming to get you in a few days. I’ll fly you out to me tonight. I’m shooting a movie right now in Los Angeles, so I won’t even be home for several weeks.” It was perfect. “Even if he does get an idea where you are, we’ll be gone again before he tracks you down. Jocelyn, you have to come! You have to escape. I’ll help you get back on your feet. We can be roomies.”