Better Than Fiction

by Bet Milner

  Once she was happy she didn't look a complete mess or smell like she pulled an all-nighter, she grabbed the keys to the mustang and drove off to Le Fleurs. Her heart was banging the whole journey and she knew this was not a reaction she should be having to going to meet a friend and drive them to the airport. "Shit. Shit. Shit!" She muttered as she pulled up and parked out front. She had to get it together. She pulled out her phone and text Julia. I'm here. Where shall I meet you?

  Her phone buzzed immediately.

  I'm in the penthouse under the name Carrie Mehome

  Danni chuckled.

  Be right up.

  The receptionist called up to the room not quite believing Danni but her face soon softened into a smile once she'd been given the okay to send her on up. Danni took the elevator to the top and knocked gently on the door.

  "Hey, come on in!" Julia beamed and hugged the blonde in a warm embrace. Danni entered the suite awkwardly and stood there. "Do you want coffee? There's a fresh pot and a ridiculous selection of breakfast pastries! Honestly, I don't know what possesses hotels to serve this amount of food to us celebs!" She winked. "Most of us don't eat!"

  Danni chuckled again. Julia was so entertaining. "Yeah I'll have a coffee if you don't mind." She took the brew gratefully and sipped it. "So carry me home as in, All the Small Things?"

  Julia threw her head back in fits of giggles. "Exactly! I use songs as pseudonyms depending on what mood I´m in. It´s silly, I know. I use that one whenever I'm pissed about having to stay somewhere I don't want to."

  Danni smiled lightly. Julia guessed what she must have heard and continued.

  "Obviously that was before I knew you'd be here. I usually go by Wanda Rinstar. So you know for next time. She winked."

  Danni grinned. "That's Portishead! I love that song!"

  Julia sipped on her coffee and took a big bite of one of the croissants, letting the crumbs fall around her mouth. "I friggin' love these! Wanna bite?"

  She offered her pastry to Danni. The blonde shook her head. "It’s got your celebrity cooties all over it! Wouldn't wanna catch those!" Damn she was on form this morning!

  Julia laughed. "Yeah you're probably right. I hear those particular kind of cooties can be hard to shake off."

  The pair grinned and Julia took another pastry with a napkin and handed it to Danni. "Cooties or not, you're helping me eat some of this! I hate to see good food go to waste."

  "Thanks. I'm the same. So the not eating thing? Is that true?"

  "Not for me! I love my food but I'm allergic to exercise so I have to be careful not to overdo it. I can eat well though." Julia looked longingly at the other pastries on the table.

  "Yeah you have nothing to worry about. You have a smokin' hot body." Danni swore internally.

  Julia felt a blush creep up her neck. It wasn't the first time someone had said that to her but when Danni said it, for some reason it made her feel funny.

  "You're sweet but no! I wouldn't mind bigger boobs." She grabbed them and pushed them together.

  'Oh sweet Lord don't do this to me! Don't look!' Danni was trying to contain herself as the woman grabbed her own tits and pushed them up. She felt her stomach tingle and her mouth go dry. "They're the perfect size." 'Shit I just said that out loud!'

  Julia pursed her lips together. "Sorry." She grinned sheepishly. "I guess we all have some hang ups."

  Danni looked at the time on her phone. "What time do you need to check in?"

  "Probably now." Julia rolled her eyes disinterestedly.

  "Let's get going then." Danni saw her guitar case and grabbed it.

  Julia sighed dramatically and grabbed her small travel case. They took the elevator down to the lobby and Julia signed out while Danni waited for her. "Thanks for this Danni. Wow! Is that your car?"

  Danni grinned. "Nope. It's Reese's. I just took advantage of the fact she was half asleep and made her lend it to me!"

  Julia shot her a concerned look. "I hope you aren't getting yourself in trouble for my cause."

  Danni shook her head. "Naa, not for this anyways." 'Fuck Rose! What is wrong with you?' "I mean... I'll be in bigger trouble for waking her up so early." She thought she'd recovered quite smoothly.

  Julia got in the passenger side feeling nervous for some reason. What was wrong with her today? "So what are your plans for the rest of the week?"

  Danni shrugged. "Not much I guess. I was thinking about contacting a couple of different places to book some acoustic sets. What about you?"

  Julia glared straight ahead with a murderous look on her face. "Well now Brent has decided to stay in L.A. for another week, I suppose I'll catch up on my script."

  Danni's heart ached for the woman. He was an ass and she deserved better than what she was getting. Even if the woman said she was good with their arrangement, she could clearly see how frustrated the star was. She couldn´t understand how he could not want to spend every free moment he had with the goddess. She wanted to tell Julia to get rid of him but she knew she was in no position to be giving advice on that subject. She stayed silent and concentrated on the road.

  "Sorry, I didn't mean to be all negative. I just get so angry sometimes."

  "Don't apologize. That's not why I didn't say anything. I was just thinking."

  "About what?" Julia turned her head to look at the blonde. She really wanted to know what was going on in her mind. So badly, she could feel the vein in her neck throbbing.

  "About how men are all jerks." That's the only thing she could say without giving anything else away.

  Julia laughed. "Here, here!"

  Danni laughed now. It was just so easy to forget her problems when she heard that delightful sound. Julia had the most infectious laugh.

  They arrived at the airport and Danni took Julia's case from the trunk and placed it down gently on the side walk. She fumbled with the keys in her hand. "So, do you want me to come in with you? Make sure there's no delay or anything?"

  "Would you?"

  They smiled at each other for a while. Julia really, really enjoyed her time with Danni and she didn't want it to end. Danni went to grab the case but Julia batted her hand away. "Back off! I'm not some pampered princess! I can carry my own bag thank you!" She was only messing around but she must have laid on the acting a bit too thick.

  "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to..."

  "Oh relax Danni! I was just kidding around, but seriously. I don't want you thinking out friendship means you have to do things for me that I can do by myself."

  Danni gulped imagining all the things she'd willingly do for the woman that she could and probably did do for herself. Regularly if what she'd said last night were true. She shook the image from her mind. "Yeah, sorry again. I guess I'm just like that though. I like doing things for everyone. I don't even think about it mostly."

  There was no delay on her flight and Julia felt a tad disappointed by that. She had secretly hoped all flights were still grounded just so she could justify staying another day. She checked in and then went to where Danni was standing.

  She smiled and gave the blonde a hug and a peck on the cheek which surprised even herself. She didn't ever kiss people's cheeks and she blushed. "Thanks for keeping me company Danni. I have had a wonderful time and I really, genuinely hope we can meet up again soon. Schedules permitting, of course."

  Danni was in shock. "Me too Julia. Have a safe trip. Err, call me when you're home safe."

  Julia smirked. Nobody had asked her to do that since she was at college and it made her feel cared for. "I will."

  Julia arrived back to her empty apartment a few hours later and started unpacking. She was not happy at all with the way Brent had made her feel so unwanted and unimportant. A part of her wanted to go out and find the first person she could get her hands on just so she didn't have to be alone. She wanted to show him she was desirable and deserved more than just a sham marriage.

  She didn't go through with it though as she knew it was petty and if she was honest,
she couldn't stand the idea of being intimate with someone she didn't know. It had been almost four months now since they were last together physically. It had gotten to the point where she just accepted that and whenever they did actually meet up, it was a big fuss over nothing, but she craved intimacy so badly and her body was crying out to feel the touch of another.

  It would be so easy to call Garth. She'd turned him down many a time but there was just no chemistry there for her. Their on screen romance was purely that on her behalf. It made her skin crawl just thinking about being with him. She didn't see the attraction and she honestly thought it was because she only had eyes for Brent.

  When they'd met, she hadn't really found him attractive but over time, working together so closely and the familiarity between them had slowly turned into something else.

  They had never been shy about their off screen romance in front of the media and in a way, Julia knew that was partly to blame for their rush to get married. Neither of them were particularly ready to do so and had said that if it were to happen, it would be a private affair. That, of course, was not what happened and ever since, that had been trying to live up to the ideal romance they had played so well on screen.

  That's why Julia was weary of dating other actors. She knew how easy it was to hide behind the character. She knew she had done it too and it just felt so fruitless, so unsatisfying.

  Julia slipped out of her travel outfit and into yoga pants and a t-shirt. She was sick to death of playing the part of smitten wife or girlfriend both on and off screen. She was ready for a new role although what that entailed, she still wasn't sure.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Danni got back to Reese's and let herself in. She figured she'd make the girl coffee at least to say thanks for lending her the car and as life assurance. While she waited for the pot to brew, she looked at her phone for the first time in a while. Her internet hadn't been connected for some reason. She figured she'd turned it off with her butt or something and switched it back on. No sooner had it connected, her phone began spitting out thousands of notifications. "What the fuck?" She shouted. "Hey Reese, I think there's a virus on my phone! What the hell is going on? I swear I'm gonna be so pissed if it's fried."

  Reese groaned and came out of the bedroom clutching her head. "Why are you shouting? Do you have a death wish?"

  "Seriously what is going on with my phone?" She handed it over to the grouchy brunette and began pouring the coffee out.

  "Woah! That isn't a virus! That's you getting famous bitch!"

  "What?"

  "What did you post last night?"

  "I didn't post... oh..."

  "What oh?"

  "Julia tagged me singing on her story saying 'someone sign this woman' but I totally forgot."

  Reese perked up instantly. "Sounds like you owe the lady a hell of a lot more than a drink dude! She just gave you an in!" She took out her own phone and clicked open the app to see what was going on. "How many followers did you have yesterday?"

  Danni scrunched up her face trying to remember. "Uhm about four hundred I think."

  Reese laughed. "Babe that's pathetic, you do know that right?"

  Danni rolled her eyes back. "I'm crap with these things as you never fail to tell me."

  "Guess how many you have now."

  Her eyes widened. "I don't know. Five hundred?"

  "Pffft! Try again!"

  "Six hundred?"

  "Dude... how many followers does Julia have?"

  Danni blushed. "Uhm about a million."

  Reese grinned. "Sorry to tell you babe but your phone isn't gonna be working for a pretty long time. You've got over a hundred thousand followers and rising, you jammy bitch!"

  Danni tried to digest what Reese was telling her. She looked at the image of her profile and sure enough, Reese was not lying. "No fuckin way!"

  "I'm totally calling in sick tonight! We need to celebrate!"

  "Celebrate what? It's just Instagram. It's not like I got signed or anything."

  "Not yet baby girl!"

  After about an hour, Danni was finally able to get into her phone. She switched off the notifications so she could actually use it again without all the pop ups and checked through some of the comments. There were so many amazing comments from people saying how much they loved her music, how beautiful she was and asking where they could buy her tunes. She checked her Twitter and again, there were almost a thousand followers. She couldn't believe it.

  Danni sent a text to Julia.

  D: Wanted to say thank you for that tag. I'm at 100k followers!

  She typed a kiss but deleted it.

  J: That's brilliant! I'm so happy for you. You deserve it though. No thanks needed. Maybe we can celebrate over champagne when you finally get that deal. X

  Danni giggled. She didn't know what she was more thrilled about, that Julia really thought she would get signed or the kiss on the end.

  D: I'm starting to believe that could actually be a possibility. Watch out, my head might explode from trying to contain my ego! X

  She nervously sent the last one.

  J: You should believe it! It's crazy isn't it? To know that many people are interested in what you're doing. I think you needed an ego boost! X

  D: It's flattering. I'm reading some of the comments on that crappy video and it's just mind blowing. X

  Danni's phone started ringing and her heart went to her throat.

  "Hey."

  "Hey yourself! I thought you could do with a proper chat. It's a pretty big deal hitting your first hundred."

  "You're telling me! Reese basically just quit her job thinking I owe her something for borrowing the car!"

  "She didn't!"

  "No, but she is calling in sick. How was your flight?"

  "Uneventful. I said I'd call you when I got back safe and sound. I just finished unpacking."

  "Oh sorry if you're busy, we can..."

  "Danni, I called you dear! Now, I think you should post a teaser of that song you played last night." Julia pulled her knees up under her and got comfortable on her couch.

  "Which one?"

  "If I Were Your Lover."

  Danni blushed. "I can't post that one!"

  "Why ever not?" Julia grinned into the phone. "I found it quite intriguing."

  Danni was silent for a while. "It's too, uhm, I just think it's too personal."

  "You played it last night."

  "Yeah but that was a small crowd. I don't think I'm ready for that amount of people to hear it."

  "Worried that it will get played by the wrong person, or should I say, the right one?"

  Danni blushed again. "If Jim hears it..."

  "Oh, of course! Say no more! I forgot you are in a complicated situation. Well what about the other one? Paralyzed is it?"

  Danni grinned so hard. It made her feel so special that Julia knew so many of her songs. "Yeah I could do a little teaser of that. You really are a bit of a fan aren't you?"

  "Told you so! Good music always sticks in my head. Now Reese has the day off, she could help you film it."

  "I think you're right! Thanks Julia. I'm gonna go get that done now! Speak to you soon."

  Julia pouted down the phone. She wasn't ready to cut short their conversation but she was excited to see Danni's post. "Any time dear. Good luck!"

  Danni clicked off the phone and gathered up her stuff. "Reese, I'm heading down to the studio. Gonna do a teaser of a song for a post. Wanna come and film it for me?"

  Reese clapped her hands together excitedly. "Yes! Let me just grab my camera."

  The pair headed off to the studio excitedly. As they walked Danni spoke. "I think I'm gonna do it on the piano. What do you think?"

  Reese squealed. "I love it! I haven´t heard you play for so long!"

  They got to the studio and Danni gave it a go on the piano. Reese was stunned. "Danni, I think I like it even better than the band version. It sounds so dark and you can really hear the tone of your voice withou
t you having to scream over the drums. Can I record it now?"

  Danni stretched out her hands and rolled her shoulders back. "Yup, let's do this!"

  Reese made her play the song four times. The first time, she held the camera steady and filmed from a distance. The second time, she filmed a close up of Danni's face. The third, just her hands playing and the last time, she filmed from a side view. "This is going to be awesome! I'm gonna edit this up properly before you post it babe. But I'm crediting myself just so you know!" She winked and Danni laughed.

  "Alright Reese. Thanks a million."

  "That's what I'm aiming for!"

  Reese dropped Danni back off at her apartment and drove off. Danni wasn't looking forward to seeing Jimmy after everything that had happened over the past couple of days. She already felt a heaviness in her stomach as she turned the key in the lock.

  "What bloody time do you call this?" Jimmy fumed before Danni had even closed the door.

  "Oh don't start Jim. I told you I was crashing at Reese's."

  "You could have at least called! I've been worried sick all night and then you stroll in at four p.m. like it's nothing!"

  Danni put her guitar case down and smoothed her hand through her hair. "I was busy. I had that gig then I got sidetracked. You never call when you go out and I don't screw at you the next day. You're being ridiculous."

  "I'm being ridiculous? I'm the one paying everything around here and you just do what the bloody hell you please! You have zero consideration for how I might feel and can't even be bothered to let me know where you are! How much did you spend last night, hmm? Or doesn't it matter seeing as it's my fucking money!"

  Jimmy was in a vile mood. She knew he only played the money argument when he really wanted to make her feel guilty. Normally it worked but she had gotten to the point where she was beginning to see through his manipulations. "I didn't spend anything. I was working for Christ's sake! I actually got paid so if you're that concerned..." She took out her purse and pulled the wad of notes out, throwing them in his direction. "...here! Take the fucking lot of it!"