by L. L Hunter
But he wasn’t answering.
“Damn it!” So I hailed a cab and told the driver to take me back to Chloe’s Airbnb.
But when I got there, all the lights were off, and there was no sign of her. I tried Stephen again, and this time he picked up.
“Stephen! Thank God. Have you seen Chloe?”
There was silence for a few seconds, and it was then I knew.
“Let her go, sir.”
“Damn it, Stephen. We had a deal. I pay you!”
“I know, but when I see a lady in need, I help. She wanted to go home, and she made me promise I wouldn’t tell you until she was gone.”
“Fuck,” I said under my breath. “All right. Where did you take her?”
I forgot what he had said previously because my brain was focused only on Chloe.
“To the airport, Jack. Take my advice and let her go. This world isn’t for her.”
Thankfully, I had told the cab to wait for me, so I stormed back down the drive to it and jumped in.
“To LAX,” I told the driver, and he sped off. I turned my attention back to Stephen. “One of the conditions of me hiring you was for you to be transparent with me. I need you to tell me everything that goes on, everything you hear that includes me and those I love, you hear me?”
“I understand, sir. I’m sorry.” I heard Stephen’s voice break as I raised my voice at him, and I immediately regretted it.
“Sorry, Stephen. A lot has happened lately. I’m tired, a little drunk, and pissed off. I didn’t mean to take it out on you, but in the future, please don’t keep anything like this from me again. Are we clear?”
“Yes, sir. Her flight leaves in a few hours. You still have time. I really liked Miss Vanderbilt, but I want you to think this through very carefully.”
“I have. I want her. I need her in my life. I love her.”
Stephen sighed through the phone. “Then go and win her back.”
“Thanks, Stephen.” I hung up and leaned back in the seat. And to the driver, I said, “Can you make this thing go any faster?”
When I got to the airport, I paid the cab driver and gave him a massive tip, mostly so he didn’t tell the press what I was doing, and ran into the airport. I checked when the next flight to Sydney was—in a couple of hours like Stephen said. I looked around at the cafes on this side of the airport but didn’t see Chloe. So I figured she’d probably already checked in. I made my way to security so I could search the airport gates. But when I got there, I was stopped by security, probably because I looked suspicious in a tux with no luggage.
“Excuse me, sir. Where’s your ticket? You also need to go through the scanner like everyone else,” said a burly male customs officer.
“Sorry. I’m trying to find my…. the woman I love.”
“Okay, Romeo. You can after you show me your ticket and go through the security checkpoint. Please place your cell phone, wallet, keys, and anything else that might be in your pockets in the container and place it on the conveyer belt. Then walk through.”
“Okay, fine. Sorry. I don’t have a ticket. I’m just trying to find her. I’m not hopping on a plane.”
“Then you can’t come through.” I did as they told me as I didn’t want to get arrested. I went and bought another ticket on Chloe’s flight, even though I wasn’t getting on it. I walked through the x-ray body scanner and then collected my things on the other side. Then I went in search of the gate Chloe’s flight was leaving from.
27
I searched almost every departure gate and found no sign of Chloe. Then I got an idea. On the way to L.A., I’d booked her a business class ticket, which gave you automatic entry into the business class lounge. So, I turned around, as I was heading in entirely the wrong direction, and ran toward the business lounge of the airline she was flying on. But as I started running, two male security guards, who were armed, stepped into my path and blocked me. They were escorted by two flight attendants.
“Excuse me, sir, but it has come to our attention that your suspicious activities have begun to cause some passengers to become concerned, so they alerted us,” explained the male flight attendant. “We’re going to have to ask you to leave the airport if you’re not getting on a flight.”
I sighed. “Sorry. I’m just looking for my girlfriend. Chloe. Chloe Vanderbilt. She’s leaving and… I’m here to stop her.”
One of the security guards, a guy much larger than myself stepped toward me. He towered over me. He was intimidating. I swallowed nervously.
“Maybe she’s leaving you for a reason,” he said, staring down at me. The guy was built like Rambo and looked like him too.
“Oh, no. No. It’s nothing like that.” I put up my hands in defence. But it did nothing to deter Rambo. “Come on, man. I’m here to win her back.” Then I remembered who I was.
I didn’t often name drop to get myself out of a pickle. It was a dick move. Most celebrities did it. But these guys needed to know the truth. “I… I’m an actor. I’m Jack Dean. We were at the Golden Globes, and something happened to Chloe, my girlfriend. There was an altercation. You can check social media. It’s trending. Please. I need to get her back. I love her.”
There was a slight pause when the realisation hit the two flight attendants. Their eyes went wide, and their jaws dropped open. Rambo and his accomplice, on the other hand, weren’t the slightest bit amused. I ignored the glares Rambo was giving me and looked to the flight attendants with hope.
“Oh, my God! You’re the guy in that photo! The actor who hooked up with a journalist at your premiere.”
“Yep. That’s me. Would you be able to take me to her? To Chloe?”
“Of course. Sorry I didn’t realise who you were before,” said the pretty female flight attendant. “I would have taken you sooner.”
“That’s okay.”
“He needs to leave,” said Rambo in a deep booming voice. It made me jump. “He can’t be here.”
“Don’t worry about it, Ricardo,” said the male flight attendant. “Becky and I have got this. We’ll escort Mr Dean personally to the lounge to find Miss Vanderbilt.”
Ricardo aka Rambo sighed and turned to walk away with his colleague. I gave him a wave and a smirk. And he shot me a filthy look. I quickly looked away. I wouldn’t like to cross him in a dark alley. Yikes.
When the security officers were gone, I turned to the flight attendants. “Thank you so much for this.”
“You’re welcome. We’ll escort you, but first, we’d love to ask a small favour,” said Becky, almost sheepishly.
“Of course. What would you like?” If she was going to help me find Chloe, then I didn’t mind posing for a picture or signing an autograph for them.
“Sean would love a photo, and I’d like a kiss, please.”
I was taken aback by Becky’s request, but it wasn’t the most unusual one I’ve had. I’d once signed a guy’s ass. That was disturbing.
“Uh… Sure.” Sean, the male attendant, handed Becky his phone. I posed next to Sean for the photo, and when it was done, they swapped places. Sean snapped a picture of Becky and me, and then Becky turned to me and fluttered her eyelashes at me.
I blinked. “Oh. A kiss. Right.” I leaned down, as she was quite petite, and placed a delicate kiss on her cheek while Sean snapped a few pictures.
“Thank you so much,” she said, checking out the pictures on her phone.
“You’re welcome. Now, can you please take me to the business lounge? I need to find Chloe. I’m running out of time.”
“Certainly. This way, please.” Sean led the way while Becky walked beside me. I let out a breath and adjusted my jacket as I walked… on my way to win back my girl.
“Hi there, welcome to the Virgin lounge. May I please have your boarding pass, sir?” said a woman with bright pink lipstick and a shiny forehead and perfect blonde hair. She reminded me of Barbie.
“Oh, don’t worry, Sarah. This guy’s with us,” said Sean. “This is actor Jack Dean. He�
��s here to win back his girlfriend, journalist Chloe Vanderbilt.”
Sarah’s eyes went wide, and her lips formed a small circle, almost like a cat’s bum. “Oh, my God! I just love that story! It’s so romantic. Right this way, Jack. I mean, Mr Dean. Miss Vanderbilt is right this way.”
I ignored all their fawning and gushing over me and followed Sarah inside. I was used to this sort of reaction. Sean and Becky were only supposed to escort me to the entrance of the lounge, but I they probably wanted to witness the reunion too, so they followed.
Chloe was seated at the window. She had a glass of wine in one hand, and her other arm was hanging over the back of the chair. She was also slumped half way down in her chair with her heels kicked off. I felt the world grow silent as I approached Chloe, so I knew everyone in the lounge had paused their lives to watch this. I glanced over my shoulder, and sure enough, almost everyone had their phones out and filming.
Great. No pressure or anything.
“Chloe, there you are. I found you. When you didn’t return from the bathroom, I went looking for you. When I couldn’t find you, I called Stephen to come get me. But he wouldn’t answer. I eventually got the truth out of him. I can’t believe he would betray me like that. I need to be able to trust people.”
“It’s a funny thing, trust.”
I hesitated. Then I pulled out the chair beside her and sat down. I moved as close as I could. My knees grazed the side of her thigh, and she froze, then closed her eyes and bit her lip. Damn it. If just being this close to her gives her that reaction… no. I couldn’t think about that right now. She was upset. Get your mind out of the gutter, Jack.
“Chloe? Please talk to me. Why’d you run away? Tell me what happened.” I reached for her hands, but she pulled away. “Is it because of the confrontation with Alexa?”
“It’s not you, Jack. It’s me.”
“Why?”
“You and me? We will never work.”
“How do you know if we haven’t tried? Come back with me now. We can go back to mine or yours. We can do whatever you like. We can make love, or we can watch Netflix.”
“No, Jack. I need to go home. L.A. is nice, but it’s not me. Sydney is more my style. I miss Sydney, the commuter chaos, the rude people, the suits, the beaches, the harbour. I miss it all.”
“I understand. But please just stay a few more days. We don’t have to do any typical Hollywood stuff. We can just hang out, go to Universal Studios or Disneyland, climb the secret stairs to Griffith Observatory… whatever you want. Just stay a few more days, and then decide.”
“Fine.” She was caving. “I’ll stay for a few more days or so. But no more cameras, no more interviews with botoxed Oompa Loompas or sleazy old men, and definitely no more celebrity parties.”
I smirked and took her hand, kissed it and then her lips. Everyone in the airport lounge cheered, and then went back to whatever it was they were doing beforehand. Then we walked out of the airport together.
28
True to her word, Chloe stayed a few more days in Hollywood. We did the things she wanted to do. I let her call all the shots. We went on a private tour of the studios, climbed the secret stairs to Griffith Observatory, and even made love beneath the Hollywood sign. I took her to Disneyland, where I had the park closed just for us for the day. She protested about that one but forgave me when she didn’t have to wait in line on all the rides.
Unfortunately, though, I had to go into work a few days later, but Chloe was more than happy to make herself at home at my place, cooking, cleaning, and relaxing by the pool.
My new show had begun filming, which I was glad, as it gave me something to focus on other than the rumours about me, Chloe and Alexa, or just making love with Chloe. I loved being at work. It was a safe space where everyone ignored the gossip and rumours and only worried about the craft and the work.
But during downtime and mealtime, it was impossible to ignore. Some of the crew had the TV on in the catering tent. When I walked in to grab some food, an entertainment news program came on.
“What went down at the Golden Globes after party? Tonight, on Celebrity, we look at the exclusive photos of Jack Dean’s two ladies. It looks like the Hollywood golden boy has turned into a bit of a bad boy. That’s right, Jack Dean has not only been linked to the sexy Alexa Long but a new woman by the name of Chloe Vanderbilt, a writer from Australia. Now it looks like Miss Long has found out about Jack’s secret love affair down under, and confronted Jack’s new love in the bathroom of the Globes After Party. It looks like things got a bit heated between the two, and sources say some words were exchanged. We would have loved to have been a fly on that wall. We’ll keep you up to date on this intriguing new love triangle in the coming weeks.”
“What the fuck?” My head snapped up when I heard my name. I couldn’t believe the shit they were saying about Chloe, Alexa, and me. I looked around, and many members of the crew were deliberately and awkwardly diverting their gazes from me. I gave up on the food and walked out of the tent. I hope Chloe hadn’t seen this.
Thankfully, my scenes were done for the day, so I was able to go home. I needed to escape this and wait it out until there was a new scandal to steal the media’s attention. Rumours and scandals were hot for a few seconds then were replaced by a new scandal. That was how it worked.
Thankfully, Chloe had a few more days until she had to go back to Sydney. We filled the time with more adventures to San Francisco, the Redwood Forest and Joshua Tree National Park. I showed her the very best California had to offer.
Then, in the final few hours, before Chloe was scheduled to leave for the airport, we lay in each other’s arms in bed. We’d just made love and were enjoying each other’s company for the last few moments. After this, Chloe was leaving, and I wasn’t going to see her a few months. I had a new show to shoot and a movie or two, and Chloe had a book to write.
Then, as I stared into her eyes, I knew what I had to do. I couldn’t let her walk away. She wasn’t leaving me forever. We weren’t breaking up, but for seven months, I wasn’t going to be able to wake up beside her, make love in the dark, or just have her there beside me. I wanted her beside me every single day for the rest of my life.
And, so I did it. I took that leap, and I asked her to be my forever.
And she said yes.
I was so glad she’d said yes because I didn’t know what I would do if she’d said no. I didn’t want to go on without her.
We were in this together.
29
One month later
I walked onto the set and headed straight for my trailer, sunglasses on, head down. As soon as I sat down in my make-up chair and picked up my phone to check social media AKA to see what Chloe was doing, someone knocked on the door.
“Yeah?” I grunted. I needed coffee. I hoped it was the coffee runner.
“Hi, Jack,” said a musical voice with a slight country twang.
I turned slightly in my chair and looked up. “Oh, hi, Kate.”
I knew the day would come when Kate I would work together again. Somehow, the casting director of this film saw our chemistry test and cast us both on this project, which was dubbed as the next ‘Notebook’.
“What’s up?” I said, checking my phone again. Someone had mentioned me in an article about Alexa and Chloe’s confrontation in the bathroom at the after party. Ugh. I put my phone upside down on the counter.
She came in and shut the door behind her, sitting beside me. “I just wanted to see how you were, considering.”
“Considering, what?”
“You and Chloe broke up.”
I was awake and alert now, as alert as if I’d ingested a large double shot espresso or had been splashed in the face with ice cold water. I shook my head.
“No, no. We haven’t split up. What made you think that?”
“Oh, just a few tabloids.”
I sighed. “Kate, don’t believe most of the things you read. Wait until you’ve heard the truth
from the horse’s mouth first. Okay?”
She laughed nervously, her cheeks flushing. “Oh God. I’m sorry. I guess I’m still learning the ways of this world.”
I gave her a sympathetic smile. “Don’t worry. You’ll get it, eventually. By the way, Chloe just had to go home because she was on a tourist visa. She also had to go back to work and finish her second book.”
“Oh.” She tucked her curly blonde hair behind her ear. “I’m glad you haven’t broken up.”
I smiled. “Me too. If there’s anything else you hear about us, don’t believe it. Come ask me.”
She nodded. “There was something else I wanted to check.”
I raised an eyebrow, waiting. She continued. “That fight in the bathroom at the Golden Globes After Party. What’s going on with Alexa Long?”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about Alexa. She thrives on causing trouble and being the centre of attention.”
“She seemed different in the films I’ve seen and interviews I’ve read.”
“Kate, Kate, Kate,” I joked, “another thing you’ve got to learn about this industry is that not everyone is who they say they are. The world is a stage, and we’re the actors. Have you ever heard that saying? Presume everyone is acting.”
Kate let out a breath and laughed nervously. “Okay. That doesn’t give me much confidence.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it.” I pat her on the arm then stood. “By the way, I really need coffee. Looks like the coffee runner is running late. Let’s go find some, shall we?”
“Yes. I really need coffee too! Let’s go.” She followed me out of the trailer. “Thanks for being my friend, Jack.”