by Stacy-Deanne
“How can you support Gabrielle being in the movie but won’t even let me try out?”
“God, girl.” He stood, slamming the desk. “Everything isn’t about you. This is why no one invites you anywhere because you always start controversy. If you felt you weren’t invited by me then why did you come?”
“Because you’re my father,” she screamed, tears emerging.
He sat, huffing.
“Madeline dumped me.” She sobbed. “She dumped me, Dad.”
“I heard.” He straightened his back. “I’m sorry.”
“Yet, you didn’t contact me?” She leaned over the desk, necklace dangling. “You didn’t call to check on me? What kind of father are you?”
“What do you want from me?”
“I want you to be there when I need you,” she pleaded. “I want you to hold me and kiss me and tell me everything will be all right. Why can’t you do that, Dad? Why can’t you be my dad?”
“I’m sick and tired of you turning everything around on me. Sick of you whining as if life hasn’t given you more rewards than you’ll ever need. Look at yourself in the mirror, Sierra. Take responsibility for your decisions and face them.”
“I’m not the one who can’t face something,” she yelled.
“Keep your voice down.” Ian grimaced. “The press—”
“I don’t give a damn about the press.” She waved her purse. “That’s the problem. You care more about the press and your image than you do me.”
“Leave.” He pointed to the door. “I’m not about to entertain this nonsense on my birthday.”
“I’m not going any damn where. I don’t deserve the way you treat me.”
He chuckled. “To hear you tell it.”
“What will it take for you to accept me and let this other shit go?”
“Take responsibility—”
“I have taken responsibility! I’m a screw up, a failure, and a drunk.”
He glared at her.
“That’s right, dad. I’m a drunk just like my mother, and that’s what you can’t stand because it reminds you of the guilt you feel because mom turned to a bottle because she couldn’t turn to you.”
“You can’t give me this one day, Sierra?” He held up his finger. “You twist everything until it’s about you. You spread vileness everywhere you go. That’s why I avoid you.” He bucked his eyes. “I can’t take it.”
“You don’t have to take it anymore, Dad.”
He jolted in the chair, head bobbing. “What?”
“I’ve been trying to force a relationship with you because I believe in family, and we’re all the family we have. But, you can forget me kissing your ass anymore.” She stood back, head high. “It’s because of you I let men walk all over me. It’s true what they say.” A tear graced her cheek. “A woman looks at how her dad treats her and that’s what she expects from men.”
“Once again it’s my fault.” He clapped, mocking. “I wondered how long it would take for you to say that. Your drinking is my fault. You ruining your career is my fault, now it’s my fault you can’t get a decent man?” He guffawed, the sound echoing in her pain.
“I need you.”
His shoulders drooped.
“But, not if you don’t want to be there.” She walked out the parlor and bumped into Dash. “You were listening?”
“You all right?”
She walked on with him hurrying beside her. “Go away.”
“You shouldn’t be alone.”
“I’m not alone.” She stopped, holding her arms out to the side. “We’re at a party and...” She choked from tears. “I need space, please.”
“Let’s go somewhere.” He caressed her back. “You need a friend right now.”
“I need you to leave me alone.” She knocked his hand away. “I need everyone to leave me the fuck alone!”
She ran toward the stairwell in tears.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Gabrielle approached Hugh’s office at the studio days later. She struggled to swallow her pride and make the first move but wondered where things stood after the scene at the party.
She knocked and then entered before invited.
Hugh knelt behind his desk, digging in the drawers.
Gabrielle cleared her throat. “Hi, Hugh.”
“Miss Montane.” His eyes didn’t glow when he looked at her this time.
“How are you?”
“I’ll be fine once I find my notebook.” He took a puff from the cigarette.
“I called you, but you didn’t answer your phone. Kinda got the feeling you were avoiding me.”
“Not avoiding.” He got a stapler out a drawer and set it on the desk. “Busy.”
“You’re always busy and you had time to contact me before.”
“How did you know I was still here?”
“I called your place and Manual said you were working late at the studio so I stopped by. If this isn’t a good time, I can catch you when it is.”
“Suit yourself.” He got his notebook and climbed into his chair.
“Suit myself?” She jerked her neck back. “You aren’t gonna beg me not to go?”
He scribbled in the book. “Nope.”
“Lessie forwarded me the film contract.” She sat in the chair by his desk. “I had concerns.”
“What concerns?” His pencil went a hundred miles an hour.
“Eh, I’ve been reading the script.”
“You like it?”
She smiled. “I love all your movies, Hugh.”
“Just not me, right?” He flipped the notebook and continued writing.
“I’m a little put off by the sex scenes.” She shook her foot. “They’re very detailed.”
“Anyone familiar with my movies knows there’s tons of sex and the sex is always explicit.”
“Yes, I know, but I don’t wanna do any nude scenes. Hugh, there’s about three head-to-toe nude scenes for my character. This is an action movie.”
“It’s an action movie with lots of sex.” He rolled his eyes skyward. “All of my movies are this way. Besides, you have a great body. What are you worried about?”
“I don’t wanna be fully nude.”
He threw the pencil down, exhaling. “Fine, you don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable, with but we’ll have a kissing coach and a sex scene coach. They’ll teach you how to get comfortable.”
She decided to let it go for fear of pissing him off more. “What are you writing?”
“Notes. The location department scouted a new location, and I plan to check it out tomorrow.”
“There’s a whole department for scouting locations?”
He glanced up with a blank expression and then went back to writing. “Depends on the budget of the film. Some films only use one location scout.”
“Is it normal for directors to scout too?”
“I don’t worry about what other directors do, but I’m a control freak so this is how I roll.”
“Goodness.” Gabrielle fanned. “So much goes into a movie, and I never thought about it before.”
“Remember how hard I work next time you go on a date with Felix Craft, a man who makes it his life’s mission to tear down my projects.”
“Felix taking me to Ian’s party wasn’t a date.” She laid her hands in her lap. “He asked me and we’re friends. No big deal—”
“Stop it, Gabrielle.” He sat back, navigating the notepad to his lap. “You went with Felix to get under my skin. You wanted to piss me off and make me jealous.”
“My god.” She laughed. “How do you get through doorways with the size of your ego? Hugh, everything is not about you.”
“That was about me.” He slapped the notepad on the desk. “It was bad enough watching you with another man, but with Felix Craft? I bet he gave you an earful on why you should stay away from me. Not that he needed to with Warner badmouthing me. Has he left for Paris yet?”
“He left the day after the party.�
�
Hugh scowled. “Good.”
“You didn’t know?”
“We’re not friends anymore, remember?” He wrote in the book. “How he acted at the party was the last straw.”
“He called me before he left, but he sounded so cold.” Gabrielle touched her cheek. “I hate having this friction between all of us.”
“Yet, who’s the common denominator?” He wiggled his pencil. “You.”
“This isn’t my fault, Hugh.”
He nodded, his face twisting as if something stunk. “Of course it isn’t.”
“Why would I want to break up your friendship with Warner and jeopardize mine with him?”
“Because that’s what you do. You play the game while pretending you don’t.”
She stood. “I’m not playing any game.”
“You’re a fuckin’ tease.”
“Have you and Warner been reading from the same bullshit memo? That’s the same crap he said.”
“Maybe it’s true then. You ever thought of that?”
“Is that what everyone thinks of me?” She walked around, clutching her blouse. “That I use men to get what I want?”
The thought of people seeing her that way hurt as much as being dumped by Futero.
“I’m the last person to manipulate men, and it hurts that you and Warner think that.”
“You’re hot and cold.”
“That’s another thing Warner said.”
“I always believed if someone keeps saying something then it’s true. Perfect example, why are you even here?”
“I—”
“There’s no reason for you to be here, Gabrielle.”
“I had questions about the script.”
“And there are many others you could’ve contacted before me like my secretary, assistants, the writer, even Jamal.” He stuck the cigarette between his lips. “You come all the way to the studio for something you can email or call about?” He flicked ashes into the tray. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. You’re playing this game and I’m bored with it.”
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“Why? At the party you didn’t. Yet another time when you were hot and cold. One minute you’re telling me to leave you alone then you put this kiss on me that almost knocked me unconscious then walked away like it was no big deal. And you still say you don’t manipulate men?”
“I was caught up in the moment.” She gyrated, clutching her purse. “I’d been drinking.”
He shook his head. “Give me a break.”
“I didn’t plan that kiss.”
“Right.” He licked the corner of his mouth. “You don’t plan anything. Things just fall into place for you.”
“I’m sorry if I hurt you or did anything to give you the wrong impression, but don’t treat me like this.”
“Am I hurting your feelings?” He closed the notebook. “Now you see how it feels.”
“I’m confused, Hugh. What have I done that has you so upset? You’re the one who keeps telling me you love me, but you have a girlfriend.”
“I told you the deal between Sierra and I. I’m not in love with her.”
“If you want me so much then why don’t you break things off with her?”
“Why would I do that, Gabby?” He squinted as he came from around the desk. “For you to be wishy washy? I don’t wanna end up alone and Sierra’s better than nothing.”
“Please. You’ll never be alone.”
“At first this game you played was cute, but we’re way past grown and I need more.”
“Is that a demand?”
“Either give in to what you feel for me, or leave it alone and we’ll be professional. It’s your choice.” He held his waist, gaping. “Either we try it or we don’t.”
“What about Sierra?” She tilted her head. “Why should I give in to you and you’re still with her?”
“Sierra’s gone if you say the word.” He raised his hand. “Scout’s Honor.”
“Can we act like this never happened?” She waved her hand in a circle. “The kiss and everything.”
“No.” He straightened his pants. “Because, it’s not about the kiss, Gabby. It’s about our feelings for each other. I won’t be Warner and let you stick me in the Friend Zone. No fuckin’ way. I want to be your man, and if that can’t happen then I’m done.”
“It would be easier if I could trust you, Hugh. Everything you do seems like some rehearsed act.”
“Is that right?” He trekked to the window, still clasping his waist.
“When will I see the real you?”
“I’ve shown you who I am. You’re the one who’s hiding from me.”
“You blame me?” She marched to him. “I can’t let myself fall for this shit.”
“What the hell do you want?”
“I want you to promise I won’t get hurt.” She punched his chest. “Promise I can trust you. Promise you’ll always be there even if you get bored!”
“I’d never get bored with you.” He grabbed her, shaking her. “Calm down.”
“You calm down.” She wrestled him. “I want a promise, Hugh. I want you to promise you’re the real thing. Promise...”
He thrust his chapped lips over hers, ravishing her mouth with deep, rapid strokes while leaving the taste of cigarettes behind. “I am real, Gabrielle.”
Her mind spun in chaos.
“Please for both our sakes be honest with yourself.” He dug his fingers into the curve of her back. “No man will care about you like I do.”
She closed her eyes, laying her forehead against his.
He kissed her again, sending a sinful jolt through her crotch. “You can’t deny it. Why would you even want to?”
“I...I don’t want to deny it.” She kissed him.
“Then say it.” He moaned, rolling his middle against her thigh. “I need you to say it, Gabby.” He jerked open the first button on her blouse.
“Hugh.” She writhed against him, nipples throbbing with ecstasy. “Just kiss me.”
“No.” He moved his lips away as if it torture for him to do so. “Say you care about me.”
She tangled her lips in his, speaking in between the extended kiss. “Doesn’t...this...say all you...need to...know?”
“No.” He ceased the kiss and wiped away her lipstick. “It doesn’t.” He let her go. “It’s not enough.”
“You don’t want this?” She gestured to her body. “This is what you’ve been running after for years.” She reached for a kiss. “My body.”
He moved his head away, lowering her hand from his face. “I could have sex with anyone.”
“Anyone’s not me.”
“That’s right. I told you you’re special. It’s not just about sex, Gabby.”
She wiped the corners of her mouth now covered with lipstick. “Now who’s hot and cold?”
“I want your heart. You’re not using me to get your rocks off like I’m some cheap, one-night-stand. I’ve invested too much in you and in us for you to fuck me and act like it’s nothing.”
“Did we slip into The Twilight Zone?”
“This isn’t going anywhere.” He sat behind the desk and got the cigarette. “What I liked about you was that you were a real woman and we wouldn’t have to play these games, but I was wrong.”
“It’s not like that. Why are you being so rigid?”
“You’re just horny, Gabby.”
“No, that’s not it—”
“It is it. Hell, you’d fuck Jamal if he was in here right now.”
“I get it.” She fixed her blouse. “You want me to beg now? What’s this? Payback?”
“Okay, tell me this. If we make love, how will you be tomorrow? Will you wanna be with me or will you act like it was a mistake?”
“I don’t know—”
“See, you can’t answer that.” He opened the notebook and grabbed the pencil. “Come back when you can.”
“Hugh?” She touched the desk.
; “I got work to do, Gabrielle.” He buried his head into the notebook.
She left, more confused than before she arrived.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“Oh, god.” Ashleigh busted into Gabrielle’s kitchen, laughing. “Wait a
minute.” She lay over the island on her stomach, dying from amusement. “Did
you say you came onto Hugh and he rejected you?”
“It’s not funny.” Gabrielle unwrapped a sticky bun from plastic.
“The hell it’s not.” Ashleigh kicked.
“It was weird.” Gabrielle patted the side of her head. “It was like he’d turned into me and I’d turned into him. Am I losing my touch?”
“With Hugh?” Ashleigh’s laughter calmed into a snicker. “Nah. That man’s crazy about you.”
“Then what’s the deal?” Gabrielle sucked icing off her thumb. “He’s pissed at me.”
“Please, that man isn’t pissed.” Ashleigh got off the island. “He’s playing with you. He wants you to think he’s growing disinterested so you can fight for him.”
“Ah.” Gabrielle winked. “It’s all about the challenge with him. Part of me wondered that but, I’m not sure.” She went into the living room, chewing sweet, gooey bread. “He seemed hurt. I’d never seen him that way before.”
Ashleigh meandered from the kitchen.
“Usually, nothing I do deters him. The man’s relentless to a fault.”
Ashleigh nodded, sitting on the coffee table.
“But, what if he’s tired of fighting for me?” Gabrielle took a bite out the bun but it didn’t taste as good as a second ago. “What if I’ve pushed him to the limit?”
“No way. HuMac never gives up on anything he wants.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this.” Gabrielle chewed. “I think I’m in love with him.”
“I’m shocked you admitted it.” Ashleigh’s mouth dropped. “I could tell he got to you when you played basketball that night.”
“This is terrible, Ash.” Gabrielle tossed the bun on the table, fingers sticking together. “I can’t be in love with Hugh Macintosh.”
“Too late.” She hit Gabrielle’s leg. “You want him so now it’s your time to fight.”