Loving Lily Lavender

by Deanna Kinney

  “I love you.” He kissed my forehead before heading back toward to the bed.

  I took my seat beside Sylvia. As I looked over my shoulder, I recognized Samantha, Amanda, and Rachel, from makeup. I guess the love scenes drew a crowd, especially when Lucas Lavender was shirtless. Come to think of it, I’d never seen him shirtless and he was my husband.

  “Okay, quiet on the set,” Landon said, “and—action!”

  I watched in horror as they began kissing, first slowly, then as the kissing intensified, Lucas pulled away and grabbed Lisa’s shirt, pulling it off over her head just as Landon had described. Tears filled my eyes as I watched him kiss her passionately, his hand cupping her face like he does mine. I thought my heart would break. In my head I knew it was acting, but in my heart it felt like betrayal of the worst kind. I was so wrong. I couldn’t handle it at all.

  I threw my hand over my mouth as Lisa ripped his shirt open. The gesture caught Lucas’s attention, and his eyes locked on mine. His expression mimicked mine as he studied the anguish on my face. Lisa, desperate to salvage the scene, began kissing him trying to draw him into focus once again. After only a few seconds, his eyes broke from mine as he went back into his role-playing.

  Overcome with shock and sadness, I rose and quickly, but quietly, exited the room. I held my tears until I reached the end of the hall, letting them flow heavily. After a few minutes, I regained my composure. I thought I had prepared myself, but the reality was altogether different.

  “Lily, are you okay?” I jumped, hearing the voice call from behind me. I turned and recognized Samantha.

  “Yes, I’m fine, thank you,” I said, quickly wiping away my tears.

  “I know that must’ve been difficult for you to watch. Seeing my husband in the arms of another woman, seemingly enjoying himself, would kill me. I feel for you.”

  “Samantha!” Sylvia snapped, coming up from behind us. “Don’t you have someone’s makeup to do?”

  “Excuse me.” I cried, turning and running down the stairs, around the corner, and out the front door.

  I heard Lucas calling from behind me, but I couldn’t stop running. I could hear his desperate pleas as he got closer, but it only made me run faster. When I reached the car, I opened the door, jumped in, and sped away. As soon as I got down the road, my phone started ringing, but I didn’t answer it. I cried all the way back to the hotel.

  I entered my hotel room, slamming the door closed behind me, and ran into my room in hunt of my suitcase. I found it in the closet, opened it, and began shoving my clothes in it as fast as I could, tears still streaming down my face. I couldn’t shake the images of the two of them together.

  “Lily!” I heard Lucas call in a desperate voice, slamming the door behind him. He ran into the bedroom and froze. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m leaving!”

  “Leaving? Why? Where are you going?”

  “I’m going home. I can’t be here right now. I feel humiliated. I can’t look at Lisa—I can’t look at you.”

  “Lily, please!” He came quickly to me, grabbing me and turning me to face him. His hold was gentle, but unyielding, but I didn’t look up. “Lily, look at me.”

  “No, I can’t look at you.”

  “Lily, please. I’m your husband. I love you. Please look at me.”

  Reluctantly, I let my eyes meet his. “Please don’t leave me. You’re the most important thing to me. I’ll do whatever you ask. Do you want me to quit? I’ll quit today, and then we’ll leave together.”

  “No, you can’t quit. You have a responsibility. People are counting on you. Besides, you’re almost finished.”

  “I won’t let you leave me! I won’t!” His grip increased slightly.

  “You can’t stop me!”

  “Yes I can!”

  I pulled from his grip, turned and zipped my suitcase closed, picked it up, and started out of the room. I took two steps before he grabbed my suitcase from me and tossed it on the other side of the bed. I started to go after it when he grabbed me, picking me up and laying me on the bed. I struggled as he climbed on top of me and pinned me down.

  “Lucas, let me go!” I yelled, struggling to get free.

  “No, I can’t let you leave like this—just calm down so we can talk about this. Please, Lily.”

  “No!”

  “Lily, please, please.” Then tears began to leak down his cheeks as he lowered his head to my neck and cried.

  “Lucas?” My heart softened instantly as I realized that I was breaking his heart. He released my arms and moved his hands under my shoulders and held me close, like a little boy crying in his mother’s arms.

  I wrapped my arms around him and cradled him to me. “I’m so sorry, Lucas, forgive me. I don’t know what happened. One minute I was so hurt by seeing you like that, and the next minute I was angered by what Samantha said.

  He jerked his head up to look at me. “What did Samantha say to you?”

  “She said you looked like you were enjoying it.”

  “Lily, you know I wasn’t. You’re the only woman I could ever want.”

  “I know, I know,” I said, rubbing the tears from his face.

  “Please don’t ever leave me like that again, please.”

  “I’m so sorry, Lucas, I’m such a fool. Please forgive me.”

  “Just promise, you’ll stay with me.” His eyes turned from desperate to hungry.

  “I promise,” I whispered and then his lips crushed mine. He kissed me with more intensity than I’ve ever experienced. It reminded me of the goodbye kiss when he left me to go to L.A. It had that same feeling of desperation, and I responded to it eagerly.

  His lips parted mine as the kissed deepened. Our breathing accelerated as he pulled my shirt off over my head, barely breaking our kiss. I pushed him back and ripped his shirt off. We looked at each other for a brief second and smiled, realizing we were re-enacting the scene from earlier. Only this scene was real, no one was going to yell cut, and we were going to finally see this one through to the end.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “You know, as much as I wish I could lay here all day with you, I think we have some making up to do to Landon.” I wished we had more time to savor the moment.

  “Yeah, I guess you’re right, but we’ll have an encore tonight.”

  “Most definitely, though I’m not sure you can top that,” I teased.

  “Just watch me.” He flashed me his brilliant smile.

  “I look forward to it.”

  “Lily, thank you for making us wait. That was the best memory of my life. You were amazing.”

  “Yes, it was amazing for me too. I just wish I wasn’t so stupid beforehand.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself. It’s hard for all partners to watch that. I’m just glad it wasn’t me. I would’ve gone mad watching some guy put his hands all over you. Remember how I acted when Randall kissed you? And I didn’t even witness it.”

  “You’re just trying to make me feel better.”

  “Is it working?”

  “Yes.”

  “Landon, please forgive me for disrupting your filming schedule. I was a fool. I promise I’ll stay out of the way from now on.”

  “Don’t be silly girl.” He pulled me into an embrace, as if I were his daughter, and kissed me on the top of the head. “I’ve been a director for seventeen years, and how you reacted today was nothing compared to how some husbands and wives react. Especially husbands, they’re the worst.

  “Really?”

  “I’ve had to shut down production for a whole week waiting for a couple to make up. Or better yet, hire a stunt double to perform the entire love scene except for the face shots.”

  “Now there’s an idea,” I teased.

  “Don’t worry about it so much, you’re a new bride, you’re entitled. Besides, after you guys left, we just filmed another scene with the family. The bad news is, we have to come back to the love scene and get more takes. One is not going to do. I�
��m sorry.”

  “Oh no, don’t be sorry. I’ll just make sure I have something else to do.”

  “Well, that went better than I thought,” I said, approaching Lucas.

  “See, I told you there was no need to worry.”

  “Well, I take some satisfaction at the thought that Samantha is going to be mad that she has to do your make up over again.”

  “Oh yeah, she’s going to be real mad. Maybe we should tell her what we did to mess it up.” Then we both laughed.

  I knew I was wrong to want to get her back a little bit, but it made me feel better anyway.

  We threatened the gang with pain of death if they showed up at our place that night. We stopped and got a bite to eat on the way home. When we entered the room, I called dibs on the shower and ran to the bathroom first. I was getting ready to get out when Lucas pulled the door back and came in.

  “May I join you?”

  “Actually, I was just getting out.”

  “Oh no you don’t.” He pulled me against him and kissed me passionately.

  “Hmm, maybe you’re right. I think I missed some spots.”

  Ten minutes later I squealed, running from the shower as the last of the hot water ran out. Lucas was right behind me, laughing in amusement.

  He was chasing me through the living room when I slipped and skidded across the floor, causing him to laugh harder. He picked me up and carried me to our bedroom where our party continued.

  Early the next morning, I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard a knock at the door. I knew Lucas was next door showering in his old room. We had decided not to give it up for that very reason. I put on my robe and went to the door. “Who is it?”

  “It’s Detective Santiago, Mrs. Lavender.”

  I opened the door cautiously. “Please come in.” He spied my attire and said,

  “I’m sorry to come so early, but I wanted to catch you before you left.”

  “Yes, of course. Can I offer you some coffee, Detective?”

  “No thank you. Is your husband here?”

  “Um, not at the moment, but he should be here any minute.”

  “Good, because I would like him to hear this too.”

  After a few minutes Lucas came through the joining door with a towel wrapped around his waist. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know we had company.”

  “Mr. Lavender, I’m sorry to catch you both at a bad time, but I have some information.”

  “Yes, please have a seat, Detective. What is it?”

  “Well, we definitely found a drug on your flowers. It’s a drug known only as DCB. It’s not very common, but it can be purchased in a powdered form. If sniffed, the symptoms are usually hysteria, delusions, headache, dizziness, and in some cases, suicide depending on how severe the intake.”

  I gasped. “Do you think whoever sent me the flowers meant me serious harm?” Lucas came to sit with me and took my hand.

  “I have to assume so. We’re checking with all the florists, but it’s possible whoever sent them made the arrangement themselves. The card didn’t have a company name on it.”

  “So, what are your thoughts, Detective?” Lucas asked.

  “Well, at this stage of the investigation, I’m inclined to believe it’s a crazy fan that wants Lily out of the way. Hopefully, this is just an isolated incident and we’ll hear no more from this person. For now, continue to keep Lily close and surrounded by someone constantly. Call me if you have any questions or anything comes up, even if you think it’s insignificant.”

  “Thank you, Detective, for all you’re doing.”

  “You’re welcome, just doing my job. Have a nice day.”

  “You too,” we both said, shutting and locking the door behind him.

  “Lucas, someone’s really trying to kill me.”

  “It’s okay, Lily, I’ll protect you. I won’t let anyone get near you.”

  “We don’t know who this is. It could be anybody. You can’t protect me from everyone.”

  “Oh yes I can. I won’t let you out of my sight.”

  “You know, it’s really hard to take you seriously when you’re barely covered like this.” I reached up and laid my hand on his bare chest.

  “I was just thinking the same about you.” He pulled me up into his arms.

  “Do we have time?”

  “Does it matter?” He smiled as he took my hand and led me into the bedroom.

  “By the way, how do you feel about December twelfth?” I asked in the car on the way to the set.

  “Um, should I know what that means?”

  “For our wedding, silly. Meagan and I settled on that date. Do you think that will work for you? It doesn’t give me much time, but I’ve have a lot of help.”

  “Well, I’m not looking at my calendar, but I’m sure I can make it happen. What ever you want, it’s your day.”

  “No, it’s our day, and I want you to be happy too. After all, it’s going to be for your friends and family as well.”

  “Well, that’s true. A Christmas wedding, that sounds nice and different.”

  “Luke, lots of people get married at Christmas time, after all, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.” I smiled.

  He couldn’t resist laughing at my joke.

  “Okay, it’s settled then. December twelfth it is. Did you know that our wedding will be exactly six months, to the day, of our first meeting?”

  “Wow, nice planning. That will be easy for me to remember, considering we already celebrate the twelfth of every month now.”

  “I thought you’d like that, although I didn’t plan it, it just seemed to work out that way. Oh, I better e-mail Pastor Rob to make sure he’s available for that day.”

  “So, are we getting married in your church then?”

  “No, we’re getting married in our church, if that’s not too bold to say.”

  “No, of course not. Do you think they’ll have me?”

  “If they don’t have you, then they don’t have me. We’re a packaged deal now, baby.” I smiled.

  “Hmm, I like that.”

  “You know, Lucas, I’m really sorry I scared you yesterday. I shouldn’t have tried to leave like that. I was experiencing new emotions and didn’t know quite how to deal with them. You must know, I wouldn’t have even got to the airport before I turned around and came back to you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes really. I can’t live without you. Don’t you know that by now?”

  “Yes, I guess I do. Speaking of apologies, I owe you one. I shouldn’t have allowed you to sit in on our filming. I’ve read the script. I knew how intense it would be. I should’ve known better. Also, I’m sorry for throwing you on the bed and holding you down like that. That was uncalled for. I was just so desperate for you to stay, and you were so determined to go. I couldn’t have you leave over something like that.”

  “Lucas, you have nothing to be sorry for. It was all me. I over- reacted. You were just trying to help me see reason. Thank you for not letting me go.”

  “Well, it’s over now. Let’s just not let that happen to us again. Let’s not let anything separate us. As long as we’re together we can get through anything. Okay?”

  “Yes, you’re right, as long as we’re together.”

  The rest of the month was uneventful. No one tried to kill me at least. Lucas and I spent as much time alone as we could. The gang still came over three or four times a week, and I still cooked for us, but we just kicked them out early so we could be alone.

  Sometimes we would slip away to an empty, secluded space in between shoots, a bathroom perhaps, or a walk-in closet in one of the bedrooms. The truth is we had a hard time keeping our hands off of each other. New love is funny that way.

  I also noticed that Lucas was becoming more confident and even bold at times. He was so adorable, reading his bible and asking me questions about God. Simply put, he was changing. Even the gesture of running his hand through his hair was gone. Honestly I found the
gesture endearing and knew I’d come to miss it. The changes were subtle, but there nonetheless.

  We had a wonderful time at Landon and Stephanie’s anniversary party. They hired a caterer and a D.J. Lucas and I danced all night until my feet were so swollen I could barely walk. He even had the D.J. play some disco for me. The Bee Gee’s song from Saturday Night Fever began and Lucas’s jaw dropped as I parted the crowd and began to dance the moves from the movie, winging it with the moves my dress wouldn’t allow. Then it was my jaw that dropped as Lucas came up and danced along side me, meeting me move for move as though we’d rehearsed it. I gasped in shock, and the crowd went wild as Lucas did the floor moves, ending with a fancy jump in the air. He took my hand, put it on his shoulder, and strutted me off through the crowd, thus ending our dance in the most spectacular fashion. It was a strange thing for him to do, dancing with me that way, but I was exhilarated. I guess I really was rubbing off on him, but he was an actor after all.

  During the course of the evening, Samantha came up to me and apologized for upsetting me after the love scene. She said she didn’t mean it the way it came out and was glad to see Lucas and I doing so well. She seemed sincere, so of course I forgave her, although I wasn’t quite ready to become her friend. Her and Rachel both had been less than nice to me from the moment I arrived, whispering when I passed, scowling at me when no one was looking, immature things like that. Oh well, I just made sure to stay away from them. Normally I don’t let people like that get to me, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me a little bit.

  It was only five days later when Landon yelled, “Okay everybody, that’s a wrap!”

  Shouts went up as everyone rejoiced.

  Lucas came over, picked me up, and spun me around, “Lily, we’re done!”

  “As in done, done?”

  “Yes, we’ve finished shooting. We can go home. You don’t have to leave without me now.”

  “Oh, thank God.” I jumped back into his arms and then began to cry at the realization of having to say goodbye to all the ones who had quickly become my family.

  “Hey, let’s all go out to eat tonight and celebrate, one last time,” Lisa suggested as they gathered around us.