“Whoa, what did I miss?” Josh said as he sat down just as the billionaire left in a huff.
“Nothing, just some guy inviting me to stay on his island and wear nothing but a smile,” Amy said being overly blasé for comedic affect.
“Sounds like quite the offer,” Josh noted.
“I’m waiting on a better one,” Amy smiled flirtatiously.
“Oh?” Josh asked, interested.
“I was kind of hoping you’d invite me back to yours,” she said coyly.
“Shall we go now?” Josh asked, almost leaping to his feet.
“Okay, if you like,” Amy laughed.
Leading her by the hand Josh almost ran out of the venue and she struggled to keep up.
“Oh, and next time,” she stopped him as they were leaving, “I’m choosing what we do for a date. I’m growing a bit tired of all these celebrity shindigs.”
“Whatever you say.” Josh smiled and then kissed her passionately as yet more cameras sparked to life around them, capturing their embrace for the whole world to see.
Chapter 9
“So what are we doing today?” Josh asked sleepily as he rolled over and raised himself up with one arm.
“I believe its lady’s choice,” he added seductively before planting a gentle kiss upon Amy’s lips.
She suddenly found herself wishing she’d woken up before him so that she could have gone and brushed her teeth!
“It is my choice,” Amy smiled, pulling herself away from Josh and scrambling out of bed. Even though he’d seen her the night before she suddenly felt very self-conscious and was grateful for the hotel robe nearby which she could hide within.
It was then, as the passion from the previous night melted away that she finally saw just how spectacular the hotel room was.
No, room didn’t do it justice, it was a suite! It was larger than her apartment, with its own living area and even a twelve place mahogany dining table.
“This room is amazing,” she cooed as she glanced around, getting distracted.
“You were saying something else was amazing last night,” Josh teased.
“Behave!” Amy scolded.
“So, come on then, what’s the plan for today?” Josh prompted again.
Amy leaned her head back in mock thought and pursed her lips.
“We should do something different, something you’ve never done before,” she mused.
“There’s little I haven’t done,” Josh said cockily.
“Well…”
“Let’s just spend the day in bed,” Josh offered, peeling the duvet off himself seductively.
“Tempting,” Amy admitted.
She wanted nothing more than to spend the whole day beneath that duvet with Josh, but she feared that she’d already given too much of herself to him. Now that he’d had his way with her, what was to stop him from turning cold as apparently he did with every other woman on the planet?
No, Amy needed a distraction for both Josh and herself. They needed to go somewhere public. Somewhere they would have to behave.
“What about the park?” she asked brightly.
“The park?” Josh was clearly unimpressed.
“Yes, the park. Get some sunshine, spend some time outside.”
“I’ll get mobbed.” Josh sighed.
“Ah,” Amy said, suddenly seeing the flaw in her plan.
“So what do you do when you want to do normal things, like go to the shops?”
“I don’t do normal things like go to the shops. I pay someone to go for me.” Josh admitted sadly.
“That must suck.”
“Yeah, it does. I miss being just me.”
“I bet.”
“Wherever I go people know my face and have an idea about me.”
“Well you are famous.” Amy smiled sarcastically.
“So where are we going if not the park?” Josh asked.
“No, we are still going to the park,” Amy told him as she began to pace the massive room, lost in thought.
“I’m just devising a cunning plan.”
“Well while you plan, can we at least go and shower together?” Josh came out of the bed and up behind Amy, pressing his naked form into the robe she was wearing, making her entire body tingle.
“I’m busy thinking,” Amy giggled.
“It’s a waterfall shower,” Josh whispered seductively into her ear, “big enough for two.”
“Okay fine!” Amy agreed. “I do my best thinking in the shower anyway.”
****
An hour later and Amy had indeed reached a cunning conclusion. She looked out of the window to ensure it was a lovely day, and of course it was- every day in Los Angeles was glorious and sunny.
“Do you have a baseball cap?” she asked Josh who was getting dressed.
“Yep,” he answered as he pulled on some faded jeans.
“Sunglasses?”
“Uh huh,” he replied as he wriggled his perfect form into a tight t-shirt.
“Great!”
“Why great?”
“Because we are going to the park and you will be in disguise!”
“I don’t know,” Josh said dubiously.
“Do you have a better idea?” Amy challenged.
“I guess not,” Josh shrugged.
“Okay,” Amy declared brightly, “so let’s get you incognito!”
****
The park was relatively busy when Amy and Josh arrived which wasn’t surprising as it was a Saturday afternoon.
People were having picnics and playing Frisbee, throwing balls for their dogs to catch. There was a lovely relaxed atmosphere and Amy was keen to hang out with Josh in such a low key arena.
But Josh seemed nervous and tense as they found a shaded spot by a tree and settled down.
“No one recognizes you,” Amy promised.
“But they might,” Josh fretted.
“They won’t. Look around, the park is full of hot guys in caps and aviators.”
“I feel special now,” Josh joked.
“I just want you to enjoy a decidedly normal day out. Stop being Josh Roberts movie star for a while and just be Josh Roberts regular guy.”
“I worry I’ve forgotten how to be a regular guy.”
“Step one, rub suntan lotion on my back,” Amy instructed, handing him the plastic bottle which she’d been carrying in her tote bag.
“Okay,” Josh laughed. “What’s step two?”
“We play some Frisbee,” Amy explained.
“I haven’t played that in years,” Josh said as he rubbed the lotion onto Amy’s exposed skin that wasn’t covered by the halter top she was wearing.
“Good, then that will give me the edge to beat you!” she teased.
****
Tossing the Frisbee back and forth between themselves, laughing and giggling in the sun as they each missed shots and failed to catch the circular piece of bright plastic, it reminded Josh of his home back in Texas.
It had been so long since he had been there and hung out with his brothers. They used to all play football together, running around wildly on the great stretch of land behind their house. Some of the best days of his life were spent out in that field, running with the wind his hair, the sun upon his face; he had never felt so free.
He missed that feeling. He missed his home. And for the first time in many years he started to question the choices he had made and the man he had become.
Josh watched Amy as she laughed and threw the Frisbee to him. She was so natural, stunningly beautiful without even wearing a scrap of makeup.
The wind threw her blonde hair around her head like a halo and Josh realized he was falling for her, hard.
“You play like a girl!” Amy teased as Josh missed yet another toss of the Frisbee.
“I do not!”
“You do so. You’re worse than my sister!”
“Ouch!”
“I’m guessing Frisbee catching wasn’t your main sport in school.”
&n
bsp; “What gave it away?” Josh smiled.
“So what were you in to?” Amy asked. She wanted to get to know him. The real him.
“Football,” Josh replied simply.
“I loved it. I played with my brothers all the time, and made my high school team.”
“So you were a jock.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Figures,” Amy stuck her tongue out at him playfully.
“You telling me you weren’t a cheerleader?” Josh turned the questioning to Amy.
“What makes you think I was?” she challenged.
“Well, you’re tall, blonde and beautiful. Perfect cheerleader material.”
“I’m flattered,” Amy batted her eyelashes mockingly.
“So…were you a cheerleader?”
“Is this all just part of some perverse fantasy you have about me in a cheerleading outfit?”
Josh could have taken the opportunity to tease and play up to the flirtatious nature of the conversation but he chose to be honest instead.
“No, I’m just trying to get to know you better.”
“Oh,” Amy felt embarrassed at her presumption. “In that case, yes. Well spotted. I was indeed a cheerleader but unlike my sister I was a very unhappy one.”
“How so?”
“I didn’t want to go to pep squad and learn cheers, I wanted to prepare for the SATs and focus on my studies. Studying and cheering don’t really go together that well.”
“So you were the troubled cheerleader?” Josh joked.
“And you the sensitive jock,” Amy retaliated.
“We’re a really good match then.”
“I guess,” Amy tried to sound casual but her heart was racing. Josh seemed to be everything she’d ever wanted and surely that was too good to be true.
****
After four games of Frisbee, all of which Amy won, and enjoying a hotdog bought from a vendor in the park, Josh and Amy settled beneath the tree, their backs against the strong trunk, feeling sleepy and content.
“I’ve had a good day,” Josh declared.
“I’m glad.”
“I forgot how much fun it is just to be a regular guy.”
“Happy to remind you that being regular isn’t always such a bad thing,” Amy smiled.
She reached out and held his hand and their fingers interlocked, fitting together perfectly.
Above them the sky was clear and bright blue, it was a perfect day.
“How about we do something like this tomorrow?” Josh suggested.
“Like what?”
“Like maybe the beach?”
“Beach sounds fun. How are you at volleyball?” Amy smiled.
As they sat talking a group of teenage girls walked past, each of them preoccupied with their cell phones and the various messages they were sending. But the brunette straggler at the back looked across at the couple sitting at the base of the tree, looked away and then looked back again, slowing her pace and scrutinizing Amy’s face.
Her friends ahead noticed and hung back too, wondering what had caught her attention.
“Beth, what is it?” one of them asked.
“Isn’t that the girl who was pictured out with Josh Roberts the other night?” she said, already calling up the relevant internet gossip site so that she could clarify if it was.
“Oh my God it is!” she declared excitedly.
“That means she’s with Josh Roberts!” another of the girls shrieked.
“He’s right there!” screamed another.
In unison the girls began running towards Josh and Amy in a blur of pink and glitter, but Josh had heard them and was already on his feet, pulling Amy along with him.
“It wasn’t me who should have worn a disguise!” he called behind him as they ran.
“I never thought I’d get recognized!” Amy cried back apologetically as they sprinted across the park, attracting attention from all around as people realized who they were.
More people were giving chase but they managed to outrun them and make it to the safety of Josh’s plush black Escalade.
“Oh my God!” Amy panted, red faced and out of breath. “That was mental.”
“That for me was normal. The being ignored part earlier, that was mental.”
“So weird,” Amy breathed, struggling to catch her breath. “I never dreamt I’d get recognized.”
“Welcome to being the girlfriend of Josh Roberts. You are now globally famous.”
“I’m your girlfriend?” Amy asked, losing her breath again but not from running.
“Don’t you think so?” Josh asked.
“Yeah, I guess I am,” Amy beamed.
Josh leaned across and kissed her passionately as just beyond the car their pursuers caught up with them and began to madly take pictures of the embracing couple.
Chapter 10
“So, where to now?” Josh asked from behind the wheel as ahead of them his crazed fans continued to desperately try and get a picture of their idol.
“Anywhere away from this madness,” Amy sighed.
“It is a circus,” Josh agreed.
“I don’t know how you cope!”
“Well we can’t go back to the hotel as it will just be more of the same.”
“Do you want to come back to my place?” Amy offered.
“Yes,” Josh smiled warmly, “yes I would.”
It no longer felt surreal to be driven around by Josh Roberts, international movie star. In fact, as he pulled into the driveway of Amy’s apartment she realized it almost felt natural. She still had that moment when she felt overwhelmed by butterflies at the thought of him being there but he was fast becoming just a man to her, no longer the myth, and she liked that.
“I missed your apartment,” Josh declared as he walked in and promptly made himself at home on her couch.
“You did?” Amy asked, surprised.
How could he prefer the tiny confines of her apartment to the plush comforts of the hotel suite they’d stayed in the previous night?
“It feels like home,” he added as though sensing she wanted an explanation.
“Well, glad you like it,” Amy smiled, walking across to the kitchen to put the kettle on and make them both a coffee.
She already knew how Josh took his coffee and she liked that she knew. There was an intimacy to it which she hadn’t known for a long time.
“So what shall we do?” Josh asked as Amy came in and handed him his mug of steaming hot coffee.
“Whatever you like,” Amy answered. “We could watch a movie?”
“As long as it’s not one of mine!”
“Do you ever watch your own movies?” Amy queried as she blew into her cup to cool her drink down.
“God, no!” Josh replied passionately. “That would just be horrific.”
“Some of them are actually quite good,” Amy offered.
“Only some of them?” Josh arched an eyebrow in disdain.
“Only some of them,” Amy smiled.
****
The couple nestled down together and watched a movie which didn’t star Josh Roberts. They lay across the couch with their bodies intertwined and they were just like any other normal young couple spending a Saturday night together.
You’d never know that one of them currently had their face posted up in Times Square on a hundred foot billboard and was the most recognized man in the world.
Josh felt normal and relaxed. As he sat enjoying the movie with Amy lying across him, her head resting upon his chest, he realized with a sense of shame that this was the first Saturday night he’d been sober in many years.
Since becoming famous, life was one long party for him and the party was beginning to wear thin. He no longer enjoyed getting drunk but he felt obliged to in order to perpetuate the image of being a playboy and a party guy. But he didn’t want to be that guy forever.
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