by Tracy Tegan
He gave me a chaste kiss and walked out the door.
The next few days were maddening. I tried everything I could to get him off of my mind, and nothing seemed to work. I ran, I studied twice as hard, took on an extra shift at the bookstore. No matter what I did, though, nothing stopped me from thinking about Grayson Chase.
Just when I was sure I was about to go completely insane, my laptop started making noises. Grayson was requesting to be my friend on Skype. The second I accepted his friendship request my computer rang, and his Skype call came through.
“Hey you,” I said nervously as soon as the video resolved and showed his perfect face.
“I’m sorry I haven’t called before now. It’s been a crazy week.”
“I can only imagine. How’s life back in LA?”
He shrugged. “It is what it is. Is Jen doing any better?”
“Yes. She is doing a lot better. That was really sweet, what you did, coming by the see her before you left Houston.”
"It was the least I could do. It was my fault she met Ethan in the first place. I didn't know he had a girlfriend, just so you know."
"Don't worry Grayson, neither of us blames you because your friend is an ass."
He looked chagrin, so I decided to change the subject.
“Tell me about all you’ve been doing since you’ve gotten back home.”
“I’ve had a lot of things to catch up on after being gone for so long,” he started to say.
“Like going through your mail?” I teased.
“Yeah,” he laughed. “That and meetings with my lawyer, agent, accountant, publicist … all that good stuff.”
“Better you than me,” I said sarcastically.
"So there was another reason I called you," Grayson said carefully as if he was nervous about something. "I have this movie premiere to go to next Thursday, and I was wondering if you and Jennifer wanted to go with me?" He paused, perhaps to judge my reaction. "It would mean a lot to me if you could be there."
"I don't know Grayson. Jennifer in Hollywood? That's kind of too close to Ethan. I don't think she's ready for that yet. She liked Ethan a lot, more than I even realized. I just don't believe it would be a good idea."
“What about your sister?” He asked.
“What about my sister?”
“Think she might like to come to the premiere with you?”
I had to choke back a laugh at the thought of my stuffy, all too prim and proper sister at a fancy movie premiere in Hollywood.
“I don’t know Grayson. That’s not really her thing.”
Then again, mine either. Was I really considering calling her and begging her to go with me? I must be losing my mind.
“Just hear me out,” he pleaded. “I’ll fly you both out here, pay for everything including your hotel, food, dresses, full makeovers. You’ll both be red carpet ready.”
“Okay, okay. I can see this means a lot to you Grayson so I’ll call and ask her, but I can’t make any promises. She’s really busy with school. This is her final year of law school,” I reminded him.
In the end, I agreed to call and speak to her about going to LA with me and then call him back with her answer. When I did call my sister, much to my surprise, she actually said yes, but only if we promised she would be back home by Saturday. She said she needed a full day to recover because Monday’s were one of her busiest days of the week and she didn’t want to be tired from all that traveling.
Chapter Seven
“I’d never seen anyone not famous walk the red carpet before, so why do we need to be red carpet ready?” My sister asked.
“I don’t know Andrea. Maybe Grayson just wants us to have the whole Hollywood glam experience.”
Grayson flew my sister and I to LA the day before the big event on his private jet and from the moment we arrived in LA, we were treated like royalty. A stretch limousine picked us up at the airport and we were assigned our own bodyguard and personal assistant who escorted us from place to place, getting us ready.
First, we had to pick out dresses to which we were given several choices by a stylist who apparently was also dressing Nina Dobrev for the event. I guess she had some part in Grayson’s movie as well. I probably should have asked him more about the movie. I didn’t even know the name of it, let alone what it was about or who else was in it.
The stylist insisted my sister and I pick identical color dresses but said the style of each could be unique. We had several colors to pick from but in the end, we both found red dresses we loved.
We were given expensive, matching heels, some jewelry and then she had us slip into our dresses for a final fitting. She said her people would work through the night to make sure the alterations were done to the dresses so they fit us perfectly as if the dresses were made just for us.
As our bodyguard and assistant were escorting us back to the car, Cara Delevingne walked past. I had no idea who she was, but she was pretty, really pretty. My sister pulled out her smart phone and showed me her Wikipedia page. It turned out she was a supermodel. She looked so glamorous, so that didn't surprise me. What did surprise me was that my sister, the super serious one, knew who she was. Maybe there was a side of my sister I never knew… like she was a closeted fangirl.
I've never been one of those people who got into the whole celebrity thing, but I had to admit, even I was getting caught up in it all now that my sister and I were in LA. Everywhere you looked were the most amazingly beautiful people. How was it possible that there was an entire city that had nothing but attractive people?
After getting fitted for our dresses, we were whisked off to have lunch at The Ivy. It was the first time I would get to see Grayson since he left Houston. I was nervous and not thinking about anything else but seeing Grayson, so when we stepped out of the car and were bombarded by flashing cameras, I was taken aback.
“Why did they want our photos, we aren’t famous?” I asked the bodyguard once we got safely inside the restaurant and away from the madness.
"They take everyone's photo, no matter who you are, and if they figure out you aren't famous, they just trash them and move on or file them away for later, in case you happen to become famous one day."
The hostess took us to our table, where Grayson was waiting. He stood up and put his arm around me while he introduced himself to my sister. It took me a second for that to sink in. He actually knew the difference between us, not many people did.
After he had given me a chaste kiss on the cheek and we sat down, Grayson scooted his chair next to mine and held my hand while we looked at the menu. It was a small gesture but such a sweet one. He seemed almost nervous. Then again, so was I.
“How was your flight?” He asked my sister.
"It was wonderful. Thank you. We've never been on a private jet before, so it was a real treat for both of us."
He turned towards me. “Did you girls find dresses you like for tomorrow?”
“Yes,” I giggled. “It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be to find the right dress. The stylist was a big help though. She’s having them custom tailored for us so they’ll drop them off at the hotel tomorrow morning.”
When the waitress came to take our order, I realized I hadn't even looked at the menu. I was so caught up in the little circles Grayson was drawing on my palm with his finger to even think about what I might want to eat.
I looked at my sister in panic and without missing a beat, she folded her menu, sat it down and ordered for the both of us.
“My sister and I will both be having The Ivy Lobster Cobb salad.”
The waitress then turned to Grayson.
“I’ll have the mesquite grilled, fresh wild swordfish.”
To drink, we all had fresh cucumber Martinis. I'd never heard of such a thing, but Grayson insisted they were wonderful, and he was right, they were good, especially after downing three of them.
After lunch, we went back to our hotel for a spa day. He had booked my sister and I adjoining rooms at
the Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Ray. Grayson couldn't join us because he had a lot of interviews to get through before the big premiere. He promised to meet us at the hotel for dinner though.
After being primped and pampered for hours, my sister and I went back to our rooms to take a nap before dinner. Our trusty assistant, a sweet girl named Danii promised to wake us up an hour before so that we would have time to get ready for our dinner with Grayson.
Danii was nice and short. I'm short myself so I'm not one to talk, but she was even shorter than me. She couldn't be more than four foot, ten inches tall if even that. She was a tiny thing too. I bet she didn't weigh eighty pounds. What stood out about her though was her huge blue eyes with tiny freckles sprinkled across her face. She was cute as a button with a sassy personality. If we were back home in Texas, I could definitely see us being friends.
While I was putting on the last of my makeup, my sister Andrea came in my room with Danii. I could overhear them talking.
“How long have you worked for Grayson?” Andrea asked her.
“I guess it’s been about a year now. I just graduated college and I’m interning for his production company.”
“What does that mean?” Andrea asked. “What exactly do you do for him?”
"Basically, I'm a gal Friday. I do anything and everything that nobody else wants to do. If someone needs coffee, I'm on it. If someone needs their dry cleaning picked up, that's me too."
“Ahh, I see. So what did you study in school?”
"I was a film student. I want to be a director one day, but you have to start somewhere, you know?"
“I guess that’s true,” Andrea agreed. “Do you like working for Grayson Chase?”
"It's not any worse or better than any other job out there right now. He's nice enough and doesn't ask too much of me, so I can't complain. I'm just here to pay my dues. I know that I'll eventually work my way up to production assistant and one day, who knows."
“You are honest, I like that about you,” Andrea told her.
Danii choked back a laugh. “Don’t get used to it. We are in LA; you won't get a lot of that around here."
Just then there was a knock on my door, and I knew that meant Grayson had arrived. I rushed out to greet him with a big smile on my face.
“I hope I didn’t keep you ladies waiting too long?”
“Not at all,” I assured him.
“Did you have fun today doing all those interviews?”
“Oh yeah, loads of fun. Nothing like answering the exact same set of questions thirty times.”
He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “You look beautiful. Now let’s go eat. I’m starving.”
“You had a big lunch, how can you be starving?”
"I'm a big boy; I need my food."
I patted him on the stomach. “Not too much. Don’t want you getting fat on me,” I teased.
He growled at me and then kissed me on the lips, softly at first and then a little more intimately. For a moment, I lost myself in his kiss, forgetting we weren't alone.
“Now, now you two,” Andrea chided. “We are going to be late for our dinner reservations if we don’t get going.”
Grayson looked at his watch. “You are right. We better head out.”
“Will you be joining us tonight for dinner?” I asked Danii.
"No. I still have some work to get done, but I'll catch up with you later."
We made our way down to the restaurant in the hotel where the host ushered us to a table in the back where we feasted on smoked New York steak and organic salmon.
After dinner, we went to the poolside bar where Danii joined us to go over our detailed itinerary for the next day.
“It’s going to be a tough day tomorrow. Everything is scheduled down to the minute,” she said. “We can’t be late. It’s just not an option.”
My sister Andrea reviewed the printed out schedule carefully as if it were a legal contract while I sipped my wine and enjoyed being near Grayson again.
Soon Danii left, but only after we all promised to get to bed early. Not yet though. I wasn’t ready to leave. I was enjoying myself far too much. Even though we were in a public place, we weren’t bothered by crowds of people or fans like we were back in Texas. It was really nice.
“Oh my God Andrea, I forgot to tell you about Grayson’s brother, Roman.”
“What about him? Andrea asked.
“He’s a lawyer. How crazy is that? He just got out of law school I think.” I looked to Grayson for confirmation.
“Yeah,” he said. “He’s a second year associate at a firm in Tulsa.
“That’s nice,” Andrea said casually as if she wasn’t interested. But I saw the spark in her eyes. I knew she was. “What kind of law does he practice?”
“Intellectual Property.”
“I was thinking of specializing in that as well.”
"Grayson, maybe we can get them together sometime so she can pick his brain about what it's like actually doing the work instead of just learning about it in school, you know?"
“Yeah maybe. I’ll see what I can do.”
I giggled with excitement at the thought of my sister meeting Grayson’s brother and wondered if they would hit it off.
We had a few more drinks, and then Andrea insisted we head back in for the night. We had to be up early to get waxed and buffed and made up for the big movie premiere.
I was so caught up in just being with Grayson for the evening; again I forgot to ask what the movie we would be seeing tomorrow was about and if we would even get to see him after they walked him down the red carpet. I assumed that they ushered us regular folk in the back or down some side entrance. But what about once we got inside the theater? Would we get to sit together or did they seat him in a different area with the rest of the cast?
From the moment my sister and I woke up the next morning, we were rushed around from place to place and person to person, to prepare us for the big event.
The special screening as people were calling it, was scheduled to start at six in the evening, but the red carpet started at four. That's all we knew. I still wasn't sure if I would get to see Grayson or not beforehand or during the movie.
When the time came, I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up so Danii, our trusty assistant thought it would be a good idea to down a few shots to loosen us up. That might not have been the best thing to do. I had listened carefully to everything Danii told us, but after so many shots, would I even remember any of it?
I mentally went down the list trying my best to keep it all straight. Gucci contour gown, check. Prada shoes, check. Jewelry by Harry Winston. Okay, I could do this.
When we arrived, we were taken from the limo to a holding pen of sorts, and finally I laid eyes on Grayson. He looked handsome in his tuxedo. Just the sight of him left me breathless.
In a show of strength, my sister grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I was glad she came to this event with me. I needed her now more than ever. I was so overwhelmed by it all.
Someone came to get us and led us over to Grayson. She positioned us on each side of him, Andrea on his left arm and me on his right.
“Okay you’re up,” another woman said as she escorted us to the first spot on the red carpet. We posed for pictures. I was dazed by the continuous flashing of bulbs. Next, a lady with a microphone introduced herself as being from E! News and started in with her questions.
“Don’t you look dashing,” she said to Grayson. “Who are you wearing?”
He gave his best movie star smile, and you could see she practically melted. "Armani."
He was wearing Armani. I was standing next to Grayson Chase in his Armani tuxedo, on the red carpet of a big Hollywood premiere. Is this really happening? I took several deep breaths, trying my best to keep it together.
The lady from E! News turned to me and then looked over at my sister, seeming to notice for the first time that we were identical twins.
“Oh wow look at that,” she sa
id in surprise. “And who are your dates for tonight Grayson?”
He pointed to my sister, “This is Andrea.” Then he turned to me and smiled. “And this is Alison.”
“Where did you find these lovely ladies?”
"I met Alison while filming my latest movie in Texas and Andrea is her twin sister. I didn't have a date for tonight, so they graciously agreed to come with me."
“Well isn’t that something.” She turned to my sister. “Who are you wearing?” Andrea froze so I spoke up. “We are both wearing Gucci. Our dresses are one of a kind, from their contour collection. I lifted my leg back and twisted slightly to show her my feet. “And doesn’t the dress just go perfectly with my Prada shoes?” I giggled.
“How about you,” the lady said as she turned to my sister. “Are you also wearing Prada shoes?”
“No,” my sister said shyly. “I have on Louboutin Pigalle pumps.”
“Is this your first movie premiere?” She asked me.
I leaned into Grayson. “Yes, it is. I’m excited to be here. I can’t wait to see Grayson up on the big screen.”
I prayed she wouldn’t ask me any questions about the movie like the name or what it was supposed to be about because I truly had no clue.
He reached over and brushed a loose lock of my hair out of my face and when he did the crowd went wild. Cameras started flashing like crazy, and it startled me.
Grayson stiffened beside me. I think for just a moment, he forgot where we were.
"It was nice chatting with you, but we better get going, or we'll never work our way down the line," he said to the interviewer.
We walked to the next spot marked off on the red carpet and again posed for pictures. Next, a lady came up and introduced herself as being from Hollywood Tonight.
She asked the same question about our clothes as the previous interviewer did and then turned all of her attention on me instead of Grayson.
“Alison is it?”
I nodded in agreement.
“What do you and your sister think of our fair city? Are you enjoying your visit?”
I smiled. “Very much. We’ve had so much fun. We haven’t really been here that long, but what we have been able to see of Los Angeles has been amazing.”