Mr. Hollywood

by Tracy Tegan

  “What’s up babe? Everything okay?”

  “Yes, great in fact. Harvey called and said you gave him my manuscript and his people loved it. They want to represent me. What do you think?”

  “I think that’s great Alison. I’m happy for you. How about we go out to dinner tonight and celebrate?”

  “You don’t think it’s weird that we would both be repped by the same agency?”

  He chuckled. “Not in the slightest.”

  Grayson was running late so he sent the car to pick me up. He said he would meet me at the restaurant, which was a French place I’d been dying to check out since I heard about it on the Food network. They had two Michelin stars which apparently was a really big deal.

  Our meal started off with Sweet Pea Soup that came with a side of some sort of chips and whipped black truffles. Next we were served Egg Caviar. It was basically a soft pouched egg with caviar on top.

  Everything was just so fancy. Our main course was wild Alaskan Halibut. Even something as everyday as fish couldn’t be simple at this place. It was served with a green asparagus sauce, white mushrooms and tarragon. It looked like an actual work of art when they placed it on our table. I was afraid to touch it. It looked more like it belonged in a museum than in our mouths.

  I admit, the food was good but just not my cup of tea. I felt out of place there. Everyone was so snooty and into how great they thought they were. It’s food. It’s not like by creating it in the way they did they would somehow save the world or something. But that is how they acted.

  As we finished our meal Jax came in with the rest of our newly pumped up security detail to let us know the crowds outside were starting to get out of control and that we would need to leave soon.

  “Grayson, wait,” I said as he stood up and grabbed my hand to walk me out of the building.

  “What we’ve been doing hasn’t worked yet, so why not try something else?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know. Ignoring them isn’t making them go away, so why not try and be nice? Stop and say hello, sign a few autographs, or whatever?”

  Grayson sighed. He clearly didn’t like this idea.

  “Look, I know it’s a hassle but the more we ignore them, the more it seems to make them talk about us. So can we at least try it another way?”

  Grayson put his hands around my waist and pulled me in for a kiss. “Sure, we can give that a try if that’s what you want.”

  Jax didn’t like this idea. He tried to protest but I didn’t care what Jax or the rest of his security team thought. We had to try something different because this attention from the paparazzi was getting out of hand.

  “Whatever you do, don’t let go of me,” Grayson whispered in my ear as he walked out the door of the restaurant and the paparazzi surged forward.

  The lights were blinding as they rushed to snap our photos. Instead of hurrying into the car like normal we stopped to pose for them, and when we did, a hush grew over the crowd. They weren’t yelling questions at us anymore, they just kept taking our picture over and over and over again.

  I don’t know why they needed so many photos of us just standing there, but it seemed to make them happy so we smiled as they snapped away. After a few more minutes of different poses, including one of Grayson bending down to kiss me, we were escorted to our car and were off.

  I hated to gloat about being right, but it all went rather smoothly. Jax didn’t like it though. You could tell he was unhappy about us being out there with all those people surrounding us. He didn’t like us being so exposed. It was silly though. What did he think was going to happen to us in front of a zillion cameras?

  Early the next morning I had the cook prepare two huge pitchers of orange juice and I brought them to the cameramen stationed outside of the gate of Grayson’s house. I posed for a few pictures for them and then went back inside.

  After a few more times of playing nice for the cameras, TMZ declared us “media darlings” but they didn’t lighten up. No matter where we went, the paparazzi followed.

  Eventually though, it just stopped bothering me. On one hand it was weird that people cared so much about what I was doing or where I was going all the time but on the other it was an added level of security, or so I thought. I mean with all those eyes on me all the time, how much trouble could I really get in?

  Chapter Fifteen

  I wanted to do something special for Grayson before he got tied up in filming his new movie. I texted Jennifer and she suggested a place I could go to get some intimate attire and even better, it was so out of the way, the paparazzi didn’t usually hang out there so unless they followed me, it wasn’t likely I would be seen going in.

  Normally I would have had Kendra or one of Jax’s men go with me but I couldn’t very well take them to a place like that. I would be too embarrassed. Plus, how much trouble could I really get into, going to one store? I figured I would just pop in and out and be back home before anyone noticed.

  The store was not exactly in a great part of town but I tried to put that thought out of my mind as I hurried out of my car to get inside.

  I found a school girl’s costume, tons of lingerie and lots of thigh high stockings too. Surprisingly, everything was rather affordable. I figured if Jennifer shopped there, it would be much higher end. Even still with the lower prices, before I knew it, I had racked up over $3,200 in purchases. Thank goodness for credit cards.

  I had just placed the bags in the trunk of my car when I heard a man speaking.

  “Well, if it isn’t that bitch who got us fired.”

  I turned to see who the man was talking about and that’s when I recognized his face. It was the man from the party, the taller one of the three.

  I tried to scurry off and get inside my car but he was faster than I was and blocked me from putting my keys in the door.

  “Look who it is boys,” he said to his friends, the other two from the party that night. “It’s that little high and mighty bitch, Alison Crawford.”

  Before I could respond one of the men punched me in the face. I fell to my knees and blood was everywhere. They pulled me back to my feet and then punched me in my ribs, while another man punched me in my face again. The third man was keeping me held upright while his friends kicked, punched and spit on me.

  All I could do is cry and pray that the paparazzi was nearby and would at the very least be witness to my brutal beating so that Grayson knew what happened to me if they ended up raping and killing me.

  Next thing I know I was being forced in the back seat of their car. I kicked and screamed and made as much noise as I could to try and draw attention from anyone, and to try and get away, but in the end, the three men were stronger than me and we were headed off to God only knows where.

  When the car stopped I didn’t recognize anything around me. The final punch to my face however knocked me out so I didn’t have a clue what happened after that. Eventually I came to and found myself alone in a nearly empty room. The only furnishings were a dirty mattress on the floor and a single lamp with no shade that sat over in the corner.

  I could barely move. My body felt heavy. Even my hands felt too heavy to lift. They had to have given me something. I didn’t feel right. I felt foggy and out of it. I knew better than to cry or scream. I didn’t want them to know I was awake.

  I could hear them talking in the other room.

  “Don’t be fucking stupid Joe. We could get that rich fuck-tard to pay more than a million to get his bitch back. Think bigger.”

  “Okay then how much?” Another voice asked.

  “Let’s ask for three million,” the third voice said. “It’s not so big that he would struggle to get his hands on it and yet it’s still enough to set us up for life.”

  “What do we do with the bitch after? We can’t let her go, she knows who we are.”

  “I don’t care. I guess we’ll sell her to that Middle Eastern, Omar fuck. He’ll probably give us ten thousand dollars for her
ass.”

  “Oh my God, they were going to try and ransom me off to Grayson and then not return me. Even worse, they were going to sell me to some guy from the Middle East. I would be his … no. No. No. No. This can’t be happening.”

  I tried to take several deep breaths so that I wouldn’t lose control and start sobbing. I knew that if I did that, the men might hear me. I didn’t want to draw their attention. Who knows what else they might do to me.

  It was raining outside. Strange. It never seems to rain in Los Angeles. I think this might be the first time it’s rained since I moved here. Funny how your mind fixates on the oddest things. The rain outside was all I could seem to think about while I listened to the men plot out how they were going to get the money from Grayson and what they might do after. One of them wanted to move to Mexico while another thought Brazil would be a better choice.

  Was it day or night outside? I couldn’t tell. Probably night because if it were daytime then the window might shine some more light in the room. Then it hit me -- there was a window in my room. If I could only get enough strength to stand, maybe I could escape. Only problem was, I couldn’t even lift my wrist, no way in hell I was going to be able to stand and then walk over to the other end of the room.

  I tried to focus on the sound of the rain. It soothed me and helped me maintain my focus. I had to fight to get my mind out of this fog.

  I heard a loud banging noise and then a crunch. One of my abductors shouted, “What the fuck?”

  Lots of feet were shuffling around. It wasn’t loud per say, but it was loud enough that I knew there were several people out there. I had no idea what was going on and I had a hard time focusing.

  Where the men fighting with someone? Was that what I was hearing?

  BAM! BAM! BAM!

  I had no idea what that noise could be. Everything was so confusing. Then someone opened my door and a tiny sliver of light shone in to the room I was in.

  “In here, she’s in here,” a voice called out.

  Next thing I knew I was being picked up by Jax. I clung to him tightly praying he wouldn’t let me go and then I passed out.

  Chapter Sixteen

  When I finally came to, I was in the hospital. Grayson was in there and so was Jax. I turned my head and in the corner, saw my sister sitting in the chair crying while Roman sat in the chair next to her. On my sister’s other side was Jennifer and Ethan. Ethan had his arm around Jennifer telling her it was going to be alright. It took me a moment to realize it was me they were all about.

  “Hi,” I tried to say but it didn’t come out right. My throat was dry.

  “Get the nurse,” Grayson said to Jax and he bolted out of the room. “Oh baby, you had us all so worried.”

  I tried to sit up, but he held me back. “Please don’t move. You need to take it easy. You’ve been pretty badly beaten.”

  The nurse came into the room checking my vitals and giving me some water. Soon after the doctor came in. He explained that I didn’t have any permanent damage but that I was pretty banged up, lots of bruises, with some small cuts and scrapes here and there but nothing to major and no permanent damage. They did a rape kit and it came back negative, which was good. It meant the bastards didn’t have sex with me.

  Still, the doctor wanted to keep me overnight for observation. They said I could go home the next day but I would need to take it easy for a few weeks while my body recovered.

  “Why do I have to stay for observation if nothing is wrong with me? I don’t understand.”

  “You were given a pretty potent cocktail of pain killers and tranquilizers. While we don’t expect any problems, we want to keep an eye on you while the drugs work their way out of your system, just in case.”

  “Don’t worry baby, I’ll be here by your side the entire time. You won’t be alone,” Grayson assured me.

  Before long the nurse made everyone, except Grayson and Jax leave.

  “How did you find me?”

  Jax turned to Grayson as if to get his permission to tell me. When Grayson nodded his head, Jax began to speak.

  “All of your electronic devices have a tracking device on them. Your cell phone, your iPad, your watch, even your car.”

  “So let me get this straight, on top of the state of the art security system at the house and all of the bodyguards you also bugged me? Seriously?”

  “Yes,” Grayson said without apology. “And the security system at the house is currently getting a major upgrade.”

  I wanted to protest but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of having better security. I was freaked out by what had happened to me. Maybe all of Grayson’s paranoia about security was a good idea after all.

  The next day I was ready to go home but Jax was concerned about the massive media presence awaiting us outside the hospital. I didn’t want anyone to see me all bruised and beaten up but it seemed somehow the photos the police took of me were leaked and were now all over the internet. I hated that. I didn’t like the world seeing me look like that.

  Cat brought in someone to do my hair and makeup but there was still only so much you could do with a face that was battered and beaten like mine. Still, I have to give her credit for trying.

  When I got back to Grayson’s house, I was happy to see everyone there waiting for me. My sister and Jennifer were fawning over me while Roman, Ethan and Grayson stood around talking to each other.

  “Tell me what is going on with you and Roman,” I demanded.

  “Okay, I sort of lied to you,” my sister said hesitantly. “The lease on my apartment ended a few weeks ago so I’ve been staying with Roman in Oklahoma.”

  “Oh My God! How could you not tell me that?”

  “Because, I didn’t want you to think it was more than it is. Roman and I are friends, just really good friends.”

  As she emphasized the word ‘friends’ her face turned bright red and I knew she was lying. She and Roman were no more friends than Grayson and I were, but clearly she wasn’t ready to talk about it, so I didn’t push the issue.

  “How are things on the Ethan front?” I asked Jennifer.

  “Oh you know,” she said casually as she lifted her hand to her face.

  I almost fell over and died when I saw the massive rock on her tiny little finger. We all squealed in delight. When we did Grayson rushed over to see what was wrong.

  “Nothing. Nothing. I’m sorry. It’s nothing, really. Just girl talk, I promise.”

  He eyed us wearily then when back to his conversation with the boys.

  “I can’t believe this. Did you set a date yet?”

  “Oh he more than just asked me to marry him,” Jennifer said. “We did it already.”

  “What? When?” I demanded to know.

  “While we were in Fiji.”

  She pulled out her phone and showed me the pictures of them getting married on the beach in an intimate ceremony with just the two of them.

  I was sad that I missed being there when my best friend got married but on the other hand, I was happy for her. Still, I couldn’t hold the tears back.

  Realizing I was crying, Grayson came back over to me.

  “Girls, I don’t know what you are talking about but Alison is supposed to be taking it easy.”

  “I know, I’m sorry,” Jennifer said. “It’s just …”

  “It’s just girl talk,” my sister promised him.

  “I think she’s had enough excitement for one day. I’m going to put her to bed.”

  I sighed but knew there was no point in arguing with him, so I let him pick me up and carry me off to the bedroom.

  In all it took several weeks for me to recover and for my bruises to go away. I spent a lot of that time messing around with my screenplay. It wasn’t as easy to write as my book was. The formatting was hard to get used to. But finally, it was done and I was ready to let the people at Grayson’s production company have a look at it.

  Grayson set up a meeting with his production company
and myself. He wasn’t going to be there because he had to deal with pre-production issues for his next movie but that was okay. I could do this on my own, or so I kept telling myself. And by my own I of course mean, with my assistant and assigned security detail. I didn’t dare go anywhere without them anymore.

  I was nervous. Not only about the meeting but also because it was the first time I would be going out of the house since my ordeal. My body was fully healed and the bruises had gone away but my mind wasn’t quite there yet. I still had nightmares about my abduction, even though I knew they had caught the men and they were in jail and wouldn’t be getting out for a long time, if ever.

  Not only did they have those jackasses for what they did to me but when the police rescued me they found tons of cocaine, so they were also being charged for that, which in itself would get them another ten to twenty years in prison.

  Still, somewhere in the back of my mind, I was scared. The psychologist that Grayson hired to come to the house to speak with me, assured me that what I was feeling was perfectly normal, it would just take time. But how much time? It had already been weeks. Why was I still scared of my own shadow?

  I even began to question my relationship with Grayson. If I wasn’t with him, I wouldn’t be under the bright glare of the spotlight all the time and I wouldn’t fear anyone wanting to kidnap me for ransom or fear that one of his crazy fans might want to hurt me. It was all becoming too much and I just didn’t know what to do anymore. Would it be better if I ended things with Grayson and moved back to Texas?

  Did I even want to go back to Texas? My sister wasn’t there anymore. She would be moving to The Hague in a few days. My best friend Jennifer was gone too. She was living with her new husband. I still couldn’t believe that she secretly married Ethan Clarke. Still, I was happy for her. I know she loves him so much and she deserves to be with someone who obviously cares deeply for her.

  So if I don’t have anyone in Texas anymore, do I stay in LA? Maybe go with my sister to the Netherlands? Was that the answer?