by Cora Davies
"I didn't mean you don't have any passion," Eric said. "It's just for a romance writer, you'd think you'd want more romantic passion?"
Eric wanted to pull the words back as they left his mouth. It was none of his business even if he wanted it to be. He was going to cause Hailey to close down and walk out. He took a bite of his chicken and wondered how they had steered so far, so fast, from the topic they were supposed to discuss this evening.
Hailey cleared her throat. "So, I've been wanting to ask. How did you get my information? Was it Gretel?"
"Who?"
"My agent. Did she tell you my name and number?"
"Oh." Eric felt it was his turn to pink around the face. "I have a PI on a retainer to find out information for me. Comes in handy from time to time."
"A PI? Like a private investigator?" She asked sounding surprised. "Is he like... best of the best?"
Eric squinted at her, wondering where this was going. "He is. At least, he is really fucking expensive, so he had better be."
Hailey nodded and looked thoughtfully at Eric. "I guess that's okay then."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not thrilled with you digging me out of hiding-but it makes me feel better if he is extra good. I don't want every Tom, Dick, and Harry being able to sniff me out." She looked so serious that Eric had to fight back the urge to apologize.
"What are you hiding from?" he asked. "Fans? Press?"
"It isn't the same for writers as it is for actors. We can muddle through life pretty unnoticed, but there are occasionally times when we need to hide. Stay out of the spotlight. I am in one of those times right now. It isn't some major spotlight that would have every freakin' paparazzi from the four corners chasing after me..." She looked out the window again as she paused. Eric noticed several other boats had pulled to shore since he sat down at the table. The hillside was alive with burning colors of the sunset making it look like a real life painting. He had been on remote locations before for movies, but he was blown away at the idea of living somewhere like this. Where you could look out and not see buildings. Not see a million people. The flash of a light bulb.
"I'll wait here all night for you to finish that thought," Eric said looking back at Hailey. The sunset through the picture window behind her played against the natural highlights in her chestnut brown hair. She looked as though she was glowing. She pulled her attention from the lake and blushed as she saw him studying her. He felt regret that she was wasting her beauty with a man like Herb. The way she wrote her books-and he had read all of them despite not being a romance fan-she contained a bottled up passion. She deserved to let it free.
"You'd be waiting here longer than a night," she said with a sad smile. A dish broke somewhere in the restaurant and it seemed to jolt her back into the current moment. "We came here to talk about my book. Why don't you lay it all out there so I can say no? I have a feeling if I don't listen to you tonight you'll be back tomorrow to bug me again."
She spoke seriously but not unkindly. Eric took a deep breath. He had a feeling that was what she planned on doing too. Just saying no. "Can I ask first, why you've said no? Then maybe I can build a little bit of a rebuttal?"
She looked at him as though she were considering his question and rolling it over in her mind. "No."
Eric laughed, an uncontrolled sound that came out before he knew it was going to. "Alright then, seems fair."
"It's not. I know. But just go ahead. Say what you need to say." Hailey signaled to the waitress for a refill on both their drinks.
Eric finished what was left in the bottom of his scotch glass, a little watered down, but a little bit of the old liquid courage.
"I was pigeonholed into this role of action star from the second I turned eighteen. I would never want to sound like I am complaining because I have had a beautiful exciting life that would not have been possible if I was not an actor. I've seen places, met people, and done things most people only dream of. But... I want more." Eric paused as the waitress collected their empty dishes and dropped off two fresh drinks.
"I have worked alongside some amazing actresses and actors over the years, and many of them have gone off to have roles that have made a difference to the world. They've been able to express a full range of their artistry while I kill the bad guy and get the girl. Over and over. Nothing else. I have watched with awe the movies made from your books. I have watched these people actually make a difference in other people's lives. I've watched you make a difference in people's lives." Eric paused to study Hailey's expression. She was listening but she was looking at him as though she was studying a new alien life form. At least, she looked like the actresses in his movies when they studied a new alien life form. She did not speak. He took that as an okay to continue.
"My brother brought The Passenger's Control to my attention. He said he thought it was the perfect role to break the mold I had been stuck in. And at first, I resisted. The romance movies I had done in the past were what Raymond calls movie of the week." Hailey snorted when Eric said this and he took that as hopefully a good sign. "But when I read Addy and Thomas' love story and how much they had to overcome to get to where they were-I knew that was it. Between his tragic childhood, the war, and cancer their love held them together through all of it. And that is what I want. That kind of love. I mean, that is what I want to play on the screen."
Hailey had started to drum her fingers on the table when Eric first mentioned Addy and Thomas' names. She looked as though she had something she wanted to say. But Eric forced himself to finish the speech he had prepared. He walked through the moments of story and how they had personally affected him. How he thought those moments would translate on the big screen. How those moments could help people. Wake people up. He talked for almost fifteen minutes while she stared at him. Eric could not read the expression on her face, and it was killing him. Finally, he stopped speaking.
Hailey let out a long sigh then signaled to the waitress for the check. "Do you want to go get a drink?"
CHAPTER SEVEN
Hailey watched Eric's headlights in her rear-view mirror. She was careful not to lose him. Not that it would be easy to lose him in this tiny town, but she slowed a few times and waited for him to catch up. Hailey was absolutely stunned that he was not driving quicker and recklessly in that sleek rental car. She did not know if she would have the ability to drive at a reasonable speed if she was behind the wheel of a car like that.
They pulled into Tony's, a small rancher bar on the edge of town. It could be a rowdy place but all the rowdiness was usually in good fun. Its atmosphere was quite different than the LakeHouse Restaurant, and that was what Hailey needed right now. Things had taken a turn for way too serious and she needed to step back and gather her thoughts. Which she almost had a chance to do on the twenty-minute drive to the bar.
If that man was not the most attractive man she had ever seen in real life, she did not know who was. He could talk too-it was like he knew exactly which heartstrings to pull. Asshole.
Eric pulled up alongside her truck and stepped out of his car. She had to hold her breath to keep from making any kind of swooning sounds. The man also knew how to dress. She had driven with him first to his hotel with instructions to go upstairs and change into something laid back. Jeans and a t-shirt if he had them. He changed into jeans that hugged the curve of his movie star butt. She wondered how many squats a day he had to do to maintain something like that? She was sure it was a number much higher than she was willing to do. Which was like two. Five on a good day. He had on a white t-shirt that looked worn and soft under a long sleeved blue and white plaid flannel. He looked pretty normal-except for the sunglasses.
"It's dark outside. Lose the sunglasses." She laughed as she pulled the black sweater off over her head. She felt self-conscious for a moment when she remembered she was wearing her "fuck me" dress that hugged her and made her cleavage pop. Eric whistled and she stifled the urge to flip him off. He probably saw women in less than
what she had on all the time-he was simply teasing her. She grabbed an old gray Independent hoodie out of the back seat of her truck and pulled it over her head before looking at Eric. He had removed the sunglasses and winked when she looked at him. "If you've got a beanie, that's really all you need."
"A beanie?" He shrugged and she rolled her eyes. She walked around to the bed where she kept a cold weather bag in case of emergency. Herb had basically insisted she kept one in the truck during the winter after she ran out of gas on the way into town in the fall. She walked eight miles in her flip flops in forty-five-degree weather. Well, it was more like three miles because she finally reached a place where she had cell reception and called Jason to come pick her up. But after that Herb decided she needed to be better prepared.
She found the black knit hat in the bag and tossed it at Eric. As she unsuccessfully tried to not watch him he pulled it over his ears-she reminded herself how scatter brained and reckless she could be. She was lucky to have Herb. Good old Herb orthopedic shoe was exactly what she needed in her life. He is not a shoe!
Hailey shut the bed of her truck and headed for the front door of the bar already hearing the beat of the music as it flooded from the partially open front door. She looked back at Eric. "Try not to look so... movie starish. Just act normal, and you should be fine."
"Where's the bouncer?" Eric asked stopping at the door.
"What? You think we need to be carded?" Hailey shook her head. What a weirdo.
Eric looked a little worried and Hailey bit back a smile. A place like this, if anyone paid close attention to Eric they'd recognize him of course. But she doubted too many would care. They were here to release stress after a long work week-not get a page in their autograph book signed. Hailey pushed open the door and they stepped inside.
The bar was always a little darker than Hailey expected it to be. There was a handful of small tables by the front, a bar in the center of the room with the rest of the tables on the other side, a karaoke stage with a small dance area towards the back of the bar, and a line of pool tables by the bathrooms. About half of the tables were full-the place would get busier the closer it got to midnight. Two couples were on the dance floor and they looked a little tipsy already. Hailey walked up to the counter without glancing back at Eric.
"Two shots of tequila, a top shelf scotch, and a Bud light, please," Hailey called loudly over the music to the bartender. She felt the heat of Eric's body next to her as he approached the counter top. The shots were in front of them along with slices of lime and a saltshaker within a few seconds. Hailey pushed a glass to Eric. "Here."
After they took their shots, Eric grabbed the scotch and beer and they secured a two top table on the quieter side of the room. As they sat down Eric looked around the bar. "This place is... authentic."
"Not authentic. Just a bar," Hailey said and Eric nodded. Maybe she should not have another drink-he was beginning to look normal. Or maybe it was just the flannel. Just the dim lights. His damn dreamy eyes.
"So, I've always wondered, where do you get your ideas from?" he asked and it brought her back to the night's purpose. She suddenly felt like she was being interviewed.
"I'm sorry? My ideas?" she asked pretending like she did not understand the question. "Like coming to the bar?"
"Book ideas. The stories you tell-where do they come from?" he asked. Hailey noticed he was slinking down in his chair, looking around the room as if he was afraid he would be pounced. No one was even looking at them. She had to hold in the laugh.
"Oh, like when I write a book? Some of it just comes out of nowhere; it's hard to say... But some ideas are born out of fantasy; some are what ifs after watching the news. Most of my books are based one way or the other after people I know."
"So Thomas and Addy, they're real?" Eric asked pulling himself forward. He was no longer looking around like someone scared of a snake jumping out and biting him but was instead, focused on Hailey. She felt like slinking down in her chair and getting out of his gaze.
"They were real," Hailey said feeling a ping of sadness as she thought about Paul. And as always when she thought of Paul when she was in the middle of having a relaxing time-she felt guilty that she had not been thinking about him in the moments before. "Addy is still around."
"Right, I'm sorry. Thomas died then in real life?" Eric asked and Hailey nodded. "Were you close?"
Hailey felt a surge of irritation. She did not know if it was the strength from the alcohol or the Stone Temple Pilots song blaring through the speakers, but she decided if this man had a PI tailing her, he more than likely already knew the truth and could be playing dumb to get her to say it. To admit and strip down the barriers between them. But she decided even if she told him she was Addy and Paul was Thomas it would not strip anything down. She opened her mouth to answer but was rocked forward before she could say anything.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," a thin blond woman said. She was leaning on the back of Hailey's chair but was looking at Eric. She was flanked by two other young blonds. They were all probably barely old enough to be inside a bar. "Are you Eric James?"
Eric smiled at the women, and any truth or possibility that he was a real person was gone. He looked like he was behind a screen on the television of one of his movies. Hailey felt suddenly like an outsider at her own table. Removed from the situation as the blond thrust her phone at Hailey and demanded she take pictures of all of them with Eric.
Hailey looked at him in the screen on the phone with the beautiful young girls surrounding him, arms around him, hands on his chest. He was glass, not real. He was far away on the screen. She should remember that was how she should see him. Don't let your guard down. She reminded herself. She might be reckless in the life she had now, but she would not be reckless with Paul's memory.
The women talked with Eric for a few moments, and she sat there uncomfortably adjusting the hem of her dress. They reminded her of her age, her stretch marks from motherhood, and the wrinkles that were beginning to set around her eyes. They finally walked away squealing and laughing. Eric turned back to Hailey with traces of that fake smile still on his face. "Sorry about that."
"Nope. That is the price of fame." Hailey forced a smile on her face. "But yes, I knew the real life Thomas and Addy very well. And I just don't think you are the right kind of person to keep his memory alive."
"The world needs to see their story," Eric said as he looked at her with a surprised expression. But after seeing how quickly he could change his expression moments ago and hop into that movie star mode, Hailey was not sure that this was a real emotion on his face. After all, he is paid to be fake.
"Maybe the world does, but it needs to be through someone like Paul," she said. She took out her cell phone and quickly typed Eric's name in the Internet search bar. "Look at this. These are all the top hits for images that come up when searching your name. You're a mess, in like all of them."
Eric took the phone from her and began to scroll through the pictures and his brows furrowed. Hailey almost felt bad for him but figured he must know what was out there about him. He was a notorious party boy in Hollywood. No matter the fact that he was almost forty, he was still out drinking every night, partying with models and young socialites, bringing strange women home, flipping off cameras, and getting into fights with paparazzi. The list went on and on.
"This isn't me," he said pushing the phone back to her. A waitress walked back with a large tray of shots for sale and Eric purchased four from her. She stared at him, no doubt in shock. Poor girl. When she walked away Eric pushed two of the shots to Hailey.
"It looks like you," she said.
"It is. I mean, it's me obviously. But it's not," Eric said swallowing the first shot. Hailey took his lead and drank the green vile. It was sweet. Too sweet. They both grimaced.
Eric continued. "What I mean is, this is all publicity. This is all stuff I am, believe it or not, paid by the studio half the time to do. The strange women that come home with us? Most
of them are sent home when we arrive back at the house. The rest of them Sandy takes off into another room while I sleep. I'm not going to lie... sometimes they do end up in my bed. But most of this stuff is just publicity. Bring people out to my movie. This is the stuff I want to get away from."
Eric and Hailey took the second shot. A thick brown shot that tasted like fudge. Hailey did not complain about the sweetness that time. She raised her eyebrow. "So this is all fake?"
Eric shook his head and pointed at an image of himself punching a paparazzi. "This one was real. He called my sister in law a name I won't repeat here... but the rest of this shit is mostly staged. It's like being on camera, on the job, twenty-four seven."
"I don't see your brother in tons of images like this," Hailey said squinting her eyes. She wanted to believe Eric, there was something about the look in his eyes, but it did not add up to her. Her head was beginning to swirl from the drinks, and she took a sip of beer. "Whoops, thought that was going to be water for some reason."
Eric laughed and left the table for a moment. When he came back, he had two glasses of water with him and another beer for Hailey.
"Thanks." Hailey gulped the water down.
"Raymond is a serious character actor, they sell photos of him taking care of his children and volunteering at a soup kitchen. The studios don't want actors who play blind pianists getting into bar fights. But someone who has a movie about a cop with a bad attitude," Eric was quiet for a moment. "Well, it is a different publicity, a different audience they are attracting. A different way to sell tickets."
"You're saying, Raymond doesn't really want to take care of his kids or volunteer at a soup kitchen?" Hailey asked half joking, half wondering.
Eric smiled and Hailey felt herself melt a little bit. It was a real smile not that one he flashed earlier. She steeled herself so as to not reveal that smile did anything to her, but her knees felt a little wobbly. Eric leaned forward. "Don't put words in my mouth, I'm just saying Hollywood is a twenty-four-hour business. This," Eric did not lean back but waved his hand around to indicate the bar, "Is the first time I've been off the clock for as long as I can remember."