Role of a Lifetime: Out of Hollywood Romance

by Cora Davies

  “I don’t even know what to say; so I’m just going to lay here. If that’s okay with you?” His voice was deep and his breath hot against her skin. She nodded and felt the tears wash down her face. She lay there as he let her cry herself to sleep.

  ***

  It was evening and Eric’s phone was ringing. Hailey looked at it. “It’s Luca again.”

  Eric pressed ignore and leaned against the wall. He was wearing a pair of jeans, a faded black t-shirt, and the black beanie Hailey had given him. They had spent the day in bed napping, eating, and talking. They talked about their childhoods, their jobs, their dreams for the future, and their real future. Not their collective future, but two separate ones. Luca had called several times throughout the day and threatened to drop Eric (he wouldn’t) and help the studio find someone else to take the lead in Hype City (he wouldn’t). But the studio did want Eric on set ASAP. At Hailey’s urging, he had called Hannah, and she arranged for his jet to pick him up at the tiny private airport in town.

  “If you stay another day, it’s just going to take longer for both of us to get back to our regularly scheduled programing.”

  “What if I don’t want to go back to regular?” Eric asked taking Hailey’s hand. She allowed him to entwine their fingers. She sighed. She had to admit-their hands did fit together perfectly.

  “I want regular back. I need my regular, quiet, and boring back.” Hailey pulled her hand away from Eric and grabbed a stray shirt of his that had fallen out of his suitcase. She brought it to her face-it smelt like his aftershave. “I’m keeping this.”

  “I don’t want to leave you if this Christian guy is still out there. And I definitely can’t leave if the press is coming Monday to look for me.”

  “We’ve gone over this. Now that we’ve got a name, it can’t be too long before we have a face. If Scott gives this guy’s information to the police, they’ll take him into custody. If Bill didn’t kill him first, that is.”

  The police were currently leaning towards the belief that made Bill his brother’s killer. According to Jason’s friend at the police station, the brothers had planned on robbing Hailey, but then they got greedy, fought, and Ted paid with his life. Time of death was just hours before Hailey’s attack. Time of death eliminated Ted as the person who could have called Bill during his attack on Hailey. The police were putting the phone call off as a coincidence that had nothing to do with the attack.

  “And the press?”

  “Sometimes, I think your head is a little too big,” Hailey said rolling Eric’s shirt up and stuffing it into her purse. “I mean, you’re a movie star-not a prince. I don’t think that many people actually care who you sleep with, do they?”

  “Just wait and see. Promise you won’t let them dig through your garbage,” Eric said. “I mean, literally dig through it. They find the best dirt on people in their trashcans.”

  Eric pulled Hailey in for a hug. She did not want him to leave, but she did not see any other way around it. They were going in different directions. What could she do? Follow him around to his movie sets? She had a teenage daughter to think of. Not that he asked me to come with him.

  Eric pulled away from Hailey and held her at arm’s length, forcing her to meet his eyes. It was like he read her mind when his next words came out of his mouth. “Let’s just run away from it all. Fuck them all. I’ll buy an island and we’ll go live there. We’ll bring your mom and Risa. We can even bring Jason and the sheep if you want. I’m not ready to say goodbye, and when you look at me-I can tell you aren’t either.”

  Hailey’s heart leaped into her throat. She knew he was mostly joking, but it was hard not to get caught up in the moment.

  “You’re just having adrenaline surges because you got the movie rights and we caught a bad guy last night. Those things would make anyone feel a little crazy.” She touched the side of his face and stroked his stubble. She wanted to tell him yes-running away sounded like the best option. Especially on an island with Eric James. But, it was time to be a grown-up and face all of her problems.

  “So you’re telling me, you don’t feel this?” he asked motioning back and forth between the two of them.

  “I had a blast with you, but there just can’t be anything left here except the memory of a really great week.” Hailey felt all the lies as they left her mouth. She could not live the life Eric led. She could not be a crutch for his addictions, she could not live in a spotlight, and she could not thrust Risa into that kind of life.

  Eric stood up quickly, brushing Hailey’s hand away from his face.

  “Eric, I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad,” Hailey said cringing when she saw the hurt in his eyes. She had put it there.

  “I’m not mad,” Eric said shaking his head. “You know, maybe you’re right. I’m just feeling something because of how you wrote that damn book. I’ve read it so many times; I feel like I know you. I’m like some squealing fangirl because you’re Addy. But you’re not really Addy are you? Because that Addy was full of life and compassion. You’re happy being alone and miserable. Your life is that song, that damn nineties song. You should know it. The angry girl with the rain.”

  “I’m Only Happy When It Rains? That’s not me.” Hailey put her hand on Eric’s chest to stop him as he walked for the door. He threw her hand off and she held in a cry as a sharp pain shot through her shoulder. Stupid injuries. How long would she be broken?

  “I need to go. I need to catch my flight,” Eric lied. They both knew it was a lie. His pilot would wait all night for him.

  Hailey stared at him, gritting her teeth. Pushing the shoulder pain away, and pushing away the pain of the goodbye that was not going as well as she hoped. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

  “I laid it all out there and you told me I don’t know what I’m feeling. You dismissed me.” Eric looked away from her. “We’re fine, I just… I’m used to…”

  “Used to getting what you want.” Hailey felt her insides crumbling. She knew she had hurt Eric’s feelings, but she needed to make sure he stayed away. The less she was in the spotlight, the better. The less people she put in danger with Christian, the better.

  “Is Jason coming to get you?” Eric asked.

  “He’s been in the lobby waiting for us to say goodbye. He called while you were in the bathroom”

  Eric paused, his hand on the doorknob, his forehead resting against the doorframe. “Goodbye, Hailey Rogers.”

  “Eric?” she asked. She did not want to end things with this much anger between them. She waited for him to open the door. She waited for him to step out.

  She needed him gone days ago, but now she needed him gone more than ever. Her feelings were welling up and becoming too much for her to deal with. She did not want to deal with them. She wanted to crush them down again. Put her feelings in the box, just like Jason had taught her how to do. How to hide it all and live free from pain.

  She heard Eric’s suitcase hit the ground and felt his arms around her. His mouth was forceful on hers, not wanting to take no for an answer. Not wanting to take we’re over for an answer. His tongue penetrated her with a hunger she had never felt before, not even in all of her years with Paul. It lashed out claiming her for his own. Saying anything but goodbye.

  His hands were in her hair, pulling her neck back and opening her mouth still more to him. His hands should have hurt her where her bruises were, but she could feel nothing but the heat from his mouth. He grew hard against her belly, and she melted on the inside. She felt as if she would crack as if she would relent give up and let him stay. She felt if he just said-

  The kiss ended abruptly. “Goodbye, Hailey.”

  “Goodbye, Eric Fucking James.”

  “You wish,” he said winking at her. The door shut between them.

  “Stupid movie star,” Hailey said to her reflection in the mirror on the back of the door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  "Distraction. Distraction." Eric looked around the cabin of the
plane looking for something to do other than watch a movie. He felt like he had been hit by a freight train after leaving the hotel and had not been able to settle down and relax. The expression on Hailey's face confused him when he stepped out the door. She told him to leave, but her eyes told him to stay.

  His eyes finally settled on the floor across from him where two black stiletto shoes lay haphazardly under the couch. That's different. The only people who took the jet regularly were Raymond and his family. Eric's parents rarely took the jet but even if they had, he did not believe his mother had ever worn stilettos. Surely, whoever they paid to clean the jet would have seen the shoes and they would have been stowed away after a flight. But, there they were.

  Eric walked to the front of the plane, knocked once to announce himself, and then pushed the door open to the cockpit. Chad and Diana, the pilots, glanced back at him.

  "Hi, Mr. James," Diana said standing to greet him. Diana was a thin Latino woman with dark hair pulled back into a low bun. "Can I get you anything?"

  "I was actually wondering..." Eric stopped. He was wondering what exactly? Did he really need a distraction so badly that he was going to play Cinderella? "There is a pair of heels in the cabin; they aren't yours are they, Diana?"

  Chad glanced over his shoulder and stroked his small black goatee. "I'm sure they belong to your traveling companion, Mr. James."

  "Traveling companion?" Eric asked as Diana and Chad looked at each other and exchanged a knowing look. Eric recognized that look. It was the ignore-Eric-because-he-is-high look his brother often exchanged with their mother. Maybe he should do what everyone expected-take a blue pill to slow down. Take a red pill to speed up. "I didn't bring anyone on board."

  "No, Mr. James," Diana said slowly, "but your brother did say you'd be expecting her."

  "Who exactly am I expecting?" Eric asked, matching Diana's slow tone. Two could play at that game.

  "The young woman is probably still asleep in the front of the cabin. She took something for her nerves when we took off from LA," Chad said.

  The blue pill.

  Eric walked out of the small room and crept back into the cabin. There was no way he had missed a sleeping woman on his plane. He retraced his steps from earlier that evening. He stepped through the door, turned right there, then turned and walked into the main cabin. The chairs on that side, the couch on that. Every chair was currently facing the center of the room-every chair except the two up front. But there was no one there. Was there?

  Eric walked to the front of the room to the two mystery seats. He almost staggered backward when he saw a woman balled up and asleep on the chair.

  "And this bed is just right," Eric mumbled as he pulled out his phone. He walked to the back of the cabin and called Raymond. His brother answered on the third ring, and Eric heard his youngest nephew crying in the background.

  "Eric, are you in the air?" Raymond asked, then in a muffled voice said, "Give you brother back his wubby. Elise! Elise! Where is the damned nanny?"

  "Raymond." Eric gripped the back of one of the seats. "Why is Tricia Daniels sleeping in the back of the plane?"

  "Maybe she's tired. How am I supposed to know?" Raymond said then muffled again, "No, the blue wubby. Where is your mother?"

  "Raymond! Focus, please," Eric said.

  "Okay, hold on." Eric listened as the sounds of Raymond's children quieted. A door shut. "You have my undivided attention."

  "Tricia Daniels."

  "You're welcome."

  "What?"

  "I fixed everything. Again." Raymond sounded satisfied with himself. Eric gawked at the empty space in front of him.

  "I don't understand what a twenty-one-year-old country singer is supposed to fix." Eric walked back to Tricia to see if she had woken. She was in the same position she was in when Eric found her a few minutes ago, long blond hair hanging over the edge of the seat, and a little puddle of drool collecting by her mouth.

  "You contribute to the assumption that all actors are idiots." Raymond sighed. "You've heard she is sleeping with her label owner? There hasn't been proof, but Max was desperate to get his wife off of their trail. Sandy is dropping the 'you left her for someone else' bomb in a couple days; unless you've forgotten? Two birds..."

  "And she is on the plane because..."

  "The two of you have been on vacation in the Rocky Mountains. The paparazzi have already been tipped off; expect to meet them in LAX."

  "How long?"

  "How long what?"

  "How long do you want me to go along with this bullshit?" Eric felt irritation at his little brother as he bossed him around yet again.

  "A thank you would be appropriate," Raymond said softly.

  "Thank you. How long?"

  "You know what? You figure it out. I got you two this far. Between you and Tricia, you should be able to form some kind of brain waves." The line went dead.

  Eric leaned back in his seat. Fake relationships were nothing new in Hollywood. Most short-lived relationships were plotted in studio meetings and in back pocket deals between agents. Eric had been in his fair share. Hell, his relationship with Sandy had started off as a favor from Luca to Sandy's agent. He could do this for a little while. Tricia was not entirely unpleasant to be around; they had presented an award together at the MTV movie awards last year, and he actually remembered her being kind of funny.

  Or that might have been the red pill he took right before the ceremony.

  Eric crossed the cabin and stood over Tricia. He cleared his throat, waited, and when she did not so much as flinch, he nudged her shoulder. She looked at him groggily. Tricia sat up. "Was I snoring?"

  Thin with long wavy blond hair, Tricia had a faint Kentucky accent. "No snoring. So you agreed to play pretend?"

  She shrugged as Eric leaned back against a cabinet across from her seat. "Max doesn't want his wife to know-at least until after their anniversary party. And he said it would be bad for my image if people found out I was sleeping with a married man."

  "But not bad for your image to be dating a man almost twice your age?"

  She shrugged again and yawned. "You're hot. I don't think people really care how old you are when you look like you."

  "That's true." Eric knew where he stood. If he allowed his weight to go, dressed in sweats, and had skin that lost its elasticity faster, he would not get away with half the shit he got away with. It was all luck. "Okay, I guess they're going to photograph us when we get off the plane. Your eyeliner is smeared; you should fix that."

  Eric was not saying it to be mean, and he was sure Tricia did not take it that way. They always had to be ready to have their photograph taken. "I'll fix it before we land."

  "I'll help you down the stairs, hold your hand, and put my arm around your shoulders while we pretend we're surprised they found us. As long as they let us, we will pretend like we don't see them until we get a little further from the plane; that way they can get some good shots of us walking down the stairs."

  "You should do that thing where you hold up a newspaper in front of our faces, like you don't want them to see us kiss." Tricia rubbed her eyes. It looked as though she was trying to force the sleep from them, but it only smeared her makeup more. "Should we rehearse?"

  "No." Eric shook his head and patted her on the knee. "These things always look more natural if it's a first run. I think they can tell if it's rehearsed when it looks perfect."

  "Okay. Do you care if I eat something? I'm starving." Eric pointed toward the small closet that housed a refrigerator and microwave. Tricia fished around for food, and Eric walked back to the seat he claimed when first boarding tonight.

  He watched Tricia as she dumped a small packet of peanuts in her mouth. He had found a distraction all right. The sad thing was, the world would believe it. They would believe he would date a twenty-one-year-old because that was just the kind of guy he was. He leaned his head back on the seat and willed himself to go to sleep. Just as he was about to drift off, he though
t of something. He pulled out his phone.

  Don't believe everything you see on TV. Monday should be quiet.-EFJ

  ***

  Hailey sat across her kitchen table from Jason. The silence was long and awkward. It had never been awkward with Jason. He had fallen into place within her family almost since the first day they met him. But during Jason's assurance to not leave her side until they found out exactly why Ted and Bill had come to her house, Hailey confessed everything to him.

  He confided he was not entirely surprised. Hailey saw Rebecca hand him letters over the past few months occasionally, but neither Rebecca or Jason ever saw the entire picture. They had only chunks of the story. Hailey was the only one who knew the entire truth, and she still felt like she was missing chunks. Now, Jason knew as much as she did.

  "And they found fingerprints for Christian Davis on the letters? Another man who worked with Paul, and you believe is connected to this... diamond business?" Jason spoke to her as if she were a little slow. She knew it was hard to believe. It had taken almost seven years before she believed. If Scott did not have all the letters right now, she would lay them out in order for Jason to read. She would show him everything she had read.

  "Yes. Scott placed a request to get what he can from the office of military personal. But it can take months." Hailey almost went straight to the attic where she kept Paul's old bins of paperwork when they got home. She was tempted to go through them all one last time. She had only been looking for account numbers when she went through the papers before, but now she would be searching for anything on Christian Davis.

  "Okay. Well, just keep me in the loop. No more secrets. Not if I'm going to be taking care of you three," Jason said. Hailey felt an immense gratitude for this man, and she stood up to hug him. He held her gingerly, patting her shoulder as if he was petting a pile of feathers he did not want to float away.