by H. P. Munro
Freya laughed. “Hi, what’s your name?” she held out her hand.
The man’s look of surprise turned into one of absolute devotion as he took her hand and shook it.
“I’m Mike.”
“Well Mike, I’d like to introduce you to my friend Jordan,” Freya smiled indicating over towards Jordan who was watching the exchange with an amused expression on her face.
“Hi Mike, lovely to meet you,” she smiled broadly holding her hand out.
Mike looked down at Jordan’s hand in disbelief before placing his own shaky hand into hers.
“And you too Jerry,” Jordan smiled tilting her head and acknowledging the taller man who looked like he wanted the ground to open and swallow him whole.
“Oh my god,” Mike muttered to himself as he looked back and forth between the two women. “My friends back home will never believe this when I tell them.”
Freya grinned and turned in her seat, “Jerry, do you have a camera or a phone camera?”
Mike’s partner shot her a grateful look as he nodded and pulled out a silver camera.
“Excellent,” Freya stood up placing her napkin on the table. She grabbed Mike’s hand and steered him across towards Jordan. Slipping in behind Jordan’s chair she casually let one hand drop onto Jordan’s shoulders as she loosely put her arm around Mike’s waist. “Ready?” she asked Jerry, who nodded as he took the picture.
Before moving she looked over expectantly at Jerry, “Did it take? Did I have my eyes shut? ’cause I usually have my eyes shut in photos.”
Mike practically skipped over to Jerry to look at the picture, “It’s perfect, thank you.”
He hesitated as he looked to be experiencing an internal battle raging in his mind, finally he sighed. “Could I maybe have a picture of just the two of you?” he asked, his eyes pleading with the two actresses.
At some point without realizing, Freya had placed her other hand onto Jordan’s shoulder. She looked down trying to gauge Jordan’s response.
“Sure,” Jordan smiled. Reaching her hands up she lifted Freya’s hands from her shoulders and pulled them down bringing her closer by wrapping her arms around her neck. “How’s that?” she asked leaning her head towards Freya’s until their cheeks were almost touching.
“Oh you two are going to make just the cutest couple on the show,” Mike smiled as he examined the photo he had taken.
“Well, be sure to watch September thirteen when we’re back on,” Jordan smiled, reluctantly releasing Freya’s hands and allowing her to stand up.
Freya moved back to her seat waving a goodbye to Mike and Jerry. Sitting back down she laughed to herself as she placed her napkin back on her lap.
“You’re amazing,” Jordan mused as she took a sip of her water.
Freya froze, keeping her head still and her face neutral she raised her eyes to look towards Jordan. Straightening up in her seat, she gave Jordan a small smile, “I am? And why would that be?”
“Well you practically commando crawl in here so that you’re not seen and then you go and do something like that.”
“Remember I went to the Anna Conor boot camp of how to treat those that pay your wage. Plus, when I was eight, I really liked The Pom Poms.”
Jordan frowned, “The cheerleading singers?...Seriously?”
Freya scowled, “Do not mock my awesome taste in music as a child. Besides looking back I think it was the cheerleading outfits.” The last part came out before Freya was thinking and immediately she realized her mistake.
“You wanted to be a cheerleader?” Jordan asked surprised.
“Noooyes, yes I did,” Freya corrected hoping that Jordan hadn’t picked up on her original answer. “Anyway I was a big fan and I saw them and tried to get an autograph and they snubbed me,” she waved her hand to indicate it wasn’t a big deal. Looking up at the patio heater above them she finished her story, “I cried for days afterwards so I promised myself that I wouldn’t ever do that to anyone. We do what we do for Mike and people like him.”
Jordan tilted her head and studied the woman sitting opposite her. She was an enigma, every new piece of information that Jordan got her hands on made her desperate for more. She smiled and nodded, “We are so going to make a cute couple.”
Freya gave Jordan a strained smiled, “Yeah, we are.”
“What, you don’t think we’ll look cute together?” Jordan asked, noticing the strange expression on Freya’s face.
“Yeah, I mean no, we’ll look amazing together,” Freya blurted out just as the waiter placed her macaroni and cheese in front of her. “Thank you,” she smiled at the waiter.
“I can’t believe you ordered macaroni and cheese,” Jordan shook her head eyeing up her own plate of food.
“What, I like to order things I can’t make when I come to restaurants,” Freya shrugged as she took a mouthful of her lunch and practically groaned with pleasure.
Jordan put her fork down and looked incredulously at Freya, “You can’t make macaroni and cheese? You are kidding right?!”
“Nope,” Freya grinned popping another mouthful in. “Mmmm.” She waved her fork in the air and gave Jordan a cute smile, “But I’ve been able to make martinis to die for since I was seven.”
Jordan chuckled and then started to eat her quesadilla.
“I mean our characters are like fire and ice,” Jordan continued as she ate her lunch. “Georgia’s all heart on the sleeve and everything out there.”
Freya couldn’t help but smile at the animation in Jordan’s face as she spoke about her character.
“And Emily...” Jordan frowned. “Emily is all happy façade while holding everything close and hiding her vulnerability.”
Freya narrowed her eyes studying her co-star. “You think it’s a façade?” she asked carefully.
“I think that she gives the impression that everything is up for discussion and cards on the table, but I think that it’s all on her terms,” Jordan responded shrugging. “She hides her vulnerability. Whether it’s because she feels the responsibility as a soldier or a doctor I’m not sure, but she strikes me as a bit of a control freak.”
Feeling suddenly exposed, as if Jordan was speaking about her instead of her character, Freya muttered, “Twice in one day. Really?!”
Jordan looked up from her plate, “Sorry?”
“Dan,” she shook her head as she spoke. “He called me a control freak earlier and now my character is a control freak too.”
“You’re a control freak?” Jordan smiled, about to laugh, but instead assuming a serious expression when she saw Freya’s face. “Nothing wrong with that, but you do realize there are things that you can’t control.”
“I know that,” Freya shook her head irritably. “And I’m not a control freak really, I just like…” Freya sucked on her cheek and let her shoulder fall as she placed her fork down, “being in control.”
Jordan smiled as two men greeted each other affectionately at the bar, “But you can’t control what others do, or who you’re attracted to or fall in love with.” She returned her attention to Freya and chuckled, shaking her head, “At this moment you can’t even control macaroni cheese.”
She reached over and wiped a piece of pasta sauce from the side of Freya’s mouth using her thumb.
Freya’s mind went blank at the contact. She cleared her throat and picked up her fork again.
“Thanks,” she blushed as she focused her attention on the remainder of her food, trying to quell the jumble of thoughts and feelings coursing around her mind and body.
Jordan pulled her hand back and closed her eyes giving her head a small shake. Her action had been without conscious thought and now Freya was looking anywhere but at her. She pushed her plate back slightly, “Excuse me, I just need to go use the ladies.”
Jordan stood up and walked through the bar towards the restroom, once inside she paused resting her hands against the sink. She’d had to get away from Freya, the awkwardness that had suddenly descended u
pon their table had been intense. Looking up at herself in the mirror comprehension appeared all over her face. Oh my god, she probably thinks I’m coming onto her. Jordan’s eyes widened and she ran her hands through her hair. I bring her to a gay bar and then I invade her personal space and now she’s all looking at her food and not at me. She thinks I’m coming onto her.
Jordan turned to leave the restroom but stopped and turned. Looking at herself in the mirror her panicked expression dropped from her face, “I was coming onto her.”
She breathed slowly as she processed her actions and feelings from not just the previous evening and through the day, but practically from the moment she had started working closely with Freya. She recalled the thoughts she’d had earlier and how she’d struggled to pick the right outfit for their lunch at The Yard.
“I’m coming onto her, oh good Lord.”
Jordan threw her hands up in the air bringing them down hard against her thighs, focusing intently at her reflection in the mirror she gave herself a talking to. “Stop it, stop it now. Go act normal Jordan Samantha Ellis.”
If ever she felt the need for a reality check, using her full name usually gave her the reminder she needed about the person she was. It reminded her that she was still the girl from Orlando that joined the choir to help her confidence and was shocked to find a voice that knocked her choirmaster on her ass.
She slapped her hand against the restroom door and strode purposefully back towards their table. She hesitated as she was about to re-enter the courtyard upon hearing Freya laugh as she signed an autograph for a woman.
“Act normal,” she chanted to herself waiting for the woman to leave before continuing her journey to her seat.
“You okay?” Freya asked. “I wasn’t sure if you were done,” she indicated over towards Jordan’s plate.
“Yeah I’m done,” Jordan nodded, looking up and catching the waiter’s eye she nodded her head for the check and then dropped her gaze back to the table as she fidgeted nervously.
Freya was not sure what had happened but Jordan had practically sprinted away from the table and now she was barely speaking and spending an inordinate amount of time adjusting the cutlery on the table. She was about to speak when the waiter set a saucer down with the bill. Both of them reached for the check at the same time.
Freya’s hand rested on Jordan’s. “Please let me, it’s your birthday.”
Jordan looked down at their hands, her eyes trailed slowly up Freya’s arm until she reached her smiling face, her green eyes were still piercing even in the dull courtyard.
“Thank you,” she rubbed her thumb gently against Freya’s hand before slipping her hand out and placing it on her lap.
As they collected their belongings and headed out of the bar neither spotted the man sitting alone in the corner slip his camera back into a bag.
***
Freya flopped down onto her sofa with her bowl of popcorn. Picking up the TV remote she started to flip through the channels looking for something to watch. Her cell phone buzzed from the table behind her. Reaching her hand behind her head she picked it up and looked at the display. Her stomach flipped as she saw it was a text from Jordan. It had been eight hours since their lunch at The Yard and Freya had given up trying to fathom why it had ended on such an awkward note. When they had reached their cars, she had pulled Jordan into a friendly goodbye hug and couldn’t help but notice her tense.
“Oh seriously Freya, it’s a text,” she shook her head as she opened the message.
I’m watching you
Still holding her phone, Freya looked nervously around her living room frowning. She jumped when the handset started to vibrate in her hand. Looking down she saw it was Jordan calling, pressing the receive button she brought the phone slowly to her ear.
“Hellooo,” she said cautiously.
“I pressed send too soon and realized that it probably sounded kinda creepy,” Jordan laughed. “I’m watching you on cable, Velvet Girls is on.”
Freya laughed as she balanced her phone under her chin and picked up the remote flicking through the channels until she came across the same episode. “Oh God,” she muttered embarrassed as she watched herself on TV. “I can’t believe you’re watching this. I thought you were going out to celebrate your actual birthday?”
Jordan shifted on her sofa plumping up the cushions behind her, “Yeah, I couldn’t be bothered. I’m getting old, it takes me two days to recover from a late night now. What about you?”
Freya looked down at her hoodie and thick cotton pajama bottoms, “You know the LA glam lifestyle.”
“Sorry, are you going out?”
“Jordan, I’m in my PJs eating popcorn and now watching myself on TV thanks to you,” Freya laughed, ignoring the beep of her cellphone indicating another call. “Oh,” Freya recognized the scene. “Jordan, stop watching, turn it off.”
“What? Why?...Oh!”
Jordan’s eyes widened as she watched one of the main characters in the show place her hand inside Freya’s bra. “Hot and heavy in a club bathroom indeed,” Jordan chuckled sitting up to watch the scene.
Freya watched the scene through her fingers, “Yeah…I’m blushing right now.”
They both watched in silence as the scene progressed and there were shots of a hand slipping beneath the waistband of Freya’s trousers.
Despite knowing it was work, Jordan had an irrational surge of jealousy as she watched the scene. “So we’ve got our first kiss scene rehearsal tomorrow,” she slapped her palm to her forehead taking the phone away from her ear and glaring at it as if it was the phone’s fault that she had just said that.
“We do,” Freya replied as her house phone started to ring. She swung her legs off the sofa, stood up and walked over towards her phone. “You nervous?”
“Nooo,” Jordan blustered hoping that Freya didn’t detect any hint of nerves in her voice.
“Good ’cause I’m an awesome kisser.” Frowning at the name on the caller display on her landline, Freya ran her fingers through her hair, “Jordan, can I call you back? My agent is calling me.”
“On a Sunday night?”
“Yeah and on the landline so it must be something important. I’ll call you right back.”
“Sure, speak soon.”
Jordan hung the phone up and turned her attention back to the TV, scowling and muttering bitch anytime the main character that had made out with Freya came on screen.
Freya picked up her landline, “Hey Dominick.”
“Is there a reason why I’m looking at photographs of you and Jordan Ellis right now?”
“Are you bored? ’cause if you are my episode of Velvet Girls is on,” Freya walked towards her kitchen. “Residuals Dominick,” she sang.
“Open your email Freya.”
Her agent’s voice sounded unimpressed despite the mention of money, which meant he was pissed at something.
Freya changed direction and headed back towards the sofa grabbing her iPad as she went. She hit the envelope icon and waited for her emails to load.
“What am I looking for Dominick?”
“An email from me.”
Freya went to the folder called Ten Percent where her agent’s emails automatically redirected, located the email from Dominick and opened it. She clicked on the link that he had inserted into the email and gasped as photos of her with her arms around Jordan’s neck appeared on the screen. She scrolled down the website. The next photo had Jordan reaching out to wipe the sauce from her face. She groaned as she saw that her eyes were shut making her look like she’d melted into Jordan’s caress. The last image was of them as their hands met when they’d reached for the bill.
“Always with the eyes closed,” Freya rolled her eyes.
“That’s all you’ve got to say?” Dominick roared. “Did you see the story that went with the pictures?”
Freya scrolled over. “Shiiiiiit,” she breathed as she read the headline beside the pictures.
Has the n
ew Front Line on screen romance spilled over to off screen?
Spotted out in one of West Hollywood’s hottest gay bars having an intimate lunch were co-stars Jordan Ellis and Freya Easter. These two hot actresses will be embarking on a torrid affair when Front Line hits our screens in September and it looks like the ladies have been getting a little extra rehearsal time in.
Tune in for the hot Army Doc drama starting back September 13th at 9pm on ETWC.
“Torrid affair!” Freya ranted. “We’re half way through shooting episode five and we haven’t even kissed for Christ’s sake!”
“Missing the point Freya,” Dominick interrupted. “I’m going to put out a rebuttal saying you are not gay.”
“What?” Freya started to pace the floor. “No. No you’re not!”
“We have to do something.”
Freya took a couple of deep breaths and counted to five, “No. We don’t. I’m telling you I don’t want you to do that.”
“In that case, get out of your sloppy house clothes and put some make-up on. I’ll get one of my young unknowns to take you out on town get you seen around with a man,” Dominick started to scroll through his client directory.
“No. Dominick, listen to me!” Freya raised her voice. “I am not Rock Hudson. I am not going out on a set-up.”
“What the hell has Rock Hudson got to do with anything? You will do what I tell you to do,” Dominick answered calmly. “I have your best interests at heart Freya.”
Freya felt her anger swell inside of her, “See Dominick, you think you do but you do not have my best interests at heart. Thanks to you I’m back to where I was at seventeen, hiding who I am for fear of recrimination. I have enough hang-ups with my family without adding my sexual orientation back onto the pile. I’m tired of hiding Dominick.”
“We are not having this conversation again Freya. I will have trouble getting you roles if you come out.”