Stars Collide

by H. P. Munro

  Sabrina picked at the man’s suit collar and batted her eyelids, “How about you provide them with a bottle of champagne as way of apology and we’ll pick up the cost.”

  Rolling her eyes at the exchange Jordan leaned forward, “We’ll pick up their check for dinner as well.”

  Sabrina turned and forgetting that she was still wearing her dark glasses glared at Jordan who simply glared back. Eventually realizing she was going to lose the staring contest, Sabrina reluctantly turned back. “And we’ll pick up their check,” she murmured.

  “One moment please,” the man smiled and headed towards the couple sitting in Sabrina’s desired spot.

  Grabbing Jordan, Sabrina spun round and moved them behind another section of potted plants. She watched Freya’s table for any physical interaction between her and the mystery man sitting with her.

  Ignoring the stake-out for the time being, Jordan looked at the thin-stalked plant she was standing behind and raised an eyebrow. “Okay not even a size zero could hide behind that,” she chuckled.

  Sabrina turned her head and looked over the top of her sunglasses. “Fine, get behind me,” she growled.

  Jordan moved so that she was peering over Sabrina’s shoulder as the slightly taller actress started to bob her head back and forth mimicking Jordan’s voice, “We’ll pay for their dinner.”

  Sabrina turned to face Jordan and drawled, “She’d better be worth it, that’s all I’m saying.” She smiled politely at a middle-aged woman walking towards them alongside an elderly woman.

  “Shhh,” Jordan whispered as she tried to see past. She leaned to the left shifting her weight so she could get a better view when she felt herself start to topple as she overbalanced on her heels.

  “Woah,” Sabrina breathed as she reached out and grabbed Jordan. Placing her arms around her waist and pulling her back onto her feet, she held onto her friend until she was certain that she was steady again. The elderly woman looked the two women up and down and gave them a dirty look before turning away and following the younger woman into the restaurant. “Did you see that?” Sabrina asked her mouth gaping open.

  “See what? My head was practically buried in your cleavage,” Jordan responded straightening her dress.

  “That old woman just gave us the stink eye,” Sabrina pointed towards where the woman had gone.

  “Probably another one not happy with the change of direction of Georgia. I’ve had a few letters saying they’ll never watch again,” Jordan replied shrugging still trying to watch Freya’s table.

  “Ladies your table is ready,” the maître d’ held his arm out to usher them into the restaurant. Both women scurried through the restaurant to reach the safety of their table and immediately hid their faces behind their menus.

  “Lose the glasses Sabrina,” Jordan hissed.

  “No, they make me look mysterious.”

  “They make you look like Bono. Now lose them,” Jordan growled as she reached out, removed the glasses, closed them and put them down on the table beside them.

  “Totally ruined my look now!” Sabrina grumbled as she read the menu while keeping an eye over towards Freya. “So do you know who he is?”

  Jordan shook her head, “Never seen him before.”

  “So do you want to talk about what’s going on with you? ’cause enquiring minds would like to know what’s so special about Freya that you’re skipping along the Kinsey Scale?”

  “I honestly have no idea, I’ve never been attracted to women in that way before. I just get this sense of happiness and peace when I’m around her. She’s funny and kind and, despite her family, she’s really got very little ego,” she sighed. “And then there’s the other thoughts.” She leaned closer to Sabrina, “Sexy thoughts.”

  “So when did you start to feel these unfriendly thoughts?”

  Laughing, Jordan’s mind brought back an image that had the same effect on her now as when she first saw it, “I knew for sure after she fell in the pool at Eleanor’s when she climbed out and her shirt was wet and see through. It was like a shot of pure adrenalin to my libido. I have never had that happen before with a woman or a man. I’ve never even thought about women in that way. I mean I can appreciate a fantastic body like we all can, but, this…obsession, that I have, is unnerving. I really want to do things to her. I have no idea what things, but things!”

  “Has she given you any indication that she’s interested…or even gay?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just reading the signals wrong. Maybe she’s just a really friendly person. I mean first there was the birthday gift which was amazing.” She placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand, “And then that kiss. I swear that she wasn’t working during that kiss and then the donation to the foundation.”

  “Hmmm,” Sabrina responded distractedly, as she had become engrossed in the menu. “The food here looks amazing.” She looked up as she processed Jordan’s words, “Wait, what donation?”

  Jordan looked down through the menu and had to agree with Sabrina as there were at least three things that she was desperate to try, “She made a donation to my charity today of ten thousand dollars paid in by her agent Dominick Spence.”

  Sabrina lifted her purse from the floor and pulled out her phone selecting the internet application. She typed Dominick Spence into the search field and hit the search button.

  “Dammit, no signal. Wait here, I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Sabrina reached for her sunglasses but was beaten to them by Jordan.

  Jordan shook her head, “Nuhuh not happening.”

  “Spoilsport,” Sabrina pulled her purse to her chest and left the table, returning momentarily to whisper menacingly in Jordan’s ear that she was not to order without her.

  She walked across the restaurant towards the restrooms keeping a careful watch on their targets as she went. Sweeping through the doors, she checked her phone and smiled when the 3G signal symbol appeared. She waited patiently for the page to load.

  “Gotcha,” she remarked as a photo image of Dominick was amongst the results. She reached into her purse and pulled out her small walkie-talkie.

  Jordan looked over towards Freya, she could see her head moving as she spoke. Every now and again she would throw back her head and Jordan could hear her laughter.

  What am I doing? Jordan thought as she observed her co-star. This is madness.

  She was about to go over and say hello and put an end to the whole debacle when she heard a crackle coming from her feet. Frowning, she leaned down to see where the noise was coming from.

  “Sabrina,” she sighed as she realized that the noise was emanating from her purse. She opened the zip and clasped her hands around the walkie-talkie that Sabrina had given her earlier.

  “Major Disaster, do you read me?”

  Jordan couldn’t help but give a small laugh at the nickname Sabrina had given her while she’d worked on Front Line. She pressed the speaker button and spoke into the handset, “Agent Provocateur, I can hear you. Now where the hell are you?”

  “Restroom. Come here I have something to show you but I’ll lose my signal if I come back in.”

  Jordan rolled her eyes, tore her napkin from her lap and thumped it down onto the table, “I’m coming.”

  Sabrina looked up as the restroom door opened, expecting to see Jordan. Her smile froze when she saw it was the elderly woman from before. Remembering the earlier look the woman had given her, she scowled before returning her attention to her phone. She heard a cubicle door close and lock as the main door opened and Jordan entered.

  “Look who I found,” she held her phone up for Jordan to see.

  “That’s him,” Jordan gasped. “How did you?”

  Sabrina held a finger to her lips and pointed towards the closed cubicle door. “That’s Dominick Spence!” she whispered.

  Jordan slapped her hand to her forehead, “Her agent. They had a fight at the weekend, she must have forgiven him.”

  Sabrina
put her phone and the two-way radio back into her purse, “Well that’s that sorted then. Can we go say hello and stop you moping around like a love-sick teenager?”

  “Thank you,” Jordan reached up and pulled Sabrina into a hug as the cubicle door opened and the elderly woman moved to the sink to wash her hands.

  The two actresses pulled apart and went to return to the restaurant. As Jordan reached for the door handle, the old woman muttered under her breath, “Ought to be ashamed of themselves.”

  Jordan spun back round, “I’m sorry? Is there a problem?”

  The woman finished drying her hands and crumpled up the towel throwing it into the waste. “Her I could expect it from, she slept with anything that moved in that hospital,” she said pointing in Sabrina’s direction.

  Sabrina’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened in shock.

  “But you, you I expected better from. What that boy did to you was terrible and I would have thought having been cheated on you would know better.” She turned back to Sabrina, “Did you know that she’s seeing that lovely Captain Dollar? ’cause she is. My daughter told me so.” The woman wagged her finger in their face, returning her glare to Jordan she continued to rant at her, “And while that poor girl is out in Germany serving our nation you are in LA with that, that, floozy. Shame on you, shame on you both.” With that the woman bustled past the two shocked actresses and left the room.

  There was a momentary pause before both women burst into peals of laughter.

  ***

  “They were all over each other in the ladies’ room, it was disgusting.”

  Freya’s attention diverted from Dominick telling her about an interview he had lined up for her and zoned into what sounded like an older woman’s voice behind her. From the remark it sounded like someone had been getting hot and heavy in the ladies’. Freya couldn’t help but smirk at the thought.

  “So I just gave them a piece of my mind. It’s a damn shame what they’re doing to that poor Emily girl and she doesn’t even know. That tall one, the one that left for the FBI, she’s a brazen one.” Frowning at the turn of the conversation, Freya leaned back in her chair to hear the rest of what was being said.

  “Mom, I told you when we saw them earlier, they’re actresses on a TV show, it’s not real life. Their names are Jordan Ellis and Sabrina Morales.”

  Freya gasped and turned around to see who was having the conversation. As she did her eyes caught movement across the restaurant and she looked over in time to see Jordan and Sabrina walking across clutching at each other and laughing as they walked.

  Jordan’s laughter died in her throat as her eyes met Freya’s, her green eyes a mixture of shock and what Jordan was sure was a hint of sadness.

  Freya spun back round to face her agent. Shocked that what had only been a minor suspicion regarding the nature of Jordan and Sabrina’s relationship had been confirmed in an extremely public manner, “Dominick, I think we’ll skip dessert. Can we leave now?”

  She unhooked her purse from the back of the chair and stood to leave. As she swept through the restaurant she paused as she passed Jordan and Sabrina. She smiled broadly masking the riot of emotion currently coursing through her.

  “Hey Sabrina,” she said brightly. “Nice outfit.”

  She managed a brief nod towards Jordan, not trusting her emotions to hold if she made eye contact with her. She continued her exit not waiting on Dominick as she left determined to get out of the restaurant before the disappointment she was feeling spilled out. She could hear the old woman’s voice carrying across the restaurant.

  “I hope you two are happy now!”

  Dominick caught up with her as she stood waiting on the valet bringing his car round. She was desperately gulping in air trying not to cry while photographers were around.

  “You okay?” Dominick asked, accepting his car key from the valet.

  Freya nodded, not trusting her voice.

  Once settled in the privacy of Dominick’s car hot tears fell freely down her cheeks.

  Dominick turned his attention from the road and did a double-take as he realized Freya was crying, “Freya, you’re not okay you’re crying. I’ve never seen you cry before.”

  She sniffed and gave a mirthless laugh, “Yeah well, Anna’s going to be proud of me for finally letting my emotions out.”

  “Is this to do with Sabrina Morales and Jordan Ellis?”

  Freya nodded again, the movement dislodging more tears from her eyelashes. “Could we not talk about it?” she asked in a small voice. “I just want to go home.”

  ***

  You have no right, no right whatsoever, Freya chanted her new mantra to herself. This had been her default position every time images of Jordan and Sabrina came into her head. She’s a colleague not your girlfriend so you have no right to be upset. She continued to play the phrase over in her head as she opened the door to her trailer.

  “Hi.”

  Freya looked up, surprised at the voice as she climbed the final steps and entered her trailer.

  “Hi Jordan, what can I do for you?” she smiled weakly and walked over towards the sofa to dump her bag and script on the table.

  “I, I wanted to come and explain about last night, about what Sabrina and I were doing at the restaurant,” Jordan stammered picking at the hem of her top.

  Freya smiled brightly, “You don’t owe me any explanation Jordan.” She moved around her trailer to plug her almost dead cell phone in to charge. “We work together, who you see or what you do outside of work is nothing to do with me.”

  “Wait, do you think I’m seeing Sabrina?” Jordan asked surprised. “We’re not, I’m not…that whole thing with the old woman, it was a misunderstanding. The woman’s daughter was really apologetic after you left.” Jordan’s heart sank at Freya’s assessment of their relationship as colleagues and nothing more. She sighed and continued to explain even though it appeared there was no need, “She gets confused, apparently she thought we were our characters and that I was cheating on you. She even hit Sabrina with her purse.” She moved her head around to try to get Freya to make eye contact, “Thank you for the donation.”

  Despite the work that she had done to convince herself that she didn’t care if Jordan was in fact involved with Sabrina, hearing that it was a mistake had given her a sense of relief. However, the relief was short-lived when she considered Jordan’s response.

  It would appear that she was now back to falling in love with a straight woman.

  When Jordan mentioned the donation she looked up in surprise, finally allowing herself to make contact with Jordan’s brown eyes.

  “I didn’t realize he’d put my name on it.”

  “Well he did, so to say thank you properly, I bring you an offering and since you missed dessert at DeLucca’s, which is to die for by the way,” she moved away from the counter she was leaning against to reveal a pie sitting on the top.

  “You bought me a pie?”

  Jordan shook her head as she cut a slice, “Nuhuh, I made you pie.” Using a fork, she pulled out a slice of the pie and put it on a paper plate she had swiped from Craft Services. “As an Orlando girl, I made you my own special recipe Key Lime Pie.” Smiling she held out the plate and fork towards Freya.

  Freya narrowed her eyes suspiciously as she took the pie and fork, “You made this?”

  She looked down at the pie slice that was enticing her. She could feel the saliva start to gather in her mouth at just the faint whiff of lime. Taking the fork, she pulled off a small bitesize portion and placed it into her mouth immediately moaning in pleasure at the sensation of the pie melting against her tongue.

  “Oh my god,” she mumbled through her mouthful of pie. “You seriously made this?” she asked in disbelief.

  Jordan smiled, “My sister calls it my ‘marry me’ dish.” She turned and laid the rest of the pie back on the counter.

  Freya cocked an eyebrow, “Your ‘marry me’ dish?”

  Waving her hand embarrassed
ly, Jordan chuckled, “She said that if I made that dish specifically for someone they’d immediately want to marry me.”

  Taking another bite of the pie Freya closed her eyes savoring the taste, “She’s not wrong.” She opened her eyes and pointed at the remains of the pie with her fork, “This is a dangerous dish.”

  Jordan ran her hands nervously over her hips, “Yeah, I only make it on special occasions, usually for parties, gatherings, that sort of thing.”

  “So has it ever worked its charm?” Freya asked, taking another mouthful.

  “Well since you’re the first person that I’ve made it specifically for, I’d have to say not yet,” she pushed herself off the counter and walked towards the door. Pushing it open she stalled, she was in two minds whether to say what was on the tip of her tongue. Finally she smiled, “But let me know when you want to propose.”

  Freya stood, fork in midair, grinning as the door to her trailer closed.

  ***

  They spent the day rehearsing the softball ensemble scene and the kiss scene for blocking. Despite never having talked about it they had, by silent agreement, decided to leave the actual kissing part of the scene until they shot it the following night. They were packing up for the day when Toby had come over to thank them for their work and remind them to check their call sheets for the next day.

  “God I love my job. Don’t get me wrong but night time shootings just throw my system out of whack for about three days, especially after a sixteen hour day,” Freya grumbled as they collected their coats.

  “Ah, you should try the Ellis method,” Jordan smiled bumping her with her hip. She was glad that whatever awkwardness had been between them had faded as they spent the day in each other’s company, retuning them to the light banter that she enjoyed.

  Freya returned the smile. “Yeah and what might that be?” she asked waving goodnight to the production staff.

  “Stay up as long as you can the night before.” She turned around and shouted back towards Toby, “The yawn collection tomorrow night is your choice Toby.”