Hollywood Lights

by Lana Xavier

  “Uh-”

  “I’m only asking because you look wiped and the storm isn’t expected to pass for another few hours according to this,” he explained, holding up his cell briefly before shoving it back in his pocket. “So if you want to try to sleep, I’ll watch over our stuff.”

  “And me I hope.”

  Caleb smiled almost affectionately as he nodded. “And you, of course.”

  I really wanted to take him up on the offer, even though I knew sleeping on this hard floor would wreak havoc on my back. But it was such a selfish thing to ask of him. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure. But can I borrow a book?”

  I pulled my bag between us and opened it, letting him pick through the novels I brought with me and after he chose one, I snapped it shut and started to adjust myself into the most comfortable positon I could find.

  “You can put your head on my lap,” Caleb whispered suggestively.

  My eyes were already closed and I pulled my jacket over my chest like a blanket before murmuring, “I’ll pass, but thanks.”

  I heard him chuckle before he cracked open the book, the soft sound of him flipping the pages and occasionally shuffling around eventually lulling me into a restless sleep.

  * * *

  Chapter Three

  “Sabrina… Sabrina, wake up.”

  “Wha?” I mumbled, squeezing my eyes tightly shut as the sounds of the airport began to hit my ears. “Caleb?”

  “Who else would it be?” he asked with a laugh then proceeded to nudge my shoulder and playfully whisper, “Wakey, wakey.”

  “What time is it?” I asked groggily as I tried to sit up, a kink in my back making it’s presence known and causing me to wince. I rubbed my eyes tiredly, not wanting to open them just yet.

  “A few minutes past noon. Hey, where are you going?”

  “I’m sorry?” I asked, finally opening my eyes to look at him quizzically.

  “Your flight. Where are you going?”

  “Oh. Los Angeles.”

  “I kind of figured. The storm’s moved north and they’re about to begin boarding flights heading west and south. Are you on 1307?”

  The news that we may finally be getting out of here woke me up pretty fast and I dug around in my bag for my boarding pass. Sure enough, I was on flight 1307.

  “Yeah.”

  He grinned. “What a coincidence, so am I. Come on.”

  He stood up and offered me his hand, which I gratefully took. I tried to ignore the butterflies I got from his touch as he helped me stand, but it was useless. I could already feel a blush rising to my cheeks and goosebumps prickling my arms again.

  Whether I liked it or not, I couldn’t deny the fact that Caleb’s touch did something to me.

  Something unlike anything I ever felt. I certainly never felt that way when Tim ever touched me, and he had touched far more intimate places than my hand. In the back of my mind, totally against my will, I began to imagine what Caleb’s electric touch would feel like running down my body. A small shudder rippled through me and Caleb regarded me with a cocked eyebrow.

  “Everything alright?”

  “Fine. Fine. Let’s find our gate,” I said, making my tone as light as I possibly could.

  He shrugged and let it go, even though I could tell it pained him to do so. As we walked through the airport, I kept a respectable number of feet between us, hopefully making it clear to any curious onlookers that we weren’t together in any way, shape, or form.

  But one girl who was lingering around the flight status screens— no older than nineteen if I had to guess— shot me a hateful sneer when Caleb reached over to tap my arm and pointed up at our flight number.

  “The gate’s in this wing. Come on.”

  I frowned at the girl as she pulled out her phone and raised it into the air. Thinking fast, I darted to the side and as far away from Caleb as I could get without raising suspicion from anyone else nearby. I kept my head down as she undoubtedly snapped a photo, hoping that I wouldn’t be recognizable if I showed up in any gossip blogs.

  Not that anyone would know who I was regardless. But I didn’t want to be known just for walking through an airport with Caleb Bradshaw.

  Caleb glanced back and chided me for walking so slowly, totally oblivious to the attention that seemed to follow his every move.

  Or maybe he’s just used to it and has an easier time ignoring it.

  Well, I certainly wasn’t used to it and when he grabbed my elbow to drag me along beside him, I jerked my arm away with a sneer. His eyebrows raised with surprise before he held his hands in the air with mock surrender.

  “The flight’s going to board in a minute and you’re moving like a snail. What’s the fucking problem?”

  I turned back to see that the girl had disappeared and my overblown reaction was exactly that— overblown.

  I sighed heavily and shook my head before muttering, “It’s nothing. Sorry.”

  Caleb didn’t look thrilled with my lame apology, but he brushed it off with a half-shrug. “It’s cool. Let’s go.”

  The walk to the gate was spent in awkward silence and felt like it had spanned a number of hours until our gate number finally became visible. It was loaded with people standing around, impatiently waiting for the airport staff to make the announcement that boarding was about to begin.

  I glanced around at the various faces in the crowd, wondering how many of these people had also missed important meetings because of the storm. Or how many were missing their families and just in a hurry to get home.

  Caleb didn’t seem to give a fuck about anything of the sort. He just appeared irritated at having to be kept waiting. He was a man who was so accustomed to being catered to that he had never bothered to develop a sense of patience. It was glaringly obvious that he didn’t like being stuck waiting with the ‘commoners’, even if I knew he wouldn’t say it out loud.

  I snorted at the thought. Even after knowing him for such a short time, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to hear those words come out of his mouth. He was easily the most arrogant person I’d ever met.

  Caleb turned to me with a raised eyebrow, curious as to what I found so funny. I was about to brush it off when the speakers buzzed and a clear voice came sounding over the intercom.

  “Thank you for your patience. We are ready to begin boarding flight 1307 from Atlanta to Los Angeles. We’d like to invite all first-class flyers and platinum card holders to line up for pre-boarding.”

  I was about to turn to Caleb and give him a witty comment about seeing him on the other side, but he was already walking forward before I got the chance. I frowned, unable to explain the sudden feeling of rejection that washed over me like a cold shower.

  After spending the past few hours together, it grated on my nerves that he was just going to walk away without so much as a quick good-bye. I narrowed my eyes at his back while he grinned and flirted with the woman who checked his passport and flight ticket. He didn’t even glance back at me once before he began walking down the corridor to the plane.

  What a dick.

  True, we had had a number of disagreements during our short time together and the banter had been less than friendly at a couple points, but I actually thought we had gotten to an almost friendly place. He was obviously just a great actor and I tried to shove away my disappointment at having fallen for it.

  Damn it. I should know better than to blindingly trust a pretty face.

  I shook my head and willed away my thought— all my thoughts— about Caleb Bradshaw. I looked down to my ticket to check what zone I was in as they started to board other passengers, quickly finding the area marked ‘Zone 2’ and waiting patiently by the roped off line-up.

  When they finally called my zone and I made it to the desk, I smiled politely at the woman Caleb had flirted with, immediately noticing how pretty she was and feeling a tendril of jealousy coiling in my gut. I forced myself to keep the friendly smile, but let it fall off my face as I
made my way down the corridor.

  It wasn’t until I was stepping onto the plane itself that I thought about the fact that I’d have to walk through first class and see Caleb again. I prayed he had a window seat, knowing that would make it much easier to blatantly ignore him.

  But when I immediately spotted his baseball cap sitting in an aisle seat, I felt my hope deflate. With my luck, I’d wind up stuck in line standing right beside his row, waiting for someone aisles ahead to get their damn bag into the overhead compartment while trying to ignore the movie star to my left.

  I braced myself for the possibility even though I happily noticed that the line was moving at a pretty quick pace. I was only three steps away from Caleb’s seat when the line momentarily paused before picking right back up again. Caleb’s head was titled down towards his phone, not even noticing me as I approached.

  Oh my God, I can’t believe it! I’m going to make it!

  Of course, my luck was never that good. Right before I passed his row, he abruptly stood up and stretched his arms across the span of the aisle.

  What the fuck?

  I stared at him blankly as he held out his phone in front towards me. I looked down at it then back up, cocking my head to the side and wondering what in the hell he was playing at.

  “Take it,” he prodded, waving the phone closer to my face.

  I hesitantly took the phone and glanced down, realizing that the screen was sitting on an unsaved contact marked ‘Sabrina’.

  Sabrina. That’s me. I’m Sabrina.

  My brain just couldn’t seem to process what was happening. I looked up at him quizzically and he rolled his eyes.

  “Type in your number,” he said slowly, as if he was explaining something to a child.

  His tone aggravated me and I shoved it back to his chest. “No.”

  For a moment, he looked utterly surprised and I felt a small sense of triumph. I knew he wasn’t a man who got told ‘no’ often and I felt pretty damn proud that I was one of the few people who got a chance to shoot him down.

  “No?”

  “No. Now please move so I can get to my seat.”

  The grin that slowly stretched across his lips was slightly incredulous. “Are you serious?”

  “Dead serious. Please move.”

  “What’s the hold up? Get a move on, honey!” a man shouted at me and I grit my teeth together to keep from barking a rude response back at him.

  Caleb crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged, a triumphant smirk on his face. “I’m not moving until you give me your number.”

  My jaw dropped. Surely he wasn’t serious.

  “Caleb, this isn’t funny. Move.”

  He shoved the phone at me again, raising his eyebrow in a silent challenge. The people in line behind me were starting to get unsettled and the woman standing directly behind me said, “For fuck’s sake, just give him your number. He’s Caleb fucking Bradshaw.”

  “That’s the problem,” I muttered as I yanked the phone out of his grasp and quickly typed in my phone number. I considered typing in a fake number, but a part of me knew that it wouldn’t do me a damn bit of good. He wouldn’t let me get away with something like that.

  “Happy now?” I asked between clenched teeth after I saved the number and shoved the phone back to his chest.

  “Elated,” he said with a self-satisfied grin.

  He kept his word and sat back down, obviously not regretting holding up the line or caring that I was being prodded in the back like some kind of livestock.

  Once I got to my seat— one of the back rows, of course— I quickly tossed my bag into the overhead compartment and dug out my screenplay and red pen before taking my seat. I opened up to the page where I had left off with my rewrites and tried my damndest to focus, but I couldn’t bring myself to get into the story.

  I was too frazzled by Caleb and his hot and cold actions. This last one was pretty hot—demanding my phone number? Surely he wasn’t planning to call me. Why on earth would he bother? The man could have any woman he wanted. There was no way he’d go out of his way to attempt to get me into his bed. It seemed absurd.

  Even though, logically, I knew it was crazy… I couldn’t stop the optimistic part of my brain from hoping that he would call.

  * * *

  By the time the pilot came over the intercom to announce that we were beginning our descent into Los Angeles, I had managed to regain enough focus to finish up on the changes to the script and just managed to drift into a restless sleep. Even with the short nap on the plane and the one in the airport, I was both physically and mentally exhausted. I couldn’t wait to get to my hotel room and take a shower then follow it with at least ten hours of sleep.

  Even after the announcement, it still took another half an hour until the plane actually landed and rolled to a stop at our gate. Everyone in the aisle seat rose at once and I felt a little saddened that I was too far in the back to catch a glimpse of Caleb before we got off the plane.

  It was a slow trickle of movement down the aisle as the other passengers took their time retrieving their bags and slowly moved towards the front. By the time I got off and was rushing down the corridor, any hope I had that Caleb might have waited for me outside was crushed.

  When I finally got out and glanced around, there was no sign of him except for the gaggle of teenage girls standing in a circle, squealing with glee. It was practically a neon sign that read ‘Caleb was here’ and I couldn’t stop my eye roll.

  Of course he wasn’t going to wait around. He would have been mobbed by the time I finally got off the plane.

  I comforted myself with the thought then mentally berated myself during my walk out the airport. Why did I care so much anyways? Didn’t I hate him?

  Well, maybe he irritated me a little. Or a lot. But I was also so curious about him that I couldn’t help but to want to be around him. If given a chance, I wanted to learn everything there was to know about Caleb Bradshaw.

  I sighed as I exited the airport and walked towards the line of waiting cabs. I was no better than one of his obsessive fan girls.

  But then again, maybe I was better.

  How often do you think he asks fans for their phone numbers?

  While the thought made me smile at first, it faded into a frown as I realized that I may not want to know the answer to that.

  “Need a ride, miss?”

  I turned to the cab driver who had spoken and nodded, sliding into the backseat after he opened the door for me. I told him which hotel I was staying at and before I even got fully settled into the seat, we were pulling away from the curb.

  I practically planted my face against the glass window as I took my first look at the City of Angels.

  * * *

  “First time in Los Angeles?”

  I looked up at the girl checking me into my hotel room, a little startled by her question. “Yeah. Is it that obvious?”

  She shrugged as she continued to type the information from my driver’s license into her computer. “Kind of. You’ve just got that totally overwhelmed look on your face. Like you aren’t sure what to do with yourself.”

  It was true. Plus I was fidgeting like crazy. But still, it unnerved me that she was so easily able to spot me as a tourist. Would other people sense it too? Would I get robbed if I went out? Didn’t that make me an easier target or something?

  I’m being ridiculous, I reminded myself. I’ve lived in New York City for almost four years now and haven’t gotten robbed once. I won’t get robbed in California in the span of four days.

  Besides, what the girl at the desk was probably picking up on was my jittery impatience to get to my room and plug in my long-dead cell phone. I was certain I had numerous missed calls from my mom and probably a number of messages from Nathan, the studio rep that I had been talking with to set up this whole trip. I had been trying to contact him at the airport to let him know I’d likely miss my meeting when my phone had abruptly turned off.

  Then there
was Caleb. Had he called yet? Was he going to call at all?

  I was a bucket of nerves and it had nothing to do with the culture shock of being in a new city. I hadn’t been here long enough for that to settle in yet.

  “Alright, you’re all checked in. Here are your keycards.”

  “I only need one,” I told her as I opened my palm to take the keys and my license back.

  She shrugged. “Well, you get two. Standard procedure.”

  “And the room charge?”

  “The studio paid for four nights. You’ll have to come down and pay for any extra nights with your personal credit card or the studio can contact us if they need to extend your stay. As of right now, your check out time is Monday morning at 11.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome, Ms. Murphy. Enjoy your stay.”

  I gave her a polite nod and turned towards the elevators, looking down at the envelope my keycards were in and checking the room number. After I made it up to my floor and into my room, I dumped my bags on the bed and immediately opened my messenger, pulling out the charge cable for my cell and plugging it in before I dug out some clothes from my duffle.

  I showered quickly, using the hotel provided soaps that were a few steps above what I was used to using, then dried off with one of the fluffy white towels hanging on the rack. I was beyond impressed with the quality of the room the studio had gotten for me. It wasn’t a suite or anything outrageous, but the hotel was far more upscale than I imagined it would be.

  It definitely made me feel better about flying all the way out here. Maybe they really were serious about my script.

  If I didn’t botch up my chance by missing the meeting, I thought sourly.

  Sure enough, I checked my phone and it was loaded with unread text messages and a few voicemails. Before I even bothered to read any, I double checked the time to make sure it had switched over to PST.

  Three o’clock. Four hours late for my meeting. Fuck my life.

  I went to the voicemail messages first, knowing that Nathan was unlikely to have texted me.

  “Hi, Sabrina. This is Nathan Whitby from Walter Realm Pictures. I’m calling to let you know that we saw the weather report and we’re aware that your flight was delayed, so we’ve rescheduled your meeting for Friday at noon. Hopefully by then, the storm will be gone and you’ll be here in LA. See you soon!”