Unfortunately, Cody's plans to go back to him were soon thwarted. His chat with Jack's group led to him being diverted to another group, who occupied his time for much longer than he cared. On a couple of occasions he was able to spot Arun from through the crowd and both times he saw a clear look of boredom on his face. As the night wore on, and midnight came and went, Cody saw that unless he did something, his chat with Arun would be a one-time only event. He excused himself from the third group to whom he was talking, just for a minute, and headed steadfastly through the still plentiful crowds of people, ignoring their greetings.
"Okay, sorry," he said, sliding into the booth and sitting opposite Arun. "This is taking a lot longer than I'd hoped."
"No, that's okay." There was a tinge of disappointment to his voice. "Being the world's biggest movie star, of course everyone's going to want a piece of you. I'm going to get going in a second anyway."
"I do feel like a rodent that the vultures are all fighting over, yes. And trust me, it's not anywhere near as fun as you might think. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to swap numbers, maybe? We could meet up some other time then, carry on with what we were discussing."
"Which was?"
Cody grinned. "You."
A smile spread across Arun's face, feeling as though it had been absent for far too long. "I do love to talk about myself."
"Same here. So come on, what's your number?"
Having exchanged details they said their goodbyes, both of them feeling like they were teenagers again, unprepared for how to handle all this, Cody heading back to the birds of prey as Arun headed towards the exit.
A little after one o'clock, as the party began to die off (though those that remained were still making enough noise for it seem as though things were in full swing), Cody quietly slipped away from the group of drunkards that he had found himself with and relocated himself to a quiet booth, which, without realising it, happened to be the exact spot that Arun had been in earlier. He took his phone out and decided to message Arun. All he sent was three simple words—You still awake?—the suggestiveness behind it not lost on him. Doubtless, had he not been a little tipsy, he probably wouldn't have sent it, or at the very least he wouldn't have worded it quite that way, but it was late and the people here were boring him, which reminded him of the one person who hadn't. Thinking that he'd give it five minutes, long enough to be sure that Arun was not still awake, before accepting that it simply wasn't meant to be, Cody got himself comfortable and prepared to look busy. He'd barely flicked through Facebook before a reply came back from Arun.
My body's not on UK time yet so yeah, still awake.
Cody couldn't help but smile. His thumb hovered over the keyboard. He was suddenly struck with an uncharacteristic uncertainty. Getting the conversation going hadn't been a problem—it never was—and yet he was hesitant right then. He knew what he wanted to say (something a little flirty) but a sense of restraint held him back. As he paused however, Arun took the lead.
How's the sucking up to the suits going?
Cody smiled again, chuckling to himself. It was entirely possible that it was simply his mind reading too much into one particular word in that reply, but then he saw Arun's previous message, and how he'd said My body rather than I'm, and so Cody's imagination began to fire.
He was halfway through replying, saying that it had gotten boring, when Arun messaged him again.
Sorry, that was rude. I've had drinks!
Choosing not to think about it, for fear that he might never actually be able to get a word in at this rate, he fired off a quick response.
No apologies needed.
Rather than make Arun wait for his entire train of thought (besides which, Arun seemed likely to interrupt them with messages of his own), he chose to send them in small chunks.
It's gotten more boring than even I can stand.
If you can believe that!
Glad you're still awake. Fancy a chat?
I could come to your hotel?
He tapped the side of his phone impatiently, biting his lip as he did so. Old memories had resurfaced, of times when he'd been here before, almost making the choice to chase but backing out every time. He wasn't sure why he'd actually gone ahead this time. Looking back through what he'd sent, he saw that it could be explained away fairly easily.
Another message came through from Arun, distracting him from the doubts that were percolating.
Sounds great. Hotel's a dive though, but you're welcome to come and brighten it up.
Simultaneously thrilled and repulsed by the idea (his movie star lifestyle had significantly raised his standards), Cody once more hesitated with his thumb over the keys. With what he'd already sent being perfectly innocent, it gave him an escape route, a way to back out of taking this huge step. Yet, that wasn't really why he was hesitating. Sure, he was reluctant to leave any evidence on his phone, but he wasn't so sure about quitting. Deciding to risk things he closed the messaging app and opened his phone's contact list, tapping the icon next to Arun's name. He put the phone to his ear and heard exactly one ring before Arun answered.
"I mean, it's a proper dive," Arun said, ignoring any need for greetings. "Like, two stars, at the most."
Cody laughed then looked around him. He'd learned to pay careful attention to his surroundings, aware that anyone could be listening, but had he forgotten to do that tonight? It felt as though when he'd been talking to Arun that he'd let his guard down and now he wondered if people had been able to figure out the truth because of that. After all, how did it look, him removing himself to a quiet area and laughing with someone on the phone? It was obvious what was going on!
Of course, no-one was looking at him. Everyone was in their own little world. The room was full of people from the same industry. They all knew that everyone here was just a regular person like anyone else. They didn't give a damn.
He relaxed his shoulders and shook his head, clearing the doubt away.
"Yeah, that sounds horrific. Mine's five stars. Proper classy." Without even thinking about whether it was a good idea or not, he added: "Do you fancy coming over there instead?"
"I do," said Arun, merrily.
Cody told him where it was ("Ooh, posh", said Arun in a playful tone) and gave him his room number.
"I'll be right over." He sounded distant suddenly, his head having turned away from the phone. "Just need to find my other shoe."
Arun disconnected the call and Cody stood there smiling, excited but wary. Arun had sounded as though he might have had more than just a couple of drinks and it gave rise to the possibility that the evening might not turn out how Cody wanted it to. Did he really even want things to go that way anyway? He felt like he did but this was completely new territory. Wanting to do something and actually doing it were two entirely different things. His thoughts strayed back to his earlier doubts, though they were coupled with new ones. He'd never taken things to this stage before—the pursuit—because he'd always had other goals that took precedence. But now that he'd made this choice he wondered if all it was going to do was make him look like a fool? He'd been certain that Arun had been giving off the right signals, but now he wasn't so sure. Was Cody just hoping that there'd be signals and had simply made them up, regardless of whether they were there or not? After all, this wasn't some chance meeting, it was one that Cody knew would happen and had been thinking about for a while.
He considered texting Arun back, cancelling everything. It'd be easy to do. Something's come up. Arun wouldn't know any different. But doing that would make Cody look bad. Admittedly, it'd only be in the eyes of one person, but it was the one person who he didn't want to think badly of him. Arun was someone that Cody wanted to impress and chickening out of things now would absolutely not do that.
He could rearrange things. Say that something's come up but instead of leaving it at that, he could add that they could meet up tomorrow. That might work. But what if he got this same feeling of doubt then too? He couldn
't cancel a second time.
He took a long, deep breath. He was being silly. The best thing to do was to just let things play out. And besides, there was some actual business that Cody wanted to discuss with Arun, so if he could find the resolve, this meeting could be about that and nothing more.
He messaged his driver, telling him to bring the car around to the side entrance. He said quick goodbyes to a few people at the party and then headed outside. The rain which had greeted his arrival at the awards ceremony earlier in the evening had gone, but the chill in the air remained. He saw the car and was filled with relief, knowing that George would have it nicely heated. Before darting across to it, he scanned the area for potential threats. He wasn't looking for anything as dramatic as an attacker or anything like that. He was looking for autograph hunters (or the selfie hunter, as it was now). Early in his career, a seasoned actor had taught him how to spot the fans that were looking for a piece of you. You just had to look at their eyes. There was a determination to the way they stared at you, eager for the hunt. Ordinarily Cody had no issue with it. If it made them happy then it made him happy. But if you weren't in the mood for the attention—which Cody was not—then the results could be disastrous. With the rise of social media, even the slightest hiccup spread like wildfire. Fortunately, the coast was clear and Cody strode across to the car. George stepped out and opened the door for him. Cody ducked in, sinking back into the seat and sucked in the warm air.
George got back into the driver's seat and caught Cody's eye through the rearview mirror. "Did you have a good night, sir?"
"I did thank you, yes."
He'd told George once before that he didn't have to call him sir, but George had declined the offer, simply nodding to acknowledge it and then carrying on as before. He had that way about him, did George. A maturity that seemed beyond his youthful twenty-four years. A good upbringing is what Cody always thought, though it seemed such an Old Man type of thing to say. Not that Cody felt old, though it was something that seemed to be hurtling towards him rather quicker than he'd expected. He did wonder if the reason why he employed people younger than him was so that it might delay this ageing. A sort of by proxy type thing. Yet despite the distance that this age gap put between them—and the distinct employee-employer divide—Cody found it easy to talk to George.
"The night is still young though."
"Where would you like me to take you?"
"Oh, just back to the hotel please."
"Of course sir."
George pulled away smoothly and made his way along London's roads, still busy despite the time. Cody shuffled in his seat and stared out of the window, flashes of neon visible through the darkened windows. He'd have quite liked to have driven himself back to the hotel, but that ran the risk of him taking a detour and bailing on things. In any case, the studio making the fourth Blake Lancaster film would have none of it, having learnt a long time ago that movie stars driving themselves home from a party was absolutely not the kind of publicity they wanted.
The warmth and quiet in the car was lovely but it allowed his mind to wander again, back to thoughts of anxiety about what might happen next and he knew that even though he wasn't driving himself, all he'd have to do is tell George to take him somewhere else and he would, no questions. To reduce the chances of this happening, he decided that the best thing to do was to talk to George about something that he knew the two of them could chat about for the remainder of the journey. Himself.
"Did you catch any of the ceremony?"
"I saw the last few awards sir, yes. That's quite the privilege isn't it sir, presenting Best Picture?"
"Did I do a good job? I didn't fluff anything?"
"No, not at all. Very professional."
"What about the funny bits? Did they come across naturally or not?"
"I've always thought you'd be good in a comedy. You know, one of those sophisticated ones. Not the gross out stuff. No-one cares about those ones."
Cody was certain that George was just saying what he thought Cody wanted to hear, but he didn't mind at all. It was always good to have his ego stroked. He looked at George, through the mirror, and flashed him a smile. He'd seen George look at him in a particular way a few times, the way his eyes held his for just a fraction longer than usual and how his face would soften sometimes when Cody spoke. But again, that could simply be Cody completely mis-reading things. Not that he would ever try anything with George. What a horrible abuse of power that would be.
He leant back in his seat. If things didn't go to plan this evening, the image of George smiling at him wouldn't be the worst way to fall asleep. After all, there's no harm in just looking.
When the door of his hotel room clicked shut behind him, Cody leant back against it and considered what to do. This was his last chance to escape. He looked around the room, at the double bed in the centre of the wall opposite, with it's thick, white duvet; at the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling window, flanked by two armchairs in the same soft, brown fabric; at the mahogany dresser opposite the bed, underneath the large, ornate mirror and next to the matching desk; at the large blue vases filled with fresh, delicate-scented flowers. Outside it was cold and loud and would probably rain again any moment. No, it was too warm and cosy to leave this room. Maybe it was about to get even cosier?
He took his jacket off and flung it onto the bed, discarding his bowtie in the same manor and unbuttoning a couple of buttons on his shirt as he strode over to the mini bar. He poured a whiskey, took a sip, sighed once more and located his iPad, on the dresser. Loading up YouTube, he searched for the night's awards show and found the clip he was looking for - the one of him presenting Best Picture. He sucked on his teeth for a moment then switched the iPad off, flinging it onto the bed. The night was going too well for it to be ruined by scrolling down and reading the incessant wailing of faceless people behind keyboards. He downed the remainder of the drink and went and stood in front of the floor-length mirror, just outside the bathroom. He checked himself out, preening a little, tugging at a loose tuft of hair on his head that wouldn't fall back into place. He licked his fingers and tried again, relatively successfully. He thought about using a bit of product to ensure it stayed in place but thought against it. He raised an arm and sniffed. Kind of iffy. Did he have time for a shower? He considered it and decided that it might come across as too obvious. A splash of fragrance would do, but would that then seem too forward? He could feel the doubts riding up again. Now that he was this close to something possibly happening he started to question if Arun's sexuality really did lie where he thought it did, or was he just wishing that it did? This was despite everything he'd seen and read about the man before they'd actually met.
He slapped himself repeatedly on both cheeks, like someone applying aftershave overzealously. "Come on man, pull yourself together."
This was something out of his comfort zone though—the balls to actually do something about his feelings—and so pulling himself together seemed like too extraordinary a task.
He went into the bathroom, pissed, washed his hands and grabbed a can of antiperspirant. That ought to do the trick without being overpowering. He unbuttoned two more buttons and applied the deodorant, at which point there came a knock at the hotel room door. Carelessly dropping the can on the shelf, he hurried to the door, pausing for a moment, just to try and remember to breath, before opening it.
Arun's eyes dropped a few inches, having spotted straight away the flash of chest that greeted him, a section of deliciousness that he'd seen countless times on the big screen that now, so tantalisingly close, took on a whole new level of eroticism.
"Hello," he said, an eyebrow raised and his voice, loosened by alcohol, thick with salaciousness. He gritted his teeth, fearful that he might have had too much to drink and was already making a fool of himself, though the night air had cleared his head a little, making him wonder if he was about to do something worse than mere foolishness, instead crashing headfirst into something and causing a ca
tastrophe. It was entirely possible that Arun had imagined things and that any flirting that had happened earlier had been entirely one-sided. This really was going to be nothing more than a chat about their movies. It wasn't going to be a fantasy come true.
His embarrassment was abated quickly enough, when it became clear that Cody had neither seen nor heard the innuendo in Arun's greeting. Instead, he'd been casting a glance down either side of the corridor, making sure that not only was there nobody there who might have seen Arun arrive but also that Arun himself hadn't brought anyone along, a potential accomplice to what could, his mind racing overtime, be an expertly put together sting, for the pleasure of tomorrow morning's tabloids. Satisfied that there was nothing of the sort going on (Arun hadn't arrived carrying any bags either, that might conceal recording equipment), Cody shut the door and flashed Arun a smile.
"How does your hotel compare to this one then?"
Arun smiled back and stepped further into the room, to give it his full attention, unzipping the heavy, brown leather jacket he was wearing. His reply was deadpan. "Mine's much bigger." He turned around to face Cody, his lips pulling wider. "Nah, this place is..." He nodded to himself, then caught the view out of the window. "Holy shit. Yeah, proper nice."
"I've seen better," said Cody, who genuinely had, but as he said it, he realised how it might sound. "But it's not me paying for it, it's the studio, so I'm grateful for anything." He put a hand to his chest, feigning humility, at which point he realised that he'd been walking around with half his shirt undone, and this was not the impression he wanted to make, of the dumb movie star who could only rely on his looks and his body. He wanted Arun to see him as a proper actor. As soon as he thought that though, he swept it aside, realising that, if anything was going to happen, flashing some flesh might be the perfect approach.
Arun wandered over to the side of the room, his attention having been grabbed once more by the view. Cody seized the opportunity to straighten himself up, shaking his head and cursing himself silently as he did so. He went back over to the mini bar, feeling that another drink was needed if he was going to regain any control over his nerves. He offered one to Arun, who spun around, seeming as though he was going to leap at the offer, only to decline it instead.
The Movie Star's Secret Page 2