My Life With The Movie Star

by Hoffmann, Meaghan

  He rolled me over, and I lay back and let him kiss and touch me. It had been a long time, but I wasn’t going to let any doubts or uncertainties ruin this moment

  60

  My Life With The Movie Star

  Chapter 9

  I woke up from our nap with Grayson wrapped around me. What time was it? I hoped that we hadn’t slept the entire day away. I promised to forgive myself. Besides, how often would I have a hot movie star around? How long could I have actually held out? At least I had known him over a month, albeit on the phone. I got up and glanced at my cell phone. I had a half dozen missed calls and texts from Lisa, wondering what was going on that night. I called her back.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, it’s me,” I replied as I hurried into the bathroom and started the shower. My hair was a complete mess, and I had makeup all over my face.

  “Did you have sex with him? What was it like? What does his body look like? Tell me everything,” Lisa demanded.

  “I’m not going to answer that question! But I will tell you his abs are not CGI,” I said.

  “You saw his abs?” Lisa shrieked. “You better not hold out on me. Was he good?”

  “I saw more than abs, but that’s all I’m telling you,” I said with a giggle.

  “I’ll get it out of you after he leaves,” she teased.

  Just then Gray came up from behind me and tapped me on my shoulder. I jumped and almost dropped the phone. I hope he hadn’t overheard too much of my conversation. I didn’t want to break his trust or have him think I’m gossiping about our relationship.

  “Is that your friend Lisa?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Ask her what her plans are for tonight. I would like to take you girls out and show you a bit of my world,” he said.

  “Hey Lisa, are you free tonight?” I asked in a sarcastic tone. (As if I needed to ask her; I knew she was free, which was why she had been calling me all day.)

  “Let me check …” she teased. “Yes, I am free.”

  “Well, Gray wants to take us out tonight. Can you dig up a date?” I also knew the answer to this would be yes. Lisa always had about four guys at her beckon call. I was sure one of them would be free to come along tonight.

  “I can arrange that,” she said confidently. “Where are we going?”

  “I’m not sure, but be at my house around 7 p.m.”

  “Your house – fun,” Lisa said sarcastically.

  “Just be here at 7, okay?” I replied.

  After I hung up the phone, I walked over to Gray and gave him a hug. “Where are we going?”

  “Well, that’s up to you girls. I have arranged for a car take us anyplace you would like to go tonight. Do you know any good clubs?”

  A nightclub? I had no idea where to suggest. I had been to bars in Milwaukee but never a night club. I had always been too intimidated by the long lines that wrapped around them. I was sure a bouncer would never let me in, even if I tried.

  “I have heard good things about a club called Rain,” I said. That was a bit of a lie. I had read an article about Rain when it opened. That’s all I honestly knew about it.

  “Okay, that’s where we will go then,” said Gray.

  I ran over to my closet and started to look at my options for the night. I had not planned on going to a club, so I hadn’t asked Lisa to help me buy something suitable in advance. Gray noticed the concerned look on my face and came over to see what was upsetting me.

  “Would you like to go shopping before tonight?” he asked.

  I started to think about my dwindling bank account and my maxed-out credit card. I had used all my resources on my shopping trips with Lisa.

  “I think I can find something, or I can call Lisa; she has plenty of clothes,” I said.

  Gray reached into his wallet, pulled out a black American Express card and handed it to me. I had never seen one before, only heard about them in tabloids. Now I had one in my hand.

  “My treat,” he said with his sexy smile.

  “I can’t do that, Gray, but thank you,” I replied, handing the card back.

  “Sure you can,” he said. “Look, if I stayed at a hotel it would have cost me over two hundred dollars a night. You are graciously letting me stay in your house and saving me money. Let me do this. My world tonight, remember?” Gray handed the card back to me with a bit more force.

  I looked at the black Amex. I was so tempted, but still I hesitated.

  “Look, if I had known what size you wear, I would have had my stylist pick something out for you,” he said. “Please, let me do this.”

  “OK,” I said, “but just this once. I don’t want you to think I can’t provide for myself.”

  “Abby, I have no doubt you can provide for yourself.”

  We didn’t have time to run to the mall in Bayshore, so I took Gray to the one fashion boutique stores we had in Port Washington. I had never shopped there before because it was so expensive. It was only in Port for all the Chicago people who docked their boats in the harbor.

  We walked in, and Gray went up to the sales girl and handed her his black Amex.

  “This is Abby,” he said. “She needs a dress for a nightclub tonight. I don’t want her to look at prices. Can you help me?”

  The sales girl looked at Gray and immediately recognized him. She looked stunned as she nodded her head. “Let me pull a few things for her. Size six, right?”

  “That’s right,” I replied.

  The sales girl went to work, picking out dresses and putting them in the dressing room. I suddenly felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. I could almost hear the Roy Orbison music playing in the background.

  I tried on several dresses for Gray, and he picked out a sparkly pink dress that looked spectacular on me.

  Gray suddenly turned to the sales girl.

  “That’s great for tonight, but I also need her to have a couple outfits for when she comes to visit me in LA,”

  I started to protest, but I could tell I was not going to win. Again, the sales girl started pulling things for me: jeans, tank tops, shirts, shoes – the list went on. I could tell she was adding up her commission in her head.

  I had several bags of things by the time we were done. We had only an hour before Lisa would be at my place, so we hurried home.

  “Thanks for all the nice things,” I said to Gray as he helped me carry them in from the car.

  “No problem. You now owe me a trip to LA,” he teased. “I have an event to go to in August. I hope you can come with me?”

  “Sure, just let me know when and I’ll see if I can get off work. What’s the event?”

  “The MTV Movie awards.”

  “The what?” I must have heard him wrong. I thought he had asked me to an award ceremony.

  “The MTV Movie awards,” he replied. “Have you never seen them?”

  “Of course I have, but there will be a red carpet … and other celebrities at this event. Wouldn’t you rather take someone else?” I asked. “Like your co-star from Texas High?”

  “I have no interest in dating overexposed drama queens,” he replied. “Holly is too full of herself. I could barely stand to kiss her in the movie. Plus the tabloids are always trying to link me with her. I know the studio would love it, but I have to draw a line somewhere; I won’t let the studio dictate who I date.”

  I could tell that I had hit a sore spot with him. Nevertheless, I didn’t know what he was thinking asking me to go. I had never walked a red carpet, and I didn’t think anybody would care to see me on one. All I could think about is how hot he is and how average I am.

  “I’ll try and get off work to go with you,” I replied. That should by me some time to think about this. I could always bribe Melanie into saying I had to work that weekend if I decided I couldn’t handle the pre
ssure.

  We finished getting ready. I was wearing my new pink dress, and Gray wore jeans, a white button-down shirt and a blazer. Lisa was shocked by my outfit when she showed up with her date Travis, who I quickly introduced to Gray. Travis kept his composure, but I could tell that Lisa had not informed him about Gray.

  “The car should be arriving any second,” Gray stated. “I didn’t know what you guys liked to drink, so I had them stock it with Cristal Champagne, Grey Goose, and rum.”

  I was excited when the car showed up. It was a stretch limo that seated about ten people. I had never been in a limo before; I felt like a fish out of water. Lisa and I jumped into the limo and began to squeal. She headed for the vodka right way and started making drinks. Gray gave the driver directions and then he and Travis got in.

  “This is amazing,” Lisa said. “Isn’t this great, Travis?” I could tell she was thinking that maybe she should have invited someone else on her list. Travis was her normal standby date. He was a sweet, likeable guy who loved Lisa, but Lisa always had her eye on someone better looking, with a better job. Travis was just happy to be invited along. I’m sure he would read more into this date than Lisa intended. After all, she had picked him to go in a limo with a movie star.

  “Before we get to Rain, are there any other bars you guys would like to pre-game at?” Gray asked.

  I looked at Lisa, and we both said “Safe House” in unison. The Safe House was a kooky spy bar that had been in Milwaukee since the ‘60s. You have to know the password to get in. If you didn’t know the password, the girl at the door would make you do crazy things to get inside, where everyone would be watching you on the large screen TV. It was a Milwaukee experience.

  The limo pulled up outside, and we all went in the back-alley entrance. The hostess came up to me first and wanted me to whisper the password in her ear. I looked at Gray with a smile and whispered the password, without sharing it with him. The secret passage way opened, and I darted inside to watch Gray. Lisa and Travis also knew the password, so all three of us huddled around the TV to see Gray make a fool out of himself.

  The hostess had him to try the hula-hoop. He failed, and after three attempts she just let him in. The crowd erupted with clapping and laughter. Grays face was bright red. I was glad to know that I could embarrass him as much as he could me.

  The four of us got drinks and walked around the bar. Safe House was decorated with memorabilia from almost every spy movie ever made. The key attraction was the restaurant’s puzzle wall in the dining room. Guests could push a button and watch the wall move to try and solve the puzzle. If they solved the puzzle, you would win a free drink! I also showed Gray all the secret passageways hidden around the bar. When we decided to leave, I had us all jam together into the phone booth, which opened the secret exit in the wall. This lead to an underground tunnel where lights and sirens would go off. I looked over at Gray, and he was laughing and smiling. I could tell he was having a fabulous time. This was not like any place in LA he had gone to before.

  We all piled back into the limo and made our way to Rain. By the time we got there, the line was wrapped around the building. Our Limo pulled up front, and we all got out. Gray walked up to the bouncer. Before he got there, a girl started screaming, “Grayson Edwards! That’s Grayson Edwards!” The bouncer had no idea who he was, but Gray handed him a nice tip and we were all allowed inside.

  Once inside, Gray asked the hostess if he could talk to the manager. In a matter of seconds after speaking with the manager, he had arranged for a VIP section in the upstairs part of the club – only for us four. In order to make this happen, Gray promised the manager that he would come down and take pictures with the club-goers for an hour. I could tell that Gray had a soft spot for his fans and enjoyed taking pictures with them as much as they did. I also wondered if this was a test for me, to see if I could handle thousands of screaming girls. He also set up a bottle service with our own waiter for us. I could not believe my eyes; this all seemed surreal.

  “Welcome to my world,” Gray whispered in my ear.

  “I could get used to this,” I said a bit tipsy.

  “I was hoping you would say that,” he whispered back, kissing my neck.

  Part of me wondered if this was a test that he had set up to see if I could handle his life back in LA. I watched in awe from the VIP section as Gray kept up with his part of the bargain and took candid pictures with most of the girls in the club. Every few moments, he would look up at me and wink, just to remind me that I was with him. I could tell he was doing his job and not really even paying attention to the girls who were throwing themselves at him.

  “Can you believe this?” Lisa asked me as she danced around in our private section.

  The VIP section was intensely dark. The furniture was covered in black velvety material, and the light danced off the crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. This club was extremely upscale. I was glad that Milwaukee Journal had done a story on them. The bottle service Gray had set up came, each bottle was set into a block of ice with a hole cut out in the center. The shot glasses were also made of ice.

  “No, I sure can’t,” I said. “This must be someone else’s life.”

  Travis started making drinks for us. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of the evening; this was not what he had expected. From time to time, he looked down at Grayson. I’m sure he was a bit jealous of all the attention Gray was getting.

  “Thanks for inviting me. I would have killed you if you hadn’t,” Lisa teased.

  “Do you think Travis is having fun?” I asked.

  “Yes, I believe he is having a great time. Too bad he’s not going to get lucky tonight,” Lisa teased.

  “Poor Travis. You do lead him on,” I said. I took a sip of my drink and decided to tell Lisa about the MTV awards. “Guess what? Grayson invited me to the MTV Movie Awards. If I go, I want you to come to LA with me.”

  “YES!!” Lisa exclaimed. She hugged me so hard I almost couldn’t breathe. You would have thought I had asked her to go to the awards instead of just coming to be my support in LA. I knew now that I would have to go. Lisa would never let me say no. I guess deep down that’s why I invited her.

  After an hour, Gray came back up to rejoin our group. The four of us had a terrific time. We drank and danced. Lisa and I marveled at having an entire woman’s room to ourselves. This would go down as one of the best nights of my life.

  I was sad when closing time came, and we had to pile back into the limo. I knew Travis and Lisa would need to stay the night. They were in no shape to drive to Lisa’s. I let them have the guestroom, and Gray and I went into my room. I was drunk, but I could still appreciate Gray, and gladly had a second helping of the afternoon’s events.

  CHapter 10

  The next morning came fast. I was shocked that I wasn’t more hung-over. Thank goodness Gray had only bought the best type of alcohol and nothing cheap. I got up and showered. Lisa and Travis were also up and looking for something to eat.

  “What a night,” Lisa said. “I guess it pays off to have you as my best friend. Look, we made JS Online.”

  Lisa pulled me over to my computer where she showed me the JS Online article about us, which included pictures of Gray. The article wrote about how exciting it was that Gray was in town and how surprising it was that he had chosen a small Midwest city to party in. She also pulled up TMZ, and sure enough, they had the same pictures. This would be my first run-in with the infamous paparazzi.

  “When did reporters show up last night?” I asked. I hadn’t even noticed any.

  “Nowadays with camera phones anyone can send pictures to a newspaper or website and get paid for it.” Lisa stated. “Where do you want to meet up for Fish Day?”

  “I don’t know. Why don’t you guys just come over here again? It will be easier for you to park, and then we can all just walk down,” I suggested.

&
nbsp; Fish Day had been my excuse for inviting Gray to Port Washington. It was the city’s biggest festival of the season. The city originated as a fishing village, and every year the citizens had gotten together to celebrate what they had caught. The fishing industry had all but died out in Port, but Fish Day was still celebrated on the third Saturday of every July. The city always had a sizeable parade, as well as concerts and an enormous firework show. I was glad that the day was finally here but sad too knowing that I had less than twenty-four hours with Gray before he had to go back to LA.

  Lisa and Travis showed back up promptly at 5 p.m. The four of us headed down the bluff and walked past the carnival rides.

  “My agent would die if he saw the condition of those rides,” Gray chuckled to himself.

  “I will protect you from the carnival rides,” I teased.

  Gray reached for my hand, and I enjoyed strolling with him through the festival. We all walked to the food tent and ordered fish fries’. Gray noted that this was the best he has had since he landed in the states.

  We were having a terrific time eating and drinking when I felt a strong tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Rachel, the friend I hadn’t spoken to in months.

  “Hi Rachel,” I said nervously, wondering what she wanted and knowing it was Gray that had caught her attention.

  “Hi, Abby and Lisa,” she said sternly. “Abby, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

  “Gray, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is ...”

  “Grayson Edwards,” she said, shaking his hand. She glared at me. “Where did you two meet?”

  I knew she was wondering why he had any interest in me. “Well, it’s a long story. I met him in June, at a convention in Dallas,” I answered.

  “I saw your picture on the internet today,” Rachel said coldly. “Looks like you all had a fine time last night.”