by Cara North
Chapter Nine
Frankie wished she had beaten him to the house. She needed a shower, maybe a nap. She knew he was in one of four places and hoped she could at least get out of the clothes before seeing him.
“Wooh, you’re a hot mess.” He stepped closer and gave her a hug.
Frankie let her body sink into his and her hands move up to hold his back. Exhausted, she had one piece of business to tend to before collapsing. “You forgot to tell me to get tickets for the symphony.”
“No, I didn’t want you to get them for me. It’s my mom, what you said made a lot of sense. She needs to feel special, not like an obligation. If I had you set it all up, she would have said no.” He squeezed her then let her loose. “What is all over you?”
“Buddy had a piece of chocolate cake. He hugged me as soon as I got there.” Frankie laughed at the memory. “Ugh, it has been a hell of a day. There is still one thing I don’t get, why would you give me Saturday off? Saturday has been the day I run lines with you.”
“Well.” He followed her. “I thought I could take you out on Saturday.”
“I don’t understand. If you wanted to run lines somewhere else I need to set it up.” Frankie continued her trek to her room in the house. She was not going home tonight. She would stay in that room and sleep until Monday if he let her. “Why wouldn’t you put it on the schedule?”
“Frankie.” He stopped her as they started down the hall by grabbing her hand and waiting for her to turn to face him. “I don’t want you to go because I put it on the schedule. I want you to go because I’m asking you if you want to go on a date with me.”
She frowned up at him. “You don’t need me to do anything?”
He placed a kiss on her forehead. “I need you to take a shower, get some sleep, and I need you to tell me if you want to go or not.”
“Of course I do,” Frankie sighed. “I’m just a little shaken from today is all.”
He smiled down at her. “Hmmm.”
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing, I was just thinking, but I know what I want, and I’m going to wait for it.” He placed a kiss on her cheek and left her standing there as he moved on to his bedroom.
Frankie made her way to the shower. She was off on Friday. She had a day off. She planned to take advantage of it.
***
She woke up late on Friday. Her phone was gone. She could not find it anywhere. After stripping the room like she was a cop searching for drugs, she headed down stairs.
He’d left a note on the counter. It said ‘I took the phone. Take the day off. Go do something for yourself, like use what’s in the envelope.’
She opened the envelope and pulled out a gift card for a posh salon. A note said she had an appointment already set. Because she slept in and tore the room up, she had to leave immediately to make it on time.
Frankie was given the five-star treatment, lunch, chocolate covered strawberries, a massage, a haircut, facial, waxing, manicure, pedicure, and enough pink lemonade to water an elephant.
“Hi,” the young starlet said as she took a seat next to Frankie. They were both waiting for their toes to dry.
“Hi.” Frankie was a bit flustered. “How is your upcoming film going? I read about it in Variety. I really hope they work it out, I think you would be amazing in a historical role.”
“Scrubbed.” She sighed sadly. “I came here to forget about it and pamper myself.”
“I’m sorry,” Frankie winced. “You know what? There is a script you would enjoy. I have it in my bag. It’s a risk, I know, but the script is so good. Still historical, but drama, and edgy.”
“Are you an agent?” She quirked a brow at Frankie.
Frankie laughed, “No, not at all. I…know Jonas Gunner. He’s signed on for the trilogy. Think Indiana Jones, without the kid stuff, and with amazing, at least if they translate it to film the way it was in the book and seems laid out on this paper, amazing outfits and accessories.”
The woman leaned back in her chair and looked at Frankie. She felt a bit awkward under the close scrutiny.
Finally, her eyes lit up and she said, “Oh my God, you’re the girl in the picture. The one he was carrying.”
Frankie about had a heart attack. His publicist had probably called to let her know that the pictures had made it to print, but since she didn’t have a phone she was hearing about it from a stranger.
Realizing it, the woman reached into her bag and pulled out a magazine. She handed it over to Frankie. “You’re on the cover. He’s been lying low lately so this was huge. A friend of mine once said to me it is better to pick and choose when you’re seen than have them come after you because you’re in hiding.”
Frankie understood her mistake. She had helped him stay hidden. The woman was right, she should have made him get out a few times and the photographer would have been less likely to sneak around his neighborhood to get a picture.
His publicist had put her spin on it. The main photo had him carrying her, she had buried her head in his chest in one of them, he was smiling and in the next she was too, the last one had him placing a kiss on her forehead. Something she didn’t even remember thanks to the pain.
“Is he the lead in that movie?” she asked. “I think my fiancé would be okay if I co-starred with him now. I had a chance once before, but since we had just started dating and Jonas was known for getting involved with his co-stars, he had begged me not to sign on. But now, it shouldn’t be a problem. Just look at him, Jonas Gunner, smitten!”
If a picture was worth a thousand words, Frankie wished she could find one of them she could process and understand at that moment.
“He is the lead in the film,” Frankie finally said. To keep the focus off of the private moment captured on film she added, “It’s a trilogy. I think you would look beautiful next to him on screen.”
“Thank you.” The starlet blushed. “I’m going to give my agent a call.”
Later…
“Frankie, look what I got,” he said as he walked in the door with Buddy next to him. He knew she would return tonight. He knew, because she wanted her phone.
She wanted to be mad at him, he could tell by the expression on her face, but the moment she stepped into the kitchen Buddy Junior ran towards her calling, “Fane-kie, Fane-kie look!”
“Hey little man.” She kneeled down to return the hug he was after. She looked at the action figure in Buddy’s hand and recognized the outfit immediately. “Carrying Uncle Jonas around in your pocket, huh?”
“Yup,” Buddy nodded.
“Janice met us for dinner and I told her I would take him for the night. I won’t be able to do that soon enough, so I thought I better get some Buddy time in now.” He moved to where they were. Buddy looked up at him. He wanted to go get in his toy box. Jonas smiled at him and said, “Go on. We’re right behind you.”
The toddler ran off anxiously towards the living room across the hall.
Jonas stepped in and gave her a nice warm hug and a kiss on the forehead. He didn’t hold on to her for long. He still had some things to process in his mind. He still had a few questions to ask. He released her and started walking towards the hall. She naturally followed. He asked, “How was your day?”
“Most of it was relaxing. I mean over the top relaxing, but I didn’t have my phone so I didn’t know that the pictures had released.” When they entered the living room she took a seat on one of the plush chairs.
Jonas went over to the closet where Buddy was doing his best to turn the doorknob. “Let go little man, I’ll open the door and pull the box out for you.”
Buddy immediately left the door and ran to the center of the room and waited as patiently as a two going on three year old could. Jonas considered the child’s ability to get the knob turned most of the way and knew he would soon have to set up precautions in his house for the little monster’s visits. He pulled out the toy box and carried it over to a jumping up and down, Buddy.
“
Here you go,” Jonas opened the lid and Buddy immediately started sifting through the box for his favorite things. Jonas took a seat on the floor, crossed his legs as though he were ready to meditate, and waited for his nephew to hand him a part to the train set he always dug out first. He looked at Frankie. She looked good, rested, less frazzled, more like the woman he interviewed and less like the woman afraid of her feelings for him. “The pics are pretty good. I look pretty heroic in them, rescuing you like that.”
He watched her eyes widen behind the glasses and her cheeks blush.
“I’m just sayin’,” he teased. Buddy handed him the first of several tracks and Jonas began sorting them and putting together the ones that fit as the child kept fishing them out.
“Yes.” She nodded. “You did. Did I miss anything else?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle.” He smiled at her. “Your dad was shocked to talk to me. I explained that I had stolen your phone. He was actually pretty happy about that.”
“You talked to my dad?” She asked with a mixed look of panic and shock.
“Mmhmm, and he’s going to stop by the lot next week and get a tour of the place. Did you know he was such a movie buff?” Jonas didn’t look at her. He was sure he couldn’t keep a straight face if he did. He focused on the train tracks as he linked them together.
“I…well, yes, I did. It’s one of the reasons I know so much about movies. You talked to my dad?” She asked again.
“Yeah, I told him you would set up dinner in the near future. Giorgio Baldi’s would be the best place.” Jonas took one of the train cars from Buddy’s hand and said, “Two more pieces of track, my friend.”
“Oh, yeah.” Buddy said and the sound of shuffling toys could be heard as he eagerly hunted for the missing pieces.
“You want me to set up dinner with my dad for you?” She asked. Jonas looked up at her. She was leaning forward, elbows on her knees, hands clasped, her chin propped up on them. She blinked at him.
“Obviously not just your dad, I mean I invited your mom too.” Jonas shrugged. He had a feeling if Buddy wasn’t in the room she might have a few choice words for him about making plans with her parents prior to consulting her. He really didn’t care. He wanted to meet them. He wanted to know them. “Oh, and Shay called.”
“What!” It was a statement not a question. A loud statement that made both Buddy Junior and him jump. She was standing on her feet in a flash. He had no idea the information would have that reaction. He could tell they had an argument. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. He obviously didn’t know about what or to what extent. All he remembered about Frankie’s conversations about Shay is that they ended with Shay not getting her seal of security clearance.
“Yeah, she said something about how sorry she was about this morning. Something about some guy and breaking your heart, and something else. She left a message, I left it on there.” Jonas couldn’t look at her. She would hear the message soon enough. Fire had burned his gut to hear Shay talk about Frankie being in love with anyone but him. He wondered, by the sound of it, if Frankie knew or just found out Shay had slept with the guy. “Was that…he…recent?”
“No.” Frankie shook her head. “High school, he was the first, you know?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. He didn’t like it, but he understood. “I remember mine. I was thirteen, she was sixteen. She was in a movie my dad was working on. Nice girl, really. I’m pretty sure I broke her heart, but I was thirteen, you know?”
He looked from the train set to Frankie and she nodded. He said, “Come, have a seat with us. You’re making me nervous hovering around like that.”
“Here, Fane-kie,” Buddy took her a train car. Frankie immediately warmed her mood and thanked him for it. She followed him back to the train track and took a seat across from Jonas. “Put it on the tack.”
He was so cute missing that one sound. Being an uncle made him more considerate of children. He was amazed at how quickly the kid was growing.
Frankie put the train on the track in front of her. Buddy knew there were three more cars in that box and he went searching for them. After the first visit when Buddy had played with the train, then the second when he had it out of the box in no time, Jonas began mixing the pieces throughout the mass of other toys in there to give him something to dig for.
Jonas watched as Frankie lit up every time Buddy talked to her. She laughed, smiled, and talked about trains with the child. After they had played for almost two hours, Buddy yawned. It was past his bedtime, way past. Jonas began putting the train away, Buddy helped. “Frankie can you grab him a pair of pajamas from Janice’s room upstairs? We’ll meet you there as soon as we get this box secured.”
Once at the top of the stairs Jonas let go of Buddy’s hand. Buddy ran right for Jonas’s bedroom. Frankie had pulled out a pair of pajamas with trains on them. The toddler made efforts to undress and then dress himself. His pajama bottoms were on backwards, but they were on. “Okay, so let’s go potty and then brush our teeth.”
“Where does he sleep?” Frankie whispered as Buddy ran off to the bathroom. They could hear as Buddy opened the cabinet door under the sink where the footstool was. The plastic sound scrapped along the tile until it came to a squeaking halt.
“With me.” Jonas took the moment to get closer to her. He slid his fingers along hers and then tugged her forward. She complied easier than he expected her to. In fact, she took his breath away by letting go of his hand and embracing him on her own. She never hugged him first. He wrapped her in a warm embrace and enjoyed every second of it, the smell of her hair, the grip of her fingers on his back, the soft sigh. He propped his chin on her head and admitted to himself that he was smitten. He was sure he felt something for her he had never felt before. He knew the moment he saw his own reflection in those pictures, he was gone. If a picture was worth a thousand words he had only two words to describe himself, in love.
“All done,” Buddy said. Jonas let her go slowly.
“Good job, dude.” Jonas smiled at the little rascal. He had toothpaste still on the corner of his little mouth. His sister would likely clean the toothpaste up, turn his pajamas around, make him put something on his feet. Jonas knew Buddy was trying to do some things for himself. He was growing up and proud of his small accomplishments. “Jump up.”
Buddy jumped onto the bed. He made quick business of pulling himself up and getting under the sheets and propping up on a pillow. It was time for his bedtime story.
“I’ve got to read a bedtime story now,” Jonas said. “He should be asleep in a few minutes. He’s already exhausted, look at him. I’ll come talk to you after. Your phone is in the car.”
Frankie nodded.
“Fane-kie kiss goodnight.” Buddy held up his arms and she complied. She walked around the bed and went to place a kiss on Buddy’s cheek, but the little rascal turned his head and kissed her square on the lips.
“Good night, Buddy.” Frankie smiled at the little rogue.
As she passed Jonas couldn’t help but say, “Jealous.”
She laughed as she left the room.
***
Frankie returned a few hours later to find both of them knocked out. Buddy was sound asleep. By the look of it, Jonas was on his fourth book and midway through it. Jonas had removed his shoes and his dress shirt already. He still had on slacks and plain white t-shirt. Frankie moved closer, pulled off his reading glasses, gently, slowly, and placed them on his nightstand. Jonas was such a hard sleeper she could have smacked him with one of the books and he probably wouldn’t notice. She gathered the books and placed them aside as well. Unable to resist she leaned over and placed a kiss at the corner of his sumptuous mouth. Why had she ever resisted kissing him? Who was she kidding? He had her the moment he chose to hire her. Nothing about her life was the same now, most of it thanks to him.
She returned to her room. She wasn’t about to go home this late. She listened to the rest of the messages on the phone. Texts from everyone wh
o knew him and those who wanted to know who the girl in the picture was. Texts came from everyone who had met her recently. There were texts from his friends, acquaintances, other celebrity assistants, drivers, etc. asking if she was okay. It was nice to see that so many people were concerned about her eating concrete. In truth they were all likely curious if the last photo was a new bit of gossip they all wanted inside scoop on. The surreal effect of the situation was almost comical.
She moved on to look at the E-mails regarding real business piled up in the inbox. He did a lot of things people didn’t know about. He donated to charities, he invested in small businesses, and he found a lot of ways to give back to his community. He was as overextended as everyone else she knew. The only difference was the type of work being done. She yawned, finally moved on to the voice messages. After a few typical calls, a few hope you feel better calls, and a call from her dad saying how excited he was to meet Jonas and take the studio tour, she was ready for the series of calls left by Shay.
Frankie, look. I know I was out of line today. I freaked out okay. Finding that DVD just…look I know I’m a bitch sometimes. You’ve always been there for me. You know shit about me no one else knows. I know I shouldn’t have told you about…well you should know that I was always jealous of what you had. To be young and in love is one thing, but he kept coming back for you. I know I was the reason he moved on. He slept with your best friend, how could he face you? How could I? I knew he didn’t tell you so I just let it go…
The message ended. The next message picked right back up…
I hate these fucking phones. Anyways, I know you won’t talk to me so I can only hope you will listen to this and know that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry I said I was going to fuck Jonas. I won’t even try. I know you said something to him. My agent called and my appointment was cancelled, she dropped me. I just got that agent, Frankie. Now what am I going to do? I mean, what the fuck, Frankie? I thought we were better than that. I got you that job, I told you…