by Maya Hughes
He’d had his fun for a while, but realized that these girls never would have given him a second glance if he didn’t look like he did now. Gabe pulled back from the social scene a bit and focused on studying. The physical transformation had worked, but maybe it wasn’t everything he wanted. Then the summer before senior year, he’d been picked out by that casting director and it all snowballed from there.
His mom wasn’t exactly happy about him taking a year off from school to work on the film, but she knew what an opportunity it was for him. Things like that didn’t fall into your lap every day. The compromise had been to take one year off, see where it went, and then reassess.
Staring out the window of the taxi that first night as it rolled through the nearly desolate shore town had reflected the bleakness his film career had turned into. Every building they passed was dark until he finally spotted a lone restaurant with the lights on. They were stopped at a light that seemed to go on forever when he spied a girl through the large glass windows of the place. She was sitting at the bar biting on a pen. It looked like she was pushing up glasses she wasn’t wearing and he laughed at how intently she was studying.
Her dark, riotous curls were piled on top of her head and he wanted to see more of her. The taxi pulled away as the light finally turned green, but he turned back to get another glance at the restaurant beauty. The hotel wasn’t that far from the restaurant, so he decided to drop his bags and walk the few blocks back to it. Some of the nerves about the filming crept back as the cold wind whipped around him. He pushed his hands into his pockets and his worries to the back of his mind and hustled toward the warm, welcoming light of the diner.
The moment he stepped into that restaurant and she popped into view, his anxiety began to melt away. He’d watched her move around the place all night and she calmed him for some reason. Maybe it was the methodical way she moved or the easy smile she had for everyone, but he knew he’d need a lot more of that to get through this.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, bringing Gabe back to the present. He stepped out and headed to his cozy suite. He flopped down onto the hotel bed and stared up at the ceiling, marveling at how much his life had changed over the last year. His time with her had made his day. Even if this movie crashed and burned, he had a feeling that meeting her would make it all worthwhile.
When he’d first talked her at the restaurant, she’d taken his breath away. Up close, she was even more beautiful than she had been through that window. Her deep brown hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun. Wisps had escaped and were curling around her face, caressing her neck, and they made it hard to concentrate on what she was saying.
He’d been glad that the studio’s driver hadn’t been at the airport to pick him up and that he’d decided to take a taxi to get to the hotel early. Checking out the landscape of the town, it could certainly double as a desolate alien planet. It was almost completely deserted and the overcast conditions lent an eerie feel to it.
Gabe pulled the script out of his bag and began to go over his lines for tomorrow. He wanted to make sure that if this was his last big-screen project, at least it would be a good one. After going over the lines until his eyes crossed, he fell back on his bed and saw the message light blinking on his phone.
He opened it and couldn’t contain the huge smile that spread across his face. It was from Alex.
A: Wanted to check in and make sure that your nose was OK. Again, I’m so incredibly sorry about that.
Gabe grabbed his nose between his fingers and gave it a shake. Honesty, he’d forgotten all about the punch. He sat up to check it in the mirror on the closet and noted that it didn’t even look swollen. He might have a slight bruise, but no other damage was apparent. He had to sit through hair and makeup anyway tomorrow, so it was no problem.
He decided to have a bit of fun with her.
G: It’s looking really bad. They might have to cancel shooting tomorrow.
A: OMG, no! I’m so sorry. I can’t believe it. It didn’t look so bad in the parking lot. Did you put ice on it? A bag of peas or something? Is there anything I can do? I’m so sorry!
G: You could always come by tomorrow and bring me some. It would help.
A: Sure, whatever you need. Just let me know I’ll pick it up and bring it to you.
Gabe couldn’t help but chuckle at her obvious concern, but he felt bad for putting her through it. Deciding to put her out of her misery, he text back.
G: Just kidding! It’s completely fine. A little bit of bruising, but you can barely tell and I’ll be sitting in makeup tomorrow afternoon anyway, so it will probably be gone by then.
A: You’re the worst! How could you do that to me? I was freaking out over here thinking I’d just ruined your whole movie.
G: :P I’m definitely the worst. But that doesn’t mean I still don’t want you to come by tomorrow. I don’t have shooting until 2pm, so I’m free in the morning. How do you feel about breakfast?
A: Breakfast would work, how about we have it my place? I promised my roommate pancakes, so she will kill me if I skip out on her.
G: Works for me.
A warm flush of anticipation rushed over him as the location pin message popped up on his phone.
G: Got the location. What time in the morning?
A: Does 9 work for you?
G: Perfect, see you then!
A: Can’t wait :D
Chapter 4
Alex did a happy dance in her living room while Jen just grinned at her. They’d spent a couple of minutes dissecting every one of Gabe’s replies to figure out just how into her he was. She swore she held her breath the entire time she waited for a reply from her first message. When he hadn’t replied immediately, her heart sank a bit.
“He was gorgeous Jen. I mean seriously ridiculous.”
“And …”
“And, he’s not exactly the type of guy that’s going to be into someone like me,” she lamented, throwing herself onto the couch and pulling a pillow over her face.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Jen, you know what high school was like.”
“You mean the two years you were there?” Jen asked, pulling the pillow off her face.
“I’m not that girl, Jen. I’m not the girl that gets that guy.”
“Why the hell not? You’re ridiculous, you know that? While that giant brain of yours is great for analyzing things, it’s not very good at seeing the obvious, which is that in the past two years, you’ve become a Grade-A hottie.” She snorted.
“Yeah, sure,” she said, disbelieving her.
“Alex, your baby fat is gone. You’re not wearing those giant glasses that were so heavy that they forced you to keep your head down all the time, and most importantly,” she said, taking her hand in hers, “you got out of that house. Becoming emancipated was probably the best thing you ever could have done for yourself.”
“It’s not like I would have been able to do it without your and your dad’s help.” She shrugged.
“Hey, all we did was help with the paperwork. Anyway, I know your confidence is shot after all you’ve been through, but sometimes you should grab life by the balls. Plus, a guy doesn’t wait until a girl gets off work, take a punch in the nose from her, and still ask for her number if he doesn’t like her.”
Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She stood to take her phone out of her pocket and checked the message.
“Yes,” she shouted before fist-pumping and slapping her hand over her mouth.
“I take it he said yes to breakfast.” Jen chuckled. She whirled around to her, clutching her phone, and bouncing up and down.
“He did! He did!”
“Be sure to let him know I’m super territorial when it comes to my pancakes. I will stab him with a fork if I feel he is encroaching into my territory,” she said dryly.
“Don’t worry, Jen. I’ll be sure to make tons. Enough that we can freeze them and you can use them as a studying treat,”
she said, smiling down at her phone.
“That is an excellent idea!” Jen beamed. “Can we do some with chocolate chips?” she asked dreamily.
“Fine, fine, but don’t complain to me when you gain ten pounds between the intensive studying and chocolate chip pancakes.”
“Scout’s honor,” Jen said, placing two fingers over her heart.
“Is that even the scout’s salute?”
Jen shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows? I’m probably close enough.”
“He’s in for a real treat, this guy. First, he gets a taste of your fists of fury and tomorrow a taste of your pancakes.” Jen chuckled, picked up her sketch pad, and continued drawing. The sketch was only half-finished and it blew her mind. Jen had so much talent and she hated seeing her waste it.
Alex plopped down on the couch beside her and smacked herself on the forehead.
“I still can’t believe I punched him in the nose!”
Jen snorted. “What guy thinks it’s okay to creep up on a woman in a dark parking lot when she’s all by herself? He’s lucky you didn’t go for a nut shot. Isn’t that what they taught us in class? Go for the soft spots.”
“I’m glad I didn’t; poor guy would have never asked for my number had I kicked him in the balls.”
“With how smitten you make him sound, he probably would have. What’s this movie they’re filming? I’m intrigued now.”
“I don’t really know. He had to be weirdly hush-hush about it and couldn’t tell me much. Maybe we can try to sneak onto the set and see what it’s about. At least from the size of the crew I can tell it’s not porn, so there’s a win there.”
“Or it’s going to be the biggest budget porn film ever created, starring Gabe: The Hottie from the Restaurant!” Jen tossed her sketch pad on the couch and stood, striking a superhero, hands-on-the-hips pose.
“Shut up, it’s not that,” Alex said, laughing as she threw a pillow at her. Jen ducked the pillow and went to the fridge to grab a bottle of wine.
“I’ll let you get away with the pillow throwing and even offer you a glass of wine, all because I want pancakes in the morning,” Jen said as she took two glasses out from the cabinet.
“I’m glad you met someone nice, Alex. It’s about damn time,” Jen said, handing over one of the glasses.
“What do you mean about damn time?”
“Oh, you’ve always tried your best to hide out and not make waves. Not trying to draw any attention to yourself.”
Alex had made a vow to herself when she finally made it out of her mom’s house: she would rather be alone than be with someone who mistreated her. Her mom was a magnet for every piece of crap in a fifty-mile radius.
For the most part, she kept her head down, did her school work, and tried to be away from home as much as possible. Jen’s house and school had been her refuges. That was part of the reason she had graduated early, not that it had helped much. At that point, she was still stuck in that house and it was worse, because then she didn’t have school anymore.
Without her mom to fill out the forms, there wasn’t any financial aid she could get, which meant she worked to try to pay for classes. Her mom had been following some guy in a band across the country, which made life at home easier, but didn’t help when it came to things where you needed a living, breathing adult. A class every semester was all she could afford after she paid for gas and insurance for her car, which she needed for work. Then her mom’s newest scumbag addition decided that he might like a younger version of her mother. That had been the final straw. The second that creep walked in on her in the shower, she packed a bag and headed for Jen’s.
Jen and her dad helped her gain emancipation, but she didn’t want to mooch off them, so she worked two jobs and got herself a place. She’d had to put her college plans on hold for a little bit longer. At least she had a lot of credits and they would transfer to the local university once she got her crap together.
Jen moved in with her once she graduated from high school, and commuted to college. Alex loved her for that. She knew Jen could have been on campus partying it up, living the typical college life. Instead, she was holed up in their place and commuted to classes almost every day.
“I remember when you nearly shit a brick when you got that speaking part in the play and asked Mrs. Hendricks to make you a tree instead.” Jen lay down on the couch and propped her feet up on her lap. She picked up her pad again and flipped to a new page.
“I was not going to play the senile old cat lady in that play. Trust me—the tree was a much better choice,” Alex said, pushing Jen’s feet off her lap.
“I’m glad to see you going for it, is all I’m saying. And I can’t wait to meet this guy,” Jen said with a suspiciously sweet expression.
“Don’t think of pulling any funny business while he’s here,” Alex warned, grabbing the pad out of her hands.
“Whatever do you mean?” Jen asked, grabbing for her paper.
“I’m talking threats of bodily harm, threats of legal action, or anything else.”
“You wonder why I don’t introduce you to any guys I may be interested in? It’s because you scare them!” Alex chuckled. “That’s why you’ll be a wonderful lawyer and the most feared woman on either coast.”
“Tell me about it,” Jen said, grabbing the pad back and tipping back her glass.
They spent the rest of the night reminiscing about Jen’s antics in high school and Alex’s repeated attempts to bail her out. Their friendship was a weird one, even Alex admitted that, but they were always there for one another and Alex was glad she had her in her life. The night’s festivities continued with massive quantities of cheese and a John Hughes movie.
After two bottles of wine, they both passed out on the couch. When he woke at 2 a.m., Jen was sleeping with her head bent at an odd angle. She woke her up and they both stumbled into their bedrooms.
After brushing her teeth to get rid of the purple stains and clear the taste of furry wild animal poop, Alex lay in bed staring up at the ceiling and picturing Gabe. His bright blue eyes and the way he’d rubbed that soft-looking upper lip were playing on repeat in her mind as she drifted off to sleep. She was totally going to make out with that man, just as soon as the room stopped spinning.
Chapter 5
Gabe checked his phone one more time to make sure he wasn’t going to be late. Aaron would freak out if he knew that he was out on the streets this early, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. Her apartment wasn’t that far from his hotel, which meant he hadn’t had to get a car to drive him there. He hiked up the collar of his coat against the cold, wet morning and picked up his pace.
Standing outside of her squat brick building, he rang the buzzer and waited for a response. He sent a message to Alex to let her know that he was downstairs and then kicked himself for sending the message. Playing it cool was not his strong suit. The intercom crackled.
“On my way, Gabe,” said a familiar voice. “The stupid button to buzz you in doesn’t work anymore. I’ll be down in a second.”
Gabe rocked back and forth on his heels, waiting for Alex to appear. She ran down the stairs and pushed through the lobby doors.
“Sorry about that! We’ve been trying to get them to fix these doors for months, but alas, we are stuck with getting a little extra cardio whenever we have a visitor,” she said, slightly out of breath.
“It’s no problem; I’m sure the pancakes will make it all well worth it.” He chuckled as she held the door open for him.
“I sure hope so. I left them unguarded with Jen, so we better get back up there before they’re all gone.”
“So, you’re going to be here for a few weeks finishing the movie, but what comes next? I’ve never known anybody who was in that business,” she said as they climbed the three flights of stairs to her apartment.
“I have to head to LA for a while and do promotions for the movie. It will probably only be a few cities since they don’t think it will do well. Maybe
some radio interviews or something like that,” he said as she stopped in front of her apartment door.
“That sounds so fun. It’s going to be a wild ride while it lasts, then. Okay, brace yourself—Jen gets a little territorial when it comes to her pancakes, but she has been warned to be on her best behavior.” She chuckled as she opened the door.
Gabe’s gaze slid around the apartment. It was small, but tidy and smelled faintly like citrus and baking dough, which he attributed to the pancakes. A girl that he assumed must be Jen, Alex’s roommate, was standing at the counter tapping her foot impatiently.
“Hi,” the girl said. “Just so you know, I’m willing to share, but I get the first plate. Rules of hospitality don’t apply on pancake day.” She smiled, but he had the feeling she wasn’t kidding.
She hastily made the introductions before heading back to the griddle.
“Jen!” She admonished, pointing at two sad little lumps of burnt batter. “Did you try to make pancakes while I was away? This is why you’re not allowed near my griddle. Those things don’t even look edible. How are you so bad at pancakes?”
“I don’t know. I was simply trying to help speed this along, so we could all eat a bit sooner,” she grumbled, then plopped down on the dark green couch.
“Right … hey Gabe, you want to come over here and help me?” she asked, waving him over with her spatula. “Don’t let her get to you; she gets a bit hangry. Once she’s fed and watered, you’ll be out of danger,” she stage-whispered to him.
“I can hear you,” Jen grumbled.
“You were meant to,” Alex sing-songed back. Gabe let out a laugh at the silliness. The doughy-sweet smell was even stronger in the kitchen and his mouth started to water. Homemade food was hard to come by on-set and when on the road, so he was looking forward to it.
“How can I help?”
She stirred the batter and poured two puddles onto the sizzling griddle. “If you grab the bowls out of the fridge, I’ll make some plain ones before we work on the mix-ins.”