by Diana Currie
“I usually try to keep a low profile when I travel but it’s useless on this trip. Every employee in the hotel knows I’m here. And the front desk knows it’s me calling before they even pick up the phone. ‘Good evening, Mr. Foster. What can I do for you, sir?’” Nathan said imitating the front desk clerk’s English accent.
Maddie giggled on the other end of the phone and it made Nathan smile. He liked that he could entertain her.
“Do big stars like you really check into hotels with fake names?” Maddie wondered.
“Yeah, I’ve done that a lot the past few months. Word usually gets out anyway but if it’s a short stay sometimes I can get away undetected.”
“Can you tell me what names you use or is that top secret information?”
“Let’s see. I’ve used Garrett’s name a couple times but fans figured that one out quick. Gerard said I should use cartoon characters but I would feel ridiculous making a reservation under the name Scooby Doo.”
“Oh, God. That would be humiliating. You should use superheroes; like Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark.”
“Yeah, that would be better. Hang on a second while I order, okay?” Nathan asked.
“Sure.”
Maddie listened as Nathan called room service and ordered a cheeseburger, French fries, chicken fingers, vanilla milkshake, and crumpets. She noticed how polite he was with the hotel employee. Even when he or she had difficulty understanding what Nathan meant by “chicken finger” he kept his manners in check and ended the call thanking the person for complying with his special, late night request. She thought his phone etiquette made his personality that much sweeter.
“Hey, I’m, back. You still there?” his voice rang in Maddie’s ear.
“I’m here slugger.”
“Slugger?”
“That food order was as All-American as you could get. I’m imagining you wearing a Brewers t-shirt and a baseball cap eating all that food at Miller Park stadium.”
“What can I say; I miss the US of A and all her greasy goodness.”
“At least you tacked on the crumpets at the end there,” she snickered.
“Honestly, I don’t even know what they are. I ordered the crumpets for you.”
“For me? What are you gonna do, FedEx them to Texas?” Maddie laughed.
“No, I’m going to pretend you’re here eating with me. You have no idea how many meals I have to eat alone.”
Maddie frowned. “I wish I was really there so you don’t have to be alone.”
Nathan was silent for a moment and Maddie struggled to say something else that would distract him from whatever thoughts he might be having. The last thing she wanted to do was remind him of his loneliness in a strange country.
“So, I’m eating the crumpets and you the cheeseburger. In your mind am I wearing a Brewer’s t-shirt too?” she asked.
Nathan chuckled softly. “Okay, imaginary Maddie can wear a Brewer’s t-shirt… but no pants.”
“No pants?” Maddie replied with a squeak in her voice.
“If I’m not wearing pants then you’re not wearing pants,” Nathan said jokingly.
Nathan had told himself weeks earlier that he would not flirt with his new friend. He valued the companionship too much to let the male-female dynamic muddy the waters. Maddie sounded really cute though; embarrassed and stunned. He couldn’t help himself.
Maddie cleared her throat awkwardly. “You’re not wearing pants, Nathan?”
Nathan imagined how much fun it would be to flirt more with her but didn’t want to break the promise he’d made to himself. “No, I took a shower just before I called you. I’m wearing the hotel robe.”
Maddie closed her eyes and placed a hand over the speaker on her phone. She was having vivid flashbacks of Nathan’s bottom from the Zero Gravity shower scene. It was a mighty fine bottom. Only in her mind, Emma Watson was nowhere to be found and Maddie Sherratt was soaping up Nathan’s chest.
“Maddie?”
“Yeah?”
“What are you thinking about?”
After three phone calls Maddie had yet to act the way Nathan expected her to in almost every regard. He kept waiting for her to wake up and realize she was talking to a celebrity that she was supposedly attracted to. So far Maddie had kept her cool and spoken to him the way he imagined she might speak to one of the boys in her class. Reacting flustered to a few comments he’d made was as close to revealing any such infatuation as she had come. Nathan was beginning to wonder if she was a better actor than him, or maybe he was wrong about her having a crush on him. He was surprised to find he was disappointed thinking it might be the latter.
“I was thinking that I have a question I wanted to ask about your character in Zero Gravity,” she finally replied.
“Okay…”
“Does Travis Tague have a tattoo on his bicep or is that yours?”
“That’s what you’ve been thinking about, huh?” he replied with amusement in his voice. Maddie had obviously been thinking about the shower scene then.
“Holly and I were debating it after the movie.”
“And what was your take?”
“I was of the opinion it was purely for the role. Holly disagreed.”
Nathan heard a knock at his hotel door and tightened the cord on his robe before walking across the room to answer it. “Our food is here.”
Maddie waited again, listening intently as Nathan greeted someone and accepted their food on a cart with a squeaky wheel. She heard him tip the bellhop and the man replied with an emphatic “thank you, sir”.
“So, the tattoo,” Nathan said when he was once again alone in the London hotel suite. “I’ll tell you the truth but you must keep it under the strictest confidence.”
“I swear,” Maddie replied intrigued.
“The truth is I have a two inch scar on my left arm from when I was twelve. Garrett and I were climbing fences on my Grandpop’s farm and a huge nail head ripped me open as I was climbing over. It cut me so deep my mom took me to the ER and I got a tetanus shot and seven stitches. So, on set when the makeup artist saw it she freaked out and said we had to either cover it with makeup or give my character a tattoo. The director thought a tattoo would suit Travis Tague well so every day Sophie the makeup artist drew that stupid thing on my arm.”
Maddie couldn’t help the wide grin that took over her face. She imagined Nathan as a young boy, hopping fences with his older brother. They must have gotten into lots of trouble growing up and she wanted to hear more about his youth. He’d mentioned a few times how his relationship with Garrett has been strained the past few years. She wanted to do whatever she could to help him reconnect with his brother. Mending family ties, Maddie knew, would be instrumental in Nathan’s happiness.
“Sophie did a hell of a job. I never would have guessed there was anything else there under the tat.”
“It took an hour every day. She’d work on my arm while another lady did my face and hair.”
“How come I never noticed it in Love Spelled Backwards?”
“They covered it in makeup for that movie. Or shot me from the other side.”
“Wow. You should mention that in the audio commentary for Zero Gravity.” Maddie said.
Nathan laughed. “Why do you say that?”
“So, Holly will know the truth! I feel like a traitor keeping this juicy tidbit a secret.”
“You feel guilty for not telling your friend that my upper arm was maimed when I was a kid? You women are so weird.”
“Yes, yes we are,” she agreed. “So, how’s that burger?”
“I haven’t even taken a bite yet. Wait a second. Hmmm. Yep. Good burger,” Nathan replied with his mouth full.
So much for his impeccable manners, Maddie thought. “It sounds like you’re liking that burger. How do my crumpets look?”
“Kinda gross,” he chuckled. “I’m glad you’re eating them and not me.”
“Am I still pant-less?”
“Hell yes,” Nathan
answered in between bites. “You have me curious now though, what are you really wearing?”
Maddie felt her heart begin beating faster as she looked down at her clothes. She briefly considered lying and describing something a little sexier, but knew flirting with Nathan was not a good idea. She swore to herself that she wouldn’t let her mind run wild with thoughts of Nathan being anything to her but a good friend. Even if he did somehow develop feelings for her over the phone she knew all that would change if he ever saw her in person. And the fact that they lived a thousand miles apart was reason number two not to go there. The best she could hope for was a long-distance friendship. Maddie never expected to meet her new friend.
“Black yoga pants and a Tweety bird tank top.”
“I think I’ll require a picture at the end of our call, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course not, as long as you return the favor.”
“Deal.”
There were a few moments of silence while Nathan chewed and Maddie began brushing out her hair. She was grateful she hadn’t claimed to be wearing something she wasn’t and then have to explain why she couldn’t send a picture.
“What are you thinking about now,” Nathan asked suddenly.
“Zero Gravity again. Will your parents go to see the movie?”
“They probably saw the Saturday matinee. But I haven’t spoken to them in a few weeks so I’m not certain. Why do you ask?”
“I was just wondering if they’re supportive. You seem to really miss them so I find it strange that you don’t speak to them more often.”
Nathan pushed the food cart over to the hotel room door and began casually pacing around the room. He ate a lot; he should definitely hit the gym in the morning before sightseeing. “Are you wondering why I didn’t call them instead of you two weeks ago?” he whispered somberly.
“Yeah, I guess I am. I often wonder why you choose to talk to me instead of someone you’re maybe closer to.”
Nathan didn’t want to admit to Maddie that he had no one who fit that description. “I don’t want to disappoint my parents, or give them more reason to worry. I just want my dad to be proud of my career and for my mother to stop worrying about me living in L.A. on my own. If I’d called them in the state I was in the night of the L.A. premiere…”
“You don’t have to say it. I understand,” Maddie interrupted. “You don’t have to think about that night because you have me now. I’m the one you can talk to about anything without fear of judgment or disappointment. But I still think you should call them, Nathan. Keeping in touch is important.”
Nathan sighed and scratched the back of his head with one hand. “Okay then, Miss Sherratt. In the morning. I promise to call home just to catch up with them.”
“Thank you. You sound like you’re getting sleepy.”
“I am. The sun will be rising here soon.”
“I should let you go,” Maddie replied trying not to give away her reluctance to end their conversation.
“Yeah, I should get some sleep. Same time next week?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay then, Tweety. Good night. Don’t forget to send me that picture.”
Maddie smiled. “You too, slugger.”
The first thing Nathan did after hanging up the phone was take off the fluffy white hotel robe he wore. He wanted to send Maddie a picture of himself that accentuated the real him. He held his phone out as far as he could reach and angled it to the side in order to capture his face, upper chest, and left bicep in the lens. He then sent the photo to Maddie with the tagline: As you can see, no tattoo. Just an unsightly badge of honor from my adolescence.
Two weeks prior Maddie sent Nathan a photo that had been from the neck up. This time she knew he wanted to see her tank top so she snapped several shots of herself that included her full torso. She selected the best one, in which she was smiling with her head tilted to one side, and just so happened to include a hint of cleavage. Maddie thought she looked kinda sexy without being slutty.
She replied to his text a few minutes later with the message: Don’t be an idiot. Scars on guys are sexy, yours included! Here’s Tweety Bird, as promised.
Maddie smiled to herself. Just a little cleavage couldn’t impede their friendship, right?
Chapter Four
Tuesday morning the phone rang at ten o’clock. Nathan had been back in L.A. less than a day and the busy schedule he kept in London, combined with the second round of jet lag, were taking a toll on his body. He blindly searched for his phone with one hand while his face remained buried in the pillow.
“What?” he answered without even checking for the name of the caller first. His voice was hoarse and thick with sleep.
“Nathan, darling!” his overpaid and overenthusiastic agent greeted boisterously into his ear.
“Melissa. What the hell time is it?” he groaned.
“Quarter after ten. I know you’re still sleeping off the press tour but I have exciting news for you that couldn’t wait. Are you awake enough to listen to me?”
“Sure.”
“Good answer. I know you’ve been dragging your feet on selecting your next project for reasons I don’t understand. But now it turns out to be a good thing that you aren’t tied up with other commitments. Maybe you have psychic abilities, because something amazing just fell into your lap. I just got off the phone with Audrey, she works over at Universal. You met her years ago when the script for Love Spelled Backwards was finally starting to make some noise with the bigwigs. Anyway, she wants you to come back in… to discuss a sequel!”
Nathan sat up immediately and scrubbed his hand across his face trying to wake up from this terrible dream. “Are you serious? How can there be a sequel when Eli Duncan only wrote one book?”
“He started a second apparently, but never finished it. Audrey said Duncan has agreed to push his other projects aside in order to rush the sequel to bookshelves before the movie will come out.”
Nathan was speechless. He thought his days of overexposure were winding down. After the unexpected success of Love Spelled Backwards, and then the blockbuster Zero Gravity, Nathan was looking forward to just hiding out for a while. He had every intention of moving on from his teen idol status and start making more meaningful films; maybe a psychological thriller or a World War II flick. He never wanted to appear in public and get called Caleb Thomas ever again. The very thought of portraying him in another Love Spelled Backwards movie churned his stomach.
“So, what do you think?” Melissa demanded. “The script is already written, Audrey says it’s being kept hush hush around town until everyone signs on. And by everyone, she means you. Apparently, the producers refuse to consider recasting the lead role. You know what that means don’t you? You can name your price and they’ll gladly pay it. Love Spelled Backwards was so successful they’ll pay top dollar to get you back for another one.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“You don’t sound elated, Nathan. Why aren’t you elated? Did you take sleeping pills last night? My other clients would have a bit more enthusiasm to get this kind of news. You should be at least a little excited to get the opportunity to reprise a role that will make you an even bigger superstar and likely double your net worth.”
“I don’t care about the money,” Nathan refuted.
Melissa laughed heartily into the phone. “Oh, Nathan! Spoken like a true celebrity! I remember you feeling very differently when I found you in that rat hole of an apartment three years ago. Now come on, perk up. Take some uppers and call me back in an hour. I’m going to email you the contract and the script. I’ve already had Hank go over everything and it checks out. All you have to do is name your price.”
She hung up before Nathan could protest or even respond. He proceeded to throw the phone across the bedroom in frustration where it banged against the opposite wall and dropped to the carpeted floor. Suddenly all of Nathan’s plans seemed to be slipping through his fingers. There were five other scrip
ts sitting downstairs on his coffee table waiting for his attention. Most of them were Melissa’s suggestions and probably not what Nathan was looking for, but there was one about a soldier home from Iraq and dealing with PTSD that he was interested in reading. He’d heard that Ryan Gosling was also interested in that role. They’d both been considered to play Caleb Thomas but Ryan had portrayed Noah in The Notebook many years earlier. Since the movies were similar the casting director wanted to find a fresh face and Nathan was chosen to play Caleb.
Nathan knew that a Love Spelled Backwards sequel would have to take priority. With a reprisal of that role coming out of nowhere he would be forced to forfeit the role of the damaged soldier to Ryan. The Universal people were probably already getting the wheels in motion to start production. He knew the pressure for him to sign on from the executives and his former costars was going to be intense. Some of the actors he worked with on Love Spelled Backwards hadn’t had the same success as Nathan in landing other big budget movies. They would be incredibly angry with him to lose out on this opportunity just because he didn’t feel like being a megastar anymore. “Suck it up,” they would say to him, “We need this movie deal.”
Nathan hated that he felt such a need to distance himself from the role that made his career possible. He’d starred in crappy low budget films and had bit parts on TV shows before landing that role. Love Spelled Backwards had been a dream come true for Nathan. He worked his ass off preparing for the part and he took the job very seriously. Hours were spent on the phone with Eli Duncan going over Caleb’s character, and by the end of filming Nathan felt like Caleb’s soul was inside him.
Caleb Thomas was a boy with a troubled upbringing who became enamored with one of his high school classmates. The innocent and naive Abigail was sweet, wealthy, and privileged. Eli Duncan’s characters were known for being complex and the reader is torn throughout the first half of the book as to whether or not Abigail should get involved with such a bad apple as Caleb. At first he’s a bad influence on her, but once their love starts to blossom and the reader learns more about Caleb’s dark past, it becomes clear just how much he needs someone like Abigail to love him and help him turn his life around.