by Wendy Louise
“Ethan, nothing about last night was a letdown.” She smiles and rests her cheek in to my palm.
“I so want to kiss you right now, but I have a terrible hangover and my mouth feels like a desert,” I say.
“No kissing now - morning breath!” She throws her hand across her mouth adorably and rolls away from me to get up.
“I’m going to have a shower. I’ll set some towels out for you in Olivia’s bathroom if you like?”
“Yeah, that’d be great. When we’re done, I’m taking you to breakfast at my favourite place.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She smiles and heads toward the bathroom.
I sit up and assess the damage.
Aside from the fact that a bass drum feels like it has taken residence in my skull, I’m surprisingly okay. My stomach is not roiling too much. The water that Ava grabbed for me last night is still on the coffee table. I’m sure it’s warm by now but I just need the wetness. I down the entire bottle and rise up, ready to take a shower and start the day.
I can hear Ava humming in her bathroom as I pass. The water is running and I can just imagine her gorgeous little body all soaped up under the cascading water. I move past the door towards Olivia’s bathroom.
Quickly.
As I stand under the very welcome hot water I can feel the hangover washing away. Thoughts of Ava and our talk last night start to fill my brain. I hope I don’t stuff this up with her. I’ve never done this one-woman relationship thing, so I know that I’ll make mistakes.
I finish showering, get dressed and call a cab to take us out to breakfast. There’s a great little café near my place that serves the best waffles and pancakes. It’s quiet and off the beaten track so we shouldn’t attract any attention there. I can grab my car afterwards and show Ava some of the sights that we missed out on last night.
Ava comes out of her room dressed in a cute little white sundress with tiny straps over her slight shoulders. Her long hair is pulled back in to a ponytail and she looks amazing. She grabs her purse and a cardigan and takes my hand – which causes my heart to race - so I can lead her down to the waiting cab.
Who would have thought that such an innocent interaction could have me so tied up in knots!
“Where are we going?”
“There’s a great little place near where I live. They do a brilliant breakfast – anything you want – eggs, waffles, pancakes….”
“Oooh I love waffles,” she says with a smile.
“C’mon then,” I say, pulling her in to the elevator behind me, as I feel my heart beating a furious rhythm against my rib cage.
The Celebrity Life
Ava and I have just polished off a massive breakfast feast. She’s had waffles and pancakes and I’ve had the same plus some eggs and bacon. I can barely move but my hangover is now a thing of the past. Amazing what a big, greasy breakfast can do.
“I am sooo full,” Ava says as she takes a sip of her tea and puts her other hand over her flat stomach.
“Me too. I told you they did a great breakfast here.”
“That they do,” she says with a broad smile.
“So, let’s head to my place and grab my car, I want to show you some of the sights today.”
She claps her hands together and does a little dance in her seat.
“What sights are you most excited to see here in LA?”
“Well I want to see the Chinese Theatre and I want to see Disneyland, Universal Studios – as a tourist rather than as someone that works there – Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, I want to go shopping…”
Laughing, I say, “Whoa there.”
“Sorry I’m just so excited to be here and I can’t wait to see all those places.”
“Well, Disneyland takes more than a few hours so let’s leave that for another day. What if today we do a tour of the Chinese Theatre, and the surrounding shops? Then perhaps we could do an early dinner off Rodeo Drive?”
Her eyes widen as she takes in my suggestion. “Rodeo Drive as in Pretty Woman’s Rodeo Drive?”
“Yes the very one.”
Her excitement is so infectious. I’ve grown up with all these sights right near me; they don’t excite me like this, so I love her enthusiasm. I can’t wait to show them to her.
“Can we see the hotel from the movie too?”
“The Beverly Wilshire?”
“Yes. That’s it,” she says with a smile, trying hard to reign in her excitement.
“Okay. If that’s what you want to see, then that’s where I’ll take you. I’m at your disposal today. I will happily take you wherever your heart desires.”
“I like the sound of that,” she says with a flirtatious grin as she follows me out the front of the restaurant. “I like the sound of that a lot!”
The cab drops us off at my place so I can pick my car up. I don’t take Ava inside the house for two reasons.
Firstly I don’t want my mother to see her and treat her the same way she did at the Studio the other day.
Secondly, I don’t want to scare her away by letting her see the palatial environment I live in. The house is a reflection of my mother, not of me. I don’t want Ava to think that I want to live that way; it’s just the way I’ve always lived. Now though with Ava here, it feels over the top.
Fake.
Heartless.
Lacking warmth and reality.
I told Ava that we would come back another day and I’ll give her the tour of the house then. I didn’t want her to think that I’m holding back from her or that she was the reason that I didn’t take her inside. I just don’t want that to be the impression she has of me today.
I’m also choosing to drive my black jeep today. It garners much less attention than the Porsche, and the windows are tinted dark, so there is less chance that we’ll be spotted while driving around. I really should have arranged some security to follow us, but I think we should be fine. I’m a little concerned about the Chinese Theatre as that is usually full of tourists, but I have my baseball cap and aviators on so hopefully no one will recognise me.
We pull up to the front of the Chinese Theatre and it is full of touristy sightseeing buses. Shit! Maybe this was a bad idea with so many people here, but I don’t want to ruin this for Ava, she’s so excited.
I pull the car in to the underground car park nearby and hand my keys to the valet. I take Ava’s hand and we climb the stairs to street level. I pull my ball cap further down my head and keep my face downcast, so that no one looks straight at me.
“Ethan, I’m so excited,” Ava squeals as we make our way to street level.
We round the corner to the theatre and there are so many people here I can’t believe it. I want to get this over with so we can move on to something less crowded. This is making me nervous. Not so much for me, but for Ava. If they recognise me, things could get very busy - very quickly.
“Which hand and foot prints do you want to see first Ava?” I ask, tugging on the peak of my cap to make sure it covers my face as much as possible.
Ava blushes from the neck up and says “Twilight. I want to see the ones for Twilight, you know Robert, Kristen, Taylor...”
I laugh and shake my head. “Yes I know who you mean Ava. Come on, they’re over here.”
I’ve been here so many times that I know where all the prints are located. My mother’s prints are in the far right corner, but I have no intention of showing those to Ava.
The day my mother had hers revealed I was only eleven. The press had a field day taking photos of both of us as her ceremony took place. Of course my mother played the doting parent role and the magazines ate it up. We were front page news on all the glossies that week, and the next!
I end up taking photos of Ava with her hands and feet inside the footprints of the cast of Twilight, Harry Potter and Star Wars. She’s like a kid in a candy store. Then she starts on the stars along the Walk of Fame. After several photos along there as well, I notice that I have a core group of people following me. I
hear one of them say my name and realise that my cover is blown.
Dammit, I don’t want to stuff this up for Ava, but I think it’s time we move on. I suppose I need to get used to this. It will only get worst once the movie comes out. Maybe it’s a good thing for Ava to witness this too. If we’re going to try and make a go of this, then she needs to realise what we will have to deal with in public.
A young girl approaches me nervously and asks, “Are you Ethan Drake?”
“Yes,” I reply with a smile. I may as well be gracious.
She looks like she’s about to faint as she asks for a photo and an autograph, and that sets the ball rolling. Fifteen minutes later I’m still going and I have no idea where Ava is. I can’t see her over the crowd of people that surround me. I have pens and papers being shoved in to my face from all angles. I’ve even had a few choice body parts flashed at me.
After another ten minutes of signing and posing for shots, I politely try to excuse myself to find Ava and get the fuck out of here.
Stat.
I find her back over near the front of the theatre looking at more hand and foot prints. She’s lost in her own little world and I can’t help but stare at the awed look on her face. Reality busts back in when another fan approaches me, and I have to excuse myself again.
We need to get out of here.
Now!
I grab Ava by her elbow to steer her towards the parking garage. “Ava, I’m so sorry about that. Let’s get out of here before it gets any crazier. Did you see everything you wanted to see?”
She smiles at me with sparkling eyes, “Yes thanks. That was so cool.”
“C’mon. Let’s head to Rodeo Drive. We can look at some shops and grab some lunch.”
Ava gives me a hard stare. “Ethan, there is no way I can fit lunch in after that breakfast, and there is definitely no way I can afford to shop on Rodeo Drive, window shop maybe.”
“Ava, I can afford to shop on Rodeo Drive, so let’s go see what they have to offer.”
I know that I’ve been hell bent on not flashing my wealth at Ava, but nothing would give me more fuckin’ pleasure than taking her to Rodeo Drive and buying her whatever her heart desires. I know she’s not like that, but I would love to do it for her, if she’d let me.
After a long walk down the length of Rodeo Drive - window shopping, because Ava won’t accept any of the items that I attempt to purchase for her - we head to the Beverly Wilshire. I take a few photos of Ava out front of it, with its signature awnings and gorgeous façade. We decide to forgo lunch after the big breakfast we had, but truth be told, I could have easily gone for something else. I’m hungry.
The remainder of our day has been fan free - thank god - so I haven’t had to deal with anymore photos or autographs. The clientele on Rodeo Drive aren’t as fast to acknowledge a star in their midst. They see it all the time.
As we climb back in to the jeep after a pretty exhausting day of sightseeing, Ava’s phone buzzes to indicate an incoming text.
“It’s from Olivia,” she says, not that I expect an explanation.
“Liv said that there are photos of us on line. I’ll text her back. ”
“Shit!” Ava says. “Ethan there are photos of us on line out and about today.” The little crease on her brow has returned. I’m learning that she gets that whenever something is really worrying her.
“Jump on to Google on your phone and have a look,” I suggest.
Her mouth forms an ‘O’ as she looks at the pictures splashed on all the gossip sites of the two of us together. The headlines are proposing that she is my latest flame, but thankfully not one of them have named her yet. I know it won’t take long for them to find out who she is, but I keep that to myself. She already looks totally freaked out.
So much for our quiet day out together.
“Ava I’m so sorry. I didn’t want this to happen so soon. We’ll just keep a low profile and the gossip will die down. They’ll move on to someone else tomorrow.”
She looks concerned. “Ethan, I’m not good with this. I like to remain in the background, out of the limelight. This is making me really nervous.” She chews on her bottom lip as she scrolls across her screen.
Goddammit!
I didn’t want this to happen; this is the type of thing that will scare her off. It’s suddenly my mission to protect her from every lens, and every fan, so that she doesn’t freak out on me. I scrap the idea of eating dinner out and decide to drive through the Mexican restaurant that I got our dinner from a few nights ago so that we can eat in. I need to protect Ava from roaming eyes.
“Why don’t you text Liv again and see if she is home. We can bring Mexican.”
“Great idea,” she says brightening somewhat.
After texting Olivia, Ava announces that both she and Ryan are at the apartment. We grab Mexican for all four of us, as well as beer, and head back there. I’m hoping to erase the stress of the day for Ava, with good food, beer and great company.
Just as we enter through the door, Ava’s phone rings. She has Katy Perry’s Roar as her ringtone. It fits her perfectly.
Ava answers, “Hi Mum.”
I don’t know what Ava’s mom is saying on the other end of the line but I see Ava’s face pale and I hear her side of the conversation. “I know Mum…… We were sightseeing…… Yes that’s Ethan……. Thanks Mum…… I know, I know……. Me too….. Yes, I’ll put her on…. Love you too.”
Ava hands her phone to Olivia so she can talk to her mom also.
“Your parents have seen the pictures from today?” I ask cautiously. Her smile belies the stress I can see in her eyes.
“Yep,” she says.
“Are they okay with it?” I ask hesitantly.
“Yes, they were just surprised. They’re used to seeing Liv on the gossip sites, not me. It freaks me out a little that they’re in Australia, and they’ve already seen photos of me from today Ethan. I’m on the other side of the world to them! My cousin Amanda saw them first and called Mum. Now the whole family is aware, and they’re all intrigued to know what I was doing with you.”
“What did you say to that?” I ask, interested in her answer.
“You heard me. I didn’t say much. I just confirmed that it was you and that we were out sightseeing. Mum saw the stories claiming that we were an item so she was just telling me about them. She didn’t ask me outright if we were, so I didn’t say anything re that. Believe me, she’ll ask in time.”
Olivia signs off on her call and hands Ava her phone back.
“Mum is stressing Ava. She’s asked me to keep an eye on you,” Olivia laughs.
Great. Now I have Ava’s mom stressing about her being seen with me too.
I can’t win.
“C’mon Guys, let’s eat before this is stone cold,” I say, trying to change the subject and salvage the evening.
I can tell Ava is trying to act okay with everything but I know this has rattled her. If she can’t do this then she can’t be with me. This is my life. I just need to try and shelter her from it as much as possible so it doesn’t push her away.
The question I have to ask is – How?
Hawaii
I’m not going to lie; yesterday freaked me out quite a bit.
A lot, if I’m being totally honest.
Holy crap!
I tried to act calm when all those people started to mob Ethan while we were out at the Chinese Theatre, but it was hard to watch. I wandered away and tried to blend in with other tourists, pretending to look at all the hand and foot prints, but I was really concerned. Concerned for Ethan mainly, because there were so many people vying for his attention; and then concerned for myself, because I’m not sure that I’ll ever be able to deal with that. I know it comes with the territory, but it doesn’t make it any easier to adjust to.
It was crazy.
Last night after dinner, Ethan was so sweet to me. We sat on the balcony looking out over the lights of LA and just talked.
Abou
t everything.
We were so relaxed in each other’s company and it felt really nice. He was always touching me, whether it was holding my hand, or placing his arm around me, but he never took it too far. He was respectful.
In a way, that disappointed me.
My mind kept drifting back to the night on the sofa when we were supposed to be watching Top Gun. I was hoping we may have gone there again, but I think Ethan is trying to take things slowly like I asked, so I didn’t push it. He did give me a soul-melting kiss goodnight when he left though.
Believe me - it kept me awake most of the night thinking about what else he can do with those talented lips of his.
And those hands….
Now I’m sitting in my office at the Studio with Josh, finalising all the details for our trip to Hawaii. I’m so excited to go. We board our flight the day after tomorrow and will be there filming for a full five days. The schedule is jam packed, but we have free time allotted on two of the evenings there, and most afternoons are free. Filming has been slotted for mornings and overnight. We’re all going to be exhausted, but I don’t care, I’m just so keen to get there and see what it’s like.
“Ethan is bringing Nanny Grace in to the Studio for a visit today,” Josh says to me with a knowing smile.
How does he know that I’ve met Nanny Grace? Clearly Ethan tells him more than I realise.
“Oh that’s great,” I reply. “She’s such a great lady. I’m looking forward to seeing her again.”
“She is great isn’t she? I love her. She’s so feisty and switched-on for someone of her age. I love her spirit.”
“I think I used those same words to describe her when I first met her Josh,”
“I saw the photos of you and Ethan on line last night. How was that for you?”
“It was kind of weird. Mostly I was worried for Ethan, but it scared me to think that one minute I was out enjoying my day, and the next minute, my mum on the other side of the world is calling to tell me that she’s seen photos of us. Photos that were taken only a few hours prior. I don’t know how Ethan and Olivia do it.”