Starshine

by Melody Winter

  “I bet.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Last time I saw you, you were beating him up! Alex will never believe this.”

  Megan placed her hand on my arm. “Will you tell him for me?”

  “Are you worried what he’ll say?” I asked.

  “Well, no, not really. But, well, I think it would be better if you told him. He may go a little crazy, and . . . well, I could do without that.”

  “What exactly do I tell him?”

  “That Anthony and me are together.”

  “Really? Are you sure this wasn’t just a one night thing. You know, something you had to get out of your system?”

  “We have a lot of time to catch up on, Ella. I don’t see this burning out for a long time.”

  I was always a sop for romance, and when Anthony kissed the top of Megan’s head as he nudged past her, I realised that they were already past the awkward stage in a new relationship. But then again, it wasn’t new for them. They had known each other several years ago. They’d just reacquainted themselves last night.

  “I’ll only be two ticks, Megan. Get that shower switched on. I have some serious scrubbing to do.”

  Megan ducked back into Anthony’s flat.

  I playfully punched Anthony. “I can’t believe that you two are together,” I said.

  “Neither can I. Shit, Ella, she’s amazing. Just amazing.” His gaze clouded over and his lips twitched.

  “I’m glad you found each other again then,” I said.

  My glimpse into their loved-up world only reminded me how much I was missing Alex. I tucked my hands under my arms and bit back a miserable whimper. Anthony placed his arm around my shoulders.

  “Only two more days and then he’ll be back, Ella. Two more days.”

  I nodded, biting my bottom lip as I tried to ignore how much I was missing him. Phone calls, Facetime, and Skype calls were all well and good. It was great to see him on the screen and talk to him, but nothing made up for actual body contact. I missed the soft feel of his lips and the tender touch of his hands.

  “Hey, come on. You can join me and Megan tonight for some food. We’ll all get drunk together and then you can ring Alex!”

  “I’ll see.” I hardly thought spending time with Anthony and Megan all loved up would be my idea of fun. If Alex was there, it would be a completely different matter. But I realised that if Alex was there, I would not be sitting in a room with his sister and a crazy reporter. I would be dragging him to my bed and doing all sorts of X-rated things to him.

  “You ready?" Anthony asked as he placed his hand on the door handle.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” I replied as he opened the door.

  The madness outside, and the ensuing pushing and shoving had been one of the most frightening situations I had ever been in. Anthony had done brilliantly, shielding me from the furore as best he could to get me to the taxi, but we’d still got pushed around. Even as he slammed the taxi door behind me, the photographers continued to take photos. I hid behind my hair as the driver pulled away from the crowd.

  Was this how my life was going to be from now on? I’d constantly have my photo taken, candid shots printed in gossip magazines and papers. I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere without being followed. It was only now that I understood Alex’s earlier worries and fears about the exposure I would get. Perhaps his disclosure on American television hadn’t helped either, but I was prepared to forgive him for that. After all, he had announced that he loved me. How could I be angry with him for that?

  The usual taxi driver took the familiar route to the studio, but when we arrived he drove to a different building.

  “I’ve been informed that this is the editing studio. It’s where you need to be this morning, and for the next two weeks, Miss Summer.”

  “Thanks,” I replied, my response hardly brimming with enthusiasm.

  “Just call me later when you want picking up. I’ll get here straight away for you. I’ll pick you up right here.”

  I nodded before stepping out of the taxi and looking at the imposing building. This was where the magic happened. This was where the expertise of the editors came into play, and where the story of Ryan and Evelyn came alive.

  I pushed through the heavy swing doors, finding myself in a small reception area. This was all very different to the corridors in the studio that I had been in for the last few weeks. I walked over to the receptionist behind the desk.

  “You must be Ella Summer?” she said.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “They’re expecting you.”

  I glanced at the clock above her head. “I’m not late, am I.” Had I got the time wrong that I needed to be here?

  “No, don’t worry. They have a lot to do, and early morning seems to suit them. They’re down the corridor on your right, then third door on the left.”

  I nodded and offered my thanks.

  I headed down the corridor, counting the doors. Rowan suddenly stepped out of a room ahead and came walking toward me.

  “Hi Ella, so glad you’re here after all that shit in the paper the other day. Are you okay?” He pulled me into a hug.

  I stiffened as he hugged me, not comfortable with his gesture after what Megan had told me.

  “I’m doing okay. But missing Alex,” I confessed.

  Rowan nodded. “That’s understandable. He’s quite a whirlwind when he’s around.” He squeezed my shoulder. “We’re editing the scenes that you shot with Alex on Wednesday.”

  “Wednesday’s scenes?” I gulped. I didn’t know if I could watch myself cavorting practically naked with Alex. It would have been bad enough watching any of my acting efforts, never mind sex scenes.

  “Don’t worry,” he reassured me. “There’s only us two, and two other editors. And you only need to be here today and tomorrow. I’ll still sign your papers off. College will think you’ve been here for the full two weeks.”

  “That . . . that’s great,” I said, confused and somewhat concerned.

  Rowan stopped outside the studio doors. “You’re not as interested in this as you first thought, are you? I can tell you’ve seen a side to the business that you’d rather not have seen. It’s not all like this you know.”

  He’d seen what I’d gradually come to accept. Film directing and editing was not for me. “Still. I should finish,” I said.

  “Well, the decision is yours. I know you’ll want to spend time with Alex when he gets back. So, I don’t expect you to be here after tomorrow. If you want to come in next week, then let me know!”

  “Thanks, Rowan,” I said, confused as to why he was being so nice. Maybe he felt guilty about helping Amy with her stupid plans to split up Alex and me.

  “Come on,” he said, pushing the door open.

  My eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. It was only lit by tiny lights in the low ceiling and several monitors behind a desk of hundreds of dials and disks. I leaned forward and squinted at the screens. All of them were playing a live scene from Wednesday. I screwed my eyes shut before slowly opening them again.

  Was that me on the screen?

  “Oh, my God!” I mumbled.

  “You look incredible, Ella. Don’t you think?” Rowan asked.

  Did he honestly expect me to answer?

  Rowan nudged me. “I told you the footage was amazing! Look at the chemistry between you two. It’s bloody amazing!”

  He guided me toward a chair as I continued staring at the screens. The two other men in the studio were quietly talking to each other.

  “You need to compare this to other scenes of the same genre,” Rowan informed me. “Have you ever seen anything quite this intense?”

  I was currently staring at an image of Alex’s face. He had his eyes closed, and was quite obviously fighting his emotions as he acted the scene. The video flicked to another shot. This one was of me, following my movement from the side as I slowly moved down his body. A groan from Alex filled the room, and the screen shot flicked back to his face.<
br />
  I was mesmerised by the whole thing, and as Rowan handed me a coffee, I couldn’t help but appreciate just how amazing Alex looked on screen.

  A shot of my back, one from above our bodies, came onto the screens where it remained—paused. I stared unabashed at the nakedness of our bodies, for that was exactly what we looked like. The thong I had worn was completely invisible in this position.

  One of the men turned around to Rowan, and nodded at me as he noticed my presence in the room.

  “We need to make a decision on the nudity, Rowan. Personally, I think this would be stunning if we went with exactly what the camera caught. Pan over Evelyn’s head, back onto Ryan’s face before mixing this with the part where she sits up astride him.”

  I drew in a sharp breath, remembering the moment I had decided to do just that.

  “Then we can switch to the moment where he flips her over.”

  I realised that they were talking about putting the pieces of what had been filmed into a completely different order to the way they’d been acted.

  “But it wasn’t filmed that way,” I spoke up.

  Rowan turned to face me. “Do you not like that suggestion?” he asked.

  “Well no, not really. Why can’t you run with the order in which it was filmed?”

  “Because that’s not how it would be played out in real life,” the other man said.

  “I beg to differ,” I said confidently.

  “Why?” Rowan said, urging me to continue and explain myself.

  “Alex and I had hardly any direction throughout these scenes. The way the scene flowed was completely natural, nothing was directed in the way of, 'put that hand there,’ or, ‘wiggle a bit more here.' I think you should try and stick to the order it was filmed. I know you’ll need to edit certain bits, but on the whole, I think you should leave it alone.”

  “Rowan?” both men said together.

  “Do as Ella says,” he told them. “I happen to agree with everything she’s just said.”

  The rest of the day went quickly. I soon got into the swing of things in the editing room, and it wasn’t long before the two men, who I now knew as Bill and Mark, were taking directions from me, not Rowan.

  Rowan had told me at lunch time that he was impressed with the decisions I was making, but also confirmed that he would step in if he didn’t agree with what I was suggesting. He wasn’t prepared to give me total control.

  I was so focused and involved with the process that I didn’t hear the chiming sound coming from my handbag. It was only when Rowan picked my bag up and placed it against my ear that I realised my phone was ringing.

  “Sorry,” I apologised as I grabbed my bag from Rowan, and pulled the phone out. It was Alex.

  “Hi!” I shouted into the phone.

  “Woah, hi Ella! Can you turn your volume down, sweetheart? You’re deafening me.”

  “Sorry,” I offered as a whisper.

  “I’ve only just got up. I was hoping for some breathy sultry small talk,” he chuckled quietly. “What’s got you all excited, or is it merely the thought of talking to me?”

  “Hang on a minute,” I said, mouthing another apology at Rowan as I strode out of the room and into the deserted corridor. “I’m editing,” I said, continuing my whispered side of the conversation. “Alex, the stuff we shot on Wednesday is electric. I can’t believe how good we look together on screen.”

  “The stuff we shot on Wednesday? You mean the love scenes?”

  “Yes. It’s almost as if it’s real, that we did everything,” I said, my excitement bubbling over.

  “That’s because it was almost real, and we nearly did do everything.”

  “I miss you, Alex,” I told him, suddenly calming. Speaking to him had reminded me that he wasn’t here.

  “I miss you, too. But I have some great news.”

  “What?”

  “I’m coming home. The show I was scheduled to do tomorrow has been cancelled. I’ll be back in England in the afternoon.”

  “Really?” I shouted. “Tomorrow?” Stupid tears pricked at my eyes. “That’s great,” I sniffed.

  “Ella, why the tears?” Alex asked.

  “I’m just so glad you’re coming home,” I told him, desperately trying to speak clearly. “I’m missing you so much.”

  “You crazy woman,” he teased. “If my early return is going to make you cry, perhaps I should stay longer, do some shopping or something.”

  “No!”

  “I’m joking, sweetheart. I’m desperate to be back with you. Will you contact Megan and get my keys off her? I’d love it if you were at mine when I got back. Pack some clothes and things. You’ll be there for a while. I’m not going to let you leave.”

  “What? Never?”

  “Never.”

  I could think of nothing better.

  “Shit! I need to ask Rowan if I can finish early tomorrow so I can get to yours. What time will you be back?”

  “Flight lands at three thirty, so I should be home about five o'clock.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Rowan had already said I didn’t need to come in for the rest of my work experience, but I’d need to leave early tomorrow as well to be at Alex’s when he got home. Maybe I’d spend the rest of this week curled up with Alex, and then finished my work experience the week after.

  “What are you doing today?” I asked him.

  “Several interviews with radio stations. I’m all over the place. That’s why I called you now. I doubt I’ll get a chance to speak to you again today. By the time I finish you’ll be in the land of nod.”

  “You know you can ring me whenever you want. I don’t mind.”

  “Ella, I will not disturb your sleep tonight. I want you refreshed and rested because I have every intention of keeping you awake all of tomorrow night.”

  “Won’t you be tired?”

  “Yes, but I refuse to let that stop our first night together being as memorable an experience as I can make it.”

  I smiled. “Technically we have already had a night together.”

  “Not one like the one we’ll have tomorrow.” He cleared his throat. “I need to let you go. Beg Rowan to let you leave early tomorrow, Ella. I’m desperate to see you. I’ll be talking about you constantly today.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, our little chat on Stella the other day means that everywhere I go, I get asked about you. I don’t mind, but it means that all I can think about is you, you’re always in my head.”

  “Is that such a bad thing?”

  “It is when my body also chooses to think about you. God, Ella, I’m wandering around with a near enough constant hard on.”

  I grinned at his admittance. “Serves you right,” I said. “It’ll make sure you never leave me again.”

  There was silence between us for a few moments before he spoke. “Look, I really do need to go. I’ll hopefully see you at mine tomorrow. I’ll call you as soon as I clear airport customs, okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “I love you, Ella,” he spoke softly.

  “I love you, too.” We both hung up together and I leaned back against the wall holding my phone against my chest.

  He was coming home—tomorrow!

  I’d told Rowan that Alex was returning a day early and he insisted that I took the whole day off. We’d discussed my return for the final week of my work experience, and he’d left the decision with me. He was okay about whatever I decided.

  To say I was excited about Alex’s return was an understatement.

  I’d taken a taxi to the supermarket with Megan this morning, and we’d stocked up on food and wine for the forthcoming days. It seemed we both had the same idea about staying inside for the next few days with our men.

  I’d explained to her that I wanted Alex to come back here and stay with me for a few days, not go to his. My flat was perfect—the lack of windows meant it was an amazing hideaway. I selfishly wanted him all to myself
, and I had an unexplainable need to look after him. I also wanted to surprise him by meeting him at the airport.

  Megan had screamed excitedly when I told her about wanting to meet Alex at the airport. She immediately got Anthony involved. Between them they had organised how to get me out of the house and to the airport without the paps getting hold of the information. As far as they all knew, he wasn’t due back until the following day.

  I showered, let my hair dry naturally, and pinned it up into a high ponytail. I’d selected my hot pink underwear to wear under my floaty summer dress, wondering if Alex would remember when I’d last worn it—that fateful first day when we’d met on the set of Starshine. I slipped my feet into my chucks and headed out of my flat and down the stairs to call for Anthony.

  His door opened just as I was about to knock.

  “Ella, I was about to come and get you.”

  He was ready to go, casually dressed, wearing jeans, trainers, and a t-shirt, saying, ‘save water, shower with me.’

  Megan came to the door behind him. “You know that Anthony’s photos will be everywhere this evening?”

  I’d agreed to Anthony taking photos of our reunion. I felt I owed him something for all the support he had given me over the last few days. And by the way his relationship with Megan was going, I suspected that he and Alex could end up related within a few years. Anthony was more a friend of the family now, not a reporter after a story.

  “I know,” I said. “But I’m sure they’ll be others there anyway. Don’t they hide out at the airports just for a glimpse of someone famous these days?”

  Anthony stretched his arms above his head. “Some of them live there.”

  “Really? They’re that desperate for photos?”

  “Yep, so I’m sure there’ll be a few loitering around.”

  I’d hoped that Anthony would be the only one there. That he would get a little scoop on Alex and me.

  Megan tutted. “I hope Alex doesn’t blow when he sees you, Dimples. Remember, you’re not his favourite person?”

  “He’ll soon come around. And if he’s anything like his sister, he’ll be a very forgiving man” He sidled toward me. “Don’t worry though, I won’t expect him to give me a blow job like his sister did . . .” he whispered and then winked.