by Pamela Ann
“Baby, look at me,” he requested. “You’re great. I’m not saying this just because I feel like I should, but you were fantastic. Didn’t we just speak about you following your dreams? Well, this is it. It’s the universe calling out to you and handing you this amazing opportunity. What other fantastic way to debut your acting skills other than being the lead actress in a Martin Lombardo film?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head and let out a long breath. “Can you guys give me until the weekend to think it over?”
He shook his head. “Martin needs your answer by nine this morning.”
“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.”
~Danny Kaye
Chapter Fourteen
Nine in the morning?! That’s like five hours from now, more or less!
Bass was right on one thing though, what better way to debut myself than to do a Lombardo film?
However, amazing as the idea was, I couldn’t help feeling frightened. What if my acting was subpar? What if they hated it? Would I be able to handle acerbic reviews and comments angled towards me by critics?
My heart was galloping. It was already heightened from making out with Bass, but then it had skyrocketed to an unparalleled level. I was agitated and in dire need to speak to someone other than Bass. First, I needed to be alone to soothe my nerves then I would call Lindsey.
Yes, I would call my friend even at this ungodly hour.
I was in dire need of a 911 emergency therapy discussion.
“Do you mind if I go shower?” I asked Bass. He looked a bit confused about my question. I was sure he wasn’t expecting me to say something so random, but I felt like I needed a hot shower. Right now. PRONTO.
“Go ahead and feel free to use my bathroom upstairs. You know where everything is. There is an extra toothbrush in the second drawer on the left and there are soaps and shampoos in the shower, use whatever you need.”
I hesitated a second before I leaned over and gave Bass a peck on the cheek and hastily left the pool area. I knew it was stupid to hesitate after what we were doing a few minutes ago, before we got interrupted by Martin, but I was beyond confused.
Why wouldn’t Bass kiss me? It seemed like the more I pushed him to do it, the more he hesitated. Well, he could keep his kisses ‘cause his licking and biting sure as hell got me hot and bothered in no time. I knew girls shouldn’t compare, but I couldn’t help doing it. Carter was awesome, but I felt like with Bass, it would be explosive. I had concluded this after that teeny, tiny stint in the pool? Hell yes!
I felt it—in my bones and in my core. God only knew what would’ve happened if we hadn’t gotten interrupted. I wanted to see Bass lose control. Crazy, wasn’t it? I wanted the real him unleashed and unbridled. I wanted the real man behind the controlled restraints. I had a quick glimpse of it and I wanted to see more. I thought.
I made a quick stop at the movie theatre to fetch my belongings. It was weird that I felt right at home here. I barely knew him and yet here I was—not feeling awkward at all.
Walking upstairs in my barely clad state, my mind boggled as I went to his room on auto-pilot. Per his instructions, I found a toothbrush and immediately took care of brushing my pearly whites while I went to turn on his shower, making the water as hot as I could stand it. When I jumped in, my eyes surveyed the selection of hair care products and shower gels I had to choose from.
Amused, I scoured for his scent amongst the scented selections. After a few tries, I figured he was a Lime Basil & Mandarin kind of guy. You’d think lime and basil would be an icky combination, but nope! It was alluringly sexy and zesty at the same time. The smell was so him and I contemplated inhaling the damn scented shower gel until I passed out. I’d much rather smell it on him, of course, but that was a close second.
After my quick shower, I wrapped my head with a towel and covered my body with another one.
The screen on my phone read 4:24 am. I bit my lip nervously before I hit dial. I was about to give up after a few rings, but thank heavens, the woman managed to pick up before I ended the call. “Do you need someone to bail you out? Which station?” Lindsey grumbled as she made a loud, noisy yawn.
“This is not Amber calling, babe. I know you’re probably half asleep, but I need to talk to you. It’s a 911.” After a full minute, I thought she passed out on me.
“Sorry, had to pinch myself to wake up. What’s up?” Lindsey asked with another yawn. Yeah, buddy, thanks for making me feel guilty for waking you up!
“Okay, well, we both know I went to Martin Lombardo’s place tonight, right?”
“Who would forget about tonight after Carter’s impersonation of a growling bear?” Lindsey asked amusingly.
Right, Carter’s growling. What the hell?
Mentally shaking my head, I continued my story, “Well, Martin insisted for Bass and me to read lines tonight and half an hour ago, he called out of the blue and offered me the lead in a movie that he’s going to be filming this summer with Bass. Martin needs my answer by nine in the morning, that’s in a few hours. I’m calling because I don’t know what to do, Lindsey! I mean, I want to do it, but I don’t want to embarrass myself either. You know?”
“Hold up; Martin Lombardo offered you to star in his movie with Bass and you’re fucking thinking this over?” Lindsey asked hysterically. She started blabbering, “Okay, I get why you’re hesitating, going from your high school drama classes to the big screen. I get that this is a big, BIG deal for you, but Emma, Martin Lombardo himself offered you the role! He must believe you’re good or good enough for him to even consider you. So do me a favor and stop it with this boo-hoo party you’re giving yourself because you’re going to be a movie star, BABY! Get that? A. MOVIE. STAR. Ahhhh! I knew you were going places with that angelic beauty of yours, Em, but an actress? That’s incredible!”
“It’s great and all, but what if I embarrass myself or my family? Do you know how much this is scaring me? I would be devastated if I became an embarrassment to everyone I know. What if I let Lombardo or Bass down?" I voiced out my fears. “I don’t want to give it my all and not be good enough. I don’t think I have it in me to be butchered by the rest of the country or better yet, the rest of the world! God, the thought alone sends me into overdrive and I might just end up in a mental hospital.”
“That overactive imagination of yours will really send you into a psych ward if you keep going on like this! I don’t know why your confidence lacks sometimes because you fucking ROCK, girlfriend! Besides, if you ditch this, do you want to go on forever wondering ‘what if?’ Think about that because I sure as hell don’t want a big fucking ‘what if’ in my life.” Lindsey, the voice of reason.
“Geez, a big ‘what if,’ huh? Well, maybe you should check out Brody Thompson then, girlfriend, because from where I’m standing, the man is a big hot ‘what if’ to me.”
Lindsey huffed on the other end. “Whatever. I have to go back to sleep ’cause I have a stupid quiz first thing this morning. Just remember that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Emma. This is like one of those opportunities that are life changing and can undoubtedly alter your universe. This is it, Emma Anderson. It’s your time to shine. I just want to tell you—either way—that I’m proud of you. Okay fuck it! I will be prouder if you do take the damn role, woman! Imagine all those award shows and the free goodies that come along with it. Accept the role before I smack some sense into you, comprende?”
As Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” Heck yes, failure is not fatal. Yet, I don’t want a big ‘what if’ haunting me.
“All right, Lindsey Mason, you’ve finally gotten through to me. Now, go sleep and ace that quiz of yours. I will call you tomorrow after the meeting, okay?”
“Damn straight! Now you owe me some tacos and margaritas. Over and out.”
I so do, I thought with a smile. After a quick goodbye, we ended the
call.
Feeling convinced and assured, I strolled towards the bedroom to get a new shirt and boxers. I chose all white this time. I mean, there was only black and white to choose from. Why didn’t he wear any other color? I bet he would look gorgeous in blue, especially with those eyes of his.
I found Bass in the theatre on the makeshift bed he made earlier, lounging in a pair of white drawstring pants and nothing else. His blond hair was wet and when I got closer, I breathed in the scent of his intoxicating shower gel. Dammit, it smelled much more delicious on him.
Without thinking, I traced the ridges of his tanned, steel abs with my forefinger, feeling the smoothness of his skin that was hot on my skin. Boy, he felt wonderful in all his steely, hard muscled goodness.
Bass groaned as my finger went a little lower, an inch above the top of his pants. He immediately grabbed my hand and kissed each of my fingers as he laughed. Tingles reverberated all through me.
“As great as that feels, I can’t let you go on. Tell me though, have you thought about it?” Bass inquired. He sure was eager to know.
”Well…” I teased, smiling at him.
“Yes? No? Come on, Emma. You can’t miss out on this opportunity! Not only will it be awesome, but imagine spending all that time with me in Greece. We can explore the islands when we aren’t filming; get to know the culture and the history. You’re going to love Greece, it’s beautiful. I’ve been there once and it was marvelous! I want to see it again, with you.
Bass Cole, I think you’ve just disarmed me. The picture he just painted was pure bliss. “How long will we be out there?”
He grabbed my hand and started to caress it. “Three months—possibly four–depending on how well it goes. I believe the privately owned island is somewhere on the Aegean Sea and is small. I think it has a population of roughly one thousand.”
Three to four months with Bass. That’s ninety to a hundred and twenty days with him. That’s a long… long time… on an island… a beautiful Greek island… with a beautiful man. Hmmm, what to do?
“Well, that’s quite a long time, you know?” I teased as he shifted me onto my back and positioned his super sexy body atop mine.
Yes, yes, yes! my mind rejoiced.
“Say yes!” he commanded with a lopsided grin, exposing his sexy dimples. Gah!
“Um,” my voice trailed off when I felt his hand slide inside my shirt and caress my side. Was it wrong of me when I ‘accidentally’ opened my legs a tad wider to accommodate him better?
His blue eyes became dilated as they looked into mine. “You feel like silk,” he rasped out as his hand moved a little higher. I pushed my hips against his and found out how aroused he really was. Bass hissed from my bold gesture. “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t be touching you this way. It’s too early for you.”
Are you for real dude? Come on! “Don’t you think that’s for me to decide?”
Bass kissed my nose and held my chin. “No. I’m not taking you while you’re in love with Carter.”
Well, there goes my sex drive, thank you. If that’s how he felt, then there was no way we were going to have sex anytime soon. Bummer.
“I see… then I guess it would help if you didn’t make me all aroused then?”
“Promise it won’t happen again.” He moved to the side, got the remote, turned off the lights then gathered me in his arms.
How could he just turn me down like that? He was all relaxed and here I was, uncomfortably wet and turned on. How annoying was that?
“Tell Martin ‘yes’ when he calls.”
His strong arms pulled me tighter against his chest. “You won’t regret this, Emma. This will open a lot of doors for you, just you wait and see.”
I didn’t doubt it. I just hoped that I could handle all of it.
“I’m going to call my agent first thing in the morning and take care of that for you. Barbara will take you on and she has a great team with her. So, go to sleep. I’ll figure everything out before you wake up tomorrow morning.”
Sigh, I couldn’t continue brooding while he was being all nice.
“Thank you. You don’t have to, really, but still, thank you for arranging it for me.”
“No worries. Just don’t forget to thank me when you’re accepting your first statue though.” Bass chuckled.
Ha!
“I’ll be leaving for Canada in a week to film the third KOC movie. I really needed the good news.”
He’s leaving in a week? What?!!! “You never once mentioned that. How long will you be gone?” I felt hurt for some reason. He never said a word!
“Six months,” he grunted and nuzzled the crook of my neck. “Saying it out loud would have made it real. I like spending time with you and I’m not ready to go, but I have to. I apologize for not telling you any sooner.”
Shit. I guess it was a good thing we didn’t have sex or anything to complicate things. He was leaving after all.
“That’s your job, your life, Bass. You don’t have to say sorry about that.” I knew how much he loved his job and I sure as hell wasn’t going to interfere.
“I know; that’s why I wanted you to get the role Martin offered. I think it would be the best thing for us both. You get to see if acting is something you’d want to pursue and I get to be around you every single day.” Man, he was really serious about me. How long would that last, I wondered.
“Trust me, Bass. You’ll get bored seeing me every day after a week. You’ll be running in the other direction afterwards.” I smirked at the thought, picturing him running away from me like he did when he was trying to avoid his fans. I guessed only time would tell…
His arms squeezed me tighter as he let out a long sigh. “May you have the sweetest amongst the sweetest dreams, my dear Emma.”
Sweetest dreams, indeed.
“Each one of us has a fire in our heart for something. It’s our goal in life to find it and to keep it lit.”
~Mary Lou Retton
Chapter Fifteen
“I’ve read through the contract and let me just say that you’ve been given an excellent deal.” Barbara Schwartz eyed me through her gold-rimmed glasses.
How she read through hundreds of pages in such a short time was beyond me. Barbara was at Bass’s house at eight in the morning, looking like an agent straight out of that show Entourage. She was quick, sharp, and straight to the point. She also brought a lawyer with her named Sammy Chang, a hoity-toity stunning Asian woman. Sammy never once cracked a smile. And she was to be my lawyer? Bass assured me that she was as sharp as shark teeth. That I did not doubt for a second.
“You’re to be paid a million dollars and might get more if the movie does great in the box office,” Sammy Chang stated.
“One million?” I parroted. That’s a lot of money for an amateur like me. Shit, I better not let Martin and the studio down.
“Samantha Knowles was going to be paid ten. You got half because you’re new in the industry and most people like you usually get half a million max. To say this deal is excellent is an understatement,” Sammy said matter-of-factly.
I was new and inexperienced, so I understood. I nodded and took a big gulp of my lemonade.
“Let’s go over the important details of the contract.” Barbara looked at me as she opened a portfolio. “Do you have any reservations about being filmed in the nude?”
I shook my head. I guessed not?
Barbara gave me a curt nod. “Good, because this film is centered around the woman cheating on her husband. They want the scenes to be as erotic as they can get. After all, the title of the movie is Blasphemous so nudity is to be expected.
I agreed, “Of course.”
Barbara paused for a second while she stared at me. Blinking a few times, she shot out, “Moving on; your hair needs to be longer so no haircuts, just an itsy bitsy trim. There’s a mandatory health screening to make sure you’re not going to drop dead once filming starts. Three months before the shoot, you have to see a fitness trainer and a yoga
instructor twice a week. The yoga will make you more limber for the sex scenes. Speaking of which, there’ll be five sex scenes and you will be baring all your naked glory. So you see why they indicated it in bold lettering that you see a personal trainer? They don’t want any love handles. That would kill the film. If you still have any, we can do liposuction, but from what I can see with your figure, you’re in good shape. I’d rather be safe than sorry, though.
“You will also be assigned an acting coach during this time—if you so wish it. I advise that you also hire a dietician for your daily intake of calories. You are obligated to do all the promotional tours—radio, magazine and television interviews. If you don’t comply with that, you will get sued. Do you have any aversion to waxing all the hair on your groin?” Barbara inquired in such a serious tone; you’d think we were plotting to invade Iraq.
I wanted to laugh but instead, I shook my head. “No.”
“Good. Since you’re new, I advise that you comply with each and every demand they make and do everything they ask of you. You can make your own demands later on when you’ve made it in the industry. Do you have any questions, Ms. Anderson?”
A whole fucking lot! Five—FIVE SEX SCENES! How did that escape Bass’s notice? Instead I said, “I think you’ve covered all the bases. Where do I sign?” I grabbed Barbara’s expensive gold pen. By the looks and feel of it, the pen was probably made of real freaking gold.
After what seemed like an endless amount of paperwork, we were finally done. We had been at it for more than an hour and I was ready to sign on the dotted line to get it over with.
“I will also need you to sign one more contract that states I will be your agent and so forth. I’ll call you later on next week.”
“Yes, that would be good,” I responded as both women got up.
“I would stay longer to go over any questions you may have, but I have a plane to catch. I need to save one of my clients from joining a cult in Ohio. I don’t normally accept just anyone, but you were recommended by Bass so it was already a done deal.” No smiles here. What was wrong with these women? They were both so automated and stuck-up. Were they acting like this because I was no one special? More than likely.