Star-Struck, Book 1

by Twyla Turner

  “If she doesn’t die, I’ll personally go to the hospital to choke the life outta the cock-tease myself.” Josiah said to the T.V., a sinister smile crossing his face.

  Chapter 1

  Gabe woke up Saturday morning; six days after Sunny’s accident, with the same searing pain in his chest that had dogged him for the past few days after Sunny had broken it off with him in the hospital. It was the worst pain that he’d ever experienced. It felt as if his heart had been sliced in half and then ripped out of his chest. Oh yeah, that’s because it was.

  He rubbed his bare chest, where his heart pounded painfully. The back of his eyes burned from unshed tears that he refused to cry again. He had been holding them at bay since he left the hospital. A perpetual lump in his throat.

  Kyle, his director on Redemption, the current movie he was in the middle of filming, told him to take a few days off. He said they didn’t need him now anyway, because they were reshooting scenes with the new actor that replaced Josiah Caldwell, after he was kicked off the shoot for harassing Sunny. Gabe couldn’t have been more grateful. He knew that there was no way in hell that he could even concentrate on working, let alone pulling a decent performance out of his ass. His thoughts were constantly on Sunny.

  No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stay away from her either. He had snuck into the hospital several times in the last couple of days. He told himself that he just needed to check to make sure she was doing alright. But once he was there, if she was asleep, he’d go into her room and would secretly kiss her forehead and leave her flowers to brighten her dreary hospital room.

  “Fuck this! If she thinks that she can walk away from me or that I could walk away from her so easily, she’s got another fucking thing coming.” He said with conviction to the empty bedroom.

  She was the love of his life. No one had ever gotten under his skin the way she did. She saw to the heart of him. Made him want to be a better man. He knew it was cliché, but it didn’t make it any less true. And he’d do anything for her. Even force her to see how wrong she was about being better off apart.

  Gabe knew that he was the only one that could truly protect Sunny from the media. Yes, he was the one that got her mixed up in this mess in the first place. But now that it was already done, he was the only one that could keep her safe. He had even gone so far as to hire bodyguards to stand outside of her hospital room. After he’d learned from some of the nurses on her floor that some of the paparazzi where trying to sneak in and take pictures of Sunny in her hospital bed. I’m sure she loved that…the paparazzi and the bodyguards. Just more reasons for her to believe we aren’t good for each other.

  Just then his phone rang, dragging him out of his musings. He reached over to his nightstand to grab his cellphone. His heart starting hammering when he saw it was Sunny’s best friend Alyssa.

  “Hello.” He answered anxiously.

  “Hey, Gabe. How are you?” Alyssa asked.

  “Shitty. What’s going on?” Gabe cut right to the chase, not wanting to waste time on pleasantries, when he knew Alyssa had to be calling for a reason.

  “So I know that Sunny broke it off with you. But she needs you. She needs your help. And I know she’ll never ask you. I also know that she still loves you, because she is absolutely miserable. So even though she’ll probably be pissed that I’m telling you, I’ll know she’ll get over it and thank me later.” Alyssa babbled nervously.

  “What is it Alyssa? What does she need? I’ll help her with anything.” Gabe said getting impatient.

  “Well everything seems to be falling apart for her at once. First, with the accident and then with her bright idea to end it with you-“

  “I don’t need a play-by-play of the worst twenty-four hours of my life Alyssa. Just say what’s wrong.” Gabe interrupted, getting more and more aggravated.

  “Okay, sorry. Well, first she tried calling to get her job back and they said that her personal life was getting in the way of her performance, so they’d pay her for her sick days, but that was it. And then she called the management of our apartment building to ask if she could rescind her 30-day notice and stay in her studio. But they told her that because of all the drama and the other tenants’ complaints about the paparazzi camping out front, that she still had to be out of the apartment by the end of the month. And that’s in a couple of weeks. And it’s not like she is in any condition to move anywhere right now. Hell, she hasn’t even been released from the hospital yet!” Alyssa explained quickly, practically in one breath.

  Gabe’s jaw flexed as he clenched his teeth together in fury. “Don’t worry Alyssa, I’ve got this. As soon as I get off the phone with you, I’m calling movers to come get her things. She’ll be moved in here, at my place before the end of the day. Are you working today, because I’ll need your help to let the movers in?”

  “I don’t go in to the bar until evening. Hell, I’ll go in late if I have to. Anything to help Sunny, she’s a wreck right now.” Alyssa said sadly.

  Gabe’s heart bled for the suffering that Sunny was going through. But he knew that a lot of it was self-inflicted. She knew all she had to do was talk to him, let him back in, and all of this superficial shit would be over immediately. Though her physical pain from the accident was a tougher problem, if it was in his power, he’d make sure she was as comfortable as he could.

  “Don’t worry Alyssa, she’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it. Don’t tell her anything about the move. I don’t want her finding a way to get out of it. She’s being so stubborn about us.” Gabe grumbled in frustration.

  “I know Gabe. I’m sorry. This must be killing you too. I can tell how much you care for her. But she loves you too much to let this carry on for much longer. If you do this, move in her with you, she’ll come around.” Alyssa consoled him.

  Gabe ran a hand through his dark messy waves nervously. He could only hope that Alyssa was right. “Okay, I’m going to call the movers now. I’ll text you to let you know when they’ll be there. And then I’m going to the hospital to see when they will be releasing Sunny, so I can bring her home.”

  Awe-Struck

  Valentine’s Day 2014

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