“It’s just getting started, but it’s okay I guess. It’s nice when I only have one show for the day,” I said as I started to get ready.
“Still want to hang out after your show?” she asked with a little trepidation in her voice.
“Of course; just be careful. There were a ton of paparazzi here when I arrived.”
“I’ll be okay. I’ve been handling them for the last ten years. Don’t worry about me,” she added. “I’ll see you after your show. I’ve got to run. Bye.”
Angelina hung up, and I was left wondering what had just happened. She seemed to be taking all the news so well, much better than I was taking it. Was she really so used to the paparazzi nagging her that it didn’t bother her at all?
“How did it go?” Cat asked as we sat in our makeup chairs before the show.
“She was surprisingly upbeat.”
“She wasn’t worried about the press?”
“Nope, is that weird? That seems weird doesn’t it?”
“To be honest, her whole life seems really weird to me. I couldn’t imagine inviting camera crews into my house to watch me do the dishes or argue with my mother. I don’t know if what is normal to her is normal to the rest of the world.”
Cat was right; there was no way of knowing what was normal to Angelina. Neither of us had grown up on a reality television show. The paparazzi drove me crazy, but I also could get away from them very easily. I didn’t suspect Angelina had been able to avoid them much if her whole premise for becoming famous was by letting people into her personal family life. It was just a whole different world than what I used to.
“I’ll take her at her word that the press didn’t bother her. That’s all I can do, I guess. Are you ready for the show? It looks packed out there.”
“I am so ready,” Cat said as she smiled from ear to ear.
This was what she lived for. The excitement of the live show. The energy of having a packed house; I could see that she was really happy with the positive changes that my dating life had made for our show.
The show was amazing that night. The energy was huge, and it fed us actors; we thrived on it. Each scene was better and better, and we ended with a standing ovation. They were clapping for so long that we had to go back out there and take another bow; that was a first for all of us during this show.
When I walked back to my dressing room, I was pleasantly surprised to find Angelina sitting on the couch, her feet up as she took a selfie.
“Oh, God is that going online?” I laughed.
“Of course, but don’t worry, I’m not tagging you in this one. Unless you want me to?”
“We should probably talk about all of that. I’m really sorry about the press. I hate that they did such a hatchet job.”
“Come sit down with me Mister Dean Morrison.” Angelina smiled. “You know I do understand the difference between reality and illusions, right?”
“I know, but I just don’t like feeding into the celebrity frenzy.”
“Why?”
Her question caught me off guard. Why didn’t I like giving the gossip papers stuff to talk about? That seemed like a pretty straightforward answer; did she not understand where I was coming from with the press and my privacy? Maybe I had given her the wrong message because I had so willingly posted a picture and wanted to tag Instamatch.
To me, it was fine to post one picture and fulfill my obligation of endorsement. But I didn’t want to continue to post pictures purely for the shock value they would cause. That just wasn’t me. I had never fed into the craziness of the tabloids like that. I didn’t intend to start either.
“Why don’t I like giving the paparazzi something to talk about?” I asked to clarify.
“Yes, I mean it doesn’t hurt us to give them gossip to talk about. I think it’s more empowering to control the gossip like you said before. I thought we were on the same page here?”
“You’re right. I do want to have control, and I do have a contract now with Instamatch that I’m going to fulfill. I just don’t want to overexpose myself and put too much of my personal life out there. Do you know what I mean?”
“Yes, but do you know that my entire career is built on me putting everything out there? My fans are accustomed to knowing where I am almost all of the time. Do you understand where I’m coming from?” she asked as she grimaced and waited for my response.
“I do, and I appreciate that that is where you are coming from. I think we can find a happy medium. I don’t think this is an issue.”
“Well, good because it’s not an issue for me. I like you, Dean; I’d like to get to know you more. And just so you know, I don’t really care if the press knows that I like you,” she said as she stood up and pulled me to the couch with her.
“I don’t care if they know; I just don’t want to be too exposed. I don’t want people to think I’m only dating you because we both have a contract with Instamatch.”
“Ahh, so you don’t want people to think we are manipulating them?” she asked.
“Yes, exactly. Being exposed like that and having people judge me is something I haven’t adjusted to yet. You’ll need to ease me into it.”
The second I said exposed, I saw the mischievous look in Angelina’s eyes. Her hands slid down to my pants, and I felt her unzip me and pull me out as she stroked me while I finished my sentence. This girl was so much fun.
“I’d like you to be exposed,” she seductively said as her lips moved to my earlobe. “In fact, I think we should both be exposed.”
“You know that door isn’t locked right?” I said as I looked over at the door, and she glanced at it with me.
“It’s all fun and games until you’re actually exposed.” She giggled. “If you’re afraid, you can go close the door. I mean, you’ll have to take me off of you, walk all the way over there and lock the door, though. And that seems like a lot of work.”
“Who’s afraid? Not me,” I said as I grabbed her ass and pulled her body close to me. I was actually terrified someone was going to walk in, but I didn’t want to be that guy around Angelina.
Within a minute, we were naked, and I was thrusting into her. I held on tight to her body as her hips rocked back and forth. Without a doubt, I was going to make this thing work with Angelina. I was crazy about her. My hands electrified with energy as they moved over her body.
My lips pulled on her nipple as her body moved on top of me. The adrenaline from my show still moved through me egging me on and filling me with a lack of inhibition. I didn’t do things like this; I didn’t get all wrapped up in a girl and forget about myself like I was at that moment. But I didn’t care. I wanted to go outside my comfort zone. I wanted to be there in that moment with Angelina.
“We should go back to my hotel,” she whispered as her hips moved harder against me.
“I think we should stay here.”
She didn’t respond, but instead continued thrusting on top of me until I couldn’t take it any longer and finally gave in to her body. My arms wrapped around her as her sweat clad body collapsed on me, and we stayed there in a loving embrace.
“You’re cold?” I asked as she started to shiver.
“I think so,” she murmured as she kept her head tucked into my neck and didn’t move.
I grabbed my jacket from the costume I wore in the play and placed it around her as we stayed cuddled on the couch. Not a minute had gone by when the door to my dressing room swung open and Dale was standing there.
“Dean, can you sign some photos …” he started to say and then trailed off as he took in the situations. “Oh, sorry, um … sorry,” he said and then backed out of the room.
“Yes, I’ll sign some photos tomorrow, Dale. Leave them at the merchandise shop, and I’ll come in early.” I laughed as Angelina looked at me, and we both started to shake our heads. “Now that was close.”
“I thought you weren’t afraid of being exposed,” Angelina said as she held back her laughter.
“I am afra
id. I’m terrified. I was trying to be cool.”
“Aww. I still think you’re cool,” she said as her lips gently touched mine. “Tomorrow my mother is coming to visit with the camera crew and all that. They want to meet you. If you’re up for it.”
Wow, that was huge, and I definitely wasn’t up to it. I didn’t want anything to do with her family and their reality television show. I really didn’t do well meeting parents, and I hadn’t been asked to meet many parents in my lifetime. It seemed like a really bad idea to meet her mother for the first time while cameras were rolling.
“That’s really not my thing. I’d like to politely decline the offer.”
“Enough said; I totally understand. I won’t be able to hang out tomorrow then; I hope that’s alright. My mom will be here and some friends. They are going to film while I’m doing the movie and during my breaks, then out in the city afterward. It will be a long day.”
“Of course. I think I can handle one day away from you. Can you do me a favor, though?”
“Anything.”
“Can you go easy on the talk about us?”
As the words left my mouth, I realized I sounded like a total ass. I had just screwed this girl in my dressing room, and I was telling her not to tell her friends and family. Ugh, I didn’t want to be that guy, I really didn’t.
The sadness that crossed Angelina’s face wasn’t what I was prepared for. I didn’t know if I wanted to be this girl’s official boyfriend. Not the kind that was plastered all over the internet and television at least. But I did want to date her; I genuinely did. She was a great girl, and I wanted to get to know her. I just didn’t want to do it totally in the public eye.
“Sure, I understand. It can be very overwhelming,” Angelina said as she climbed off of me and tried to pretend like everything was alright.
“I think that sounded bad the way I said it. Please know that I really do want to get to know you more; I’m just not ready to post this all online constantly. This whole Instamatch thing is way out of my comfort zone already. I’m not ready for a funny couples name like ‘Deangelina’. You know what I mean?”
Angelina finished getting dress before she turned to me to respond. I was expecting some sort of anger or frustration out of the way I was treating her, but instead, she leaned down and pushed my chin up so I was looking at her. Just like I had done to her on the night we met.
“It will be just fine Dean; I’ve got to do this, though. I understand if you don’t want to be involved.”
“Are you sure you’re alright with this?”
“Yes, it’s not the first time I’ve dated someone who didn’t want to be on the show. Let me get this film done and finish taping with the family. We can still text and talk as much as our schedule allows. I’m not worried about it, and you shouldn’t be either. As for Instamatch, we don’t have to post anything about them until the end of the month. Let’s just see how things flush out, deal?”
“Deal,” I said as the churning in my stomach got worse and worse.
What had started as an incredibly sweet day was turning into a Hollywood tragedy. As much as the connection between Angelina and I was strong, I wasn’t so sure we would be able to make anything work between us. She did live a totally different lifestyle than I did, and I wasn’t sure I totally understood it.
“So I’ll talk to you in the morning,” Angelina said while she stood in the entryway.
“Let me walk you out; I’m sure the paparazzi will be everywhere.”
I walked with her to the door and stood there as she went out and walked right through the stream of photographers. They followed her closely, and she turned back toward me and blew me a kiss and then turned and walked right into the subway tunnel while the paparazzi stayed and took photos of me.
Angelina sure knew how to play to her strengths. She had those paparazzi right in the palm of her hands. They took one fabulous photo of her blowing a kiss to me and then a dozen of me standing there looking all wild and crazy after our lovemaking fun on my couch.
Chapter 10
Angelina
I wasn’t giving up so easily on Dean. It was obvious that my life with reality television wasn’t for him, but it wasn’t for me nowadays either. I was trying to get out of that world and into a more secure world.
It had hurt the way he said he didn’t want me to talk about us, but I understood what he was really saying. The press went crazy anytime I was seen on a date. They instantly assumed we were in a long-term relationship, going to have a baby, or some other absurd thing. It was hard to just date someone in any sort of normal way.
“Jeremy, I need to talk to you,” I said into my agent’s voicemail as I made my way to the subway.
I didn’t really need to take the subway to get to my hotel, but I had to make a quick getaway from the paparazzi, and I knew they hated riding the subway. So I hopped the train to China Town and planned to grab a quick bite to eat, and then I’d return to my room for the night.
Looking good for the camera took on a whole new meaning when my mother was coming around. She would make sure I sat in a makeup chair for hours if that meant I would look better on screen, and she wouldn’t even care if it affected my movie filming. My mother wasn’t a big fan of me leaving the reality television world because it put the show in a precarious position. The truth was, I didn’t expect the show to last another year with just my mom and sister to hold the viewers’ attention, but I wasn’t about to tell her that.
I needed to talk to my sister before she arrived, though. I needed her to be on my side. She understood what it was like to have the press ruin a relationship, just like I did. Abigail also understood what it was like to have our own mother ruin our relationships with her meddling. I didn’t want any of that outside interference in what I had going on with Dean. Of course, I didn’t mind a little media attention; that was normal for me. But I didn’t want them getting all crazy about it all. Maybe it was time for me to start taking some steps away from the social media world. I wasn’t sure yet, but it was beginning to be a thought for how I wanted to interact with the media as I started my career as a real actress.
“Abigail, I need your help,” I said when she answered the phone.
“Do you need my help with that incredibly handsome movie star you’re dating? Because I’ll take him off your hands for you.”
“No, but I can’t get stuck filming all day tomorrow with Mom. Please help me get out of it. I’d like to go see him, and you know how Mom is with her filming days.”
“Hell, I want out of it too. If you can get me out of it, I’ll help you get out of it.” She laughed.
I thought about it for a minute; there had to be a way that we could both get some taping done and then have the rest of our evening to ourselves. We both knew our mother well enough to know there was only one way we could get out of taping the show well into the evening; we would have to give them something exciting to watch during the daytime.
“A distraction?” I asked as I smiled to myself. “Something epic during the day so she will be excited and leave us be for the night?”
“Yes, exactly. Do you have an idea?”
“Yes, I think I do. Alright, I’ll see you two at the studio near the docks tomorrow when you get to town. Trust me; you’ll want to sleep well tonight because you and I are going to go out with Dean later tomorrow night. I’m going to make sure of it.”
“See you tomorrow, sis.”
It wasn’t that we were specifically trying to trick our mother; my sister and I were just going to make sure she got plenty of footage during the day. We were going to help her, and it was something we had done many time throughout the years of taping. Whenever one of us had something we really wanted to do during a taping day, we would cause some sort of incident that the crew could film. Our mother would be so excited about the footage that she would stop the recording early to review the tapes and talk with the editing team.
I made it back to my hotel room with a full
stomach and a head full of ideas for the next day. Just as I was getting ready to crawl into bed, I noticed a call from Jeremy.
“Hey,” I said with my eyes closed.
“You didn’t post a thing on your Instagram today? What’s up?”
“It’s nice to hear from you too. How’s your day going? My day was really long and busy,” I joked.
“Sorry, but we are riding a wave here. Did you see Dean today? Were you able to get a photo with him? You really need to keep up on this Angie.”
“I posted a picture on Snapchat from his dressing room.”
“Oh, really, great. I’ll check that; were you two kissing? Was it a photo or a video?”
“It was just a photo of me; I didn’t caption it at all,” I said, knowing that Jeremy wasn’t going to be all that happy.
“Angie! You need to mention him or Instamatch or something in there. Come on; you know better.”
“Dean’s not into the posting to social media thing all the time. Plus, it was Snapchat; I don’t think that is part of the Instamatch contract. Actually, I think I’m going to take a little break and pull back from my posts for a bit too.”
“Are you trying to kill me?”
“What? It’s not that big a deal.”
“You have four multi-million dollar social media contracts right now. You can’t be pulling back from your online activity, that’s exactly the opposite of what you need to be doing.”
“Jeremy, I know what my contracts say, and I won’t go against any of them. But to be clear here, I don’t need to post every day for any of those contracts. I literally only have to post four to six times in the entire month. Plus, two of those I’ve already finished my posts for this month and the other I’ll be posting at during the final weekend of the month. So that just leaves Instamatch, and I think it will be more effective if Dean and I keep dating and I don’t ruin it by forcing him into a social media blitz that he’s not ready for,” I yelled into my phone.
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