“And if I say no?” I ignore Cal and continue to look at Philip.
“Cal signed a multi-million dollar contract with them for a three movie franchise series. They could pull out and demand the money they already paid him.”
“I will gladly give back that money to avoid this bullshit!” Cal spats, raking his hands through his hand while he stands up.
“It isn’t just the money, it will affect his career and whether other studios will want him in their future movies.”
I look at Cal, who shakes his head at me. “Don’t do it, Jenna,” he warns and I ponder what to do. I want to selfishly say no and give his agent and the studio a big fuck you. But this is my daughter’s father and anything negative against him might affect her. I know that Cal loves his career and if the roles were reversed, I’d be devastated if mine was ruined.
“Everything will be taken care of for you, Jenna. We’ll fly Cal’s stylist in to take your measurements and get wardrobe for you. His publicist can coach you through what to do the day of each premiere. It’ll be easy and maybe even fun for you.” Philip glances at me with hope.
“Do I have time to think about it?” I glance at Cal, who throws his hands up in the air and turns around to look out the window.
“Unfortunately, no. They want an answer today. I am sorry, Jenna.”
I feel I have zero choice in the matter, a feeling I seem to be having a lot since Cal entered our lives. I sigh with resignation and stand up.
“I’ll do it,” I say firmly, giving Philip a nod, “but don’t ever ask me to do anything like this again.” I walk to my front door, needing to find refuge other than my apartment. “I am going to work out in the gym in my building - ALONE!” I look at Mason with a pointed look and slam my apartment door.
The two weeks leading up to the Los Angeles premiere have been a whirlwind of appointments and dress fittings. Cal’s stylist came out to take my measurements and go through a book of styles to see what I liked. Cal’s publicist flew in to meet with us separately to go over schedules and what is required of me at both premieres. Seems like I’m just arm candy, not having to say a word, just show up with him, let the photographers take my picture with him, attend the parties and come home when the rest of them fly off to the London premiere. Robert works with Cal’s assistant on my travel arrangements. Fortunately, I’ll only be gone from Avery for two days. Cal will leave three days before for the movie press junket, which means I’ll fly there and back home by myself.
I have tried to ignore him for the most part, which wasn’t too hard to do with his grueling work schedule, but since today is the day before he leaves, the director gave him the day off and it feels like he is everywhere. He was here this morning with donuts and coffee for school drop off, then he went off to do his own thing, but came back with groceries, announcing he is cooking us dinner and then picked up Avery from school.
“Maybe he just wants to do something nice and simple for you, Jenna,” Robert said when I wonder aloud what Cal was up too.
“I don’t need him to do anything for me!” I huff, not wanting his kind gestures, not knowing if they are genuine or not.
His dinner was surprisingly delicious and it was nice for once having someone else cook. He offered to give Avery a bath for me and I couldn’t help but smile hearing them laugh together and sing songs. He gets her ready for bed and I join them for his reading of a story. I watch him as he acts out the storyline, animating his voice when the story calls for it, taking her imagination to another place. She laughs at his impersonation of a bear and I see what looks like love radiating from his eyes as he looks down at her. He catches me watching him and I quickly look away from him, not allowing myself to be hypnotized by those eyes…or that mouth.
He finishes the story and we kiss her goodnight. We are about to leave her room when she calls back out to him. “Cal, are you my daddy?” she asks, while she looks down and fidgets with her blanket.
Cal looks at me in shock, not knowing how to answer. “What makes you think that, honey?” I ask gently.
“We have the same eyes, silly!” she says in her ‘duh, mommy’ voice which always makes me laugh.
Cal kneels down next to her bed and holds her hand. “Yes, sweetheart, I’m your daddy,” he says, his voice thick with emotion.
She gives him the brightest smile I’ve ever seen her give anyone. “I knew you would come back one day,” she whispers and I suck in my breath, not knowing that she even had these thoughts going through her little head.
He hugs her tight and kisses her. “I’ll never be away from you for long periods of time again,” he promises, his words angering me as that is a promise he can’t pretend to keep.
“Will you sleep with me?” she asks with puppy dog eyes.
“I’ll stay with you until you go to sleep,” he looks at me for approval and I nod.
I close her door softly and go to the kitchen to pour myself a drink that I immediately down in one gulp. I’ve got to get my emotions under control. I am relieved that she finally knows the truth, but I am scared that he is going to break her heart. I can’t shield her heart from him like I can with my own. He better not be acting with her! The more I keep thinking about it, the more worked up I get.
When he comes out of her room a short time later, I am three glasses of wine in and my anger hasn’t simmered down. I stalk up to him and try to get right into his face so he can see how serious I am.
“If you break her heart, I will personally kill you!” I growl in a low whisper.
Before I can continue with my rage on him, he grabs my arms and crushes his lips to mine. He pushes me against the wall and pins me with his pelvis, grinding it into me so I can feel his hardness. I gasp against the roughness and he takes advantage of the opening, swooping his tongue into my mouth to clash with mine. I struggle against him, feeling my body come alive at the memories, all the while my mind screaming no at me.
“Stop,” I say as I try to push him off me. I move my head so he can’t reach my lips but he just assaults my neck instead, making me moan at the sensations he is shooting down my body.
“When are you going to stop ignoring this, Jenna?” he trails his hands down my arms and slips his hands into mine, holding them against the wall. “You want me just as much as I want you. I see it in your eyes.” He continues to gyrate against me, the friction against my core making me want to wrap my legs around him for more.
“No,” I shake my head and with as much strength as I can, I push his strong body away from me. “I want nothing to do with you!” I pant, believing my own lies as my body is screaming for him to take me. “I’ll go to these premieres with you and continue this CHARADE of being a perfect little family, but when we return we’ll start your visitation rights. No more popping into my apartment whenever you feel like it. You don’t need me around anymore when you visit her.”
He leans in close and smiles dangerously at me. “I see your wall is up, but let me tell you something Jenna, I look forward to BURNING it down.” He steals another kiss and abruptly lets me go.
He walks to the door, opens it and turns around to look at me, “I’ll see you in Los Angeles,” and closes the door softly.
I run to the door and lock it so that he doesn’t try to come back in. I turn around, slide to the floor and pull my knees up to my chest. I wrap my arms around myself and pray that I have the strength to protect my heart from him.
32
I take the first flight out of Chicago and due to the time change, I arrive in Los Angeles by 9 a.m. I convince Cal that Mason needs to stay with Avery and my mother, who is taking care of her while we are gone, so I am traveling solo. Cal’s stylist meets me at the airport and takes me to my hotel room at the Beverly Hilton.
“We have to be ready by 5 p.m., so hair and make-up will be knocking on your door at 1 p.m. I’m sure you’ve been up early, so try to get some sleep. Lunch will be ready for you at noon,” she says, and leaves me alone until then. I’m in a go
rgeous two bedroom suite and notice a beautiful bouquet of white and lavender roses are waiting for me with breakfast in the dining room. I open the card and am surprised to see they are from Cal.
I look forward to seeing you later. Thank you again for being here.
Cal
I inhale the delicious scent of the roses and rip up the card, not wanting anyone to see it and think how sweet he is since I’ve convinced myself that it’s all an act. The closer the airplane got to California, the more my bitterness grew at the purpose of my presence here. I feel like I sold my soul to the devil and I just want to get this over with. I should be exhausted, but instead I’m wide awake, adrenaline pumping and ready to go. I call home to make sure they know I got here safely and decide to work instead of napping.
Lunch arrives and it’s the healthiest lunch I think I’ve ever eaten in my life. “We need to make sure you eat foods that won’t make you bloated,” Cal’s stylist said when she delivered it. Why even bother eating at all then? Fresh watermelon, salad with lentil beans and a tall pitcher of lemon water with additional lemons is what I’m served for lunch. I try to normally eat healthy, but on a day like today where my stress and anxiety levels are high, alcohol and chocolate would be on the menu instead. This selection of food darkens my mood. Then I remember the mini bar and a mischievous smile appears on my face with the thought of homemade alcohol infused lemonade. I grab the vodka out of the fridge, take all the lemons out of the water and the lemon dish and grab the stevia packet that I carry in my purse and start mixing. Five minutes later, I take my first sip and sigh in pure contentment.
At exactly one o’clock, Cal’s stylist and her team descend upon me. She introduces me to all five of them and tells me what each of their roles will be for the next four hours. She finishes her instructions to everyone and is about to depart when she starts sniffing the air. “Why do I smell alcohol?” she asks, as she continues to sniff around. “Do you guys smell alcohol?” she asks everyone, who shakes their head no. I didn’t even realize that plain vodka can smell! One of the stylists, a tall, thin handsome man with gorgeous milk chocolate skin named Kellan, looks at me with a smirk and eyes my drink.
“Nope,” I play innocent, not wanting her to take away my drink. “I don’t smell a thing.”
“Jenna, what are you drinking? I did not order any lemonade.” She eyes my drink suspiciously.
“Oh, I made some fresh lemonade with stevia. See, here’s the stevia packet.” I hold up the empty packet for her to see. She goes to the waste bucket and pulls out the empty mini bottle of vodka.
“And where did this come from?”
“Oh my, looks like housekeeping forget to take the trash away from the last guest,” I say, my eyes round with fake innocence and my lie sounding smooth as silk.
“Oh, lighten up, Morgan. It’s obvious this poor girl needs a drink, look at all the stress acne on her face!” Kellan says, and I scowl at him for pointing out publicly my flaws.
He throws his head back and laughs. “Child, we are going to have so much fun with YOU!” he laughs. “Let’s get to work everyone.”
Nails and toes get painted first, then make up is applied and my hair is done with it half up tightly and the rest of my hair fanning down in waves all around me with added extensions for volume and length. Kellan helps distract me from my nerves with hilarious horror stories of other celebrities and wardrobe malfunctions. Morgan pulls out a beautiful Georges Chakra one shoulder, teal Grecian style gown with intricate beading aligning the top. Since it has a built in bodysuit that requires me to get naked for, I take the dress into the bedroom to put on. I say a little prayer of thanks for the snaps at the crotch to make it easy on me for future bathroom breaks. When I walk back into the living room, I am shocked to see most of my right leg coming out of a very high slit in the dress.
“Um, was that slit there when we originally tried this dress on?” I say, not feeling comfortable with the amount of leg I am showing.
“Yes, it has always been there,” Kellan says, while he kneels down and helps me into my ridiculously high Vivienne Westwood metallic silver shoes. As soon as he finishes with the strap around my ankles, they all stand back and assess me from head to toe. The silence does nothing to help my increasing anxiety.
“Jewelry!” Kellan snaps his fingers and two stylists rush to him with earrings, bracelets and ring options. All Harry Winston, all incredibly expensive. He picks out the pieces and the stylists rush to place everything on me. Once they’re done, they step back and the room becomes silent once more.
“Amazing!” Kellan exclaims and a collective sigh of relief comes out from the rest of the stylists. “Jenna, let’s have you take a look at yourself.” Kellan escorts me to my room and I stare in awe in the mirror. I don’t recognize the woman who is staring back at me. I take a shaky breath, happy to see that I might actually look like I fit in tonight.
“Thank you so much, Kellan! I can’t even believe this is me.” I laugh at how silly I sound, but it’s the truth.
“The canvas was already beautiful, we just had to liven it up with some color,” he winks at me. “Let’s get your purse and we will start packing up everything to take with us to New York.”
He escorts me out to the living room where there is a knock on the door that one of the stylists answers. Cal, his publicist, Sean Lindsey and Cora Gregory all come into my suite looking like the million dollar celebrities that they are.
“It’s really good to see you again, my dear.” Sean comes toward me first and wraps me in a tight hug with a kiss on the check. “My goodness, you do look ravishing!” He checks me out from head to toe with an evil smile on his face. “Me thinks I need to protect you from the vultures who will want a piece of you tonight.” I roll my eyes at his dramatics and look for Cal when Cora walks into my line of vision. Her cool eyes size me up with resentment, but she quickly masks it with fake enthusiasm as she smiles when Sean introduces us.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I say politely, my guard up from catching her true feelings for me. It’s crystal clear that she and I will never be friends.
“It’s a pleasure,” she says, her voice so sexy that it almost purrs. “Cal has told us so much about you.” She half smiles and then slides her arm around Cal’s waist, making sure I see her mark her territory.
I smile in humor at her efforts and finally get the chance to look over at Cal. My breath catches at how incredibly handsome he is. He’s wearing a black tuxedo jacket with a dark grey dress shirt that has the top two buttons undone, giving a peak of his muscular chest. His tailored black pants shape his legs nicely and end over his black dress shoes. My eyes make their way back to his to find him watching me. His smoldering look making me squirm from the ache his sexy stare is causing.
“Alright everyone, let’s go. Limo is waiting downstairs,” Cal’s publicist announces. I watch Cora snake her arm thru Cal’s and turn him toward the door. He looks behind us and nods at Sean, who takes my hand and smiles at me. “Let’s go have some fun,” he winks and I can’t help but laugh at him.
We all get in the car, Cora purposely making sure she sits in between Cal and Sean while I sit next to Cal’s publicist, who proceeds to tell us the order of how we’ll be walking the red carpet. Cal will exit the car first, stop at the media wall for photos and then wait for Sean, who will then follow, get solo photos at the media wall and then they will pose for photos together. Cora will go next and while she’s going, Cal and Sean will start talking to reporters. After Cora will then be me. I’m supposed to stop at the media wall and wait for Cal to join me, who will then come back for me and we’ll walk the rest of the red carpet together.
“Jenna, does everything make sense?” She asks me since I am the inexperienced one of the group. I nod and stare out the window, the feeling of not belonging starting to become overwhelming. The car feels stifling and I look around for the air conditioning vents when I notice Cal staring at my exposed leg out of the slit of my dress. His eyes
are hooded and as they finally look up at me, I’m slammed with a wave of desire. I gulp and quickly look away from him.
“Is there anything to drink in here?” I ask, my lips and throat suddenly feeling parched by his stare. His publicist hands me a bottle of water and I see him smirk as he watches me drink. He knows exactly what he’s doing to me!
We pull up to Grauman’s Chinese Theater and Cal’s publicist gets out first and walks down the carpet, showing the reporters a piece of cardboard with his name on it. She comes back over to our limo and nods, signaling for Cal to get out. He takes one more glance in my direction and gets out.
“Look at that sexy beast!” Sean jokes as we watch Cal stop at the media wall for the photographers.
“He sure is,” Cora says, her eyes looking at me with a challenge. I look away from her and continue to watch Cal, mesmerized by seeing him in his element.
The publicist opens the door for Sean to get out to work the carpet. I suddenly feel the air in the car fill with tension and can feel Cora’s eyes on me.
“Enjoying yourself?” she asks as she sits back and crosses her long legs. She is wearing a short, black Herve Leger dress that looks like it was painted onto her perfect body. The color of the dress accentuating her feline-like green eyes. I would have said she was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, but with her soul not matching her exterior, beautiful is the last thing I would now call her.
“Not particularly,” I honestly reply. No sense in lying to her when all she wants to do is play games.
“Honesty… how refreshing,” she sarcastically says. “Well, let me be honest with you then, dear Jenna. You do not belong in our world. Cal and I were made for each and before you came along, he was starting to realize that. So you and your kid need to keep your distance and everyone will be happy.”
I throw my head back and laugh at her craziness. “Oh, you can have Cal! I’m not standing in your way with that. But let’s give Cal some credit where credit is due - he can smell a bitch a mile away and still chooses to stay away.” I sneer at her, not about to let her intimidate or threaten me. Pure hatred shoots out from her eyes and she is about to retort back when the door opens and the publicist tells her it’s her turn to go. She gives me one more malicious look before snaking her way out of the car.
Heartbreak Warfare (Let Me In Book 1) Page 25