A Captivating Conundrum (6 page)

Chris jumped, and I looked down to see that little Amber had returned. "Hey there."

She looked up at me with a huge smile. "You two were really cool."

"Why thank you," Chris said with a smile.

"We were doing it just for you," I added.

Amber rolled her eyes. "Well, of
course
you were. You're my boyfriend."

My laughter grew deep as if coming from the bottom of my soul. "True. I can't sing and dance for anyone else anymore."

"Star says you may dance with me during the event. Isn't that great? I'd be a way better partner than that other girl."

I looked at Donna across the way and then nodded at Amber. "I think you would be, too. But I'm not in
The King and I
."

"Oh, no. I mean Star's piece."

Chris held up his hand. "Your friend, the lady with the killer fashion, wrote something?"

Amber nodded.

I tried to stop the vision from coming back. I mean I actually had blocked it during my performance…sort of. But I could still smell that soft lavender scent on my clothes. "Which one did she write?"

"She wrote…"

"HEY there!" 

I looked up and then back down, in order to aim my gaze on the slightly loud woman who I'd met earlier during my unforgettable encounter. 

"Amber, hon, you have to go get ready for your scene."

The little girl wore a frown as the woman softly pushed her away from Chris and me.

"Well, pretty men, you were absolutely FANtastic, I can't even tell you. Jason is a lucky man to have performers like you." 

"Thank you," we answered in unison.

"Umm," Chris began. "Would Jason happen to be a pen name for that "Bobby" man we met earlier?"

She smiled. "Bobby? No, love, he's a writer's assistant. Lovely boy though, isn't he?"

Chris's cheeks reddened. "Is he this Jason person's assistant?"

I was a little confused as the professional edge disappeared from the woman's voice and she began to look a bit like a cat cornered by a large bulldog. "No. Bobby helps out…someone else."

I stared at the actor still receiving a rub down from the young chorus girls. "What about Lily Stone? Apparently she's written the finale that Mr. Wonderful is in. Does Bobby work for her? Is she here?"

The woman's face grew a bit whiter as she bit down on her bottom lip. It was almost as if I was witnessing a transformation from business shark to church lady right before my eyes. "Lily doesn't actually come to these things."

My heart dropped for some reason.

"Why not?" Chris asked.

"She has a certain…situation, is all."

"I know." Chris leaned in and whispered, as if trying to keep his 'insider' information from the spies that may be located all around. "She's anonymous. Do you know that she's one of the biggest subjects on Twitter? People are really trying to figure out who she is."

Nicole swallowed hard and looked up at the balcony. "Well, she's probably the second biggest thing—after that guy."

I looked at Prince Charming. "So I suppose he'll get to meet Ms. Stone, or whatever her real name is, because he's performing her words?"

"Ah…well, I have a friend who told me you need far more than just good looks to be remembered. My friend also said that young man just doesn't have it. He's a teen dream, not to mention really big with the lonely old chicks who watched
The Graduate
way too much."

Chris laughed out loud.

"Besides," Nicole added in a far-off voice, "I hear he's headed to London soon."

I watched as the young actor shook an Italian man's hand and, like a scene straight out of
The Godfather
,
they left the stage.

Chris clapped his hands. "Good. England deserves him. They need a new sex symbol now that Jude Law is past his prime."

Nicole suddenly giggled. "I like you."

"Everyone does, dear." Chris winked. "Amber told us her beautiful friend Star wrote something. Which one is hers?"

Nicole straightened on her extremely tall heels and smiled. "I don't know. Star and Bobby are really just acquaintances." She kept her eyes on me. "Anyway, I actually need to speak with YOU about something."

My heart actually skipped a beat at her new, forceful tone. Suddenly I felt like I was back in acting class being told how bad my 'charisma' really was. "Huh?"

"I need to take you to lunch."

Five

~ His ~

"I never realized how much I missed this," I mumbled, to the small woman marching beside me.

"What's that?"

"Bryant Park. I mean, Wow! You know?" I stared at the immaculate gardens surrounding us. The colors, the boaters, the 360 degree views of the truly astounding architecture that
only
New York could provide to the world…this was home. I mean, California had positives and certainly the sunshine was worth the price of admission when you finally achieved entrance into the elite Hollywood club, but New York—the scents, the sounds, the sites—everything was larger than life here. 

Some people moved at a rapid pace, looking at their watch, or smoking their cigarettes like it was the last moment of serenity before they headed back into their world of 'go, go, go.' Young lovers walked by hand-in-hand, somehow knowing that this was the location that would play home to their future wedding. 

There were kids running and people sitting against the large, green trees that'd just begun to blossom. Some, and I really loved this, didn't even have laptops. And unlike L.A., there were even some who weren't staring at a cell phone. They were simply leaning back, talking like real people, making eye contact with each other, and loving the fact they were a part of this magical world. 

Bobby's deep voice entered my ear and brought me back to the strange, and still unknown, situation I was a part of. "I know." He looked around at the same sights. "I love this place. It's so fast and furious, and then there are these corners that simply bring out the life inside you. Makes you wanna dance, huh?"

I laughed. Actually, it did. I thought a great show number right now would be completely applicable.

The restaurant up ahead was a favorite for all. The seasonal patio was open for business, and people had already congregated on the rooftop to dine in style while they sat on top of the world and stared at everything from the green lawns to the New York Public Library that called this area its own.

As I reached out to grab the door handle—to be a gentleman, I thought—the small Nicole ripped it from my grasp and threw it open as if she was Streisand entering the room.

Bobby just shook his head as she marched away. "She's like that."

I nodded. "She can kind of put the fear of God into you, can't she?"

Bobby patted me on the back as a slight tremor ran through me at the very thought of being stuck in a room with Nicole for a long time.

"Trust me," Bobby snickered. "She talks a big game, but she's the most loyal woman on the planet."

"Her husband must be a bulldozer to deal with that kind of power," I added.

"He'll have to be," Bobby replied. "But something tells me when she comes across him we'll see a whole other Nicole."

"Oh."

"I'm personally looking forward to it. I've only ever seen one person who could put that woman in her place." He looked over the heads of the small crowd gathered inside. "And you're about to dine with both of them."

"Great." I swallowed hard. "Any advice?"

He laughed deeply. "Good luck to you."

I turned around quickly, eyeing the tall man. "Aren't you coming?"

Bobby shook his head. "No. I've had a pretty busy morning. Just gonna sit, eat and wait for my friend."

"I feel like I need a bodyguard," I chuckled, although I was being slightly serious.

Putting his hands in his pockets, he offered me a stare that was filled with a strange mixture of honesty and worry. "I am one; just not yours."

I gave a slight nod as I watched him head into the mass of tables. Turning back around I looked at the ground, not wanting to have to smile pretty for a fan right now. But no such luck. As the young waitress suddenly appeared before me, her eyes grew wide. "It's you," she breathed.

I nodded. "I'm with the small woman in black that just marched through here?"

"This way," she said, batting her eyelashes.

Meandering through the place, she kept looking back over her shoulder to flirt with me. I tried to smile back, reaching out my hands more than once to stop her from falling over the plant holders and running into customers. I really hoped she would stay quiet, wanting nothing more than to reach the little woman who I had a feeling would get seriously angry if I took too much longer to reach the table.

As I looked into the corner, though, it was suddenly
my
stability that seemed to go out the window. 

Star raised her beautiful gaze and stood up to greet me. I sucked in my breath. Again, I tried to exhale but I wavered just a bit, hoping that she wouldn't notice the geeky teenage boy that seemed to appear whenever I was in her presence. 

Her lovely hand reached out to shake mine, as the scent of lavender radiated off her skin. "Thank you for coming," she said. "I figured Nicole would scare you so much you'd have thrown yourself under the subway by now just to get out of this."

Releasing the air in my lungs slowly, I gently squeezed her hand until she pulled away. I pointed to her seat, waiting for her to get comfortable before the gentleman that I
knew
I was, sat down.

I nodded at Nicole. "I actually thought of suicide but I was afraid she could bring me back to life and torture me to death."

"Damn straight," Nicole mumbled. She stared up at the waitress who was still standing idly by staring down at me. "Sweetheart? Stop staring at the hunk and bring me a tall iced tea and a handmade Mozzarella salad."

As if Nicole's words flipped a switch back on in her brain, the girl immediately wrote down the order. 

Nicole looked at Matt. "Those fresh herbs always get the heart a pumpin'. What'll you have?"

My gaze immediately went to Star. She didn't look away, and my mind began to race, searching for the appropriate thing to say. Clearing my throat, I forced myself to turn back to the waitress. "Do you still serve the East Coast Fish and Chips?"

A soft, seductive voice erupted from the teenager that screamed 'crush' from a mile away. "Oh, yes. They're the best thing we have."

"Well, I've been away from home for a while so I'll take that." I turned to the ladies before me and tried to get my balance back. "California's good, but New York is the absolute best when it comes to dining."

Star stared up at the girl. "Hello?"

"Uh, huh," she replied, never taking her eyes off me for a second. I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable; I usually had other cast members with me to take the brunt of this kind of blatant attraction. 

"Coffee, please?" Star laughed.