My Life With The Movie Star (11 page)

Rachel and I finished up our drinks. I decided not to push our evening, so I excused myself to go home. However, instead of going home, I stopped off at the local theater to watch the last showing of
Texas High
. It made me feel so close to Grayson, watching him on the silver screen. I just imagined myself in the movie and pretended he was speaking directly to me. I looked around the theater and saw all the teenage girls who were thinking the same thing I
was. I was just lucky enough that in real life, he was saying things like this to me.

Chapter 14

On Saturday morning, I woke up early to go for a walk with Lisa. I could not believe that an entire week had passed since I had last seen Gray. I was proud for losing almost two pounds. The rest of my spare time and energy had been focused on reading the
Texas High
Series. I was almost finished with the second book: the characters’ sophomore year in high school. The story picked up a few months after Scott left. I was surprised that Gray’s character Scott did not show up in the book for the first five chapters, but as the story went on, I could see that Becky and Scott would get back together. Derrick was going to make Becky choose, and I knew she would choose Scott. I figured the book would end with prom again, showing Becky and Scott going together.

Lisa met me at the Upper Bluff Park. We started our three-mile walk. We always did a loop around upper Bluff Park and then went down the hill and back along the bike trail.

“You will never believe who showed up last night,” I said.

“I was going to ask you how that went. Who showed up beside Rachel?” asked Lisa

“John.”

“What!” Lisa stopped and looked at me in confusion.

“You heard me. John showed up, apologized for what he did, kissed me and left,” I said.

“Has he finally broken up with that horrible girl he was with?”

“He must have. Why else would he come around me?”

“Did you tell him about Grayson?”

“No, I didn’t want to make him feel bad.” In the back of my mind, I was questioning why I hadn’t come out and
used Grayson’s name with John? A part of me knew that if it didn’t work out with Grayson, I would want to call John again.

“Abby, you are way too nice. After how he dumped you, I would have rubbed Grayson in his face.”

“Maybe I should have,” I answered. I had never been one to hold a grudge, but it would have been gratifying to see the look on his face when I told him who I was seeing.

“Have you talked to Gray today?” Lisa asked.

“Not yet. He said he would call me later on with our flight arrangements. We will be staying at his house,” I said excitedly. I had images of what Grayson’s house must look like. I had been watching too many episodes of Celebrity House – images of pools, bars, and movie rooms danced in my head.

“I cannot wait!” Lisa exclaimed. “Maybe I will meet a hot movie star. Doesn’t Gray have any single friends he can fix me up with?”

“What about Travis?” I teased, knowing that Lisa would dump Travis for a hot movie star.

“What about him?” She asked.

“Maybe the guy who plays Derrick Patrick Evans needs a date. I’ll ask Gray about it,” I said with a smile. Since Gray was taken, Patrick Evens was second best in Lisa’s book.

“Thank YOU!” Lisa shrieked and threw her arms around me. “I knew we were friends for a reason.”

After my walk with Lisa, I straightened up the house and finished the second
Texas High
book. I planned to put off the third book until filming of the third movie began. I was organizing some files when Gray called.

“Hi, beautiful,” his soft voice said into the phone.

“Hi! How’s shooting going?”

“Oh fine, but I miss you. I have your flight arrangements all made,” Gray said. “I’m so excited about seeing you.”

“Me too,” I replied.

“My stylist has picked out some dresses for you to try on for your red-carpet debut.”

“Sounds like fun,” I teased.

“She has also picked out some things for Lisa.”

“Lisa will be excited.”

“I figured she would. I will have my assistant, Melissa, email you all the arrangements.”

“Miss you, Gray,” I said again.

“Talk to you soon honey,” said Gray

“By
e
,” I said and hung up the phone.

This was so exciting, and difficult, at the same time. I couldn’t believe how much I missed him after only a week. My heart just ached for him to hold me and kiss me again. So I did what any girlfriend of a movie star would: I went to go see
Texas High
again.

Chapter 15

The next two weeks were a bit of a blur. I worked a lot of overtime to get ready for my vacation, and Lisa called me every day, excitedly going over all the details. Gray’s assistant had been fantastic and had made all or our arrangements.

We would be traveling first-class all the way. Gray had arranged for a limo to pick us up at my house, and his assistant would pick us up at baggage claim. I was a bit disappointed that Gray would not be coming to the airport, but I understood that with all the paparazzi that it would be difficult for him to get in, or for all of us to get out.

Lisa spent the night before our trip at my place. We both got up at the crack of dawn to get ready. I had just finished my hair when the car pulled up.

We rode to the airport in silence, both of us too excited to speak. I was going through what I planned to wear each day. I had packed everything Gray had bought for my trip and a few things that he had not seen yet.

Lisa and I checked our bags and made our way to the gate. We were the first to board, and before we knew it the captain was closing the plane door and pulling away from the gate. We were finally off.

“How will we find his assistant?” Asked Lisa, flipping through a magazine she had purchased at the airport.

“I’m not sure. Maybe she will have a sign or something,” I answered. “I guess I should have asked Gray.”

“Are you excited about seeing him?”

“Of course I am! My heart is doin
g a million flip flops at the mo
ment. I hope he still has feelings for me.”

“Abby, of course he does. Would he really be footing the bill for all of this if he wasn’t into you?”

“I guess you’re right. I just can’t wait to hold him again and make sure he is real.”

“Among other things,” Lisa teased.

“That too, but I just need to feel him again and make sure this isn’t all a dream.”

“One hell of a dream, Abby,
and
I’m having the same one!”

“I forgot to tell you: Gray has invited Patrick Evans over tonight,” I said.

“Now you tell me. This would have been important information yesterday.”

“If I had told you about this yesterday, you would have driven yourself nuts,” I pointed out.

“You’re right about that.”

After we landed in LAX, it took us a while to find baggage claim. LAX was triple the size of MKE. Once we had grabbed our bags, a tall blond woman walked over to us.

“Are you Abby?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“I’m Melissa, Grayson’s assistant. Did you have a nice flight?”

“Oh yes, it was very nice. This is my friend Lisa.” I pointed out Lisa, who shook hands with Melissa.

“Gray mentioned that you were bringing a friend,” Melissa said. “Now, let’s get you two to Grayson’s. We don’t have much time for any alterations on which dress you choose.”

Melissa whisked us off into another limo. I shot Lisa a worried look. Melissa looked more like a supermodel or actress than a personal assistant. A flicker of jealousy went through me. She gets to spend every day with Grayson, I thought.

Once the limo door was shut, Melissa got on her cell phone and made arrangements to pick up the dry cleaning,
checked that the maid had been by the house, and arranged for a messenger to bring over new scripts for Gray to read.

“We’ll be at the house shortly,” Melissa said. “Gray will be home after his morning shoot wraps up. I had the kitchen stocked for you, but please let me know if you need anything else; I can put in an order.”

Wow: a maid, gardeners, and assistants. Grays life was so different from mine. I hadn’t honestly noticed that when he was in Port Washington – he had seemed so normal and down-to-earth – but now he seemed like a Mega star with an entourage of people taking care of his every need. I gulped hard, and Lisa seemed to notice my new concerns. She patted my leg to let me know everything would be fine.

The drive took almost an hour from the airport. I started to look out the window when we pulled into a secure neighborhood. All the houses were hidden behind massive gates, but you could still see how large they were. The car pulled into a gated drive way, and I got my first glimpse at Gray’s house.

The house was about three stories high and all glass windows. I wondered how a house like this could stand in LA where they had earthquakes. Melissa hopped out of the car and led us to the front door. She opened it for us.

“Before I leave, I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping,” she said. “Don’t worry about your bags; I will have them brought up to your rooms.”

We walked through the massive foyer and up the grand staircase. I could not help but stare in awe of the chandelier that hung from the ceiling. It was enormous and beautiful. The floor was real slick and appeared to be a marble in different shades of black and gray – very masculine. His walls were adorned with artwork. I wondered how much Gray had picked out for himself and how much a decorator
had picked out for him. The house felt very grand. Gray had seemed to like things simpler than this, I thought.

Melissa opened the first door at the top of the staircase.

“This will be Lisa’s room. I hope it’s adequate for you.” The room was a large cheerful white guestroom. The bedding looked like it was from a hotel: very white and crisp with hints of brown. This room had a balcony that looked out over the pool and guesthouse.

“I think this room is bigger than my apartment,” said Lisa, walking in and admiring it. She set her purse down on the bed and checked out the adjoining bathroom.

“This way to the master suite, where you’ll be staying, Abby,” Melissa said.

The master suite, I thought to myself. That reminded me of my parents’ house in Atlanta they had a master suite.  My realtor had called the room I sleep in a master suite, but honestly it was just a bedroom with a small bathroom attached.

Melissa opened the door to Grayson’s room, and I could not believe my eyes. This room was not crisp and white like the others; it had been painted a light shade of brown, and the bedding was dark-brown and beige linen to match. My mouth must have just hung open as I took in the “room,” which was actually several rooms. He had the biggest walk-in closet I had ever seen and an oversized bathroom with a large Jacuzzi tub. There was a library at the farthest end of the room, which was where I imagined he spent most of his time. I could see the stacks of scripts sitting next to an old-looking reclining chair. On the farthest wall was a flat-panel TV with a video-game system, next to it, a stereo and a massive CD collection. I remembered what he had said about being more of a bookworm than a movie star. I chuckled at that thought; he must stay in most nights. The
last thing I noticed about the room was his acoustic guitar. I had no idea that he played the guitar. I would have to get him to play something for me sometime.
As I took in the room, Melissa walked over to the closet.

“I cleared out some space for you,” she said, pointing to where I could put my things. “I know what a waste on guys. He only owns a few pairs of jeans and shoes. I’ll leave you to explore and will be back soon with your dress choices.”

“Thank you, Melissa,” I said.

Just as she walked off, Lisa reappeared, eager to see what Grayson’s room looked like.

“This looks more like him than the whole house,” she stated.

Lisa and I started to jump up and down and shriek. I was glad that Gray was not home yet to see how blown away we were by everything.

“Oh My God, Abby, you could live here!” exclaimed Lisa. “And if you do, you better invite me over all the time!”

“Invite you over? I might make you move with me!” I said. “I’m getting a bit more nervous. Gray seems more like a star in LA than he did in Port.”

“Relax; he will be the same Gray you fell for. Trust me.”

“I hope so, but look at his house, his closet, his bathroom. My house must have been a joke to him. My master bath is the size of a closet compared to his.”

“You are thinking too much,” said Lisa. “I know what will cheer you up: let’s go take a dip in the pool.”