The Stars Trilogy (14 page)

“Well, Celine inspired an idea. She is so talented.” Ben beamed at her.

I just bet how talented she is.
He slowly turned to look at her. “Is that right?”

She wet her lips.

He stared at her luscious lips and pure, undiluted lust ambushed his senses again. Blood rushed like flood to his groin.

Holy ffff...?!

“Actually...I just made a few suggestions. I’m glad Ben liked it,” she said, smiling shyly, lifting her shoulders in a bashful gesture.

She looked so cute...and sexy...and his cock was rapidly filling his fly to maximum capacity.

His irritation turned to anger once again. This was insane! He was not an easy man to arouse. He had been with the most beautiful women of the world; supermodels, beauty queens and actresses with physical attributes that would dazzle a normal man. This Asian babe was nowhere near those goddesses in beauty.

But here he was, having a boner rising up so swiftly without an occasion. It was turning bizarre every minute he spent near her. Was she some sort of witch? He was not superstitious but there was no rational explanation for his weird reaction toward her.

She was talking and he didn’t hear anything she’d said. His eyes were focused on her pink lips and her white, even teeth...and her blushing cheeks and long-lashes...and those lovely eyes that were looking at him like she knew him intimately.

“Give me a week to get started, Dare. I promise to deliver your script within a month.”

He reluctantly shifted his attention back to Ben. “A month?”

“Yes. I got this idea. I’m meeting this very talented young director friend of Celine’s. He could help me out in developing the script.”

What Ben said diverted him from Celine’s damn spell. “A director?”

“Yes. Celine here has some talented friends we can hire to help us. We’re going Asian, man. I have this idea way back that I shelved. Hollywood wasn’t into anything like that then. But now, it’s time to explore Asian subjects again. Think The Killing Fields but post Y2K.”

He nodded. “I’m listening.”

“See, Tarantino has been exploring the Asian culture for some time now and Hollywood is slow to follow his lead. But let’s not be too Ang Lee as he really is Asian. Let’s exploit the American dream in the heart of an Asian. Say a boy from war-torn Cambodia in search of the American dream. Let’s use the Vietnam-Cambodian war as backdrop but focus more on the Bill Gates age.”

“Quentin is already a byword in extreme violence. I don’t wanna be in the same tangent. Let him and Rodriguez slug it out in the bloodbath department.”

“I get ya. I have a very good feeling about this, Dare.”

“You seem very excited all of a sudden.”

“Yes, thanks to Celine. Give me a week to prepare the framework.”

“Okay...” Now everything was credited to Celine? Ben’s sudden zest to work should elate him but it did the opposite.

“So...who is this director friend of yours?” He was mightily curious about that. Was it some kind of ruse to impress Ben? What did she know about film-making? She didn’t look the type who’d hang out with directors and writers. He could see her partying with models and actors...or with HIM, and definitely not talking about scripts.

Her eyes lit up at his question. “Oh, you should meet him! He is so good! He submitted his short film entries to the Cannes and was accepted twice. He didn’t win though.”

That certainly piqued his interest even more. The Cannes was the ultimate showdown of the greats and getting your entry accepted was tantamount to a nomination. He had submitted two documentaries he’d made in the last two years which yielded good reviews but he hadn’t even mustered the confidence to submit one of his short films. He was scared of rejection. And now this chick had a friend who got accepted TWICE? Who was this guy?!

“Actually, he’s here right now. Ben will meet him soon. His name is Rocky Artadi.”

“Never heard of him,” he said in deliberate dismissal. He hadn’t hung out at The Cannes long enough to know all these foreign directors who frequented the festival in the hopes of getting discovered by huge film outfits in the US.

“What about Jaq Montero?” she asked.

Now THAT guy, he had heard of. Jaq Montero was recently a favorite director of Dreamworks. Everyone in the know had heard of this Asian director who made a huge splash at the Cannes a few years back by winning the Palme d’Or itself. Hollywood had quickly latched onto Montero like starving leeches. Dreamworks signed him in for a series of films. All things Spielberg were big news in the business. “Is he a friend of yours, too?” he asked her, skeptical.

“Not exactly. He’s the husband of my brother’s ex.”

“Huh?”

“Long story. Rocky and Jaq are good friends. They’ve collaborated in a lot of advertising projects in our country. Rocky is following in his footsteps,” she said proudly.

Now, he was really curious of this paragon of a director/friend of hers. Grudgingly curious.

“Show him Rocky’s works, doll,” Ben said.

She arched her brows at him inquiringly.

“Sure,” he said. “Let’s see.”

Celine stood up and went to get the laptop from the table and went back to sit beside him. She positioned the little computer on her lap and tilted the screen toward him.

Celine had all the opportunity to watch him at close range as Dare’s attention was focused on the laptop’s screen.

He looked almost the same as many years ago.

Well, almost. He had matured and his face had gained more definition, a certain hardness and toughness. His jaw line and cheekbones were more pronounced. His tan was deeper, too and she wondered if it was artificial or he really spent a lot of time under the sun. Probably the latter. Dare was a very athletic man and according to the articles she’d read about him, he preferred to do all his stunts himself. He didn’t like doubles.

She was even more fascinated as his fingers moved on the laptop’s surface. Such long, strong-looking digits moving gently on the touch pad was hypnotizing. He had gentleness, alright. She’d felt it long ago as he hugged her protectively as the Cyclone soared, driving all her fears away. She just had to bring it out of him again.

Okay, so you are an asshole, jerk and an ogre. But I will reform you, Dare Montgomery. I haven’t come this far just to give up now. Now way, Jose!

“What do you say, Dare?” Ben asked Dare after the video ended playing.

“He’s good,” Dare commented simply.

She slowly heaved a sigh of relief.

“He really is. I think he will contribute new ideas. Expect a conference after two weeks,” Ben said.

“Really? That fast?”

Ben smiled and looked in her direction. “Not when I have such a great back-up. Celine is such an angel. She practically whipped my mind back into action. ”

Dare nodded. “I see. Glad to hear that. I might sit in during your meetings. If...that is okay with you?”

“Of course! I’ll keep you posted on our progress. I can’t wait to leave this place. We have a movie to make, Dare! Come to think of it, I miss the Cannes and the Oscars. It’s been awhile.”

Dare smiled at that. “Tell me about it. I wanna walk in there not as an actor who massacres at the box-office with his shit movies for a change.”

She detected the vulnerability in Dare’s self-deprecating remark. And she wished with all her heart to help him realize his fondest desire to be a great and credible director.

Ben insisted that she walked Dare to the elevator. So, she did.

“Celine...” Dare started.

“Yes?”

He stopped walking and combed his hair with his fingers. He sighed, looking uncomfortable. They were standing in the hallway.

“Look...about the other day...” he paused.

“What about it?”

“I...I want to apologize for my behavior. It was uncalled for.”

“Yes, it was.”

“I know it was none of my business.”

“Yes.”

“So...I’m sorry for my...remarks.”

“Which ones? You said plenty that night.”

He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes and she saw the glint of judgment still in their depths. He still believed that she was using Ben for money but he was embarrassed for not minding his own business. That was what he was apologizing for, not his wrong judgment of her.

“Don’t be a bitch. I’m apologizing.”

That didn’t sound like an apology at all. He really thought his half-sincere words were enough to make things right. This arrogant man had to be knocked down from his high horse on his ass. She won’t take him as her husband in this version. Nope. He needed to be reformatted back to her old Dare. The sweet, gallant Coney Island version.

“You’re not apologizing. Not really. You’re embarrassed that you acted inappropriately and you don’t want me to think you’re shallow or impulsive or affected in any way. But nonetheless, I accept your apology.”

His eyes flared. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

She raised her chin and squared her shoulders. “I am who I am and I know what I am. Good day, Mr. Montgomery.”

She didn’t wait for him to reply. She turned around and walked away.

He’d believe what he’d want to believe and she could do nothing about that. She wasn’t about to explain anything to him. No amount of convincing will make him see differently when he had chosen to see it his way. And he didn’t want to gain his respect by having to defend herself from something she was not guilty of.

She had regarded him in the highest esteem all these years. She did not deserve to be disrespected like that. If he’d continue treating her like dirt, it was time to give up on him.

She may love him to destruction but she won’t let him walk all over her like a doormat. She was Celine Lavega, his future wife.

Wife!

He should learn to respect her, value her, accept her and place her in her rightful position in his life. Not behind him or under him but beside him.

And that was non-negotiable.

Chapter Six 

“Grrrrr!:((( Shavonne is so mean. She calls me an OF (Obsessed Fan). Well...

as much as I’d like to be offended, it’s true. Yes, I really am your die hard fan. Since I saw you again in The Wannabes, I became your most loyal fan here in Asia. I have never missed a single episode of The Wannabes and I have the DVD collection, too, all three seasons!:))) You are so popular now and my classmates talk about you all the time. Sometimes I get jealous that they talk about you a lot, but I can’t blame them. You are just too gorgeous nobody can resist having a crush on you:))) I think about you everyday. I so love you, Dare! I have this strong feeling that one day, we will meet again. Really! Mwah!”

OKAY, SO HE’D SUDDENLY DEVELOPED a ‘sonly’ affection for Ben in the last few days. Why not? The old man will deliver his dream script. The least he could do was treat him special.

That was what Dare told himself repeatedly as he boarded the elevator. He shared it with an elegant, probably sixty-something old lady who kept looking at him from under the rim of her glasses as if she wasn’t sure of his identity. Oddly, she slightly resembled Meryl Streep.

He smiled at her.

“Young man, aren’t you an actor?”

“No, Ma’am. I’m an accountant.”

The old lady looked disappointed. “Oh, but you look so much like Dare Montgomery.”

“I’m flattered, thank you. But I look better than him, don’t I?” He flashed her his signature smile for his fans.

The old lady giggled. “Oh yes, you definitely are! Way, way much better-looking. Dare is not as charming as he used to, anyway. It’s been awhile since he made a really nice movie. How I miss his romantic movies.”

Okay…
“You like Dare’s romantic movies?”

“Oh yes, especially the ones he did with Sandra Bullock, Kate Hudson and Jennifer Lopez.”

He nodded. “I haven’t seen those.” It was the truth. He didn’t like watching his romantic movies. Money-making crap, he’d labeled them. They grossed two billion dollars combined. He never attended their premieres except the one he did with Alana. But that was a serious period love story.