Away From the Spotlight (6 page)

There
was very lively conversation at lunch, but I could tell that the subject kept getting changed quickly when
ever
we got anywhere near the topic of w
hat they all did for a living.

Despite the fact that I was sitting next to the most beautiful man I had ever seen, I kept thinking of
Colin
.  He appeared to make the best of it, but I could
sense
that he felt like the fifth wheel
.  I guess I was particularly sensitive because I had spent a lot of time in recent months being the third, fifth, seventh
wheel
, and so on, when I went out with friends from school
or
associate
s at my firm and their respective dates or significant others.

As I was sitting there feeling sorry for Colin, the topic of his girlfriend came up
in conversation
.

“What time does Gemma’s plane get in tomorrow?” asked Kate.

“About three in the afternoon,” Colin responded with an excited smile on his face.

Kate looked
over
at me and
explained
, “Gemma is Colin’s girlfriend.  She’s from Newcastle and went home to see her
sister, who just had a baby.”

She
then
smiled
at me and I realized what she meant when I arrived.  It wasn’t Colin who was the fifth wheel.  It usually was Will.  I couldn’t
conceive
of
how that could be the case
.  I would think that women would be throwing themselves at him regularly.  He was breathtakingly handsome, smart, fun and seemed genuinely kind.  I was going to have to get the scoop
on that
from Kate.

I got my chance with Kate sooner than I thought
I would
. 
In helping to clear some of
the
dishes
, I
managed to be alone
with Kate
in the rarely-used kitchen
.

“What did you mean when I came in this morning about Will?”

“What did I say?  Oh, yeah, that. 
J
ust that
it
has been a
long
time since Will has been in
t
erested in
anyone
.”

“I can’t imagine that he hasn’t had plenty of women that like him,” I responded.

“Yes.  That’s true, but I think he is always worried about whether they
wi
ll like him for just him.  He thinks you
’
re different.  Plus, he
’
s flattered that someone so accomplished would like him.”

“Seriously?”
I responded, truly astonished.  “I can’t
imagine
anyone not liking him. 
Me
, on the other hand,
I
’
m
pretty
ordinary
, one of
thousands of
students
in
L.A., many far
more attractive
than I could ever hope to be.”

“You sell yourself short. 
True
, you may not be the typical California girl, but that’s not his type
anyway
.  You
’
re unusual looking and pretty in that.
  He consider
s himself to be unusual looking
so he probably considers you a match for him.”

I didn
’
t know what to say and, after a long pause, Will walked in carrying the few remaining plates.  He set the plates down, looked at my astonished face
,
and asked, “Kate, are you causing trouble again?”

I managed to close my mouth that had likely dropped open and grabbed Will’s hand to distract him.  “When and where are we going to study and read together?”

“The
boys will be
m
ucking
a
round
out
here
for a while, so why don’t we
go to
my room?”

In spite of the butterflies in my stomach, I replied calmly,
“I need my books.  They’re in my car.”

“Let me help you.”

W
ill followed me
outside
to my car
. 
H
e grabbed my book
bag
out of the trunk
and noticed the other bag
there
.
  “Moving in are we?” he teased with a huge smile
and a look
that indicated he would
n’
t have minded.

I turned away because I was
certain that
my face was blood red with embarrassment.
Still turned away, I replied, “I don’t know where we’re going so I brought a change of clothes
just
in case
I need to be
dress
ed up more
than I am now
.
”

Will laughed. 
“
There’s no need to explain.  I understand
completely
,” he said as if intimatin
g that there was another
reason
that involved me spending the night
.

I don’t know how I managed to concentrate while studying on
Will’s
bed with him
there
. 
Will
was reading what looked like a play, but
he
spent most of his time staring at me. 
Luckily, m
y nerves over my upcoming finals managed to beat out my nerves over
lying
in
Will’s bed with him
-
b
arely
.
 
It took all my determination not to
look away from my book and
into his
beautiful
green eyes. 
When I got through my Constitutional Law II reading a
long while
later, I looked up
to find him
staring at me again.

“Interesting reading?
” he asked.

“Not really.  How about you?”

“I didn’t manage to get a whole lot done.  I was too distracted,” he replied with a smile.  “Come
closer
,” he asked, curling his finger toward
him.
  He
pulled
me on my side facing him on the bed and leaned over to kiss me.  He
then
pulled me close and
held
me very tight
ly
as he kissed me
. 
I was so excited I
must have been p
anting
.  He le
aned away
and said, “If we didn’t have this concert soon and, if I didn’t know how happy it would make you, I don’t know if I would let you go
right now
.”

My heart was racing, but I managed to
pull
it together enough to
catch my breath and
ask,
“Okay, so now you have to tell me where we’re going and when we have to be there.”

“Staples Center
by seven.
  If I
’
m correct, it’
s your favorite band
.  Car’s coming to
collect
us at five.  We have a few
stops
on the way there.”

“Really
?”  I said, sitting up quickly, eyes wide.

“Yes
.
”  Will looked over at the clock, appearing surprised at the time.  “
It’s
half
four
now.  We
had
better get
moving
.”

Since a car was picking us up, I decided
to lose the jeans and go with the dressier
outfit
.  The skirt was black, of course, but the
top
was
black,
green and
cream
.  I wore black
tights
underneath the skirt and boots
over them.  Will wore jeans, a black t-shirt
,
and a black blazer over that.

The car came at five as scheduled. 
I
t wasn’t really a car
though
.  It was a stretch
limousine
that looked like it would hold about
twenty
people.  Will, Colin, Stephen, Kate and I
climbed
in and
we
proceeded to pick up about ten others at two different locations, one group in Santa Monica and another in the Hollywood Hills.  Introductions were difficult so I didn’t
catch
most of their names, but
the accents made clear
that they were mostly more British ex-patriots. 
As the
se
friends entered the limo, they stared when they noticed th
at Will had his arm around me.

I enjoyed the ride as w
e drove through L.A., drinking c
hampagne
and laughing at the various antics of Will’s
increasingly buzzed and
very entertaining friends
.  We ma
d
e it to
the venue
just
before
seven.  Will
quickly
led us to a
stocked
luxury suite that looked like it would
hold
at least the
fifteen
or so of us.

“How did you manage this?” I asked as I marveled at the suite and the perfect view of the stage from it.  Will dodged my question, grabbed an envelope from the counter and dragged me out of the suite, telling everyone we’d be back.

“I have another surprise for you.
  Come with me.
”

He held my hand as w
e walke
d around Staples Center
until we got
to the private area
.  He opened the envelope to find two all-access backstage passes.

The security guard let us through and gave Will directions to a room further down the hall on the left.  Will knocked and we heard
a male British voice
say, “Enter
,
” from the other side of the door.

I gasped when we walked through the door.  The members of
the band
were all sitting on couches watching a
large flat-screen
TV
with a soccer game on it.  There were a few others in the room I didn’t recognize, but there wasn’t a huge crowd. 
Although there were beer b
ottles and food strewn over
table
s
in front of
and behind
the couch, it was n
ot exactly the rock-
and
-
roll party atmosphere you would expect.

“Will, hey mate,” I heard
Sean O’Neill
, the lead guitarist and primary writer for the band,
say.  Will left me and walked over to him alone.  Will whispered something
in
Sean’s
ear and then
Jack’s
. 
Jack
was the lead singer
and Sean’s brother,
and
had
a
somewhat
arrogant demeanor,
likely stemming from the fact that he was the focal point of
a lot
of the fans’ attention. 
They
all
laughed,
Sean
even saying, “You’re kidding me
,
”
with
an expletive
for emphasis
.
  I wondered what the joke was, but was too afraid to ask.

T
he bass player
for the band
approached
to my right,
reaching for
a beer from the cooler not far
from me.  He said “Hi” to me.

I replied, “Hi
,
Drew
.”  I knew who he was because he
previously
had been in another band that
also was
one of my favorites.

Jack
shouted
teasingly
over the game, “She knows
who you are.  You have a fan.”