Falling Stars (Starstruck Series Book 2)

FALLING STARS

By Krys Janae

Sequel to
Seeing Stars
by Ellie Potts

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Falling Stars Copyright © 2015 Krys Janae

Edited by Elicia Seitz Stoll

Cover art by Marianne Nowicki

Characters used by permission from Ellie Potts

With the exception of quotes used for the purpose of reviewing this book, no part of this book may be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means without written permission from author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Special Thanks

Chris: For letting me write and write until my fingers gave out, even when it meant staying up until 3 or 4 a.m. and for telling me to keep on going, no matter what! Thanks for supporting me through this process.

Elicia: Your patience is appreciated! As a new author, I could not have asked for a more humble, kind and amazing editor! Cheers!

Ellie: Thank you. Just
thank you
for letting me take your vision and continue on with my own ideas, for telling me: “just write!”… and of course, thank you for introducing me to Elicia, and continuously supporting me through my writing (and musical) endeavors. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you! xo

For Tamra F.

Thank you for your light, your friendship, and the word games.

Be in peace.

Chapter One

“Refreshments are in the green room, Mrs. Rider; feel free to take anything you want.”

“Please, call me Alisa.”

“Good luck out there, Alisa.”  The makeup artist smiled.

Alisa politely thanked the girl, blotting the sweat from her face, and walked briskly toward the stage doors as she was directed.  She ran both hands down the sides of her skirt to brush off any lint and straighten out any wrinkles.  Everything needed to be perfect.  

Accompanied by only the sound of her $400 Manolos hitting the tile floor, Alisa breathed in through her nose and let the exhale escape through her lips.

“My next guest is on the New York Times Best Seller list and a week from today her book-turned-movie,
Gateway
, will release in theaters nationwide. Please welcome my dear friend, Ms. Alisa Parson!”

Her appearance was being televised as a promotion for the
Gateway
movie premiere.  Minding her footsteps, Alisa moved onto the stage with grace and produced a pearly white smile for the crowd, and for the host.  She’d done a handful of interviews already for daytime and late night talk shows, but the nerves didn’t go away.  There was so much to comprehend; the lights, the cameras, the crowd…the energy was tremendous.

The host, the hip and fabulous new starlet of late night, Evie Lewis, greeted her with a kiss on each side of her face before welcoming her to sit on the large, red couch. “Welcome!” She said, giving a wide smile of her own.

Alisa couldn’t stop smiling, as it was customary to maintain this look on stage. “Thank you so much for having me.”

The hoots and hollers from the crowd were drawn to a silence when the applause lights turned off.  Friday night was a coveted time slot for late night appearances, and it was a full house.  

The interview went by in a heartbeat.  Alisa focused on answering the questions as honestly and interestingly as possible.  She explained the movie and its plot (without giving away spoilers), how it felt living in the big city, and even explained what it was like working as an extra on the set of a movie.  Everything was going perfectly until Evie approached her with the one topic that was becoming impossible to dodge.

“You’ll have to forgive me for earlier, saying Parson; I know you just tied the knot with Logan Rider
  
”

Whistles and whoops crashed around her like a tidal wave.  She tried not to change her expression, but Alisa was definitely stunned.  It was as if a ton of bricks were just dumped over her head. With slight color to her cheeks, Alisa sheepishly looked down and then back up at Evie. She still wasn’t used to having her surname rile a crowd.  

“Where did you guys go for your honeymoon?”

“It was between Paris and Italy, but knowing how much I love Italian culture, Logan and I spent most of our time in a glorious little Tuscan villa—”

“I just bet you did,” Evie grinned knowingly, receiving a reaction from the crowd.

“Oh stop,” Alisa laughed, “We really had a great time there. It’s so beautiful, and I can’t wait to go back!”

“Yes, I agree. It’s gorgeous out there. How is he doing, by the way? How is Logan?”

“Logan is good. He’s actually filming overseas right now.”  Alisa put on the same face she had when asked the question on the other shows.

The audience aahed with pity, which seemed routine…so expected. This was her sixth interview in two weeks, and she was over it, unfortunately. It generated the same reaction every time which seemed rather canned, and she loathed canned answers.

“Aw, how was it being asked to live apart from your husband so soon after the honeymoon?”

Alisa shrugged, “It’s the nature of the beast. We literally got off the plane, got home, and they were ready to discuss the terms for the new script.  It happened so fast, but that’s showbiz.  Also, we just got signed on to do another season of
Family Insurance
. It’s been so unreal working with the cast; they are an amazing bunch.  Ray Day, Dawn Blackmon, for those of you who don’t know…”

“Who
doesn’t
know them?”  Evie pretended to swat at her knee.  

The crowd ate that bit of news up like sharks.  She knew they would.  That was usually her go-to when anyone asked about Logan.  Alisa’s thumb was idly drawn to the inner part of her ring finger.  To her relief, her ring was still there.

“Well it’s been amazing to see you again, Alisa.  And, everyone, make sure you get out there to pick up
Gateway
and go see the movie, opening next Friday! Alisa Rider, everybody. Stay tuned for our musical guest right after this.”

The applause sign lit up again, flashing this time, and the crowd went wild.  The cameras were moving across the rails, panning over the crowd and over the stage as well, catching a full view of the entire set.

“…And cut! Commercial break, be back in ten, go on and let the band know we’re ready for them.” The director shouted, flying by with a clipboard in his hand.

Evie had reached out to shake Alisa’s hand and pulled her in for a half-hug.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

“For what?”

“They made me ask.”

Alisa knew. She pulled away and offered a brief smile before she stood up. “I know. I just get nervous talking about it, even though that’s probably the hundredth time I’ve answered that this week. You see how they’ve been flaming me online!”

Evie rolled her eyes.  “Ugh, they’re just jealous.”

“Sure,” Alisa chuckled.  “And bringing up Parson was a nice touch.”

“I just read the cues, sweetie. Believe me; I am well aware of your marital status.” Evie laughed, “You taking off?”

Alisa nodded. “I have to get going.  Ray and I are scheduled to do some new casting for the show, and I have to make a few phone calls for the sequel deal.”

“Ray’s back?” Evie’s eyebrows rose.

“Yep.  About time, really.  I know he didn’t want to leave Toronto, but duty calls.  He’s been back for a week or so now.  It’s been crazy busy at the studio—”

“Say no more,” Evie raised both hands, “I’ll text you later.  We need to catch up, babe.”

Alisa smiled at her friend and offered a wave to the crowd, many of whom were waving back with bright smiles. She left the stage.  “Yes.  I’ll talk to you soon. Have fun!”

“Thank you, Mrs. Rider.”  The director tipped his head to her as she disappeared into the back area, heading straight to the dressing room.

Chapter Two

“We’ve been through these headshots and resumes so many times.  You’re going to have to pick a girl at some point this century, honey.” Ray Day was sipping the last of his Starbucks, leaning his chin on his palm, as he watched Alisa sift through the paperwork on the table.  

She yawned and looked at her watch. It was 10:00 p.m.  The pair had been sorting through applicants for auditions of a few new characters lined up to play on
Family Insurance
.  Their casting director, Kassidy Carraway, was on maternity leave and as one of the executive producers with any casting savvy, Ray Day was left to help out.  He, of course, managed to rope Alisa into helping, since she’d been hired on as a writer for the show.

Her thumb twisted the ring around her finger.  Indeed, she’d been staring at the profiles for so long, she was sure her head was going to explode.  Logan had been cast in a high-dollar project overseas in London.  She only knew the full plot because she spent time running lines with Logan when he first received the script.  She was so excited for him.  This was going to be his big break.  His exposure to several A-listers, who were also part of the movie, would be excellent for his career. Unfortunately, that meant he was leaving Alisa to do most of the heavy lifting for the show, on top of the work piling up for her sequel to
Gateway
.  The movie premiere for the first
Gateway
was this coming week, as well, intensifying everyone’s stress levels.

“None of them have been a perfect fit,” she sighed, “Heather Hartford, too skinny.  Brittani Geiger, too blond.”

“We can always hook her up with my hairdresser
  
”

“Too … ditzy.”

“Touché.”

“Then there’s K…Ke-Kier-Ki-”

“Kai-eh-rah?” Ray couldn’t stop himself from jumping in to help, but even he tilted his head at the pronunciation of the name.

“
Miss Valentine
...”

Alisa heard Ray scoff into his hands.

“Yeah. I don’t know how long this is going to take, but it’s already taken too much time.  I can tell you this
  
I do not envy Kassidy.”

“When’s Logan supposed to return?” Ray whined.

Alisa gave him an offended look and rested her forehead on the table.

“I’m sorry.”

Alisa sighed, “It’s all right.  I miss him too, believe me … and honestly, I don’t know when he’s coming home. He keeps telling me “soon” but for him, soon may mean another two weeks, a month or maybe even tomorrow.”

She wished so badly for him to come home tomorrow.

It fell silent in the conference room as Alisa began scooping the papers together and dumping them into her bag.  Most were shoved into her briefcase, and the rest were left in a stack on the table, as they would surely return tomorrow.

Alisa paused, “You know what? I forgot to ask. How was Canada?”

Ray had recently returned from a shoot in Canada during their break between seasons.  It was for a movie that was now in post-production, and he was one of the starring cast members and also the producer on the film. “It was fantastic. I loved spending spring in Toronto. Gorgeous.”

“Jealous. I would’ve loved to come with, had I known I would be losing Logan for months.”  She sighed.

“And what, stayed cooped up in the hotel to write like you always do on trips?”

“Hey.” Alisa pointed at him with her pen and soon lowered it as she realized he was absolutely right. “Yeah, probably. Or I could have opted in to be your assistant. Imagine that.”

Ray nodded, amused by the thought. “Yeah, which would have been pretty great.”

Alisa exhaled, tossing her pen into her bag. “All right, I give up.  I can’t look at one more resume or my head will most certainly explode!”

“You want to come over? The hubs and I are going to watch the latest episode of
Catwalk
, and I think he and the kids baked some goodies tonight.”  One of their latest obsessions was a modeling show that ran two episodes a week, and tonight was an elimination episode. Plus, Ray knew the way to Alisa’s heart was through her sweet tooth.

Alisa did give it some thought but eventually declined.  “It’s late, honey.  I’m going to turn in. I have a meeting with Ron about the movie before I come back to the auditions tomorrow.”

Ray pouted.

“Tell David I said hi, and hug the kids for me.”

Going back and forth from the studio had become routine; she drove home on autopilot, making it there in what seemed like seconds. She was still getting used to Logan Rider’s elaborate estate in The Hills being her home now too. It was much better than where she had lived with her ex-husband Kurt and certainly better than the motel she was staying at when this all began.

Alisa stripped off her coat and hung it by the door. The answering machine was flashing at her from across the room.  It alarmed her at first, because she was still getting used to having a landline once again.  When she had asked Logan if they could get rid of it, he told her no.  He explained it was a good way to screen calls, and you could give it to certain people you didn’t want having your cell phone.  All good points.  Carefully setting her bag on the table, she hit the play button on the machine, letting it run while she began removing her work attire.

Hey, girl, it’s Jo. I haven’t heard from you in a while -- is your phone working? Anyway. You’re probably busy with the show and the movie stuff, so I just wanted to let you know I’ll be heading down there for the next couple of days.  If you have time, we can do lunch.  Call me, okay? Love you.
The machine beeped.

Alisa emerged from the bedroom wearing one of her favorite Marvel shirts and a pair of comfy shorts. She pulled her hair from the fancy up-do they encouraged at the office and wrapped it into a messy bun just before journeying through the land of leftovers.

Alisa, it’s Chris. Haven’t had a good chat with you in a long while, darling.  Call me soon. Ciao.

Ugh
, she rolled her eyes and pulled out a Tupperware container from the fridge.  Pulling back the lid slightly, she was hit with the sour smell of old hamburger which sent it straight into the sink.  She didn’t want to talk to Christian Neel. Last time he talked to her, he was trying to get Joann’s number to text her and make her crazy, which would, in turn, drive Alisa crazy.

Beep!

“You have no new messages.” The machine announced.

After feeding her two puppies excitedly awaiting her in the den, she loved on them both, let them out to go potty, and then returned to the living room.

Right on cue, her cell began to ring on the marble countertop.  She noticed that her phone had received a handful of texts, emails, and there were even a couple of missed calls and voicemails. When the buzzing didn’t stop, Alisa saw that she was receiving a video call. It was Logan. Almost every night, around 11:00 p.m. her time, Logan called her. She was so thrilled to get the opportunity to hear his voice. 11:00 p.m. her time meant it was 7:00 a.m. for him, and it was usually when he was done with his run and already on set with his coffee.  

“Hey, sweetie!”  She was beaming from ear to ear.

“Hi, babe.”  Logan smiled and put a coffee cup to his lips.

Alisa missed that smile.  

She could tell he was standing outside; the drab, gray skies were looming overhead.  The wind was blowing a bit into the microphone, so she had to turn her volume down to lessen the noise.

“How’d you sleep?”

He groaned, “Christian flew out last night.”

“Oh, did he?” She raised an eyebrow.  “Which is funny because he just called me this morning.  Is he giving you trouble?”

“You know it!” Christian came into view, dragging his knuckles over Logan’s head.  “You screening my calls, love? I’m a little offended now. Just kidding. I wanted to see if you could get hold of him before I got here, but it looks like I’m all set.”

“Yeah, he didn’t get his own hotel room booked before flying out, so he decided to stay with me for a couple of days before he has his photo shoot for one of the many mags after him.” Logan said with mock spite in his tone as Christian walked away, laughter heard in the distance. Logan brought the phone closer to speak quieter, “I guess it wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t snore so damn loud.”

Alisa laughed. “Good to know, though.  Not calling you while naked anymore.”

“Aw, man!” He whined and pouted.

“Sorry.” She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

“Yeah, yeah.  Nice shirt, by the way.”

Tilting the phone down, she exposed the shield on her chest.  It was the Captain America shirt he’d bought her for Christmas last year.  It was a bundle deal, and this one was by far her favorite. Plus, it was comfortable.

“Thanks. My husband bought it for me.”

“He must love you so very much.”

“Does he?”  She asked facetiously.

Logan’s handsome face relaxed into a grin that made her melt.  “You know I do.”

He was thousands of miles away and could still make her weak in the knees.  She remembered what it was like, swooning over celebrities like this, but now the reality was that Logan was her husband. Alisa missed him and wanted him to come home.  It had been almost four months now, and she hated being in the big house all by herself.

“I miss you.  When are you coming home?”

Logan shrugged, “Any time now.  They say we’re almost done with the on-location scenes, and we should be going back to L.A. for some of the on-set work.  Then it’s off to post, and then I’m all yours again.”

“Promise?”

“Top of my list.”

“Oh, you know, the priorities...other than
Family Insurance
and
Gateway II
…” Alisa made a face.

Logan groaned again.  “Dammit.”

“Hey, where were you at 6 p.m., my time? You said you’d call earlier than normal today?”

He scratched the back of his neck as he stretched, “I was, uh ... having a chat with the director.  Going over some of the shots. I’m sorry, babe.”

He sounded strange, but she shrugged it off. He’d been calling less frequently the last few weeks compared to the months prior. Yet he still managed to keep his 11:00 o’clock call, so she let it slide.

“Oh! Evie asked about you, by the way.”

“On TV? Yeah, I saw the broadcast. Good job, sweetheart.  You’re a natural.”

“You think so?” She crinkled her nose.

“Absolutely.”

Alisa took a moment to take in Logan’s face.  She wished she had opted to travel with him, but she knew she had to stay with the production company, lest Ray go crazy in her absence.

A voice called in from off screen.  “Logan Rider!  Quin Stephens! Places!”

“Quin is there?!” Alisa jumped in her seat.  She didn’t quite remember when she sat down on the couch, but she had, and she was now at the edge.

“Hi, Alisa!”  Quin waved, and Logan angled the phone to show him standing behind him.  “Gotta borrow him for a bit, if that’s all right?”

Quinton Stephens was on one of her favorite paranormal dramas on the network, and she was a huge fan.  It was a fan girl’s dream to have Quin and Logan in one film. Alisa being one of those fan girls, she could absolutely attest to that dream.  

“Hi!”

Logan turned the phone and raised his brow at her, “I don’t think I’ve seen you smile that much since we first met.”

His suspicions, true or not, made her blush.

“Hush.”

“Okay, babe, I gotta get going. I’ll call you when I’m off later tonight?”

“If I’m not in a meeting I’ll answer.”

He puckered his lips and gave her a virtual kiss.  The mocking of everyone on set could be heard.  Swatting his hands at them, Logan looked straight into the camera at her and said, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

10:30 a.m. was brunch time with the girls.  Alisa had gotten messages from Evie and Joann about lunch and since their schedules finally aligned for such a meeting, she agreed to it.  Alisa’s two friends, one from her old life and the other a newer acquaintance, were sitting across from her.  They’d settled on a new little bistro that opened up a few blocks from the studio. After a bit of idle chit-chat and posing with a few of the fans who noticed them as they came by, the girls finally struck the line of questioning Alisa was hoping to avoid.

“So who are you taking to the premiere?” Evie asked.

Alisa narrowed her eyes, “Is this
friend
Evie asking or
journalist
Evie asking? Because I’m not fueling your monologues or Twitter banter.”

Joann laughed.

“I’m serious,” Evie raised her right hand, “As friend Evie. I’m curious.”

Alisa shrugged.  “I haven’t thought that far yet.”

Actually, she had given it some thought.  A lot of thought.  Alisa wanted Logan to tell her he was coming home tonight or tomorrow and that he would be escorting her to their premiere. But he couldn’t give her a straight answer, and she was stressing out about the event entirely.