Hollywood Princess (29 page)
Read Hollywood Princess Online
Authors: Dana Aynn Levin
The phone startled me awake. I answered on the second chorus, and noticed only fifteen minutes had passed since turning off the light.
“Hello,” I said in a bewildered, drowsy voice.
“Baby, did I wake you?”
“Danny?” Nobody else called me “baby.”
“Baby, I miss you, honey.”
“I miss you too.” I was a little more alert. “How’s your studying?”
“I’m done. Can you come down? I want you, babe.”
“Danny, I was sleeping.”
“You’re not anymore. Please, Eli? I can’t sleep without you.”
“Danny, it’s late.”
“Eli, I love you. You belong here with me. Are you going to make me come get you?”
“I love you too.” Danny was impossible to resist. He knew it, too. “Let me get my slippers,” I relented.
“Bring your key.” Danny’s glee perked me up.
I
no longer cared what Dad said. I did not want to turn the heat between Eli and me down by even one degree. Eli was hot, and I wanted her to stay that way.
“Danny, y
ou said you couldn’t fall asleep,” she said, bewildered.
“That
’s what the DVD is for. I can’t fall asleep without you, baby.”
“Aw sh
ucks,” Cam said sarcastically. “Be quiet, Newman. Some of us actually are watching the movie.”
Elizabeth yawned.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “Danny woke me.”
Then she
curled up like a sleepy kitten. Soon Elizabeth fell asleep, her head resting in my lap. I sat stroking her soft, glossy hair. Everything about Eli felt so right tonight.
When the movie ended, I carefully lifted her in my arms.
“Good-night,” I whispered to Cam and Shane as I carried Elizabeth to my room.
Ever so gently, I placed her on our bed, careful to
leave enough room for myself. Then I covered her with the comforter and kissed her head. In her sleep, Eli smiled.
While Elizabeth dreamed happy dreams, I sat at my desk prepping for
my morning economics mid-term. I had lied when I told Eli I had finished studying. If she knew I needed a couple more hours, I doubted she would have come.
At th
ree, I turned off the light, crawled into bed and cuddled Eli, wrapping my arm around her. Instinctively she turned toward me, searching out the comfort that I brought her.
Way too soon the alarm cloc
k blared. I barely had time to shower, throw on clothes and get a cup of strong coffee before my exam.
Elizabeth was sitting
up under the covers when I returned from the shower. Her smile lit the room like early morning sunshine. Elizabeth giggled, eying me wearing nothing except a towel draped around my waist, droplets of water falling from my head.
I took her in my arms. “Good morning, Miss Eli,” I announced.
“Good morning, Mr. N.,” she said playfully. “Now I’m wet too!” she laughed.
I pulled her
face to mine and kissed her with all my heart.
“If I didn’t have a mid-term in half an hour, I would never let you go,” I told her.
Eli laughed. “I can see you later,” she said.
“Yes, you can and you’d better.”
Elizabeth gleefully pulled off my towel.
“Get dressed, Daniel,” she ordered while laughing.
Elizabeth’s laughter was golden music to my ears. “Yes, ma’am” I answered.
The ground remained covered in snow and ice; the sky often flat and gray. Yet today seemed different. Bright sunshine bathed the horizon. The temperature reached fifty degrees. Everywhere was puddles and slush. If you weren’t careful, dribbles from melting icicles landed unexpectedly on your hair. Tonight it would all refreeze, but for a few hours we could enjoy a taste of spring.
My final mid-term was a take-home in History due on Thursday. With Professor Denison scheduling his mid-term for Wednesday, I wouldn’t even get to touch history until that afternoon! But first, Psychology and French were both on Monday.
Lucky Danny! With Economics out of the way, his film mid-term being a cakewalk, and film history being watch some old movies and analyze them, the only studying Danny had was political science.
“Time to hit the books,” Danny announced when we left dinner on Monday.
I stared in disbelief. “Are you daft? I took two midterms today. I’m taking tonight off. My brain is fried. I’m going to The Cellar.”
“I’ll let you go if we first strategize for tomorrow. If you don’t ace Political Science your parents will blame me. Randi will say, ‘I told you Danny was a bad influence. I don’t want you spending so much time with him.’”
“Mom wouldn’t,” I answered but with uncertainty.
Danny raised an eyebrow. “Eli?” Was I that naïve?
“Alright. Mom would, but who cares? I’m an adult.”
“I care. I want your parents on our side.”
“I do too, but if they’re not...” I sighed. “Let’s go to the library until nine. We’ll have earned an hour at The Cellar and we can still get to bed by eleven. I want my A.”
Danny and I woke earlier than planned on Tuesday. Before my eyes opened, Danny’s lips joined mine. His hands running down my body sent excitement through me. I was as eager as he was to continue where we had left off last evening.
Sometime while dancing at The Cellar, sadness had enveloped us. As I had completed a pirouette into Danny’s arms, our eyes met and he held me close for the rest of the song.
“Two weeks apart,” Danny said sadly. “I don’t like it Eli.”
Neither did I. Spring Break should be a happy time. For us, it wouldn’t be.
Friday, Danny was driving me to Albany to begin my journey home. Saturday, he was travelling by train to New York with Shane and Cam to stay at the Reynolds’ until Monday. Then they would fly to Miami where Cam’s family had a beachfront condo in South Beach.
Focus Elizabeth. Dwelling on our pending separation was distracting. I needed an A on tomorrow’s mid-term or Danny I feared would be right. Hell, I couldn’t afford more than one B-range grade if I didn’t want parental grief.
“Dad!” I called. There he was, standing tall and handsome, waiting with a luggage cart. I ran to his welcoming arms feeling the eyes of other travelers asking, “Is that Miranda Jordan’s daughter? And isn’t that her husband?”
“Elizabeth!” Dad hugged me tightly.
I needed his hug so badly. My heart weighed heavy with loneliness.
“Sweetheart, you look great,” he said appraising my appearance. “Tired, but great. Doesn’t Danny let you sleep?”
“Dad!” I scolded. “I’ve been up since midnight in this time zone.” We hugged again. “Daddy, I’m so glad you’re here.”
Dad held me close and whispered, “I thought you’d need me. A part of you is missing today.” Dad understood.
For the next few days, I went through the motions. Home was pleasant, but the combination of jet lag and missing Danny left me miserable and lethargic.
“Tomorrow let’s have girls day out,” Mom declared at dinner. “I’ve made us hair appointments. We’ll go shopping and have lunch.” There! Mom to the rescue!
Danny phoned later that evening interrupting my mindless web-surfing.
“How’s my girl?” Danny asked cheerfully. His voice always put a smile on my face. “I can’t talk long. It’s late.” It was ten o’clock here, one in Miami. “I love you,”
he added.
“I love you too, Danny.” I missed him so much the words hurt.
“Are you alone?”
“Who else would be in my bedroom when you’re not?” I laughed. Where was this going?
“What are you wearing?”
I looked down at my bathrobe and laughed. “I was about to bathe.”
“So you’re wearing nothing?” Danny asked with surprise.
“My robe is on.”
“The short pink fluffy one? I can imagine what’s underneath it.”
“I’m sure you can, Daniel.” I blushed.
“What are you imagining, Eli?”
“That you’re with me,” I stammered. “Can anybody hear us?”
“Cam and Shane are asleep,” Danny answered. “If I’m with you babe, what am I doing?”
“Danny, you’re holding me. We’re kissing.”
“Are my hands inside or on your robe?”
“Danny! You’re embarrassing me.”
“You’re too proper, Eli.”
“No I’m not. I’m your girlfriend.”
“Eli, you’ve got me there,” Danny laughed. “My hands are inside your robe by the way. Can you feel them?”
I blushed, relieved that my door was locked.
“Yes, I do.” I really did. “They’re all over me. I’m on fire.” I tingled. My breath hitched.
“I know. Eli, you’re soft and warm. Your kiss tastes sweet, too.”
“Danny! This isn’t fair.” I squirmed, already damp between my thighs.
“I’m driving you crazy, aren’t I?” he laughed. “I can guess what you’re imagining, Eli,” Danny teased.
“So are you.”
“Tell me, Sweetheart.”
“I can’t. Okay. I’m so embarrassed, even if nobody is here.”
Danny laughed at my discomfort.
“Danny, I wish you were here,” I moaned, so aroused.
“I wish I were too, babe.”
“We should both take cold showers,” I said.
Danny laughed. “You’re right. Weren’t you about to run a bath?”
“Yes, but a warm one.”
“Enjoy it, baby. I love you. I’ll call you again tomorrow.”
“For once, it is perfect,” I agreed. “Too bad nobody’s going to see it.”
“Be honest. You mean Danny. Must everything be measured by how it relates to him?”
“No, but it seems a waste my hair when it looks its best for Danny not to be here.”
Mom sighed, “So you’ll get it styled before the next time you’re with him.”
“Antonio doesn’t have a salon in upstate New York.”
“Elizabeth, you’re hopeless. Danny loves you no matter what your hair looks like.”
The elevator opened into a small lobby designed with the aura of a Mediterranean villa. Inspiration hit. The pale, stucco-covered wall would be a perfect backdrop.
“Take a picture of me,” I said to Mom, and I handed her my iPhone.
“Elizabeth!” she groaned.
“Mom,” I insisted, “It’s the next best thing.”
Mom snapped two pictures; one close-up and one full-body. Before we left the building, I texted them to Danny. I imagined he was swimming on what had to be a beautiful south Florida day. At some point he’d be back on land and open my message.
“Sending Danny a taste of what he’s missing?” Mom asked as we rejoined the crowds on Rodeo Drive.
“You betcha,” I responded. “I hate thinking nobody is going to see my hair looking this nice.” I admit I sounded like a spoiled brat.
“Lots of people will see you, Elizabeth. You just aren’t aware of it,” Mom said, indicating the masses on the street.
“Mom, they see you, not me,” a sorry fact of life that came with having a superstar for a mother. I’d long ago come to accept it, though I not necessarily enjoyed it.
Through my darkest sunglasses, I furtively glanced at the passing strangers. People glanced at us, some even starred. The pitfalls when your companion is Miranda Jordan.
This is why I hate Rodeo Drive. The street always teems with gawking tourists. Unable to afford anything in the shops, they came for stories to post on Facebook. Today’s crop was earning their bragging rights in spades.
“Ahem,” Mom whispered indicating a young couple in shorts and tees. You could always spot the tourists. Unless they were foreign, they rarely carried packages and their ubiquitous cameras were at the ready.
This young couple was giggling and holding hands. Honeymooners.
“That couple is thinking who is that beautiful young woman with Miranda Jordan,” Mom continued. “Perhaps it’s her much discussed but rarely photographed daughter, and that hair!” Mom teased.
“Mom!” I scolded. “And now they’re thinking Miranda Jordan must lie about her age because her daughter looks awfully grown-up.”
Mom and I both laughed. Mom had never lied about her age. She couldn’t. She’d gotten her big break as a teen.
Near Brighton Way, Mom said, “Now that young man is definitely looking at you, not me.” Mom was referring to an attractive young man with spiky brown hair wearing designer jeans, a t-shirt, flip-flops and most important, no camera.
“Zac!” I called out. I loved Zac!
“Elizabeth! It is you,” he answered, excited.
Zac and I exchanged quick embraces and cheek kisses.
“Mom, you remember Zac Hartman?”
“Yes, of course. How are you Zac?”
“Great, Mrs. Jacobs. I’m home from Harvard for the break.”
Impressive, it was even more so coming from Zac who grew up in the most dysfunctional family I had ever known.
Zac’s father had played lead guitar in a legendary rock band for over thirty years. Gibby had multiple piercings, endless tattoos, and had been in rehab so many times nobody kept count anymore. At 50, the world marveled that Gibby Hartman was not only alive, but was able to perform on yet another world tour.
“How’s your Dad?” I asked.
“Knock on wood. Eighteen months and he’s still clean,” Zac said proudly.
“Excellent news, Zac,” Mom said. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”
“How’s Steve Newman? I haven’t heard from Danny since probably October. It’s like he’s dropped off the planet. I was afraid…”
“Steve is good,” Mom answered. “He hasn’t had any set-backs for years.”
I looked at Mom, then at Zac and back to Mom, my mouth agape. Mom never discussed Steve’s past substance abuse issues with me and I was family. Yet here she was, answering Zac as though it were common knowledge. Maybe it was.
“Elizabeth, do you run into Danny?”
I flushed. “We’re roommates,” I wanted to answer, but didn’t. “Danny lives in my dorm,” I responded. How did Zac not know about us?
If Danny hadn’t told him, why hadn’t their posse? We’d seen them at Ali’s.
“Danny’s not in any trouble, is he? I mean, that could be why I haven’t heard from him.”
Trouble? “Danny ‘s just been busy,” I answered.
“That’s what I figured. Danny’s such a nerd.” Zac joshed. “I was in Europe with Gibby’s tour at Christmas so I’m sort of out of the loop.”
“Of course,” I nodded.
“Elizabeth, tell me if this rumor is true.” Zach said with urgency. “If it were anyone but Danny… It just sounds too incredible.”
“What rumor?”
Sequestered with our books in upstate New York, we’d been leading rather boring lives, certainly nothing to gossip about. If there were rumors about Danny, I would see that they were quashed. I fingered my iPhone hidden in my palm.
“I don’t know the details, but I heard he’s got a girlfriend, and it’s serious. That doesn’t sound like Danny.”
Do not look at Mom! Do not look at Mom! Stay sober.
“Zac, you’re right. It doesn’t, but it’s true. Danny does have a serious girlfriend.”
Toying with Zac was fun. Could I keep a straight face?
“Danny’s girlfriend is very bright and very beautiful. And she has great hair,” Mom added. “Steve and Ellen just love her.
I bit my lip to avoid laughing. Why did Mom have to torture me by mentioning the hair?
“No shit!” Zac exclaimed. “The Newman’s have met her!”
“His girlfriend comes from an excellent family,” I added and gave Mom a furtive smirk. I would give it right back to her.
“Unbelievable. Danny Newman with a real girlfriend.”
“Why wouldn’t Danny have a girlfriend?” I frowned. Danny was so easy to love.
“I’m sorry. This must hurt. I forgot. Elizabeth, you’ve always had a thing for Danny”
The vibration of the ringtone against my hand startled me. I recovered my composure and noted the incoming number.
“Hi, Daniel,” I purred into the phone and stared at Zac.
“Got your message, babe. It’s not quite, but it’s almost as good as having you here. I miss you, Eli.”
“I miss you too.” My heart was soaring and a big smile crossed my face. “Mom and I were at the salon.”
“Baby, you look perfect, as always.”
“Thanks, honey. Whatcha doing?”
“I’m sitting at the pool reading a book.”
Zac starred wide-eyed while Mom stifled a laugh.
“Hold on a moment. Mom and I ran into Zac. He’s trying to say something.”
“It’s you!” Zac stammered.
I grinned in response, giddy.
“Zac just figured out that I’m the girl in the who is Danny Newman’s girlfriend rumor,” I said to the phone. “Zac, you can close your mouth now.” It was opened wide with disbelief. “He looks like a fish.” Danny was now laughing. Even Mom couldn’t help herself and was laughing.
I couldn’t imagine how we must have looked to anyone passing. A movie icon, a young woman, and a cell phone all laughing while a young man stood befuddled, looking helpless. In the middle of Rodeo Drive, of all places!
“I’m sorry, Zac.” I choked out while trying to regain my composure.
“Eli,” Danny was also trying to stop laughing. “Babe, put me on speaker.”
I held the phone up, so we were all facing it.
“Zac, you okay?” Danny asked.
“I don’t get it. Elizabeth?”
“This is why we haven’t spoken in months. I knew you wouldn’t understand. Zac, are you looking at her?”
Zac turned toward me and I preened. “Yes, I’m looking at Elizabeth.”
“Good. ‘Cause she’s the most beautiful girl you’re ever going to set your eyes on and she’s mine.”
Zac rolled his eyes. I stood smugly holding the phone. Mom smiled.
“Danny, I want to invite Elizabeth to my party on Thursday. Can she come?”
“Elizabeth doesn’t need my permission, Zac. E, if you want to go it’s up to you.”
“I know but Zac is being a jerk.”
“He is, but by Thursday you’ll probably be bored.”
“Good point. I’ll go.”
“E, take me off speaker so we can have some privacy.”
I took Danny off speaker and moved to the side of the building.