Hollywood Princess (39 page)
Read Hollywood Princess Online
Authors: Dana Aynn Levin
At the very least, I would retu
rn home tired enough to sleep. Besides, I wasn’t picking up Eli until mid-morning. On the assumption that she was tired, we could take a cozy nap together. After lunch, when Rachel and I had the editing bay again, then I needed to function.
The guys were warming up when I arrived with a six-pack
under my arm and some joints. I was glad it was only the four of us. Often I would arrive at Kirk’s and find a party. Tonight I was not in the mood.
The guys surrounded me
as I laid my wares down on the makeshift coffee table. Ron picked up a joint and sniffed its length. “This is good,” he smiled.
Kirk li
t one too. He inhaled deeply. “Good shit, Newman,” he proclaimed.
I
smiled, pleased that they enjoyed my stash. For now, I popped open a beer.
I’d almost forgott
en how much I enjoyed jamming. It had been a while. Eli enjoyed the music, but she didn’t like me coming here.
This part of my life
Eli and I mutually decided not to share. When I partied, invariably I would stumble home in the middle of the night smelling like pot and beer, wasted from one or both. Eli didn’t have to say anything. Eli disapproved, but she was tolerant, never giving me an ultimatum. Eli knew by not stopping me that I probably partied less frequently than I would otherwise have done.
Shit!
Phoebe and Amelia arrived with their posse. Who the hell let them in?
Through the corner of my eye, I saw
Amelia perched on the edge of the coffee table trying to get my attention. It was a lose-lose. If I continued ignoring her, Amelia would win, knowing her presence was getting to me. If I looked her way, Amelia would win, thinking I was interested in spending another night with her.
I could safely ignore
Amelia until we took a break. Unfortunately, that was soon.
Amelia lit a joint and greeted me with a peck on the cheek as I
lay down my bass, acting as though she were my date. This was the last thing I wanted.
“Here,”
Amelia said, smiling coquettishly.
Ame
lia held the joint to my lips. I had no choice but to take it and inhale. A few hits would take the edge off. More than a few hits were what I feared.
“Thanks, Amelia,” I said casually.
“Are you avoiding me tonight, Dan?” Amelia asked, her voice syrupy sweet.
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“Eye contact. Since I arrived you’ve avoided making eye contact with me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” But
Amelia was right.
Amelia’s stare bored into me.
I could no longer avoid eye contact. I took a deep hit. Amelia smiled, and ran her finger along my jawbone, ending with gently touching my lip. My pulse sped up. I did not want the excitement generated by Amelia’s touch.
Damn her!
Amelia knew exactly what she was doing.
“Dan
,” she said deliberately, “You are afraid of me.”
I laughed nervously.
“Mary Poppins isn’t here and you’re afraid we’ll end up together again.”
I inhaled another deep hit. Amelia was right.
I didn’t want her knowing that I knew.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Amelia,” I answered defensively.
“Mary still in the sick house?”
“I’m springing my girlfriend in the morning,” I emphasized the word ‘girlfriend.’
“Girlfriend? Yeah, right.”
Amelia took back the joint and
let her fingers rest on mine. She inhaled deeply and passed the joint back to me. Again her fingers lingered, touching mine. Amelia’s fingers were warm and soft, and expert at getting what they wanted.
I was mellow
, on my way to getting wasted. Amelia kept her hand on my face and reached up to kiss my lips.
“Amelia, cut it out. I’m taken.” I couldn’t help grinning,
the grin of a wasted man.
“Dan,” Amelia said in a flirty voice, “You know you want me.”
I laughed nervously. Amelia was right. I didn’t want Amelia to be right.
“Amelia, you’re worse than poison.”
“What’s worse than poison?” she asked. Then Amelia opened a button on her shirt. She was bra-less.
I took another hit. My eyes fixated on her small bu
t lovely breasts. Completely wasted, I had little control over what I said or did.
“Crystal meth,” I laughed. “You’re like crystal meth.
Dangerous and unhealthy, but totally addicting.” I desperately wanted to touch those breasts.
Amelia grabbed my hips and provocatively thrust hers against me.
“Then you’re crack cocaine. A little has me wanting more.”
Amelia and I
giggled uncontrollably, two completely besotted souls.
“Let’s get out of here, Dan,” she whispered and sucked my ear lobe.
Whoa!
I
kissed Amelia’s lips roughly. We shared hazy wasted smiles knowing what waited at her nearby house.
Sunlig
ht, harsh and glaring woke me. Where the hell was I? Not in my bed, that was for sure. The hand wrapped around my hip was not small and the fingers were not delicate with perfectly manicured nails.
Shit! They belonged to Amelia!
What little I was capable of remembering of last night came flooding back. Completely wasted, sex with Amelia had been unavoidable. But spending the night? Shit! I never spent the night with anyone but Elizabeth.
I
grabbed my eyeglasses off the desk. I had to get out of here before Amelia woke.
A glance
at the clock and I sat bolt upright. Shit! It was after eight already! I’d told Elizabeth I’d be by bright and early to spring her. It would no longer be so early.
“Good morning, Dan,” a sleepy Amelia purred.
“I’ve got to get out of here,” I said urgently as I slipped out of the bed.
Amelia reached for me. “What’s the rush?
It’s Saturday.”
I found my jeans.
With my back to Amelia, I pulled them up and fastened the button. “Elizabeth is expecting me,” I answered as I yanked the zipper closed.
“Come back to bed, Dan.
She can wait.”
I turned back to Amelia. “No, she can’t.
I promised Eli I’d be there. I’m so late.”
My shirt sat d
umped on the desk. I reached for it and shook it out. It’s odor was unmistakable, yet I held the fabric before my nose for confirmation.
“Ugh! This reeks!” I couldn’t wear this.
Eli would kill me.
I did some quick thinking and remembered I had a week’s worth of shirts in the trunk of my car, having stopped by the dry
cleaner yesterday afternoon. Having forgotten to bring them up to my room, it was like having a closet on wheels.
What else
smelled rank? I cupped my hands around my mouth and blew. Gross! Much as I assumed, my breath was disgusting.
“
Ugh! Sour keg breath,” I complained. I could not greet Eli in this condition.
“Amelia, hand me a towel. I need to shower.”
She stared as though she didn’t understand my simple request.
“Do you have a spare toothbrush?” I added. “I can’t
smell like pot and stale beer. Elizabeth hates when I get wasted.”
“Can’t say I blame h
er,” Amelia answered bitterly. “Ya think she suspects what happens next?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Look, Amelia, I need that towel and toothbrush. I don’t have time to get back to Berkeley,” I said frantically.
“And I should help you cover-up your extra-curricular activities; why?”
I stopped short and considered it. I suppose I was asking a lot of Amelia by trying to enlist her aide in covering up my indiscretions.
“If you had to meet James, I’d give you a towel and a toothbrush without hesitation.”
“Isn’t that big of you.” Amelia said sarcastically.
Amelia
was proving to be a frustrating pain in the ass this morning. Maybe that’s how she always was in the morning. I didn’t know or want to know.
I took a deep breath. “Let’s be adults, Amelia. The past two nights were fun.
But we were wasted or they wouldn’t have happened. You’re James’ lady. Eli is mine. I would never do anything to sabotage what you have with him. I expect the same from you. Otherwise, what were you doing spending the night with me? Towel?”
“You’re so clueless, Dan.
I’d have dropped James in a flash if you’d asked.”
“I’ve never led you on, Amelia.”
“Maybe not. But here you are. Again.”
“I’ve got to shower, Amelia.”
“You fucking bastard!” she cried. “I won’t sabotage your relationship with Mary Poppins, but I certainly won’t help you. Just get the hell out of here, Dan.”
The metal against metal sound of the bathroom door brought me back t
o the moment. Elizabeth emerged dressed in navy plaid pajama pants and a magenta t-shirt. Her hair was in a towel and she was holding the shirt she had slept in.
“You’re early,” El
izabeth said smiling in delight.
Unbelievably, I was.
After racing home from Amelia’s, I had taken what was assuredly the shortest shower on record, brushed my teeth, and changed into clean clothes. My hair still damp, I smelled like me again.
“I couldn’t stay away,” I answered as I e
nveloped Elizabeth in my arms. I held her tightly, not wanting to let her go. Eli was my home.
I pulled the towel off
Eli’s head and let it drop to the floor, releasing a tumble of wet auburn waves. The light fragrance of Bumble & Bumble was intoxicating. I took her face in my hands. Elizabeth’s eyes were clear, no longer glazed by fever.
“Baby, you look great.
How are you today?”
“Not perfect, but much improved.”
“Can I make you more perfect?”
Without waiting for an answer, I
pressed my lips to hers. I wanted Eli to feel my love.
Eli’s response was immediate; her lips parting for me. Three weeks.
I could keep Amelia at bay for that long. I had no choice.
I playfully fell back onto the pillows. Danny followed, jumping onto the bed next to me. I laughed as my body bounced up in response to the force of his hard landing.
Then Danny propped himself on his elbow. Sapphire eyes glowed as he starred at me. I reached for him and eagerly pressed my lips to his, reigniting the kiss the nurse had interrupted. This time, Danny reached under my t-shirt and unhooked my bra. His touch sent shivers vibrating through me. How I’d missed him.
“Sure you’re up to it?” he asked.
I wanted Danny so badly, but I remained weak. I hated disappointing him.
Danny read through my hesitation and removed his hand.
“It’s okay. I’m perfectly happy cuddling. Baby, you need to recover.”
“Thank you,” I said, relieved that Danny had taken the decision from me.
Snuggled in each other’s arms, we drifted off to sleep.
“I’m spending the afternoon with Rachel,” Danny said as we returned from lunch. “I don’t know when I’ll be back. It could be late. I want you to rest, so I’ve instructed the roomies to take you to dinner. Those are orders, young lady.”
Danny kissed my forehead for emphasis. I smiled shyly. Danny was making such a fuss. Still, his love touched me.
After Danny left me to join Rachel, I made myself comfortable among the pillows and settled in with a political science book. The pressure was on. I had fallen behind and time remaining in the semester was short.
But soon my eyelids weighed heavily. Danny’s voice ordering me to rest echoed in my brain. I sighed, frustrated. As always, Danny was right. In half an hour, I’d read only one page. I was too tired.
Marking my place, I laid the book down on the desk, covered myself with the comforter, and closed my eyes. The scent of Danny, that wonderful, warm, masculine aroma, embraced me. Feeling loved and secure, I fell asleep within moments.
“Rach, we are out of here!” I exclaimed.
“It’s only ten o’clock. Are you sure?” Rachel asked doubtfully.
“Yep.
Don’t you want to get out of here? I laughed. “It is Saturday night.”
“Well, yeah. I’m just surprised.
I didn’t even make plans.”
“So you’ll go to The Cellar. I’m sure your friends
will be there.”
“Are you going?”
“Not tonight,” I grinned, hyper with joy.
“Right.
You have a hot date with someone who actually is your girlfriend. That is who you’re spending tonight with or shouldn’t I make that assumption?”
My smile dropped.
“Rachel, don’t start,” I warned.
Why must she do this?
Rachel hadn’t spoken a word about Amelia all day. Couldn’t she let sleeping dogs lie? I guess not.
“Just checking, because Elizabeth might notice if you don’t come home.”
“Eli will be very happy when I get home. But it’s not going to be a hot date. Eli has the flu, remember?”
“Of course I do.
I just didn’t think that would hold you back.”
“Then
Rach, you don’t know squat about me and Eli,” I answered angrily.
“At this point, you’re right. Elizabeth
hasn’t been available for girl talk in a while.”
“It so happens I am perfectly ha
ppy simply being with my lady. I half expect to find Eli sleeping and if she is, I will gladly crawl in beside her because I am beat. If I’m fortunate and she’s awake, then if she is up to it, we might watch a DVD. Hot night, huh Rach? It is for me.”
Any night with Eli was a hot night as far as I was concerned.
“After this week, I didn’t think you only wanted companionship.”
“Then you
insult both me and Elizabeth. Clearly you have never been in a serious relationship.”
“You’re right. I haven’t.
I do know when I am, I won’t put up with any B.S.”
“Good luck with that, Rach. He’ll have some other flaw.
We all do.”
“Danny, y
ou really have no shame, do you?”
I took a deep breath.
I tired of Rachel’s harping. It was threatening to end our friendship if she continued.
“Rachel, this is the last ti
me I am going to discuss this. Either accept what I tell you or we can’t continue as friends.”
Rachel considered my words. “I’ll try to understand,” she
relented.
“Good, because I value our friendship.”
“So do I, but I value Elizabeth’s more.”
“I know you do.
Rach, you alone understand how hard I fought my feelings for Elizabeth. But Eli understood my ambivalence toward being in a committed relationship. Hell, that was why I broke up with Juliette; she wanted me 24/7.”
“I thought Juliette broke up with you because you were sleeping with Elizabeth.”
“I was taking care of Eli, not sleeping with her. All right, so Juliette broke up with me. But I was about to because she wanted me 24/7.”
“Aren’t you with Elizabeth 24/7?”
“Yes. But it’s different. I love Elizabeth.”
“What about Amelia? Danny, you’ve made me this middle-man.
I’m keeping secrets from my dearest friend knowing I’ll be helping her through the heartbreak when it comes. And Danny, it will come. Donnelly is a small place.”
“Rach, I’m not as bad as you make me out to be.”
“What a relief,” Rachel answered sarcastically. I ignored her.
“Fact is, I’ve only cheated a couple of times and that was when Eli wasn’t with me and I’ve been wasted.”
“So now she’s home and finals are coming so you’ll behave? What happens this summer when you’re in Vancouver and she’s not?”
“Nothi
ng to worry about,” I laughed. “Eli’s coming up every weekend.”
“And the other five nights?” Rachel asked caustically.
“Rach, you’re such a cynic.”
“I’m a realist who doesn’t trust you, Danny.”
“I will be the hardest working boy in Canada. Dad is depending on me. I can’t afford to party. Dad’s reputation is at stake.”
“What about the girls
? They have those in Vancouver.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m working for Dad.
If I did anything that could hurt Eli, Dad would send me packing in an instant.”