Hollywood Stardust Supporting Roles - Wilson and Giselle (9 page)

“
Can we come in or is this
part of the training?” The man waved his hand in front of Wilson’s
face.

“
Yeah, come in.” He stepped
back from the door. In the hours they were apart, something
dreadful must have taken place. That’s how it always happened.
“I’ll be right back.”

Without waiting for them to come in, he
dashed into the kitchen. His only luck thus far was nearly banging
into his brother.

“
Whoa!” Logan stepped back.
“What’s your deal?”

He glared into his brother’s eyes.

Logan straightened up. “Talk.”

“
Have you heard from Ivy
today?” He made an unsuccessful attempt to keep his tone
even.

“
We texted this morning,
and then I called, then she called and texted.” Logan narrowed his
eyes, grabbed his phone off the counter and looked at the device.
“Now that I think about it, we haven’t spoken much
today.”

At finding his opportunity, Wilson cleared
his throat. “When you call her next can you ask her if she’s seen
Giselle, and if she may know her whereabouts?” Yes, he tried to
sound formal.

Logan peered at him over his phone.
“Something the matter in Wilson’s world?”

Not wanting to deal with his baby brother’s
teasing, he closed the distance between them and glanced down at
Logan. “Unless you answer my question, something is going go awry
in Logan’s land.”

They stared each other down.

“
Let me ask the one person
who will know.” Logan typed away on his phone. “I told her you were
concerned because Giselle is not here yet. Is that
accurate?”

“
Yes.” Wilson shoved his
hands in his pockets.

At the almost instantaneous chime, he ground
his teeth together. How come Logan got to have the compliant
girlfriend and he had the rebel?

“
She said she saw her this
morning and then said don’t worry.” Logan turned the phone to
him.

Indeed, that’s what Ivy said. “Why should I
not worry? Is she on her way here?” Wilson motioned toward the
phone.

Once more Logan typed into the phone, once
more Ivy responded like a good little girl and once more Logan
showed him the screen.

She sometimes disappears to clear her head.
Seriously, tell Wilson not to worry, she’ll turn up when she’s
ready.

He read the text and yelled at the phone.
“What is she clearing her head over?”

“
Do you want me to ask
that?” Logan got ready to type.

The message was loud and clear, she was
either done or got a better offer. He shook his head and went to
join his new crew. “I have work to do, mine and Giselle’s, I’m
always the one who has to take over.”

“
Oh, shut it. When she gets
back you’ll get a piece,” Logan called after him.

He flipped his brother off and returned to
the front, deciding he wasn’t upset or worried, he was pissed.

“
Excuse me.” One of the
women on his newfound team raised her hand the second he entered
the room.

“
Yes.” He pointed at
her.

“
Do you think we are going
to get to see Logan? Will he be part of our training?” She
smiled.

Logan. Always Logan. The only person who
didn’t ask for Logan was Giselle. “If your job here lasts, I’m sure
you will see him at some point.”

She looked down.

Not meaning to snap, he sighed. “Anyone else
have any questions?”

His six minions shook their heads.

In his pocket, his phone vibrated, and he
hated the way his stomach jumped at the thought it may be Giselle
with a clear mind. Again, he turned away from his employees and
retrieved his phone. At it not being his so-called girlfriend, he
hit the button and barked into the phone. “What?” Well, he was the
only one who called her his girlfriend, but still.

“
Hey.” Ike, the alcohol
vendor, practically screamed into the phone.

Wilson held the device back. “What’s
up?”

“
Are we still
on?”

Seriously, the man’s voice was way too
cheery. Wilson looked over his shoulder at the trainees waiting for
him. “I don’t know. I’m sort of swamped and a key person isn’t
here.”

“
I can get you some good
deals, but it’s toward the end of my month and I need to wrap this
up.” Ike continued to basically scream into the phone.

“
Let me call you back.” He
pressed his hand to his temple and hung up.

“
Are we going to start the
training now?” Another woman spoke up.

“
Why not?” If nothing else,
he couldn’t stand there all day waiting for something that might or
might not happen, as always he had to trudge on. “Let’s get to
work.”

The rest of the day seemed to pass in tense
limbo. Between sort of training his staff and then corralling them
out the door, the multitude of phone calls from anyone and everyone
except Giselle, and trying to deal with the other odds and ends of
opening his business, he was a frazzled disaster by the time he sat
down with a bottle of whiskey and paperwork well past prime
time.

At hearing the door in the back open, he
simply took another gulp of his drink. All day long he had jumped
at every sound that could be Giselle and he was done. It was
probably Logan anyway. He poured some more of the amber liquid and
then did the loser thing where he took a swig right out of the
bottle.

“
I thought you didn’t
drink.” Giselle’s voice filled the room.

Relief didn’t wash over him, only a fresh
batch of anger. “I’m not drinking, I’m sampling, it’s one of the
perks of owning a bar.”

“
Oh, did you have your
meeting with that vendor?” She tiptoed into the room. “He had some
end-of-month specials.”

“
I had a video conference.
I’m sure I would have gotten a better deal if I was actually able
to see him, but I was too busy training the staff.” He started to
write a check and then realized he had no idea what he was paying.
All he knew was he had to keep his cool.

“
I’m sure you did
magnificent. They had to know all about Wilson’s and who better to
show them?” She slid in the booth next to him.

“
Maybe the woman who hired
them?” Finally, he turned to her. Damn if the woman wasn’t
gorgeous. “Is this how you quit your other jobs? Will I now end up
as one of your stories to your next boss?”

“
I never wanted to quit,”
she whispered.

“
What do you want?” After
what she put him through, there had to be a reason.

“
I brought you a sandwich.”
She lifted her purse and pulled a bag out of it. “I thought we
could share, then have some nuts, and maybe something
else.”

Seriously? She wasn’t going to offer an
explanation? Not even an apology. All she was going to do was make
light of the fact she ditched him and then show up like everything
was copacetic? He had no words.

“
Can I have a sip so I can
catch up?” With a smile, she reached for the bottle.

He caught her hand. “I don’t know where
those lips have been all day.” So much for keeping his cool.

“
Well, I don’t need to tell
you where these lips could have been if you didn’t just accuse me
of that.” With a laugh, she pulled her hand back and got out of the
booth. Before she turned around she bowed.

Every muscle in his body tensed. “Where are
you going?”

Her back facing him, she waved.

He watched her go through the swinging door
into the kitchen and flinched when the door slammed, indicating
she’d left.

That was it?

Did his girlfriend just walk out before he
even told her she was his girlfriend?

* * * *

GISELLE MADE SURE TO STOMP her feet, hoping
her heels echoed over the tile floor in the kitchen as she made her
way out of Wilson’s. With dramatic flourish, she pulled the door
open and then almost tripped slamming it to make sure the slam
resonated through the whole building. Too bad only the guy whose
name was on the door was around to hear it.

With the same conviction as her epic door
slam, she made her way out to her car, pulled back her foot and
squarely kicked the tire of her car. “Ah!” Sharp pain shot up her
shin, and she doubled over, grabbing her leg. Why didn’t she just
get in the car and go like any self-respecting girl?

Instead, she stood there, actually slumped
there, holding her leg and waiting for what, she didn’t know.

“
Are you all right?” Wilson
came out.

“
Yes, I was just inspecting
the asphalt while practicing a yoga pose.” Her voice came out
convincingly strained.

“
Then I must ask. What are
you doing? I would have thought you would’ve drove off by now.” He
bent down near him.

Still holding her leg, she glanced at him.
“You know you ruined my day.”

“
Oh really!” He broke out
into laughter. The laughter grew, wracking his body until he sat
down right on the ground and leaned against the tire that tried to
kill her. “I ruined your day? I’d like to know how the hell that
happened.”

Her day flashed before her. The spa, her
mother trying to brush every painful thing away, and then driving
around until she ended up at that place in the valley that had her
favorite sandwich. None of it was fun. She faced him. “I tried all
day not to think about you and then thought about you all day.”

“
We had the same day.” He
sighed. “Think what it could have been if we were
together.”

Unable to remain in the weird position she
got herself into, she sat down next to him. “Well, we could have
driven to the valley together to get that sandwich.”

“
That’s what people do when
they are together.”

Her heart sped. “People could do a lot of
things when they are together.”

“
Well, maybe some of those
things can be returning phone calls and texts. Of course, if those
people were together, maybe they would have actually been together
and talked about whatever made someone run off for the better part
of fourteen hours.” He put his hand out on his leg palm up, a small
but significant gesture.

“
A man who actually wants
to talk? Isn’t that a little against your species?” She focused on
his hand.

“
Yeah, I’m betraying all
mankind.” He wiggled his fingers.

“
What if someone needs some
alone time just to think?” She put her hand out but
stopped.

“
Then that person explains.
They don’t just vanish.”

At last, she put her hand in his and warmth
encompassed her. “I’m sorry. What if I promise if I ever need to
think I’ll be home by sunset?”

“
I accept your apology and
your offer. I didn’t mean to get as upset as I did, but earlier I
was thinking about what could have happened to you when you didn’t
answer the phone, and I would never want my girlfriend to need me
and me not be available.” He intertwined their fingers.

Girlfriend. Was that a step up from
together? She thought about him all day, a title didn’t make that
any more or less true. “What do we do now that we’re together?”

“
Kiss me.” His tone was
demanding.

Without hesitation she moved up next to him
and connected their lips.

He wrapped his arms around her and deepened
the kiss, before pulling back and leaving her breathless.

“
Do I need to change my
social media status now?” She toyed with his collar.

He hooked his fingers under her chin and
prodded her face up. “We can start there, and how about you spend
the night?”

“
I’ll spend the night with
my boyfriend.” At her total acknowledgement she gasped, but she
didn’t die, no one did. Actually, the horrible weight she carried
with her all day vanished, but left her feeling as if she were
floating without a tether and could crash-land at any
second.

GISELLE KNOCKED ON THE DOOR to the front of
the club.

The door opened and one of her newly
trained, and then retrained just slightly by her, waiters opened
the door and stood there with a blank expression and his hand
out.

She leaned in and put a key in his
hand.  “Cashew.”

The waiter gave her one nod and motioned for
her to go inside.  He closed and locked the door.

“
Excellent.”  She
clapped, scurried around the corner and waited.   Wilson
should be here any minute, and she asked him to come in through the
front.

Only five minutes later, the door handle
jiggled.  “Giselle!”  Wilson knocked and called to
her. 

The waiter looked over at her.

“
Do it.”  With
calculated steps, she tiptoed over, but stayed out of
sight.

Once more, the waiter opened the door and
stood with his hand out. 

“
Excuse me.”  Wilson’s
voice took on a sarcastic tone.

As instructed, the waiter didn’t move.
 “The password, sir.”

“
What?”  Wilson
adjusted the bags in his hands.  “Get out of the
way.”

“
Not without the password
and the key.”  The waiter stood his ground.

“
My password is I own this
place, and my key is your paycheck,” Wilson growled.

“
I’m sorry sir, we will
have to deny your entrance.”  The waiter’s voice shook a
little bit.

Wilson stuck his head inside. 
“Giselle!  Where are you?”