Chapter Twenty
I woke up the next day peacefully, an easy smile on my face. Anthony and I had stayed up so late watching TV and getting to know each other. When I dozed off on his shoulder, he decided it was time for me to go to bed. Without waiting for a response from me, Anthony slid his arms underneath my legs and around my back, picking me up and carrying me up the stairs, only putting me back on the ground when we were outside my bedroom door. Not many words were said between us. He simply ran his hand along my cheek, tucking my hair behind my ear. I had looked up at him through my eyelashes, sleep already weighing my eyelids down. He closed the distance between, brushing his lips across my own. Before I could deepen the kiss, he pulled away, whispering ‘goodnight’ and turning down the hall.
As I lay in bed the next morning, replaying our kisses from the night before through my mind, I was so content and happy. I was sure I was just in that bubble – the new relationship bubble where everything is perfect and exciting. But that was okay with me. I didn’t want that bubble to ever pop.
A loud knock on my bedroom door startled my thoughts. I looked over at the clock on my end table. It was seven in the morning. Anthony and I had stayed up very late – why would he be up already? As I struggled to pull myself up so I could climb out of bed, my bedroom door flew open.
Colton stomped through the door, looking immensely tanner than he had last time I saw him. The Cabo sunshine had especially brightened his blonde hair, and his blue eyes contrasted vividly with his deep tan. “Wake up,” he said sharply with a sullen expression on his face.
“Colton!” I exclaimed, sitting up more, my own blonde hair getting tousled into an extreme case of bedhead. “What are you doing here?”
He rolled his eyes, “You never check your emails, do you, Elena?” He sat down on my bed with a flourish, shooting me a glare.
“I’ve been a bit distracted – ”
"I don't care," Colton cut me off. I raised my eyebrows. "Get dressed. We're going to LA for your cameo." I had completely forgotten about my minor commitment to appear in the new Zac Efron and Channing Tatum movie. I'd only be shooting for a day and it shouldn't even take very long.
I flopped back on my bed, "Ugh. I forgot." I growled in frustration and Colton rolled his eyes again. I glared at him. "You keep rolling your eyes like that, they'll get stuck in the back of your head."
“Then get up and I won’t have to roll my eyes,” he said standing up. He began to walk out of the room, calling over his shoulder as he left, “Mason and I will be in the kitchen.”
After struggling my way out of my comfortable bed, I threw some clothes in a bag and freshened up. After I looked fairly presentable, having brushed my hair and dabbed a slight amount of make-up on my face, I strapped up my walking boot and hobbled my way downstairs.
As I neared the kitchen, it sounded like someone was throwing up. I poked my head into the kitchen to find Colton pretending to dry-heave into the sink. Mason was shaking his head, an amused grin on his face. "What's going on?" I asked thoroughly confused.
“Mason is trying to poison me with his gross protein shakes,” Colton said turning to me. His eyes scanned my body, stopping at the black walking boot on my ankle. “What the bloody hell is that?”
Mason stopped grinning, picking up his smoothie and taking a long drink. I looked down at my boot and back up at Colton. “I thought you’d heard about this?” I looked over at Mason puzzled. I thought he had told Colton. Surely someone did.
“Yes,” Colton said, coming closer. “I knew you hurt your ankle, but I thought it was just a sprain. You’re in a boot?”
“Yeah, just for a couple weeks,” I said, feeling ashamed.
“That’s just great,” Colton mumbled. “Can’t wait to hear what the studio says about this. Maybe we can make it work.”
“Yeah, let’s just cross that bridge when we get to it,” I said. This was just a cameo so it shouldn’t really be a big deal. From what I’ve understood, I’m just supposed to lounge around in a bikini and when the guys talk to me, I’m supposed to degrade them a little bit. Piece of cake. They don’t need my ankle for that.
“Okay,” Colton said. “Let’s get outta here. We’re already a little late. As usual.”
“What about Anthony?” I asked, remembering for the first time since Colton showed up that he was still here.
Colton narrowed his eyes at me, “What about him?”
“Well, he’s here,” I said, pointing upstairs. “Shouldn’t we bring him, too?”
“No,” Colton said unemotionally. He walked past me back into the hallway heading towards the front door, picking up my bag as he went. I hobbled along behind him, Mason picking up the rear.
"What? What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded, finally beginning to get a little fed up with Colton's attitude.
“It’s a closed set, Elena,” he turned to face me in the foyer next to the front door. “Seriously? Even if I wanted to I couldn’t make that happen. Hell, even if it were Kris Harris – my unknown lover – I wouldn’t be able to make that happen.” He didn’t have the attitude in his voice or features anymore. Instead, he almost looked like he felt sorry for me. I wasn’t sure what that was about.
“Okay, well, we should at least tell him what’s going on,” I said. “And my friends are supposed to get here today, too.” I huffed in frustration. How could I have let this slip my mind?
Colton ignored me and turned towards the door, taking my bag out to the car where Marcus stood waiting to drive us to the airport. I turned to Mason hoping he had some advice or answers for me.
“Maybe leave him a note?” he shrugged. “And call your friends on your way to the airport.” I bit my lip, thinking hard. That was probably the best option.
“Let’s go!” Colton hollered from outside. He was really impatient. I knew I didn’t have time to write Anthony a note, so I pulled my phone out of my pocket and grabbed my purse off the foyer console table and trudged out to the car, ignoring the biting cold of the winter wind.
Once settled in the car, I sent Anthony a text, feeling really awful about how I was just disappearing on him.
I’m so sorry, I texted and sent before sending another. I forgot I had a shoot in LA today. Colton just kidnapped me pretty much. I should be back by the end of the day today. Michelle and Jane will be arriving today as well. Call me when you wake up if you want.
Guilt weighed down on me as I pressed ‘send.’ We just couldn’t seem to catch a break this week. Bad luck had crashed all over our attempts to spend time together. I shook my head and went to call Jane and Michelle. I forgot that it was earlier in LA at the time, so I had to leave messages explaining where I was and who Anthony was. I begged both of them to look out for him and tell him how sorry I was.
Once I was finished contacting everyone, I looked over at Colton sitting next to me. He was tapping away on his phone, as usual. Sensing my eyes on him, he looked back over at me. “Everything settled?” he asked. I shrugged. Colton gave me a half smile and continued, “It’s not the end of the world, Elena.”
I turned and looked out the window, watching a light flurry fall from the sky. “I know,” I mumbled. “I still feel guilty for leaving though.”
∞∞∞
Twelve excruciating hours later, we finally arrived back in Aspen. Marcus opened the door, letting me out to limp my way into our cabin. Mason came around the side, allowing me to lean some of my weight onto his arm, the usual mask of concern on his face whenever I was hurt. I had forgotten to take my pain medication with me to LA and didn’t want to make Colton’s attitude worse, so I didn’t say anything.
I spent the day at a hotel the studio had rented for the day. I was in a red bikini all day, either lounging by the pool or sitting at the pool bar giving my brief performance. It was easier than we anticipated. I was right in thinking that the director wouldn't need to see my ankle. I did have to take the boot off for the shoot, but I wasn't required to walk or stand on it at all.
Overall, it was a pretty easy day. It could have been very enjoyable as well if it weren't for the fact that I hadn't heard from Anthony except for a text after I landed in LA. He only said that he understood completely, and told me to have fun. It only made me feel even guiltier.
I started having irrational worries that I shouldn’t even have been thinking about this early on in our relationship – if we could even call it a relationship. Nothing about our relationship was conventional, and I was beginning to worry that maybe he might decide that my lifestyle was too much for him to handle. The last thing I wanted was to end up with someone who would leave me because they couldn’t handle the spotlight. I would never choose to walk away from my career for a man.
These thoughts and worries made me think of Ethan and Cate’s failed relationship. I hadn’t thought of Cate in months, but thinking about either of them now just caused more hurt as I remembered Ethan’s cold words.
He still hadn’t reached out to me, and while Anthony was a good distraction, I couldn’t help but feel almost lost without Ethan. We used to talk to each other all the time, even if it was just a simple, silly text. The silence was crushing if I thought about it too much, so I didn’t. I pushed all my worries aside and tried to focus on my work. I had just wanted to get back to Anthony as soon as I could.
Colton had taken a separate flight back to Cabo after leaving the shoot. He scolded me a little when he saw the beginnings of my limp, but we said goodbye as we always do: a tight embrace and a few silly words about how much we love each other. Then, he gave me a glare and told me to ‘use my head,’ whatever that means.
Getting back to the cabin, I just wanted to go upstairs and go to bed, feeling drained both physically (due to my ankle and the two flights in twelve hours) and the mentally (from all the worrying I had been doing despite my best efforts to push my worries aside). The cabin was all lit up with every light on, and there were obvious signs that there had been a lot of activity in the cabin that day, but there was no one around.
The only signs of life came from the kitchen where Chef Dante was cleaning up, his headphones in his ear, singing loudly and off-key. I didn’t want to get dragged into a long conversation, so I quickly disappeared upstairs before he saw me. Getting my phone out, I called Anthony while Mason took my bags to my room, letting me lean on him for support up the stairs.
I bit my lip waiting for Anthony to answer. When the call went to voicemail, I hung up, dialing up Jane’s number instead. She answered after the second ring.
“Elena Lewis!” she cried out in her famous valley-girl style voice. “Where are you, girlfriend?”
“I just got back to the cabin,” I said, sitting down on my bed. Mason gave me a questioning look and I waved my hand in his direction dismissing him. He nodded and disappeared out my bedroom door.
“Well, get your ass here,” Jane said over the sound of loud laughter and music in the background. “We’re in town at that bar. What is this place called?” I heard ask someone next to her. “Oh, the Deuce! Love it! Get here.”
“Is Anthony with you?” I asked.
“Yeah, he is,” Jane said, dropping her voice. “Girl, where did you find this guy? He is de-vine!”
“Is he okay?” I asked, ignoring her comment. “He didn’t answer my call.”
"Oh, Lord, help us all," Jane said sarcastically. She had clearly been drinking. "Anthony didn’t answer Elena’s call. Whatever will we do?”
“Hey,” I said offensively.
“Relax, girlfriend,” Jane said. “He’s right here. He’s been a good boy, haven’t you?”
I heard a male laugh in the background then Anthony’s voice was in my ear, “Baby,” he said.
“Hey,” I said, my tone a little higher than I meant for it to be. “You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said hurriedly. “I miss you.” Awe, that was sweet.
“I miss you, too,” I told him, a smile crossing my face. Maybe we were okay after all. I had been worrying for nothing.
“Come here,” he said. “Please? I need to be with you.” I heard Jane’s giggle in the background. “Shut up, Jane. Your friends are being mean to me, Elena. I need you.”
There was a shuffling sound and then Jane’s voice took over the phone again. “Don’t listen to him,” she said, laughing. “He’s drunk. Just get your ass here, okay?”
“I’m on my way,” I said and hung up. I looked down at my clothes. I was wearing jeans and tank top. I didn’t have time to change so this would have to do. I threw a sweater on over my tank top and limped back into the hall.
“Mason!” I yelled.
Mason quickly stepped out of the second-floor living room, alarm in his features as he looked over at me. "You okay?" he asked, crossing the hallway in two long strides before stopping in front of me, looking me over.
“Yeah,” I said. “Sorry, I just didn’t know where you were. I need to go to that bar we went to the other night. Are you up to it?”
He frowned, looking down at my boot. “Yes,” he said. “But are you up to it? You can barely walk, boss.”
“I know, Mason,” I sighed. “But I have to. Everyone’s there.”
Mason continued to frown, but helped me down the stairs and back out to the front of the cabin. Marcus had taken off for the night, so we would have to take the SUV. I waited at the entrance while Mason pulled the car around. I bit my lip again, worrying about Anthony. It’s not that I didn’t trust him; I just finally realized that I still didn’t really know so much about him. I knew – well, I hoped – that I could trust him to be around Jane and Michelle. Yes, they were friends of mine, in a sense, but they were still celebrities. And if I had seen anything in my years in Hollywood, it’s that fame can make anyone do things they normally wouldn’t do.