9.
AARON
The rest of the filming in New York was almost perfect.
Now that we'd broken the ice and admitted everything to each other, Ellie and I were completely absorbed in each other. I knew that the rest of the cast and crew had figured out exactly what was going on: it was impossible not to, really. We stood by the food table chatting and giggling; we disappeared into my dressing room and Ellie really wasn't good at holding in her moans.
No one really seemed to care, though, either.
Den had clapped me on the back and said he was glad to see me happy. Nel had told me that Ellie seemed like a lovely girl, and she was pleased.
Everyone else hadn't really said anything; I wasn't close enough to them.
What surprised me most, though, was the lack of comments I'd received on her age. She was half my age, and I'd expected to be told that I was taking advantage of a girl who was new to the business and just wanted to succeed.
No doubt that was what I'd see in the papers, but they didn't matter. They didn't know the full story, and they didn't have the right to know.
They could speculate as much as they liked, but all I cared about was that my friends were happy for me.
Ellie still wasn't enjoying filming. The endless takes and repetitive lines wore her down day after day, but now that we were together, I had the opportunity to perk her back up whenever I could instead of her just going home and wallowing at the end of the day.
She said that having the weight of our tense relationship off her shoulders made everything a lot easier, too.
I still felt like things were extreme with us: only now it was like permanent euphoria. I woke up in the morning beside Ellie and everything just felt right.
There were still some kinks, though.
Ellie was looking at colleges across the country, and I wasn't going to be moving out of LA no matter where she picked.
"I just love the look of NYU," she said as we walked through the campus one day. "I still don't even know what I want to study, but you were right about this city. You've made me fall in love with it, too."
I looked around at the old, beautiful buildings and knew she was right, it would be a brilliant place to study. My gut clenched at the same time, though. Only a few days ago I'd been holding her close and promising that I was never going to let her go.
What was I going to do if she was living on the other side of the country? I'd be able to afford to come and visit her, but it wouldn't be the same.
It would still be a long-distance relationship, and I just didn't want that.
"You should apply," I said.
She made an incoherent noise. "Yeah, I guess. It wouldn't be for ages, really, anyway. I'll need to take some time to figure out what I want to study and stuff, too."
"You know I'd support whatever you picked." Because she wasn't sounding too enthusiastic about it anymore, and while I didn't know if I could deal with a long-distance relationship when the time came, I didn't want to discourage her either. She shouldn't be making decisions about college and the rest of her life based on me.
"I know you would, but I don't know if I want to live this far away. It's on the other side of the country. I'm excited to go home and look at colleges in Cali."
I grinned, and wanted to kiss her, but didn't because we were still on campus, and I wasn't sure who was looking; who had their cameras pointed at us.
Because that was another issue between us.
Or, it wasn't something we disagreed on, just something that made things more difficult than they should have been.
Neither of us wanted to be in the headlines of a gossip magazine, and so we were putting off making our relationship any kind of public for as long as possible.
But we'd spent so much time in the city where I just wanted to wrap my arm around her shoulder as we walked, or to kiss her on the cheek as we looked at the scenery.
It was almost painful to stop myself from doing it.
"It's going to get out eventually anyway," Ellie would say, though she didn't make a move to actually hold my hand as we walked. "I just... I'd just like to wait until filming was done before I had to wake up and see my name all over the magazines in the hotel lobby."
Everything in me told me to just stop and hug her, but people were definitely looking in our direction. We were the least inconspicuous people on the entire street with people whispering and pointing at us.
"I know," I agreed, hand twitching at my side. "I know, I just want it all to be out there and for the attention to have died down already."
"Dana is still bugging me about doing interviews for the movie, too. I still haven't had the balls to just tell her that I have no interest in appearing on live TV. In fact, the thought horrifies me."
"I have a couple of interviews lined up while I'm in New York. I've always enjoyed it, though."
"I'm pretty certain that you're the only PR the movie needs. Anything I'd be doing would be promo for me rather than the movie."
"You'd be surprised. Having someone beautiful on TV always attracts people."
She blushed, and I could see her hand twitch this time. She groaned, loudly. "I just want everything to be normal."
It wasn't until we got back to LA that I realized what a complete coward I was being.
We had a week off when we got back to Cali so that Den could watch through all the footage and see if there was anything we needed to film again.
That week was true perfection.
Back in LA we had all the comforts of my home, and there was really no need for us to leave our bed. We watched movies and TV shows and fucked all day and night until I was almost glad to be going back to work. Feeling like a slob was only enjoyable for so long.
Only, the second day of us being back on-set, Mindy showed up.
Ellie and I were talking by the coffee maker, not bothering to hide the small touches on each other's arms, or how close we were standing. If someone was going to sell us out to the press, they would have done it by now.
Ellie was the first one to see Mindy, and I knew who it was before I'd turned around. The smile wiped from Ellie's mouth, and she cleared her throat, looking down into her cup.
I looked over my shoulder, and grimaced. "I'll be right back." I reached out and squeezed her arm just once, before striding towards Mindy and practically dragging her outside the studio.
"What are you doing here, again? You can't possibly need any more money." I was pissed, and there was no hiding it.
"You've found yourself a little slut, then?" she asked, ignoring my question.
I massaged my temples, determined to keep myself in check. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't take me for a fool, Aaron. I'm not blind."
"What I do in my personal life is none of your business."
"I'm sure the tabloids would believe it was their business, though. How have you managed to keep this one out of the papers?"
"None of the rest of my friends feel the need to blackmail me."
Her laugh was tinkly and completely fake. "Oh, that's funny. And I do need more money. Aaron, you barely spend any of it, it's no skin off your nose."
"I'd rather burn it than give it to you."
Her laugh this time was loud and even faker. "So, your little whore is a gold-digger? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You fell for me."
"Do you really have no shame?" I asked. Whenever I saw her now, I couldn't imagine how she'd managed to hide this side of her personality for ten years. At first, at least. In the final few years, it was more my unwillingness to acknowledge what a nasty person she'd seemingly become.
"None at all, and you know, I'm far happier than you are."
"I'll have to find something to blackmail you with, and see how you like it." I'd straightened my back, though, and there was a quirk to my lip that I hadn't been able to muster before. "I guess just cutting off your income will have to do as punishment for now, though. Tell the press what you like, Mindy. I couldn't give a shit. I'm not giving you anything else. You've got the divorce settlement, and it will have to do."
There was a beat of silence where she just stared at me. "I can ruin you, Aaron. I can, and I will."
"No, you can't." I'd been so petrified of Mindy ruining my career because it was the only thing I had left, that I hadn't been thinking about it clearly. I just wanted her to be gone, and if it cost me some money, I'd be pissed about it, but ultimately, I wouldn't be thinking about it so much that it would stop me from enjoying my job.
Ellie, though, she changed everything.
Ellie wouldn't want to see me being blackmailed by my ex-wife. It made me look stupid, and weak, and it meant her showing up on-set when that was supposed to be our time.
Ellie also meant that acting wasn't the only thing I had. With Ellie, I'd moved on, and I was happy. She cared about me in ways that Mindy never had. Mindy would have never attempted to make me feel better when I was in a bad mood, she just stayed clear of me until I was happier again, and willing to spend time and money on her. Mindy would have never agreed to bail on a social occasion when I couldn't be bothered, but Ellie just jumped back into bed with me and looked just as pleased to not have to go out as I did.
We just fit a thousand times better.
And I wasn't going to let my greedy ex-wife even become a factor in my new relationship.
"You might get me a bit of bad press and put a few of the less proven directors off hiring me, but I know people, and they know me. No amount of lies told in tabloids is going to put Den off from casting me in his movies. Surely you can see that?"
She just huffed, and my smile grew.
"Exactly. I mean it this time, Mindy. I don't want to see you, ever again. I'll call security next time you show up at the studio."
I walked back inside, and walked straight up to Ellie, who was still staring into her coffee and trying to hide her frown.
"Come on," I said, taking her hand and bringing her back into my dressing room.
She was clearly trying to stop herself feeling bad, and tried to smile at me. "You don't seem mad."
I allowed myself to break into a grin. "I told her to go fuck herself. It's never felt so satisfying."
I expected Ellie to be grinning with me, but her frown just deepened. "But what about the media? Won't she go and spin loads of stories about you now?"
"She will, but I don't care. I don't care what journalists say about me."
"But directors might. Your agent might."
It was true that I hadn't told my agent about any of the shit that had kicked off with Mindy. My agent and I had been in a bit of a funk about my two-year hiatus, and we still weren't entirely on the same page about it all.
I waved Ellie off now, though. "I'm established enough that a few rumors in the press for a few weeks won't ruin my career. I was just being a coward, and now it's dead and buried. In a month, it'll have all disappeared."
She was still gnawing her bottom lip. "Have you spoken to anyone but me about all of this?"
I'd half-expected I was going to bring her back into my dressing room and celebrate my growing of a backbone by fucking her senseless. I wasn't sure why she was so worried about it all.
"I haven't spoken to anyone else."
"I think you should speak to your agent."
I frowned. "You don't think I've done the right thing?"
"I just don't want her to end up winning in the end. If you speak to your agent, maybe he'll have some friendly journalists you can speak to and get your side of the story out first or something."
"I'm not giving the tabloids the gossip on my marriage. I'll weather the storm and get back to normal."
She took a step forward and took my hands in hers, gathering some courage. "Look, Aaron, I think you're probably right, but if you're not and this goes horribly wrong, do you really think this relationship is going to work out? Because I think that you'll resent me for the rest of my life."
"Why would I resent you?"
"Because you did this for me. Or, you did it partly because of me, anyway, and if it goes wrong then you'd convince yourself it was all because of me. I just want you to speak to your agent and see what they say. Just get some advice."
My irritation at her response faded, because I knew she was right. I might not have done this for her, but I did it because of her, and if this all backfired on me I wouldn't be able to stop the resentment building up toward her. Acting was everything I'd wanted, and without it I knew I'd be absolutely miserable.
I wrapped my arms around her, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I'll call my agent," I promised.
Her posture relaxed, and she ghosted her lips over mine. "Thank you." She paused. "So, you think this will really be over soon? You won't see any more of her? She won't come barging into the studio anymore?"
I ran my hands through her hair, messing up the curls that Nel had probably spent hours on this morning. "It might take a bit for her to accept defeat, but now I don't care about her spinning lies to the media, I don't care about trying to take out a restraining order on her either. I will get rid of her, and she won't be something we even have to think about again."
Her smile was radiant. "I just can't wait for everything to be back to normal."
"Back to normal? I'm not sure anything in our relationship has been normal yet."
She linked her arms around my neck. "There's definitely nothing normal about how attracted I am to you. It shouldn't be possible," she teased, before kissing me, hard, taking my bottom lip between her teeth and biting down.
I was pushed backward until I was sitting in my chair, Ellie straddling my lap. Her kisses feathered against my lips, nose and cheek as she made my cock hard between her legs.
"You're too much," I said, grabbing her hips and forcing her down into my lap. I ground against her pussy, and her teasing disappeared as a moan slipped out of her mouth. "That's what I thought," I was the one nipping her bottom lip now, pinching her nipple through her shirt and causing her desire to skyrocket.
I'd wasted too much time outside with Mindy, and now I had to rush through this time with Ellie.
I wasn't complaining, though.
I knew I could get a lot done in a little time.
I stood up, her legs wrapped around my hips, and backed her into a wall. I lavished her neck with kisses as I went, unable to wait until filming was over so that I could start leaving love bites on her porcelain skin. I wanted to be walking around the house and to see them on her; to be able to run my fingers over them and remind her she was mine.
I pulled her pants
and panties down just enough for me to get access to her pussy, and she used
her feet to push my pants down to my knees.
I glanced at the door. I'd forgotten to lock it, but I wasn't about to ruin the
moment by pointing that out; I was going to fuck Ellie knowing that anyone
could walk in at any moment.
I couldn't dip my fingers inside her like I normally did in this position, or tease her clit with my fingers. Instead, I teased her with the tip of my cock. She was already soaked, and I slipped in, her wet heat clenching around me as her head fell back against the wall.
"Fuck," she murmured, nails digging into my neck. "Harder. More."
I would have said no and pulled out all together, gone back to playing with her nipples or just kissing her, but I took another look at the door and, for once, obliged her.
I fucked her hard against the wall, a hand over her mouth that didn't do much to quiet the flow of curses and groans. I buried my face against her neck, breathing hard and biting my lip so I didn't leave a mark on her skin as I got closer and closer to the edge.
She was hot and tight and my body was on fire as I pounded into her, one eye on the door and the thrill of the possible interruption sending my arousal to dizzying heights.
It wasn't long before I came inside her, a loud groan of my own that would have been audible to anyone close to the dressing room. "Fuck," I muttered, pulling out and feeling my seed drip back down her leg. After the first night, we'd had a conversation about birth control, and the fact I could cum inside her was something I'd never get bored of.
"I feel like that may have been a little bit loud," Ellie said, a cheeky grin covering her face as she opened the door to my private bathroom and dealt with the stickiness between her thighs. "I bet they can't wait for filming to be over."
"Please, this is more excitement than some of those sound guys will ever hear in their lives."
She rolled her eyes. "You like the fact people know. You didn't lock the door."
It wasn't an accusation, though. Her eyes gleamed, and if we hadn't needed to get back onto the set I would have had her again.
"I want everyone to know that you're mine."
She walked over, and I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her against me.
"I want everyone to hear how much you enjoy being mine," I continued.
She pressed her lips to mine in a chaste kiss. "I don't think anyone out there has any doubt that I'm yours."