Chapter Four
She spent the rest of the evening just chilling in her hotel room, sitting in the window and watching the world go by, and before long, it was starting to get dark and she was beginning to think about bed. It wasn’t particularly late, but she was tired from her flight and her long afternoon of walking around LA. Besides, she had a very early start in the morning and wanted to feel fresh.
Having had a bite to eat and finished the rest of her unpacking, she decided she’d better figure out what to wear for her first day as a runner.
She’d done a bit of research into the job online and found a couple of advice websites from people who’d done it before, and they apparently recommended comfortable trainers, jeans or shorts, and easily removable layers, so that she could adapt to all weather conditions. The last one didn’t really apply at the moment, however, since the first three weeks of filming would all be done inside the studio, then they’d be going out on-location for the outside shots. They would probably have air-conditioning though, which could sometimes get a little chilly, so she opted for a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a little leather jacket on top, which could easily be taken on or off.
That done, she watched a bit of TV for a while, lying on her small, uncomfortable bed in her tiny, stuffy room, until she felt her eyes going weary.
Then she got changed into her nightclothes, turned off the lights and slipped in between the sheets.
Despite her tired eyes and exhausted body from all the walking earlier, she still found herself awake half an hour later and unable to get to sleep, her mind running through all the possible scenarios of her first day as a runner, wondering what the people she’d be working with would be like. Rico Fernandez… the producer, Francis Romero… Sally… and everyone else she was so excited to meet. She kept tossing and turning, unable to get comfortable and settle, her mind wired and hyped into overdrive.
Eventually, she got bored of her attempts at sleep and reached for her phone off the bedside table, yawning a little as she opened it up and decided to scroll through the pictures she’d taken earlier on that day on the Walk of Fame.
She smiled to herself at all the different stars, and finally settled on Rico’s, staring at it for a while longer than all the others.
Frowning slightly to herself as if deep in thought, she pulled up her browser and typed in ‘Rico Fernandez,’ curious and wanting to find out a little bit more about the man she would be working with.
She, of course, knew his name and had seen a few of his movies, but other than that she was rather clueless.
She pulled up a couple of articles and interviews about him and read through them, fascinated, for the next half an hour or so.
The most recent interview she found had taken place only two weeks ago. There was a picture of him smiling, with those sparkling eyes and teeth. He was talking about his latest movie, which had come out earlier in the year and done massively well. None of this was news to Ashleigh, especially now she’d read a handful of his interviews, but as the conversation went on, the reporter delved a little deeper into Rico’s personal life, asking him about his recent breakup with his girlfriend.
Ashleigh raised both her eyebrows at that, and re-read his answer a couple of times.
“Clarissa and I had been seeing each other for about a month. We met on the set of An Orange Barbados and there were definitely immediate sparks. I normally try to avoid mixing work and dating but in this case, we both couldn’t help each other. It was more of a whirlwind romance. It started quickly and ended quickly. We’re both still on good terms as friends and hope to work with each other again in the future. It’s just that neither of us is ready for a relationship right now.”
“It ended amicably then?” the interviewer asked for conformation.
“Yes, it did,” Rico replied.
For some reason, this entire section of the article made Ashleigh blush. Just thinking about Rico in a whirlwind romance with someone he met on the set of a film. And now he was apparently single.
Stop! she internally chastised herself. She wasn’t sure where her thought process was going with this, but she knew it probably wasn’t a good idea to go there.
Still, she couldn’t help herself looking up the girl he’d previously been dating – Clarissa Holton. She was a Hollywood actress, not as famous as Rico, but had been his co-star in An Orange Barbados.
Ashleigh immediately felt inadequate and stupid when she saw her picture. Clarissa was classically attractive and stunning. She had long, blonde hair; she was tanned, and had striking blue eyes. She looked tall and confident, not to mention the big breasts.
It was like she was the exact opposite to Ashleigh.
Ashleigh was pale, petite, and had smaller breasts, dark hair, green cat eyes, short hair; she was more unusual looking, although pretty. Everyone told her she was pretty, although she found that hard to believe a lot of the time.
She sighed and put her phone away, telling herself to stop overthinking and being stupid, and definitely not to get a crush on someone she was going to be working with. She wasn’t a teenager; she was going to be professional about this.
She determinedly closed her eyes and forced her breathing to slow down, trying to empty her mind of all thoughts and lull herself off into a dream world.
It still took some time, but eventually, she drifted into a restless sleep.