Starshine by Melody Winter (40)

The limousine glided through the streets of London.

Alex glanced at me, and I smiled back.

“Stop worrying. I’ll be fine,” I tried to reassure him.

His eyes darted to my full belly. His worried expression turned into a grin as his hand gently rubbed the huge bump.

“You know I worry about you both. This is hardly the best situation for you to be heading into right now.”

I placed my hand over his. “I’ve still got two months to go. There’s absolutely no need to get stressed about this. I’m more concerned that you’re going to have to do the rest of the promotion by yourself. I want to come with you.”

“Unfortunately, this little one had other ideas.” He grinned as his hand was struck by a kick from my bump.

“Stupid aviation laws,” I muttered.

He kissed my cheek. “You know I’ll miss you like crazy when I’m away. But I’ll be back for odd days between travelling. I’ll probably be as knackered as you. I’ll be in different time zones every single day.”

Unfortunately, the release of Solarflare had fallen at a crazy time for us. I was seven months pregnant. It was an unplanned situation, but the most wonderful thing to have happened. We had discussed wanting to start a family, and agreed that when the madness of Solarflare had died down, we’d both have some time off, spending at least a month just chilling. During this time, we’d planned to start to try for a baby, but it seemed that nature had thrown us an early treat.

The day I’d suspected I was pregnant was both the most frightening and most exciting day of my life. I’d been on the set of Solarflare with Alex, filming some final scenes, when I had experienced an excruciating pain in my lower belly.

A rush to the hospital with Alex freaking out beside me, and several examinations later, the doctors confirmed that I was seven weeks pregnant. Apparently, I was listed as one of the unlucky ones that had slipped into the small percentage of people that birth control had let down. Alex and I never saw it as an unlucky situation. We felt it was more of a blessing. I was kept in the hospital overnight, and released the next day. I’d had no further problems. I’d not even had any morning sickness. Although, my cravings had Alex calling me a whole different kind of crazy.

Alex had insisted on the best doctors treating me throughout the pregnancy, and when the scans were undertaken to assess that everything was developing normally, we were treated to in-avertedly discover our baby’s gender. Alex had beamed with joy at the screen as we saw the evidence of a baby boy growing within me.

Alex was so excited, involving himself in everything pregnancy related. In fact, I think he was more knowledgeable about what was happening to my body than I was.

Anthony had taken his role as my security man even more seriously since the day we told him and Megan that I was pregnant. Charlie and Hazel were over the moon, loving that they were going to have their first grandchild.

Megan and Anthony were due to marry in a few months’ time, and Megan was currently stressing that I wouldn’t have had the baby by the date of their marriage. Apparently, she didn’t want me looking like a beach-ball on her wedding photographs. Alex had torn into her when she’d said it, but she had calmly explained that it was me she had been worried about. She couldn’t think of anything worse than having to look back at pictures of herself heavily pregnant. She said she’d burn every single one she could find if it ever happened to her. Alex and I had a completely different view on my pregnancy. He said I was even more beautiful, and even on my fat days when I felt like a complete blob, he was there, kissing me, telling me how much he loved me, proving how much he still fancied me by still sending my body into absolute heaven. Our sex life was still incredible We’d just had to be more imaginative.

We’d got married a few months after Alex’s ridiculously timed proposal. As soon as Alex had asked me to marry him, he let me know that he didn’t want to drag out the engagement—he wanted us married immediately. I’d never understood his rush, but reasoned that perhaps he wanted to feel even more secure with our relationship—that whilst we weren’t married he had the ridiculous notion that I would walk away. As if that would ever happen.

We hadn’t had a large wedding, just family and a few friends. Ben had offered the gardens at his pub as the perfect venue, and after lots of deliberation we decided to run with it. Alex had initially refused. He didn’t want to risk our secret hideaway being discovered, but I reasoned with him that he would upset Ben enormously if we refused. We were only inviting nineteen people, and all of them were trust-worthy and would keep our secret. The paparazzi never found out about the planned wedding or where it was held. There were no magazine deals, no exclusive interviews, just us, with family and friends that mattered. Anthony took photos on the day—and he caught some beautiful shots of us all. A month after our marriage, we released photos to the mainstream media with a statement about our wonderful day.

Alex was the perfect gentleman when he met my mum and Maree, even though he witnessed how dismissive my mother was toward me. It was how she had always been. Wedding day or not, her attitude to her only daughter being married wasn’t going to alter. Visually I reminded her too much of my father. I knew that seeing me was incredibly hard for her. I’d learnt to deal with her dismissive behaviour many years ago. Her presence at my wedding had been more of a matter of protocol than me wanting her there.

We’d still hadn’t had any direct contact from Amy or Rowan. But we knew that Amy was currently starring in a very low budget film called She Bangs. Amy’s main-stream popularity and career had ended near enough overnight when the truth about her behaviour was published. But she was still popular in a particular circle of people. When we’d found out about Amy staring in She Bangs, Alex had practically cried with laughter. He’d said that it would probably be very boring—just like all the other porno films out here. Pierce was still managing her career, and both Alex and I had suspicions that he was pressuring her into the world she was in. Unfortunately, Amy was nothing more than a pawn in the games that he played with peoples’ lives. I tried to feel sorry for her, but couldn’t quite manage it. I found it impossible to forgive her for what she had put Alex through. He didn’t deserve any of it. In my opinion, Amy was as mad as a hatter, and possibly needed some sort of help. Pierce wasn’t that help.

Rowan and Amy’s paths crossed quite regularly as producing low budget films was an area that Rowan had become involved in. When he was fired as producer on the Starshine films and saw how people raved about the clip of Alex and me, he jumped on the band-waggon and sold himself to the media—taking all the credit for pulling such a convincing performance from us. The path to producing the same films as Amy performed in was a natural progression for him.

I had, up until when Rowan had taken the credit for mine and Alex’s performance, still felt sorry for him and for becoming involved with Amy. Alex hated him for what he had done, and I doubted that his opinion would ever change. Amy and Rowan had never stayed together, even though they were linked as an item for several months after the sex scene scandal they engineered. It seemed that Rowan couldn’t stand to be around her any more than anyone else.

We’d heard that Simon and Erin were still together. They had moved to Los Angeles, away from all the madness in England that Amy kept producing. Alex wasn’t happy that he had lost a good friend, and a damn good make-up artist, but he was happy that Erin had found her own happiness—even if it was with Simon. I had stayed in touch with Erin. After all, she was the person who persuaded me to turn up on the set of Starshine on the day of the closed set. That was the day that spiralled Alex and me into being together, and into the world and life that we were currently living. We both had a lot to thank her for.

* * *

As the limousine pulled to a gentle stop, Alex kissed my cheek.

“Time to meet your fans,” he whispered.

I shook my head. “They’re not my fans,” I reminded him. “They’re our fans.”

He held my hand in his. “You enjoy this moment. There’ll all here for you. I have more premiers to attend. You only have this one.” He squeezed my hand. “Your performance in Solarflare will blow them away. I don’t think anyone expected you to pull this off, Ella, but I always knew you would. We watched it last night, remember. I hope you know how fucking amazing you are.”

I nodded. Alex had somehow managed to persuade the powers-that-be to release a copy of the film for us to view. So many people had expected me to fail with Solarflare, but I hadn’t. Regardless of what the critics thought, I knew that my performance was good. I just hoped that it was good enough to blow their socks off.

“I’m such a lucky man,” Alex said. “Look at me. I’m travelling around in a limousine with my beautiful wife, who I love and adore so fucking much. And not only that, she’s pregnant with our child, and about to star in a huge film that will prove to everyone just how amazing she is. And she’s all mine.”

I lifted my gaze to his, seeing his eyes so full of love for me. I swallowed, fighting back the emotional way he always made me feel when he looked at me that way.

He leaned closer, taking my face in his hands and keeping eye contact with me. “Tonight is all about you. Here, now, the fans want to see you. Later, at the after-show party, other stars will want to talk to you. Then tonight, when we get home, I will want to make love to you. I hope you’ll not be too exhausted for me.”

“I’m never too tired for you. You know that. And I can’t wait to undress you these days. You look amazing.”

I ran my fingers across his head. The familiar wayward locks were gone, replaced by a seriously short cut that I loved rubbing my fingers over. He had recently done some screen shots for an up and coming film, and decided to keep the hairstyle that had been required for them. He’d hired a personal trainer and was making regular trips to a private gym. He was gradually getting a stronger, more muscular body, and I loved it. I never missed the opportunity to ogle him when he was naked, and loved running my hands over his newly taut muscles. Many fans hadn’t liked his new look, taking to social media to voice their opinion. But, I suspected that most of them would probably end up loving it. I still recalled how being a fan of his felt, how everything he did was discussed and dissected at great length. That would never change.

Whereas Alex’s career ran from strength to strength, mine was about to stop. Solarflare was the first and last film that I would make. Whilst I had enjoyed working with Alex, and seeing how a movie came together—it wasn’t for me. I had no interest in following Alex into the world of acting as a career. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and maybe, given time, I’d change my mind. Acting with Alex was one thing—easy and familiar, but acting with another man didn’t appeal to me. I struggled to understand how anyone could act intimate scenes with a person they had no romantic involvement in. Alex said it was acting—it was like flicking a switch—I doubted that I’d ever be able to do that. And, I had other things to think about now. My priorities in life had changed dramatically. I didn’t want a life with a nanny bringing up our child. I wanted to be there for him. Alex was in complete agreement with me. He wanted to be around as much as possible as our monster grew up. I was ready to become a mother to our baby, and continue being a wife, lover and friend to my gorgeous husband.

His eyes drifted to my bump, yet again, and then he pulled me close, kissing the top of my head. “You look amazing,” he said.

I knew that the dress I was wearing was helping enormously with my confidence this evening. It was a dark emerald colour, encrusted with thousands of small black sequins and jewels. It hung beautifully over my pregnant form, skimming the ground as I walked. Alex wore a dark charcoal suit, Gucci again—obviously, now he was in negotiations to be the face of their new advertising campaign. He looked dapper, sexy, and smelt divine.

“You ready?” he asked as the door to the limousine was opened.

“Yes,” I replied, peering out at the red carpet that awaited us.

“I’ll stick with you; we’ll work the crowd together, okay?”

I nodded, prepared to slip into our well-practised routine.

He slipped past me, stepping from the limousine before turning and offering me his hand for support. I shuffled as elegantly as possible from my seat. As soon as I appeared next to him, the flashes from the hoard of photographers began. Alex placed his arm protectively behind me, holding my waist as we slowly walked forward, heading toward the fans.

Screams sounded out all around us as Alex bent to whisper to me.

“Listen to them, Ella. Really listen.”

I frowned, trying to hear what the crowd was shouting and screaming. And then I heard it. A low chant started to ring out as we got closer to the crowds.

“Ella! Ella! Ella!”

Alex smiled widely. “I love you,” he said, stopping our walk and kissing me passionately.

Everyone went wild, and camera flashes lit the night sky.

It seemed that Alex had been right all along.

* * *

I had always thought I was unlucky, that I’d never find a four-leafed clover. But as I thought back at what life had thrown at me over the past three years, how could I even begin to think that I was unlucky.

I’d found my four-leaf clover the day I walked onto the set of Starshine.

He currently stood next to me.

Alex.