Chapter Twenty-Six
“Elle,” I heard softly. I lifted my heavy eyelids to see Ethan’s face hovering inches from my own. I closed my eyes again and let out a groan, sleep still weighing me down. I heard him chuckle and he spoke quietly to me, running his fingers along my cheek as I lay in bed, succumbing to sleep again. “Elle, I have to go somewhere today…I have something I need to take care of … but I’ll be back tonight, okay sweetie?”
I was too tired to respond. I just made my sleepy groan noise again and heard him chuckle once more. His fingers continued to caress my cheek. “Stay with Mason, okay? I’ll see you tonight. Just don’t leave Mason’s side.” I didn’t respond at all that time. I was so tired; I just wanted to fall back asleep already. I felt Ethan lightly press his lips to my forehead before I drifted back into a deep sleep.
∞∞∞
A few hours later, I was woken up again. This time by my phone ringing loudly on the end table next to me. Slightly more coherent this time, I reached over and answered it, seeing Colton's name and photo on the screen.
“What time is it?” I asked when I answered.
“You know, most people answer the phone with a greeting…” Colton replied.
“Hello,” I said. “What time is it?”
“It’s nine in the morning. Are you still in bed?”
“Yes,” I said groggily as I struggled to sit upright in bed. “I’m on vacation, remember? And so are you.”
“Not today. Today, you have a phone interview with US Weekly about Chosen,” Colton informed me. I sighed. Chosen was set to begin filming in a few weeks, just after the holidays. I was really excited about it. It was bound to be a critically acclaimed film, about a young warrior who was fated to unite her people and battle for freedom against an army led by a tyrannical enemy, whose sole purpose was to capture the young warrior. She was an unyielding weapon with lots of power. It was going to be exciting work.
“Ugh,” I said. “Fine, when is it?”
“It’s in a couple hours, at eleven,” Colton explained. “I emailed you the questions they will ask and Melanie provided a few good responses for you.” Colton continued to go over the interview for a few more minutes. Before we hung up, he demanded that I remember to keep my phone on me at all times so I wouldn’t miss the call. After I swore up and down that I would, he finally let me go.
Since there was no point in going back to sleep, I threw on some clothes, strapped up my boot and walked downstairs. I went into the kitchen where Chef Dante was making brunch.
Settling down at the island bar, I grabbed the laptop that was resting there and pulled up my email to review the interview questions and responses. Chef Dante finally noticed me, sliding his headphones off his ears, “Miss Lewis! Good morning! How’s the foot?”
I smiled politely while I flipped through my emails, “It’ll be okay. Thanks for asking.”
Chef Dante nodded, stepping closer to the bar, resting his hands on the corner looking over at me. “Can I make you breakfast? I’ve got pancakes or omelets I can whip up? There’s also some eggs and bacon here I just made,” he pointed to a couple plates sitting at the other end of the bar. I told Chef that an omelet sounded good while he piled some bacon on a plate for me. He had just finished my omelet, handing it over to me, when Anthony walked in.
I stiffened and gave Anthony a polite, cautious smile as he entered. I still wasn’t sure where we stood. It was like we had originally had a spark, but it was just that: a spark. It was nothing more. I could see that now, but I wasn’t sure how Anthony felt. He seemed a little angry last night when we spoke before he disappeared into the hot tub with Jane. This morning, he gave me one of his confident grins and settled down on the stool next to me.
“Morning, Elena,” he said in a carefree way.
I cocked an eyebrow with suspicion and replied, “Morning. How was the hot tub last night?”
Anthony looked down at the empty counter space in front of him, his cheeks flushing a bit. "It was nice," he said but didn't elaborate.
Chef Dante saved the day, swooping in and offering Anthony a little bit of everything. “So,” Anthony finally said after getting a plate full of eggs and bacon. “What do you have going on today?”
“Interview,” I mumbled around my own mouthful of food. I swallowed before continuing. “Then I don’t know. What do you want to do today?”
Anthony looked down at my boot and sighed, “Well, I had thought it’d be nice to hit the slopes again. But that wouldn’t be any fun for you.”
"You should go," I said. I felt bad for how distant and distracted I had been towards Anthony so far this trip. I didn't want to hold him back from having a good time. "I've got work anyways. If you guys go, I'll just come to the ski lodge later and hang out. I've got stuff I can work on while you ski."
I had read the new Chosen script so many times already since I received it a few weeks ago from Alyssa, but I hadn’t looked at it in awhile. I wanted to keep the story and lines fresh since shooting would be here before I knew it.
“I don’t know,” Anthony looked at me, a little wary. “That still doesn’t sound much fun for you…”
“What doesn’t sound like fun?” Michelle walked into the kitchen followed closely by Haden. Her sleepy face perked up at the sight of food on the counter, “Ohh, bacon!” She walked over quickly and picked up a piece, shoving it into her mouth. “Oh I’ve been dreaming about you my whole life,” she whispered lovingly to the bacon.
Haden laughed picking up a piece for himself, “Save some for the rest of us, love.”
“I was saying,” I told the cute couple. “That we should go to the mountain today.”
Michelle snorted and wiped her greasy hands on Haden’s sleeve, getting a scowl from Haden before he pulled away with laughter in his eyes. “Right,” Michelle said. “How’s that going to work, Elena?”
“Obviously I won’t be skiing, but that doesn’t mean you guys should miss out,” I said.
Michelle shook her head, reaching for more bacon. “No way. I don’t even want to ski.”
“You’re in the mountains and you don’t want to ski?” Haden looked at Michelle incredulously. “Remind me, why are we together?”
Michelle purred at Haden batting her long lashes. “Because you love me.” She smiled seductively and reached over wiping her greasy hands on Haden’s sleeve again.
“Right. How could I not…” Haden said shaking her off his arm again.
Jane entered the kitchen behind the couple and came over to sit down between Anthony and me. "Morning, lovelies," she sang. She was very chipper this morning. "What's the plan today?"
Michelle chimed in, “Gimpy McGee over here wants to go skiing again.”
“I don’t want to go skiing,” I protested. “I just want you guys to have fun.”
“Oh, I’ve been having plenty of fun,” Jane alluded. She glanced at Anthony before turning her attention to the dish of eggs and bacon in front of her. She scooped a few eggs onto an empty plate and started eating. “Still,” she spoke between bites. “It would be fun to go skiing. I’m game.”
Anthony leaned forward so he could see me on the other side of Jane. “Are you sure, Elena?” He looked a little worried and disbelieving. Maybe a little guilty? I didn’t know. I was so bad at reading other people.
“Of course,” I said. “Like I said, I’ve got work to do.”
“Well, I’ll sit out with you,” Michelle said finishing off another piece of bacon. “I don’t want to end up like you.” She looked pointedly at the boot on my foot.
“Right,” I said shaking my head.
After we all ate, I convinced the gang to go on ahead of me to the mountain. Anthony still looked a little unconvinced that I really was okay with everything, but a light shove from Jane towards the waiting limo and he gave up any hesitancy. Michelle went ahead with them saying she would meet me in the ski lodge when I got there. I needed to stay back and get my phone interview over with. Once I was finished, Mason said he would drive me to the mountain.
∞∞∞
An hour later, I hung up the phone. I was tucked away in my bedroom since I had wanted a bit of privacy with no distractions. Everyone had already left for the mountain except for Mason and me, but my attention span had always been terrible in phone interviews. I get so bored talking about myself that the tiniest things in the room would distract me. And don’t even get me near a window.
I lay back on my bed, falling into the deep covers. My mind drifted to the night before and how Ethan had cuddled up to me last night. His light kisses and the memory of his body pressed up against mine caused my skin to tingle. I didn’t understand what was going on with him.
Ever since he turned up after our fight, it was like something was different with him. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to figure out what was going on. My forgotten attraction to Ethan was starting to creep back into my awareness. That wasn’t something I wanted to happen. I wanted to stay in the friend zone. I needed to. I’d always cared and loved Ethan. He was like home to me. I felt safest when I was around him. I didn’t want anything to change. I didn’t want to lose him by admitting to these unwanted attractions.
And what about Cate? She was crazy. It was a bit frustrating and annoying that I was scared of her despite the fact she didn’t really say very much to me when we had our encounter on the street in front of the pizzeria last night. It wasn’t so much the words and actions that scared me; it was the look that was in her eyes when she saw us. I’d never seen a look like that before – a burning, senseless hostility. I didn’t know what she was capable of and not being able to predict her next move was irritating the hell out of me.
Shaking myself from the plaguing thoughts of Ethan and Cate, I grabbed one of my coats from the closet and made my way downstairs. “Mason!” I yelled out. This cabin was too big. I could never find Mason, so it resulted in yelling his name throughout the house.
Mason poked his head out of hallway leading to the kitchen. “You alright, boss?”
I nodded and continued to pull on my coat. “Yeah, would you grab my bag from the kitchen? Are you ready to head to the ski lodge?” Mason nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, we were in the SUV ready to take the short drive to the ski resort. I sat in the front and messed with the radio while Mason drove. “So,” I started, while scanning stations. “You talk to Faye lately?”
A slight redness appeared in Mason’s cheeks, barely visible behind the beard that he was trying to grow. “Uh, yeah.” He didn’t elaborate, just continued to keep his eyes on the road.
“You want to invite her out, today? I like her.” Okay, so I was meddling a little bit. In all my years of knowing Mason, I had never seen him blush over a girl before. Or anything at all, for that matter. I was happy for my friend. If I could encourage him to let his guard down a little bit to let in a nice girl like Faye, then I was definitely going to give my best meddling efforts.
“I don’t know, boss,” he said, his eyes narrowed slightly. “With everything going on with Cate, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be distracted. And she would definitely be a distraction.”
“Relax, Mason,” I told him. “Ethan said he has a PI tailing her every move. If she were even thinking about heading to the mountain today, we would know. And we would move.” Mason continued to scowl at the idea. “You know what,” I said. “I’m going to invite her myself.”
“Elena.”
“Mason.” I pulled my phone out and texted Faye asking her to hang out with us today.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think this is a good idea.” Mason’s eyes had lightened a bit, but he still held on to that serious expression on his face. I rolled my eyes. Faye responded saying she’d love to join us and would meet us there. I relayed the message to Mason. Despite holding that same serious expression, I noticed he seemed to perk up a bit at the news.
When we arrived at the ski lodge, I limped into the main lobby area that was decorated with cozy couches and warm fireplaces. I spotted Michelle’s brunette curls from across the room and made my way towards her. The slight crowd in the lobby didn’t even pause to look at me. Everyone was too focused on their own adventures to notice me, even with Mason’s hulking and obvious bodyguard physique trailing me.
Michelle was tucked into an armchair next to a fireplace with earbuds dangling from her head. She was reading a book in front of her and looked completely relaxed. I envied her for a moment while I crossed the room to her. She had a boyfriend that was crazy about her. She had all the joys of being an actress without the high level of fame that I had to deal with. She enjoyed her life and currently didn't look like she had a care in the world.
I fell back in an armchair facing hers and kicked my feet up on the table in front of me. Michelle jumped and pulled her attention from the book in her lap. “Geez, you scared me.” She placed a hand on her chest as if she were trying to slow her rapid heartbeat. She looked over at Mason as he sat down on a nearby couch, his eyes roaming around the room. “Hey, Mason.”
He simply nodded in greeting and continued looking around the room. I wasn’t sure whether he was looking because of his bodyguard duties or because he was looking for Faye. I guessed the latter.
“Everyone already hit the slopes?” I asked. I reached into my bag and pulled out the script for Chosen and a pencil to take notes in the margins.
Michelle rolled her eyes, “Yes. Haden barely said goodbye. Just took off. I bet they’ll be out there all day.” I smirked. Michelle went back to reading her book and I started working on my script. We fell into a comfortable silence as the time went by, both of us consumed with the papers in front of us. The silence only ended when Faye appeared suddenly, sitting gracefully in the seat next to Mason on the couch.
She smiled and raised her dark eyebrows, flashing a set of white, even teeth. "Hey ladies," she cooed. She peeked over at Mason and gave him a similar smile before turning back to us. "Thanks for inviting me. You all aren't skiing?"
I marked the place in my script and sat my papers on the table in front of me. I gave Faye an incredulous look. “Seriously?” I asked, smiling. “Do you see my boot? I can barely walk, let alone ski.”
Faye’s eyes looked down at the boot on my ankle, her eyes widening. “Oh no! What happened?”
Michelle snorted, “Turns out Elena sucks at skiing.” She put her bookmark in the book and placed it on the table as well.
“Hey!” I said offended. “I do not! It was just an unfortunate accident…”
“Yeah, it’s unfortunate that you suck,” Michelle laughed.
“I don’t suck!” I laughed. “And you should talk, Michelle. What’s your excuse?”
Michelle put her hands up in front of her in mock defense. “Hey, I never said I was any good.” She kicked her feet up on the table in front of us. “I’m just lazy.”
“You guys are hilarious,” Faye said laughing. She looked at Mason. “Mason, why aren’t you skiing?”
He tilted his head in my direction. “Working,” he said almost coldly. I sighed. He took his job so seriously that he might not even give Faye the time of day right now.
“Not anymore,” I said to him. He looked over at me, a scowl crossing his face. “I think I can handle myself in here. Go skiing with Faye.”
Faye perked up and placed a hand on Mason’s forearm. “Great! I mean, only if you want to, Mase,” she said to him. Mason looked back and forth between the two of us for a moment. I gave him a hard look to show I meant business. He gave a long sigh of resignation and nodded, turning to look at Faye. His scowl softened and he gave her a cute smile.
“Alright,” Mason said, turning back to me while standing up. “But I’m keeping my phone on me. If you need anything, call me right away.”
Michelle waved her hand and kicked at the air with her foot. “Yeah, yeah, we got it. Princess is safe with me.”
I smiled at my friends and gave Mason a wink. “Ok, boss,” I mocked him. “Seriously, go have fun.” He turned and walked away, sliding his hand into Faye’s as they disappeared to the other side of the lodge to rent some skis.
“Now that we’ve gotten rid of the baggage,” Michelle joked. “What do you want to do?”
I looked around for a moment. “Well, I’m a little thirsty,” I said. “Do you want to get some hot chocolate or something?” I moved to get out of my chair.
“Yeah, yeah, stay seated,” Michelle said standing up before me. “It’ll take a year for you to hobble your ass over to the snack bar. I’ll get it.” I laughed and flipped her off. She walked off to get our drinks and I resumed studying my script.
After almost half an hour, Michelle finally got back carrying two drinks. “Took you long enough,” I said dropping my script on the table again. “I thought you got lost.”
“Not lost,” Michelle said handing off my drink and sitting down across from me again. “I thought I saw someone but…I don’t know…I got distracted.” She had a weird look on her face as she looked around the room again.
“Distracted?” I asked, taking a sip of my hot chocolate and burning the taste buds off my tongue. I blew on my drink to try to cool it faster.
“Yeah, anyways,” Michelle turned back to me. “So what’s up with you and Ethan? Where is he?”
I shrugged taking another sip of my drink and burning my tongue again. I ignored the burning and swallowed the scalding beverage. “He woke me up this morning saying he had to take care of something and he would see me tonight.”
“Oh,” Michelle said. “So where did he even sleep last night?”
I blushed and looked down breaking eye contact, “In my bed.”
“No way!”
“Yeah, well we used to sleep together all the time…”
“What?!” Michelle interrupted.
“Ugh,” I groaned with frustration. “Not like that. I don’t mean we slept together like we slept together. I just mean … we’ve shared a bed together. It’s nothing new.” My face burned.
“No way, Elena Lewis!” Michelle practically shouted. I shushed her and she continued in a low voice. “You are blushing! You are hiding something and you better tell me right now, young lady!”
I rolled my eyes, “Scolding me like you’re my mother isn’t going to do it.”
"And avoiding the question isn't going to make me forget my question either!" Michelle pointed a perfectly manicured finger at my face. "Tell me. Now."
“It’s nothing,” I said, downing half of my hot chocolate and burning my throat. I coughed and continued. “We just…there’s really nothing going on.” I continued to blush and looked down at my drink in my hands.
Michelle gasped and clutched the armrests of her chair dramatically. “You love him!”
“Well, of course I do,” I said. “He’s my best friend.”
“Don’t play dumb with me, missy,” Michelle chided.
“What happened? Tell me everything. I’ve suspected for a long time, but just figured you were oblivious.”
“Oblivious?” I asked. I sat my empty hot chocolate cup down on the table in front of us. Why was everyone referring to me that way lately? I always thought I was a pretty observant person…
“Yeah. Oblivious to his feelings and your own.” Michelle waved her hand in the air. “It doesn’t matter. Start talking. Did something happen in the bedroom last night?” She waggled her eyebrows up and down suggestively.
I rolled my eyes. “Well,” I bit my lip while I thought, still not sure what to think about it all. “I don’t know. It’s probably nothing. But I woke up and we were … spooning.”
Michelle blinked at me. “Go on. That can’t be all…”
“Um,” I guess spooning wasn’t so bad. “Well, I felt him wake up behind me, so I pretended to be asleep. And instead of him pushing me away, which is what I expected. He pulled me closer and kissed my neck.”
“Oh my god, I knew it!” Michelle screamed drawing attention to us from people nearby. I shushed her again and she laughed excitedly. “I always knew he was in love with you!”
“Dude, he’s not in love with me!” I exclaimed. “It’s just how he is. He’s sweet. He’s touchy-feely. He’s Ethan.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Michelle said leaning back in her seat. “He’s only ‘touchy-feely’ around you. You two are perfect for each other. It’s about time you start to open your eyes and realize it.”
She opened her book and went back to reading. I picked up my script realizing the conversation was over, thankfully. I didn’t know what to think. For the last however many years, I’d always been Ethan’s friend. And the couple weeks without him were torturous. If anything were to happen to ruin our friendship, I’m not sure I could take it. No, I needed to stay Ethan’s friend.