Chapter Twelve
Ashleigh woke up first the following morning, and she was glad of it. It gave her the opportunity to quietly slip out of bed, find her clothes that were strewn all over the floor, and sneak out of the hotel room before Rico stirred.
Thankfully, they had become detached from each other at some point in the night and he was now on the other side of the bed, half hanging out of it, his limbs akimbo.
She smiled slightly to herself as she took a moment to observe him, then fumbled with her heels and awkwardly left the hotel room, very gently closing the door behind her and feeling like such a whore leaving looking all dishevelled and very obviously wearing evening clothes from the night before.
The walk of shame from the elevator out the lobby and through the main doors was particularly painful and seemed to last forever. She was relieved to finally get outside into the LA sunshine and quickly flag down a passing taxi to take her back to her own hotel room. She needed to get changed and have a coffee before she was due to be picked up by Tim at 9am.
She put on something a bit more respectable and used some makeup to cover the marks Rico had left on her neck with his eager kisses.
She couldn’t stop thinking about what happened. She kept telling herself it was probably just going to be a one-time thing, but regardless, she was grateful for it, and she was glad she got to see a side of Rico she hadn’t expected – the cute romantic taking her for midnight strolls on Venice Beach. Or maybe that was just how he got all the girls into bed. It certainly worked on her. She was pretty smitten, despite herself.
That day, she was on the set as Rico had promised. He looked over at her a couple of times while he was filming some scenes and gave her the merest of smiles, but most of the morning they were both too busy doing their own separate things to actually interact.
She was kept busy running back and forth between the set and the costume and makeup department to fetch various things that were needed, and continually making coffees for actors and crew.
Eventually though, she was called over by Sally who said that Francis wanted to see her about something in the offices.
She felt her heart sink at that, and her stomach tensed up a bit. Her interaction with Francis from the other day was still playing heavy on her mind, and she was hoping to be able to avoid him for as long as humanly possible.
“Alright,” she smiled tightly at Sally and did as she was told, making her way out the studio, along the corridor and into the empty office where Francis was sitting at his desk.
He looked up as she came in and smiled, standing.
“Ahh, Ashleigh. Great to see you again.” He paused expectantly, not carrying on speaking, just looking at her, and into the awkward silence, Ashleigh quickly replied, “You too.”
At this, his eyes lit up and he seemed satisfied, continuing, “I’ve got a new musical film coming up, and I was wondering whether you’d like to audition. I’ve heard you’re a bit of a singer yourself…” He smirked. “Been asking around to find out all I can about you.”
Well, that last sentence wasn’t creepy at all, Ashleigh thought to herself sarcastically. But still, an audition for a musical film sounded amazing, and exactly the right opportunity she was looking for. She felt a little charge of excitement and smiled, nodding immediately.
“That would be great. I’d love to audition, thank you.”
“Wonderful!” He clapped his hands together then sat down again and picked up a pen. “I’ll get your name down on the list, and I’ll talk to you about it very soon.”
He scribbled something down on a piece of paper and then didn’t look up at her again, leaving her just standing there awkwardly in the doorway.
“Should I uh…”
He glanced up. “Oh, yes, yes, you may go now.” He dismissed her with a little wave of his hand.
Ashleigh shook her head slightly and turned, leaving the room with a sigh and returning to the studio. She didn’t like Francis, but she would play along with him to get the opportunities she wanted.
Later that day, she was in for another surprise encounter, this time with someone much more welcome – Rico.
He came up to her at lunchtime, just after she’d finished eating and was returning her empty plates to the van.
“Hey uh…” He placed her hand on her elbow and gently pulled her to one side away from everyone else, smiling at her lopsidedly. “I was wondering if you wanted to go out again? Maybe tomorrow?”
She definitely hadn’t been expecting that. Maybe this would be one of his longer flings, not just a one-nighter. She could totally live with that. She wouldn’t say no to another round in the sack with Rico. He was amazing in bed.
“Yeah, sounds good,” she nodded positively. “Haven’t got any plans.”
“Awesome,” he grinned and winked at her. “Catch you later then.”
And then he bounced off back to his trailer with a decided spring in his step.
Ashleigh knew she was probably playing with fire here, especially since she was starting to get attached, but she was beyond caring. The more time she got to spend with Rico, the better. He was dreamy and incredible.