Chapter Twenty-One
Ezra
“Are you all right, Hannah?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Just thinking about some things, I guess.”
“Good things?”
“Not really.” She looked down at her phone as I drove to the set of our movie. She didn’t know we were headed there, and when Marc told me that we had the freedom to go and check it out at our leisure, I wanted our first time on set to be together. “I don’t know. I mean, it could be nothing at all but, there is this guy…” My heart sunk deep into my chest, expecting the worst. Does she have a boyfriend, I thought, anxiously waiting for her to continue. “I met him at an audition a while ago. He seemed sweet at the time, and I ran into him twice after that.”
She paused. “Now that I think about it, it seemed kind of odd that he happened to be in those two places at the same time as me. But anyways, he found a way to get my number, and he called me when I was getting ready to leave the house. Since then, I’ve gotten two phone calls, both from blocked numbers.”
“And you’re worried?”
“I don’t know. I mean, like I said, it could be nothing at all, you know? Like, I could just be overreacting. He really did come off as harmless, but he just…” she looked at me curiously. “You think I am nuts, don’t you?”
“No.” I laughed. “No, not at all. I mean, honestly, you are an attractive woman, and you know that. And, looking at the fact that we are about to shoot a sexually driven movie… which may lead to more movies, I think you will have stalkers on a regular basis.”
“Oh, my God. That is not what I signed up for.”
“Yeah, it just comes with the territory. I guess you are just getting a taste of it a little early.”
She poked her bottom lip out and huffed. “Do you really think I have a stalker?”
“It sounds like it.” I looked in the rearview mirror and lowered my eyes. “Now that you mention it, this car has been following me for a little while now. I hadn’t noticed it until you mentioned your stalker.”
Her eyes popped open as she spun around in her seat like a top, “Shut up! Are you serious?” she asked, bug-eyed. “You are not serious! I am about to call the cops, Ezra! Are you being serious? You are not being serious. Are you being serious?!”
I tried to stifle my laugh, but I lost the battle as laughter burst out of my mouth like fireworks. “Wow,” I said as she glared at me. “You cannot be that gullible, because if you are; I am going to have so much fun yanking your chain.”
“Ezra. That was not funny! I already told you that I was kind of freaking out about it and then you float that thought in my head! Ugh! What I am going to do with you!?”
Silence sat in the car as I looked at her with a flirtatious eye. “Well, I know a few things you can do…” I licked my lips and cracked a grin as she folded her arms over her chest, trying to project her anger. She kept the façade for a few moments until a smile stretched across her face.
“You make me sick, Ezra.”
“If I had a dollar for every time somebody said that, then I wouldn’t need to be a movie star. I’d already have millions.” The more she pouted, the more I wanted to pull my car to the side of the road and suck on her bottom lip like a pacifier. She was sexy, even when she wasn’t trying to be. “Look, Hannah. How about this? If I am around whenever that stalker calls again, I’ll talk to him. I’ll set him straight.”
“What will you do?”
“Nothing. I will just tell him that if he keeps sweating my girl that I will have to break his fucking face. That’s all.”
She laughed. “Wait a minute, when did I become your girl?”
“Just now.”
“Did I miss something?”
“Yeah, the part when you said you were my girl.”
“I never said that.”
“Said what?”
“That I am your girl.”
“I know you are. Now, what were you saying?”
She rolled her eyes and laughed as we headed to our destination. “All right,” I said when we got closer. “Close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Just close your eyes, Hannah. Stop being difficult!”
She sucked her teeth and did what I asked while I pulled into the long driveway in front of the house. The opening scene of the movie took place at a large mansion in Bel-Air. The house resembled a castle more than anything else. A tall brick wall surrounded the home like a fortress, while tall trees sprouted up just beyond the gate. The mansion was planted within a wooden area, and as I pressed the keypad for entrance, the gate opened slowly just as Hannah closed her eyes. I rolled down the winding pathway as Hannah chattered the whole way, asking question after question about where we were going.
“Just be patient, babe. You’ll see in just a second.”
“Babe?” she responded. “I kind of like how that sounds coming from your lips.”
“I would like to see something else coming from your lips.”
She blindly slapped my leg. “Calm down, mister. You have your mind completely in the gutter.”
“Hey,” I said as I parked, “I am just getting my mind ready for the movie.”
I helped her out of her seat and put my arm around her shoulder. “All right, we are coming to some steps,” I said as I had one hand on her waist. “When I tell you to lift your foot, lift your foot. I don’t want you to fall on your face.”
“OK,” she said, holding onto my arm.
“All right. Lift.”
We were at least three feet away from the stair as she lifted her foot up and sent it slamming down into the cement. She elbowed me in my chest. “Ezra! You know what? No, I am not trusting you right now.” She opened her eyes as we stood in front of the mansion. The double doors were the only thing keeping us from entering into the home. Four white pillars stood firm like soldiers on the front porch. They extended from the top of the roof to the base. The sturdy wood reflected a dull shine as we walked up the steps to the front door. “Wow,” she said. “This… this is beautiful, Ezra. Where are we at? Did you buy this for me?”
I smirked. “Yeah, I did. I was able to pay for it with my 605 credit score and a bag of chicken nuggets.”
“You are such a jerk! Anyways, where are we? Seriously.”
I winked at her and gently took her hand into mine. “Come on. You’ll see.”
We walked into the house. Two stairwells, one on each side, wound up to the second floor. Marble flooring covered each step and sparkled underneath the bright lights inside the home. Beyond the stairwells, a large, spacious front room with pearly white walls separated us from the glass doors that led to the backyard. She looked at me with her mouth hung open, then slowly walked forward into the front room. I followed closely behind her, and as we entered the room, large cameras sat on the end of sturdy poles like heads at the top of giraffe necks. A pool table was positioned in the back of the front room. The balls were scattered onto the green, and pool sticks looked as if they had been placed down in the middle of a game.
A large white couch with plush pillows sat on top of a large, expensive looking rug, and a 60-inch television was mounted on the wall just above the fireplace. “Where are we?” she asked anxiously.
“Well,” I said, smiling. “Say hello to your new home. Well, at least for the movie. This is where we will be shooting our first scenes.”
“Shut up!” she said in disbelief. “Are you kidding? I can’t take any more of your jokes, Ezra!”
“No, this is the real deal. Not only will we be shooting the movie here, but we will live here while we are shooting. The director said he wanted us to get familiar with the home and he thought it would be a good idea if we spent a few days here while we shot the movie.”
“So,” she said, walking towards the window, “you are telling me that I get to live in this mansion? I can call this home for a little while?” Her eyes were glued to the Olympic-sized swimming pool in the backyard and the jacuzzi that sat just to the right of it. “All of this?”
“Yeah,” I said, wrapping my arm around her waist. “All of this.”
Just as my hand slid down to her backside, Leonard's voice interrupted my intention. “Aaaaaaah, there are my stars! The beautiful Hannah. The sexy Ezra. Come,” he said, ushering us closer to him, “let us greet once again.”
Hannah walked to him first as he kissed her on each cheek. “Beautiful,” he said as she walked away from him. “Come now, Ezra. Don’t be shy. I believe that we will be getting very well acquainted with each other in the coming weeks. Come.” When I got in front of him, I stood still as he greeted me the same way he greeted Hannah, with one kiss on each cheek. I stood there, motionless, my eyes swimming back and forth, not knowing what to do next.
“Excellent! Well, I am glad you two have come down here to check out the set. Yes, feel free to look around wherever you please. Check the rooms out, you know? Get a feel for what is going to happen here.” He took a step back and rested his fist underneath his chin as his eyes shifted back and forth between us. I looked at Hannah, confused, wondering what was going through his mind. “Why are you two standing like that?” he asked, his eyebrows wrinkled together.
“Like what?” I asked with a smirk.
“Like that. With… with all of that space between you to. No, no, no,” he said, stepping toward us. “That gap needs to be closed. There should be no space between you two. Ever. I want this chemistry to be strong, and for it to be strong on camera, it has to be strong off camera. You, Ezra,” he grabbed my arm, “put it right here. Make it at home on her shoulder, as if it is paying rent there. And you, Hannah, lean your body into his.” He guided her closer to me and as we stood together, a smile rushed onto his face. “Ah, now that is perfect, no? That is what I want to see. In fact,” he grabbed both of our hands and led us up the winding stairs to the master bedroom, “I want you all to spend time in here. Alone.” He looked deeper into both of our eyes. “Alone,” he said, capping it off with a wink.
“Now, I am going to step away for a while and whatever happens, happens, OK? Think of the movie. Think of the chemistry. Think of the way you want the audience to feel that what you have on stage is real. It has to start somewhere, no? This is your bedroom. This is where many scenes will take place.” I looked to the right as another set of large cameras decorated the corner of the room. “Now, I will leave you two alone. Get comfortable, and I will make sure that nobody comes up here for the next hour. I want you two to connect. Trust me; it will help the flow of the movie. You two come down when you are ready, and we will go from there.” He blew a kiss at both of us, then closed the door behind him.
“Um,” I said, looking at Hannah, “That was weird as fuck. I thought he was about to say some freaky-ass shit like, ‘We need to have sex. All three of us so we can get on the same page.’”
Hannah laughed out loud. “Fuck, no! I would never sleep with his creepy ass. Out of the question.” She walked closer to me and ran her finger over my chest. “You, on the other hand; I think I MIGHT cross that line with you.”
“Oh,” I said, smiling, “You might?”
“Yeah. I might.”
She leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips, and before I knew it, she had pulled me on top of her as we climbed onto the king size bed. I was ready to go, and I had been since the last time my dick slid inside of her.