Star Struck (6/?)
“It’s not the first time she was around when it happened.” He offered with a small shrug as he looked at me. “Mmmm so how about we find out what’s on TV and then one of us goes to sleep and the other gets some chores done before going to sleep as well because he has to be up to shoot in the morning.” He let out a small sigh. “Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do, but sometimes it gets old. The people are wonderful, memorizing everything isn’t too bad, but it’s the constant day in and day out activities that kind of bothers me. There are days where I’m not done until midnight and then I’m up again by eight the next day to be on set by eight thirty. It’s just exhausting sometimes.”
“Then don’t worry about the dishes, I’ll do them tomorrow when I get up, there’s no reason that you should worry about it. Get some sleep and then it won’t be such a hard thing. Honest, I know how it goes.” I let out a small sigh as I looked at him. “I get about four hours of sleep a day normally.”
“Well, all this week you’ll be able to catch up on your sleep and you won’t have an issue for about a week or so.” He offered with a small smile before leaning over and kissing my cheek before flipping on the TV and beginning to flip through the channels. “Well look at this, Survivor’s on, which I believe means that CSI’s on next.”
“That is normally the way that Thursday night tv would work.” I laughed lightly before reaching over and taking the remote away from him as I did. “Sorry, just borrowing it for a minute.” Pressing a couple of buttons I set it up so that it would record, that way if I fell asleep before either one got over, I’d still know what happened. “There you are you can have the remote back. I just know that I probably won’t make it until the time CSI is over is all.” A yawn was emitted as if to prove the point that I had just said. “It’s been a long day, longer than I’d imagined, even though I slept through most of it.”
“You’ve had a rough couple of days, now get some sleep.” Nicholas said gently as he watched me. “I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep, and then I’ll be here in the house with you. I swear I won’t leave you; I won’t let anything happen to you and that I promise.”
“I appreciate that.” I managed setting my head back against the pillows and curling up with a stuffed animal that sat beside the head of my bed on the night stand. I’d had it for years now and had adjusted to sleeping with it at night. “Settle in wherever you would like to, whatever’s most comfortable for you is whatever works best. I will warn you though if you get up and take a shower in the morning, Nala has a habit of letting herself into the bathroom to keep you company. As long as you’re lucky though, she won’t try and crawl in the shower with you.”
“I will keep that in mind.” He responded nodding his head as he looked at me. “What about the mountain lion? Is there anything about him that I need to worry about?” He asked looking at me for a minute.
“No, not really, he doesn’t like water, he doesn’t try and keep you company while you’re in the shower, no there’s nothing I can think of.” A yawn followed this statement which caused me to let out a small sigh as I fought to keep my eyes open. I had returned to my earlier fear, that if I fell asleep, when I woke up he wouldn’t be there anymore. It was a thought that broke my heart, I could deal with him leaving for the day but if I woke up in the morning and found out that I had dreamt this whole thing then I was pretty sure I might just give up on everything again.
“Stop fighting with yourself already.” Nick laughed as he watched me for a moment. “You’re obviously tired, so get some sleep. I promise you, I will come back, and something tells me that Maverick will probably stay here with you and sleep because normally once she’s out she won’t wake up again even if I move out into the living room.”
Letting my eyes close, I began to give in to the feeling that had started to sweep over me. I was tired, that I would willingly admit to, and it was time to face my fear, if I woke up tomorrow to find that this was all a horrible dream then I would deal with it then. “Night”, I said hardly above a whisper, opening an eye to look at him as I did.
“Good night princess.” He said with a small smile as he looked at me. “Now go to sleep.”
It wasn’t long after that that I finally drifted off into a fairly deep sleep as I laid there, sleep overcoming my body.
The next morning the sun shining into the window was a wake up call I wished wouldn’t come, the TV had been turned off and rolling over confirmed that I was indeed alone other than a pair of fuzzy friends who were still lying at the foot of the bed.
A small sigh escaped my lips as I forced myself to sit up looking to both dogs. “Come on yous two, let’s go outside.” With that both dogs hopped up and went running towards the door as they did.
Pushing myself up I crawled out of bed, the truth was despite the fact that I was pretty sure I was still awfully bruised looking, I felt less stiff than I had the day before. Moving didn’t hurt as bad as it did either; well that was a step in the right direction. Putting my feet on the floor, I carefully pushed myself up to them before following after them and heading for the back door and opening it watching as the two of them went scurrying out into the yard. I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched them; life was so easy for the two of them. They truly only wanted to be loved and have a companion to keep them company and if that meant that Maverick came to stay with us for a while, well then I could deal with that. After all that would mean her human companion would be around more often, a fact that I could definitely deal with.
“You always up this early?” Speaking of said human companion, hmmm I thought he’d left already, obviously not though.
“Only when the sun decides that it’s going to be my alarm clock. Thought you left already.” I responded turning around to look at him. I caught myself before I could let out the gasp that I wanted to, he was in fact “taking my breath away”.
“Yea I’ll be heading out here shortly.” He responded pulling the towel off his shoulder and reaching up to dry his hair with it. It was then that I realized he was still shirtless. It took everything I had to not want to reach out and run a hand down his chest and abdomen. “Your phone was sitting on the table so I swiped your number off of it, figured it’d be easier to call you at lunch time if I had that. Hope you don’t mind. Dishwashers been loaded and run, dishes are put away, laundries in the drier, you’ll have to fold it and put it away but it’s a little closer to being done than you were before.” With that he pulled his shirt from where it had hung over one shoulder before pulling it on starting to button it. “What?” He asked obviously catching on to the fact that I was marveled by him.
Attempting to make a quick recovery of it I offered a smile. “No, no that’s fine, and I don’t mind putting away my clothes.” I responded as I looked at him. “By now I’m used to it.” Turning back around I opened the door letting the dogs both come running back in. “And you manage to make it to the gym when?” I asked as I spun to look at him again with a grin. I figured if I was going to drool, I might as well own up to it.
Nick laughed lightly as he looked at me. “Ahhhh so that’s what you were so interested in. As for how do I find the time, very carefully, sometimes it’s before going in to shoot, some days it’s after, other’s yet it’s a day off, or a lunch hour that’s been extended. Normally end up there about three times a week, or well I did until I decided a home gym was a good idea. Anyways, I suppose if I’m going to be on time, I should get going. My numbers on the fridge if you need anything, I’ll give you a call when we break for lunch.” He wandered up behind me carefully wrapping his arms around me before he placed a kiss on my cheek. “Take it easy today hey? Nothing strenuous just lay around.”
“Sir, yes sir.” I responded giving him a cocky smirk. “I’ll be fine; I’ll probably attempt to draw or write or something while you’re gone. Now go before you’re late, I’ll be fine.” I said before tossing my keys at him. “I’m going to lock the door, that way you can let yourself in.”
“Alright, I’m headed out then. Be good Maverick.” He called over his shoulder as he let go of me. “God knows I’d rather hold you the rest of the day.”
“I’d rather it too.” I shrugged as I looked at him. “But when you’re done tonight we’ll curl up and watch a movie, I’ll send ya with money when you get back for lunch and you can stop and pick something up on your way home or we can order a pizza or something for supper tonight.”
“Alright, see you at lunch.” He responded pulling the door open flashing me one last smile. “Be good.” And with that he was gone. Once the door was shut I wandered over flipping the lock on it as I did. The keyboard was still sitting in front of the couch on the coffee table, time to get that put away I supposed.
Moving over to where it sat I picked it up and headed for the guest bed room, bumping the door open with my foot as I did. I was relatively impressed, other than the duffle bag tossed on the floor; you wouldn’t know that a person was actually staying there. Setting the keyboard back on the stand where it belonged, I moved back to the living room. It was amazing how empty a place could seem if you were used to having someone else around. After all I rarely spent a whole lot of time home normally, occasionally a day here or there but nothing like this week was going to be.
Well, I’d been meaning to write a novel and had more than once started it; I supposed now that I had the time I might as well get some work done. Grabbing the lap top off my desk I wandered over to the couch flopping down and flipping on the TV. It seemed counter productive from anyone else but occasionally something that someone on the TV said would spark a productive idea and give me somewhere to go with a story.
Stretching out on the couch, I moved the computer into my lap laughing some as Maverick crawled up at the end of the couch. “Hey girl, how you doing?” I asked reaching down and scratching her head as I did.
It was then that it hit me, what better story to write then the one that I was living? The every day average girl dating the overly good looking celebrity. The trials and tribulations their relationship faced, it seemed like a perfect idea and if nothing else it would be a good way to vent. “What do you think Maverick?” I asked looking down at the golden lab as her tail began to wag and she let out a short bark, her ears perking. “Well I’ll take that as you think it’s a good idea.” I responded laughing lightly as I did.
Setting to my work I began to write, figuring the first chapter or so could be written now at least.
What seemed like twenty minutes later my cell phone was ringing, picking it up from the coffee table I answered it pressing it to my ear. “Hello?” Glancing at the clock on my computer I realized that it had been closer to two hours and was now twelve thirty.
“Hey there beautiful.” Came the response from the other end. “You interested in going to get something to eat or would you rather I bring something back with me?”
In the background voices could be made out and I thought I heard one of them say “Awwww, Nicky’s seeing someone,” And him trying to quiet them down. I couldn’t help but laugh at this.
“You can bring something back with you. You know you’re going to have to listen to them for awhile right?” It was my turn to tease now, after all being the girlfriend I got that right didn’t I?
“Mmmm, if he doesn’t knock it off in the next three minutes, he’s going to need a CSI of his own.” I heard him let out a sigh before trying to keep his voice calm. “So where would you like me to grab lunch from?”
“Wherever you’d like to stop and leave him alive, I don’t feel like visiting you in jail this week. Maybe by next week my mood will have changed though.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. His keys could be heard clanking as he attempted to find the right one to unlock the car.
“How’s Mav?” He asked letting out a small sigh as he did.
“Doing well, she’s laying here at my feet.” I responded looking at her for a minute to make sure that in my writing frenzy she hadn’t moved.
“Alright, well I’ll be there in about twenty minutes, I’m not due back until like three and it kinda sounds like we’re going to be in for a long night shooting tonight, so I guess we’ll have to put that movie on hold. Sorry…” He let out a sigh and I could hear the car start in the background. “I wish I could say that this was going to be the only time it was going to happen, but unfortunately it’s probably not.”
“Hey, it’s ok, I understand, we’ll find a day where we can do it honest. I told you, I’m willing to work around your schedule. We’ll figure something out, it’s not going to be as hard as it seems.” It was the truth, I didn’t care really that he wasn’t going to be around to watch a movie, well I did but yet I understood it at the same time. After all, it was his job, it was what he loved to do, and I wouldn’t dare ask him not to do it.
“Alright, well I’ll grab lunch on the way home then and we can talk this through alright?” He didn’t sound like the same happy go lucky person I’d seen leave this morning. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he was tired or if it was the fact that his co-workers had given him a hard time most of the morning.
“Alright, sounds good. I’ll talk to you when you get here then.” I wanted to make it better for him but yet at the same time I wasn’t so sure that there was anything that I could do to make it better for him.
“Sounds good.” And then the line went dead.
I couldn’t help but sigh as I set the phone back down on the coffee table, saving the story and setting the lap top down on the coffee table beside it. “I think daddy’s having a bad day,” I said with a small sigh as I looked at Maverick. “And I kinda think maybe it’s partially my fault.”
With that the pooch hopped up moving towards me letting out a bark as she did before she began to lick at my face. There was one thing that I was sure of; anyone who said that dogs weren’t smart was indeed lying to you. Dogs are very smart creatures, they understand human emotion and sometimes I really thought that they understood how to make things better as well. In truth right now, all she seemed to want to do was try and make me feel better.
“Alright, alright enough Maverick.” I said with a tiny laugh giving the dog a little shove which caused her to bark again, which in turn brought Gage running to see what all of the commotion was about. “It’s ok boy, I promise.” I laughed reaching down to pet his head as well so that he didn’t feel like he was left out right now.
It was just a few minutes later that I could hear keys outside the door and not long after the door was opening, and Nick was walking through it. “Hey you.” He said before shaking his head as he looked at Maverick. “You’re going to become a spoiled dog while you’re here now aren’t you?” He asked shaking his head. “I ended up deciding on burgers and fries on the way back, hope that’s alright with you.” He responded bringing the bag with him as he wandered over. “Alright come on pup, time for you to get down.” He shook his head as he watched Maverick hop down and look up at him with the sad puppy dog eyes as if she were trying to ask him why she was being punished the way that she was.
“Burgers and fries are always fine with me.” I responded patting the couch beside me, before rubbing Maverick’s head. “Oh come on now, you’ve been up here all morning, you’ll be fine sitting down there on the floor. Besides, I think Gage has a nice puppy bed around here somewhere that he refuses to use now that he’s a big dog because he doesn’t seem to think he fits in it anymore. Maybe later on I’ll drag it out for you so that you don’t have to sit there on the floor.”
“You’re going to spoil her and then she’s going to hate living with me.” Nick laughed as he held out a burger to me. “Then again she’ll probably end up spending more time with you than she will with me anyways.”
“Thank you.” I responded taking the burger from him and smiling some as I did. “And you’re always welcome to stay whenever you want to; it’s been awhile since I’ve actually had company to stay in the guest room, to be honest it’s kind of nice.”
“I’ll keep that in mind; I don’t mind being in your company either. You’re a live wire but yet at the same time you’re very calm. You’re full of life and you don’t seem to care what other people think about you or say to you.” He shook his head. “I feel like you’re everything I’ve been looking for, for so long now and I’ve only known you for three days now.”
“Believe me I know that feeling well.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “And here I could have quit three nights before and never met you.” It was funny how fate worked out sometimes, really it way. I almost couldn’t believe that I had in fact almost quit two nights before. Johnny and I had gotten into a fight over a couple of minuscule things, as was normal for the two of us, and I had almost quit but something had made me stay, and I couldn’t figure out what it was, not until now at least.
“You were going to quit?” He asked as he looked at me raising his eyebrows as he did. “How come? This doesn’t have to do with how he treated you the other night does it?” His face was concerned as he looked at me now. “I know you probably don’t want it this way but if you chose to quit there, I promise you won’t need anything ever. Don’t worry about the money, if he’s harming you in any way, get out of there.” His squared jaw clenched for a minute as he looked at me, he really was concerned about me right now.
“Johnny’s not harming me in anyway, and if we’re going to make this relationship work, you’re going to have to trust that I can take care of myself while you aren’t around. Granted there are a lot of things I can get into, but you’ll have to trust that I’ll be ok.” I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched him. “Because if not then you will end up driving yourself nuts worrying about me.”
“I do worry about you though; I worry that that scum bag will come back here and hurt you while I’m not here. I feel a little better knowing you have the dogs, but I know what I did to you. I know what he can do to you.” His eyes lowered for a minute, before he looked up at me. “Just promise me that you wont take any unnecessary risks for awhile ok?”
“Alright, no unnecessary risks.” I responded shrugging as I finished off the burger stealing a fry from him as I did letting out a small chuckle as I did. “However who gets to term whither it’s necessary or not?”
“You do, but I’m trusting that you won’t push it too far, nothing stupid or anything like that. I still think you should consider taking some time off at the bar, after the way he talked to you the other night I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he decided it was a wonderful idea to hit you. Take the fries if you want them.” He gave a small smirk as he looked at me. “Really, it’s just another trip to the gym waiting to happen, and I’d hate for it to ruin this figure.”