Falling Stars (Starstruck Series Book 2) (7 page)

“Absolutely. I will make time.”

“Amazing! I can come by tonight if you’re not busy. Where are you staying?”

“Actually, today is my free day.  As far as I know we have an itinerary for the next two days.” Alisa explained then gave him the address.  He hung up the phone, but she didn’t let go of her phone.   Evan sent her messages while she was on the call, so she took a moment to peek at them.

I’ll make it up to you, I promise.

If we’re going to work together, I can’t have you upset at me.

At this point, she wasn’t upset anymore.  Being confined to her room and taking the time to wind down gave Alisa a chance to regroup.  It still hurt to think about her husband, back in LA, without as much as a word back to her.  She’d been texting him to tell him she had arrived safely and that she was so sorry and that she missed him so much, but he refused to answer.  Alisa didn’t like to wallow, and she didn’t want to beat herself up over what she did too much, because she couldn’t be stuck in this mindset while they were conducting business.  

Alisa dropped back on her bed and took a deep breath.  Her sorrow turned to worry, and then her worry turned to dread.  Then when that dread diminished, albeit slowly, she kept telling herself that Logan was doing fine and that he would contact her when he was done being angry.  He usually did.  Then again, they hadn’t had a real fight since they were married, and this was all uncharted territory, at least in this relationship.  When Kurt had been angry, he would come crawling back to her in a matter of hours because he knew he couldn’t stay mad.  Logan was a completely different story.  

She also hated that she constantly compared her current husband with her ex-husband. They were incomparable, on exact opposite sides of the spectrum, in all aspects.  It couldn’t be helped.  It was the natural thing to do: compare what’s learned through experience.  Alisa hated that she was experiencing this at all.

After a few minutes, she slid on her sandals and made her way over to the room across the hall.  It took a few seconds to gain the courage to raise her hand, but she finally did.  Then she knocked against the wooden door lightly, three quick raps.

No response.

Contemplating knocking again, Alisa gave up the wait and started back towards her room, almost tiptoeing, when she heard the door open.

“Oh, we’re ding-dong-ditching now, are we?”  Evan stood there against the doorframe with his arms folded.

Her face flushed, and she turned to face him, wearing what was sure to be a cheesy smile.  “Sorry.  I just figured you were asleep.”

“Nah, haven’t slept a wink.  Flight kinda threw me off.  Come on in.”

Alisa hesitated as she walked in. He offered her a bottle of water, and she graciously accepted.  Evan’s room was a direct mirror of hers, with a view just as exquisite that overlooked the pool in the courtyard.  He seemed to keep everything nice and organized too, where as she draped most of her clothing over the lounge furniture.  

“Everything okay?”  He asked, sitting beside her on the couch.

Breathing in, she nodded, “As okay as it can be, I suppose.”

“Understandable.”

Alisa took a sip of her water and when she was done, screwed the lid on tight and set it on the coffee table.

“I’m really sorry
  
”                                           “About last night
  
”

“Oh, I’m sorry, go ahead
  
”                             “Okay, go ahead
   
”

The two spoke in unison once again, erupting in laughter. Evan waved his hand over at her to allow her to take the floor.

“I’m…” Alisa thought over her words very carefully.  “I’m not mad at you, Evan.  I don’t hate you.”

His piercing eyes looked up at her, anxious and relieved all at once. Evan sat back on the couch, almost consumed by the cushion as he did. It was definitely comfortable where they sat, and for a few moments they let the quiet wash over them.

Alisa didn’t mind it; she enjoyed time to just let go of her stressors and relax.  “I don’t hate you,” she repeated.

“I’m glad.”

When she looked down, she didn’t expect to see his hand on her knee.  It was completely meaningless to her but surprised her, nonetheless.  

“Why are you…?”  Her voice faltered, as she realized her question would come off either rude or make no sense.

Evan’s eyebrow arched as he shifted in his seat, scooting himself closer to her.  “Why am I what?”

She was at a loss for words.  If only she could figure out a way to put a proper sentence together that would neither offend nor upset him.  After a beat, she responded, “I just don’t get how you can be so straightforward, so boastful and nonchalant, yet underneath it all, when it’s just you and me…be someone completely different?”  

In all honesty, she’d been waiting to ask him that since they first met.  Evan was a typical film industry type; at least he was based on what she saw on television.  Strip away the crowd, the awards, the hard exterior of him being cocky to please others and she was left with the man who sat next to her just now: A simple man who was sweeter than her favorite chocolate, with eyes that made her melt.

A faint laugh was heard, and Evan rested his head back on the couch.  “It’s sad to say that I get asked that a lot.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t know what it is.  The rush of the film industry? That need to be ahead of someone, which essentially means you have to talk yourself up endlessly to get any sort of attention? I’m sorry for coming off that way; it’s a habit when you meet new people, producers, writers, actors.  You just have to hit the ground running or you’ll get trampled, you know?” Evan explained.

His words were spot on.  Though Alisa didn’t have the same gusto or arrogance that Evan had acquired, appearing on late night television required some confidence, and for those five to ten minutes of screen time, she too had to wear that hat.  Even if she didn’t fully agree with this reasoning, she understood it.

“I hate to give you the sob backstory about a bullied kid from Queens who was never in the spotlight, but that’s true too.  Short version is ... this life isn’t for the nice guys.  I’m working on it though.”

“I see. Well, if I may confess… I prefer
this
Evan over the one I knew before.  Not that there was anything bad about that guy.  I guess I should say I would have wanted to meet this Evan first.”

He gave a sheepish grin and extended his hand to her. “Then let’s start over.”

Confused for a moment, Alisa slowly extended her hand to take his.

Evan gave her a firm handshake and looked into her eyes.  He was just so intense. “Evan Gable, director. No relation to Clark but just as dashing. I’ve made a few movies in my day. A pleasure to meet you…”

“Alisa Rider.” It was still weird to say that name. “I’m a published author, television writer, and producer extraordinaire. I’ve even been an extra in a film by Christian Neel; you may have heard of him?  Also, I’ve been nominated for a couple of awards, and I’m on the National Best Sellers
  
”

“All right, all right, I get it … My God, is that really what I sound like?” Evan put his hand to his heart in surprise.

Alisa just grinned and shrugged, pleading the fifth on that one.

They both laughed, a genuine and necessary laugh shared between them.

Just like that, the ice was re-broken. The two were discussing embarrassing moments he had on set with his last film,
Letting Go
.  It was a very sad yet uplifting romantic comedy.  Alisa hadn’t seen it yet, and Evan spared the spoilers; he was just explaining how the leads didn’t get along, and an instance where he slipped and fell on set trying to get between them before they started to fight.  Alisa was grateful her leads from
Gateway
were friends and the cast
of Family Insurance
were a family of their own.

“Do you think I’m going to do well on the show?” He came out and asked, point blank.

It caught her off guard.  “Oh, as Aaron?”

“Yeah.”

She thought back to the read she had with him a few days ago and nodded.  “Your character was spot on.  You delivered the lines so well with me that Ray talked to Kassidy to make sure you had a shot.”

“Wow. Well, what did you think?”  Evan asked.

Alisa nodded, “I think you did pretty well.”

There was brief break in their conversation, and Alisa didn’t realize how close he was sitting next to her until she turned to face him.  They immediately zoned in on one another, silently observing each other, letting the moment settle between them.  

Her phone went off.

After clearing her throat, she answered.  “Alex!”

“Hey, sweetie! I knocked on your door, and you didn’t answer.  Is this a bad time?”

“Um,” She offered a quick glance at Evan and mouthed sorry before standing up.  Her fingers ran through her freshly straightened hair.  “No, I’m just across the hall; one sec.”

Throwing the door open, she revealed herself to her friend, and he squealed with joy.  She was pulled into his extremely tight embrace which she returned with as much exuberance.  Alex couldn’t help but notice the room she was in was not vacant.  He pulled away awkwardly and shot an inquisitive glance at Alisa before looking at Evan.

“Ahem. Am I … interrupting
something
?”

“No no no! Evan, this is my friend Alex Santos … you know?  From the text earlier.  Alex, this is my new director. We’re here together.”

“
On business
.”  Evan stated clearly, as he stood up to greet Alex.  He reached out and offered him a hand to shake which Alex took eagerly.  “Evan Gable.”

“A pleasure.”

“Likewise.”

Before the awkward dust settled, Alisa started towards the open door and gestured at the room across the hall.  

“I guess I should let you get some rest, Evan.”

“Sounds good.”

“I’ll text you later.”

“I’ll be waiting.”  He winked and shut the door behind them.

Once the door latched shut, Alex grabbed Alisa’s hand and tore through her door like a whirlwind.  His face lit up. She hadn’t seen him so animated since he got together with John and couldn’t wait to spill the beans to her about all of the juicy details.

“Whoa there, killer, where’s the fire?!”  Alisa shut the door behind her and plopped down on her own comfortable couch beside him.

Alex’s face was still illuminated with excitement, “He has to be a heart attack and a half.”

“Have you been talking to Ray?”  Alisa laughed.

“No, why?”

Alisa just shook her head.

“Whew!” He pretended to fan himself, “So Ron hired that one? You had nothing to do with this?”

Alisa nodded, staring innocently at her friend.

Alex exhaled loudly, “Logan was okay with this?  How are things, by the way? I haven’t talked to you in so long. We have so much to catch up on that I don’t even know if we are going to have enough time.”

“Things are…things are kinda rough right now.”  Alisa admitted.  “I left LA on such bad terms.  I haven’t heard from him since I took off.”

“Oh,” the tone suggested Alex was sad and surprised all at the same time.  “I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect that coming from Logan.  That man loves you more than anything, and you guys never fought after the whole Michelle dilemma.  Honestly, I figured you guys for a perfect couple.”

“Far from perfect,” she corrected him.

“Ugh,” Alex groaned, pouring himself a glass of wine from the bottle he smuggled in.  He offered Alisa some.  “It sounds like it’s about time John and I make our way back to Los Angeles.  He just bought us a house.”  

Alisa sipped her wine, “That’s wonderful! But aren’t you both enjoying your ‘lil vacay’ here in the city?”

He grinned, “Of course I am.  But I think it’s time we get back to our home and just settle down.”

When Alisa raised a brow curiously, Alex offered his left hand to her.  There was a titanium band lined with small diamonds shimmering in the lights from above.  It only took Alisa a couple of seconds to process what he was not-so-shyly exposing to her, and in that instant, she screamed.  He screamed too, screams of excitement. The pair giddily clutched each other’s hands and bounced on the plush seats.

Alex was beaming from ear to ear.

“Wow, sweetie; that is amazing!”  Back when they first met, Alisa had no idea the two were into each other, let alone hitting it off. Now here they were engaged to be married. “How, wh-when did it all happen? How did he ask?”

Her friend went on to explain how John popped the question; John was a production assistant for another film they were doing on location in New York City.  John’s supervisor at the time was a good friend with the coordinator at the Empire State Building, so after pulling some strings, making arrangements, and nearly blowing the surprise a couple of times, John managed to get Alex to travel to the balcony.  That, in itself, was a very difficult task considering Alex was majorly afraid of heights.  When Alex reached the top, he went outside, and John was waiting for him with roses and “Marry Me” written on a banner.