Star Struck (6 page)

As the audience exploded in hoots and hollers again, I shut off the television. Sure, he got to talk about the movie and do the damage control his manager so desperately wanted him to do, but he took it a bit far. I was fuming! To top it off, I realized he hadn’t even called me since finishing the taping this morning.

As though he had heard my thoughts, my phone rang. I debated whether or not I wanted to talk to Gavin, but I finally answered the phone.

“I don’t really feel like talking right now, Gavin,” I snapped at him.

“Oh,” he said. “Did you see the interview?”

“Yea! And I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”

“I think we should. You’re obviously upset about it. And I…”

“No,” I interrupted. “I probably just won’t get you since I’m not easy going enough!”

I hung up the phone without letting him get another word in. Tears flowed down my face, and I sunk to the floor, clutching my legs against me and resting my head on my knees. I regretted sounding so mocking to him, but I was angry. The point of him going on The Eva Show was to promote the film and make people think he wasn’t in a serious relationship, not flaunt himself in front of millions of women and make them think he wanted all of them!

My phone started ringing- it was Gavin again. Promptly, I ignored the call. There was nothing he could say to me that I wanted to hear right now. I needed to get away, I wanted to get out of here. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be alone or have some company, but I didn’t really know where to go in the first place.

Finally, after my tears had dried on my face, I called my friend Alicia. She had always been there for me- we met in an acting class not too long after I came to Los Angeles, and became quick friends. She said I was welcome to come and stay with her and her roommate for a few days if I wanted, so I packed up a few things and headed over. Gavin tried to call me again, so I shut off my phone.

When I got to Alicia’s place, I poured my heart out to her. She knew Gavin and I had gone out a few times, but didn’t know how serious we had become. I gave her every last detail, and told her about his manager’s insistence on the interview on The Eva Show. Like a good friend, she listened closely and gave me support. We even looked up the interview clip on The Eva Show website so she could see exactly what he had said.

“Oh sweetie,” Alicia said. “I’m so sorry. It seemed like things were going well from what you said.”

I hung my head.

“Are you sure he meant what he said?” she asked.

“He seemed rather sure about it to me,” I replied.

Alicia shook her head. “I can’t believe he’d throw you under the bus like that on your relationship. Like it’s so meaningless to him, he can just parade himself for all those girls!”

“Yea, I know.” I loved the support of a friend, but I wished she hadn’t reminded me.

“On the bright side, though,” she said. “At least he said some good things about your acting. Got your name out there- that’s always a great thing.”

I fought back tears again. Alicia hugged me tightly, and let me cry on her shoulder as she rocked me back and forth. If I ever had a sister, this is what I imagined it would feel like.

“How about this…” Alicia said. “Why don’t we go put on our pj’s, I’ll grab the ice cream out of the freezer and a couple of spoons, and we’ll watch a good movie? Sound good?”

I smiled half-heartedly and Alicia wiped the last tears from my face. I went into the bathroom and changed into some comfy sweats and an old t-shirt to sleep in. When I came back out, Alicia already had the ice cream out and a couple of movies to pick from. I choose the least romantic one, and we popped it in.

When I woke up the next morning, I stretched and yawned as the memories of yesterday flooded back to me. The feeling felt strangely stale, and I tried to get myself up without dwelling on things too much. I turned my phone back on and saw I had eight missed calls- one from my agent, Robin, earlier that morning, and seven from Gavin last night.

Gavin had left two voicemails- the first time he called, saying that he really wanted to talk to me and encouraged me to pick up the pone, and the last time he called, saying that I clearly didn’t want to talk to him and that he would stop calling until I returned his calls. Reluctantly, I deleted his voicemails, although there was a part in me that felt so comforted in hearing his voice.

The message from Robin was much better to hear- I had an audition that afternoon for a role in another upcoming feature film. She said she was emailing me the sides as she was leaving the message and that I should check my inbox as soon as I can. It was a role that had been filled but the actress had to drop out last-minute and they needed an urgent replacement for a film called
Expectations.
I was happy to have something to take my mind off of Gavin. The audition didn’t go as well as I hoped, so I brushed it off. There would be other roles in the future.

For the next few days, I stayed with Alicia. She didn’t seem to mind, especially since I made dinner each night. On the third day, I got a phone call from Robin- I booked the role in
Expectations
. Filming was going to begin tomorrow in Toronto, Canada, for three weeks and I was scheduled to be on a flight in five hours. I thanked Alicia, asked her to check in on my apartment every couple of days or so, and headed home to pack.

While I was throwing my clothes and necessities in my suitcase, I debated on whether or not I wanted to call Gavin and let him know I was going to be gone. In the end, I decided I was just not ready to talk to him yet, and he didn’t need to know where I was going.

Landing in Toronto was a bit of a shock to me- I had become so used to the warm weather of Southern California that stepping out into the snow was a little overwhelming. Even under a long-sleeved shirt and two jackets, the cold ran through me. A car picked me up and took me to a cozy hotel. I unpacked and studied the script for the rest of the night uninterrupted.

Getting to the set was a different experience this time. Every film, play, and project was bound to be different from the last, but being on set for the first time since falling so hard for Gavin bordered on being uncomfortable. I introduced myself to a few people, but kept mostly quiet until shooting.

This project was quite different from
Bittersweet Memories,
though I found some similarities between my characters. For a moment, I became worried that I was going to get typecast from here on out, but I dismissed the thought and reminded myself that I was just lucky to be working again so soon.

The first week of filming
Expectations
flew by. I became completely devoured by my character and the script. It was an intense indie thriller film with a cast that was made up of people mostly where I was in their career- just getting started with one or two big projects under their belt- and one actor who had been famous in the 1980’s but became virtually wiped out of acting completely after a terrible drug problem in the early ‘90s.

Nights felt short and yet seemed to drag on. I’d get done on set after a full day’s work, and by the time I got back to the hotel it was close to nine o’clock. Since I had to be back in Los Angeles for the premiere of
Bittersweet Memories
in a few weeks anyway, they had sped up my schedule on
Expectations
to be sure they had all they needed from me. Most evenings, I stayed in the hotel room studying the next day’s scenes and doing character work since all the other cast had such a head start on me. Sometimes I’d go out to eat, but I hated going out alone and in the Toronto cold. Most of the time, I felt pretty secluded and alone.

Two days before I had to head back to L.A. Alicia called me.

“Hey sweet stuff,” she said when I answered the phone.

“Hey,” I replied. “How’s it going?”

“Oh fine,” she said casually. “I just wanted to call and see how it was going with you. How’s filming going?”

“Great. I like this cast.”

“But..?” she asked.

I sighed. She could always see right through me.

“But it’s not as special as
Bittersweet Memories
. I feel kinda lonely. Making friends hasn’t been quite so easy with such a rushed schedule.”

“Well, you’ll be fine. I’m sure they all think you’re wonderful. Besides, if you’re going to be getting a lot of work from here on out, you won’t make friends every time.”

“Yea, that’s true, I guess.”

“So…” she paused. “Have you heard from Gavin?”

“No, but he said he wouldn’t call me unless I called him, and I just haven’t known what to say. Or had the time.”

“Why didn’t you at least tell him you were in Canada?”

“How did you know I didn’t tell him?”

There was a pregnant pause on the other end of the line.

“Um,” she began. “Well, I met him.”

“What? When?” I said anxiously. Perhaps a little too anxiously.

“At your place.”

“Huh?” now I was confused.

“I went over there a couple days after you left to get the mail and whatnot and he was sitting outside your door. Waiting for you to come home.”

“Really? How was he?”

“You really want to know, Meg?”

Alicia had always been straightforward with me. I knew she wouldn’t make something up, even if it was what she thought I needed to hear.

“Yes, Alicia. Just tell me.”

“Absolutely miserable. He had to have been waiting for hours.”

“Why?”

“Are you seriously asking? Megs, he misses you. He went over there to try to talk to you, and when he saw you weren’t home, he decided to wait until you showed up. Pretty sure he’d still be sitting there if I hadn’t shown up and told him you were out of town.”

No one had ever done anything like that just to try to talk to me.

“What did you tell him?” I inquired.

“Just that you’re out of town, really. I let him in and gave him something to drink, but that’s all. He left a few minutes later. We didn’t talk for long. Oh, speaking of getting home I want to make sure I know what time your plane lands- noon, right?”

“Yea, around noon. Thanks for picking me up, by the way. I’ll buy you lunch.”

“Ha, you better! Big time working actress,” she joked. “Okay, well I’ll let you go. I’m sure you’ll want to get some sleep. See you the day after tomorrow.”

“Thanks. See you then.”

Thoughts of Gavin ran through my head. Maybe I should go see him when I got home. I felt a little remorse in the fact that I hadn’t tried calling or even texting him all these weeks. Though I didn’t really want to admit it, I missed him. My heart ached for him. Giving him a chance to at least explain the things he said is the least I could do.

Still, he hadn’t tried calling me since the day after the show aired. If he was so willing to wait outside my door, why hadn’t he tried to call me since then? It had been a couple of weeks ago since Alicia had talked to him, though, so who knows if he would even be willing to talk to me anymore. My stomach knotted at the thought of how awkward the premiere and subsequent promotional events for
Bittersweet Memories
was going to feel.

Pushing all my thoughts out, I stepped onto the balcony and let in the feeling of the frosty air on my skin. I took a deep breath and gazed out on the city as billions of sparkling lights gazed right back at me. It was a beautiful place, and my mind got lost as I took in the details of the nighttime skyline.

Two days later, I couldn’t believe how quickly the time had passed. My alarm went off early so I could get up and head for the airport. I was thankful I had wrapped earlier than I expected to the day before so I could pack all my stuff and get to bed at a decent hour. The only thing I regretted was not really having the time to see much of the gorgeous city I had been in for the better part of a month.

I was thankful that my flight from Toronto to LAX was direct. For most of the five and a half hours in the air, I slept. When the plane landed in LAX, it was the normal chaos I had remembered when I left. Alicia met me at baggage claim, and it was so refreshing to see a familiar face. I gave her a big hug, grabbed my bag from the carrousel, and we headed out to the parking lot.

“How was your flight?” Alicia asked.

“Fine, I guess.”

I looked over at Alicia as we walked. She was clearly holding in excitement, and looked as though she was about to burst with laughter.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Oh,” she said coyly. “Nothing. Well, something. You’ll see.”

When we got to her car, she popped open the trunk and I threw my bags in. I was feeling so tired, and I was very ready to go home and rest. Alicia walked around to the passenger side and held open the back door. She looked at me expectantly, but didn’t say a word.

“What?” I asked.

“Get in.”

“The back?”

“Yes. Just do it. You’ll be happier back there.”

I shrugged my shoulders and gave Alicia a quizzical look. She insisted, so I got in the back seat. What was waiting for me back there made me grin ear to ear, and I almost felt like a fool. But I didn’t care how I looked, because the elation in my soul tossed away any other feelings I could possibly have held. Sitting there beside me with the same goofy grin I had, was Gavin.