Just Like Me (28 page)

“That’s the problem with fan girls. With them, it’d be easy to get them in my bed. It’s not a challenge. But with you, I’ll have to work for it. I’ll have to earn it. It actually means something with you.”

“Well, you may be working a very long time.”

“I can live with that. If it takes 20 years
after
we get married, I’d have to deal with it.”

              I opened my eyes and turned over to face him.

“What?”

“Well, hopefully not that long.”

              I didn’t correct him that I was flabbergasted at his casual mention of marriage. I giggled nervously as I finally turned to face him and rested my hands against his chest. He rubbed his fingers down my arm, thoughtful.

“Most Hollywood marriages never last, right?” I asked.

“We don’t have to be a statistic. But before marriage…normally people live together.”
“And how is that supposed to work?”
“You move in with me.”

              I watched his face, trying to find a punch line somewhere. But he looked serious.

“Move in with you?”
“Yea.”
“Here?”
“Here, South Carolina, where ever I am.”
“It’d be nice; I think it’s a little early. It’d be hell trying to commute to my college.”

“You could take online classes.”

I didn’t expect that.

“I’m supposed to be experiencing the college life,” I teased lightly. “You know, living it up and such.”

“I’m about to finish up this murder movie and I can take a break for a little while. We can stay in this house, vacation a little bit. You finish out the semester and then just take whatever classes you want to online. Then I can go back to work, eventually. And you can travel with me. I heard they’re having auditions for a movie that’s going to be filmed in the Caribbean.”

“My scholarship only covers my degree at my university. I can’t take classes online.”

“I’ll cover you, and you can be a counselor. Or a professional pancake flipper, or whatever it is you want to do.”

“But if we ever broke up, I’d be in a bunch of shit. I wouldn’t have the money for a degree, I wouldn’t have a real job.”

“I’m not saying you have to quit college. Once we get settled in somewhere, if filming goes on for a long while in a place, you can put in a semester there on campus.”

“But that’d take forever; credits don’t always transfer to other colleges. I’d have credits all over the place and no real degree. Not to mention how complicated it’d be to have to switch colleges every semester.”

“We’ve got all the time in the world. Do you honestly want to spend the next two years in a classroom, listening to people that don’t give a shit about you or your career? You get a piece of paper saying you listened to bullshit for four years and maybe get a job somewhere?”

              Well, yea. When you got right down to it, I guess it did sound kind of bad.

“But what if something happens to us?”

“I told you, I’m not such a huge dick that I’d throw you out in the streets without a dime.”

“Yea, maybe you’d give me a nickel.”

“Screw you.”

“Is that an invitation?”

              He grinned and rolled back over on top of me. He leaned his face in close, and I could hear his voice just above a whisper.

“C’mon, Kale. Classroom verses Caribbean. Bullshit verses me.”

“Aren’t both of those bullshit?” I giggled and he leaned further, putting his lips up to my ear.

“I’m all you need. You’d never have to worry about anything. Please?”
              He leaned back up and kept my gaze.

              I had one life to live. I could die tomorrow. Would I have wanted to spend my last day in a classroom, or with Taylor?

              But I couldn’t say yes to him now. How could I give up part of my life like that?

“Maybe.”

I woke up early the next morning, smiling when I felt Taylor’s arms wrapped around me. I looked over and he was sleeping soundly, beautiful drool seeping down the pillow. I leaned in and kissed his forehead, remembering what we had discussed last night.

I carefully extracted myself from Taylor’s arms and began walking through my room and towards a door I had almost missed when I had seen my room the day before. It looked like a tree amongst all the beauty, but the wood was actually a door.

              The fairy dream continued into the bathroom. The floors were a green and marble swirl with gold specks. The walls were painted the same purple as my ceiling and green towels accented the whole thing. My shower was normal, a large green and purple curtain hung in a circle around the shower area.

              I set my outfit on the sink counter and stripped down quickly. I stepped into the shower and set the water warm. I held back a yelp as the water came out cold at first, slowly warming up. I smiled at the various shower supplies that lined the shower, including the pink shampoo Taylor had held out to me at the drugstore that night after the costume party.

              I heard the bathroom door click open and I froze, listening.

“Kale?”

“Yea, I’m in here.” I called, not moving an inch.

“Ok.”

              I heard the door click back. I breathed a sigh of relief and reached for a shampoo, surprised when I heard footsteps cross the room.

“Taylor?”

“Yea?”

              I shook my head, confused.

“Everything alright?”

              I peeked out at him; he was sitting on the side of a low counter surrounding a Jacuzzi tub.

“Everything’s fine. Go ahead.” I bit my lip as I looked at him, not sure I was comfortable. But it’s not like he was watching me bathe. I was behind a curtain.

              He seemed to be acting peculiar as I let the curtain fall back into place. I was very self-conscious as I squirted a red shampoo into my hand and quickly lathered up my hair.

“I just thought I’d better warn you about my dad.” He finally sighed.

“It couldn’t wait?”
“I thought I’d be able to talk more if I couldn’t see your beautiful face.”

              Oh, great. His dad is already sounding awesome.

“Ok.”

“He’s going to be hard on you.”
“Like my Mom was last night?”
“No, no your mom came around.”

“Oh.”

“He’s going to ask some personal questions, probably. He’s not going to like it if we move in together. He’s been ok with everyone in my past because they’ve never been serious. Fan girls like a guy that’s not serious about a girl because it keeps their hopes up, as cruel as that sounds. They stop falling for a guy when he starts getting serious. Dad was ok with us when we weren’t serious, but I think he’s realized how serious I really am.”

“You’re going to break your fans’ hearts.”

              I heard a low chuckle. “Well, that doesn’t bother me as much anymore. I’m not going to lie, my dad drives me crazy.”

“You’re making me nervous here.” I rinsed out the lathered up shampoo and started on the conditioner.

“I’m just telling you, it’s not going to be easy today. And I apologize in advance for whatever happens.”

              I didn’t say anything as I finished up and turned off the water. I cleared my throat, wondering if Taylor would get the hint that I had to get dressed. I heard him laugh.

“Is that my cue? Am I supposed to leave now?”

“Umm…” I glanced down and I heard him laugh again. I heard shuffling around and a green towel got thrown above the curtain.

“Wrap that around you, I want to show you something.” I could hear something mischievous in his voice. But I wrapped the towel around me and poked my head out of the curtain.

“What?”

“Come out here,” He was standing beside the shower with his arms crossed over his chest.

              I stepped out of the shower and stopped a few feet from where Taylor was standing. I tried not to rock nervously on my feet.

“What?” I repeated. He didn’t say a word as he stepped up to the shower curtain. I was about to ask if he had taken any medication today, but then he reached his hand behind the shower curtain. I stopped breathing when I saw the shadow of his hand behind the shower curtain.

              He strode quickly to the door and laughed as I tried to follow. He shut the door too quickly behind him, and I clicked the lock. I caught sight of myself in the mirror and caught a glimpse of my red face. I couldn’t believe he’d seen my shadow while showering.

“Are you still mad?”

              I was in the front seat of his car, arms crossed, gazing out the window. Every time I thought I was over it, I’d get mad all over again.

“I’m not mad.”

“Good.”
“What’s a term that means very mad?”

“…livid?”

“There you go.” I said, watching as trees whirled by on the side of the highway. Taylor sighed.

“It’s not like I saw anything.”
“You did see.”

“It was just like you in your bikini last night. No different. I wasn’t even touching you. That’s a lot different than last night. It was just your outline.”

I was glad my head was toward the window so he couldn’t see me blush. I felt his hand tug at my sleeve and he unwrapped one of my arms from across my chest. He laced his fingers through mine and rested our hands on the armrest between us.

“I’m sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry. “But we’re about to meet my dad, and it’d probably be better if you weren’t pissed at me.”

“You won’t do it again?”

“No.” I nodded, somewhat satisfied. “Not until you invite me in with you.” He winked and I threw my head back in frustration, but I couldn’t help but smile at his humor.

              I was jolted from his joke when I realized we were pulling into a driveway. Before us stood a huge house…maybe house wasn’t the word for it. It was more like one of those huge mansions you see in movies. Taylor jammed the gear into park, and I looked up at him. He squinted his eyes at me, a smooth smile in place.

“You look sick.” I teased.

“I’m excited you get to meet my family. I hope they realize how important you are to me.”

“I hope they realize I might throw up if they ask about our intimacy details.”

“I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen you naked.”

“Ha-ha.”

“C’mon.”

              He pulled the lever on the door, releasing himself from the vehicle. I followed suit. The family didn’t gather outside on the front porch like my family had done. We walked right up to the door; Taylor even had to ring the doorbell.

              Even then they didn’t greet us. A servant came and ushered us into the house.

“Mr. Jett is currently in his study. Would you care to wait in the lounge with Mrs. Jett and the children?”

“That’d be fine.” Taylor nodded toward the servant. She quickly turned and led us down all sorts of hallways and through different rooms, finally guiding us into an area with several couches and chairs. It was all fine looking, I was scared to breathe or even step on the floor. Vases and glass and all sorts of things were everywhere. When we arrived in a nice looking living room I noticed Taylor’s stepmother sitting upright on one of the couches, reading some kind of book. She had dirty blonde hair that was pulled back into a bun on top of her head. She had fair skin and a pointy nose that reminded me of a bird. The tallest boy was slumped into a recliner, playing a video game. The smaller boy was coloring angrily outside the lines of a coloring book on the floor. A little girl was sitting cross-legged on the floor, brushing her doll’s hair. All the children had dark hair and fair skin. The dark hair must be from their father, the pale skin from their mother. Taylor must look a lot like his father.

“Gladys,” Taylor said. She looked up from her book. Only the little girl looked up out of the children.

“Taylor!” The girl exclaimed, dropping her doll and running to give him a hug. Gladys stood; she wore dress pants and a frilly shirt. The shirt reminded me of a pirate.

“Taylor, so nice of you to come for a visit today. Have you eaten lunch yet?”

“No, we figured you’d like to show off by having a great feast made in honor of our arrival.”

“I suppose that would be one way of looking at it.”

              She stretched her arms wide, book still in hand. Taylor walked over, giving her an awkward hug. He stepped back and held a hand out to me. Gladys was very stiff looking. She was a polished button that anyone would be scared to touch.

“Gladys, this is Kale.”

              Gladys instantly turned a shade colder when Taylor said my name. But, nonetheless, she extended her hand out to me.

“Kale. So nice to make your acquaintance.”

“Nice to meet you.” My southern drawl sounded quite out of place in comparison with her dialect. Taylor smiled at me. He turned to the kids.

“J.J., Nathan, Clara, this is Kale.”

              The boys paid no attention to me, but Clara held out a hand to clasp onto her mother’s pants. She smiled shyly.

“Hello, Clara.” I smiled at the little girl. She tucked her head against her mother’s pant leg, one eye watched me curiously.

“Well, shall we sit?” Gladys took her seat again, dropping her book on an end table. Taylor sat as well, so I quickly and clumsily sat beside him. I didn’t mean to sit so close to him, our legs were touched. When I went to scoot over though, Taylor put a hand on my leg and at the same time eased my nerves.

“Dad in his study?”

“Yes, a lot of merchandise headed out next week for your zombie films, I believe.”

“Oh.”

“He’s been working himself mad over the tiniest details. Whether they should release a doll as your zombie self or your normal self. Whether or not they should go for the idea of a coffee mug or not. It’s all ridiculous, really.”

“Sorry to hear he’s been working on my account.”

“He’s always working on your behalf, Taylor.” She took a moment to glance at me, her nose was slightly tilted up. “I’d hate for you to spoil it for him.”

              Taylor licked his lips, annoyed. Clara had come around and sat at her mother’s feet.

“Clara, do stand up.” It was a fancy way she said her name. Back home it would have been pronounced clair-uh. But here, the name was different. It was an ah in clar, the r was rolled, so it sounded like clah-rrah. Almost like a British sounding name.

“Jonathan Junior, can you not set the game down for a moment to greet your brother?”

              J.J. continued pressing buttons on his game, making exploding sounds as he did it.

“Nathaniel?”

              Nathan glanced up and looked at Taylor, then at me. He stuck his tongue out, and then went back to his coloring.

“Clara, do stand up, you’ll get your pretty dress all dirty sitting on the floor.” Clara stood up and continued looking at me. I noticed a coin jar sitting on the table in front of Taylor and I reached out and took a coin that was on top, holding it out to Clara. Gladys tensed when she saw me take a coin; I guess she was expecting me to put it in my pocket or something. I motioned to Clara.

“Want to see a magic trick?” I asked her. She slowly nodded her head. “Come here.” I tried to keep my voice light and cheery, Taylor observed me, curious. “See this coin?” She nodded her head up and down. “I can make it disappear.” I took the coin, and pretended like I passed it to my right hand. I kept it in my left and asked Clara which hand it was in. She pointed to my right and I opened my palm up, showing the coin wasn’t there. “But wait, what’s that behind your ear?” I moved my left hand up and beside her ear, flicking it up between my first finger and thumb. “It was behind your ear the whole time!” I exclaimed, she giggled. “Did you do that?” She shook her head and she began grinning from ear to ear.

“Can you show me how to do that?” She asked, putting both her hands on my knees anxiously.

“Of course, I think you’d be a really good magician.”

              I started walking her through the steps and within a few minutes she was performing the trick, giggling all the while. She practiced on me for a little bit, then moved over to Taylor. She did the trick for him at least a dozen times before trying to move to her mother.

“Mommy, want to see a magic trick?”

“Magic tricks are not appropriate for sweet little girls. Please put the coin back where it belongs.”

              Clara’s face crumbled in disappointment and I looked up, annoyed at Gladys. Taylor shifted in his seat and draped his arm around my shoulders.

              We all looked up as footsteps clamored into one of the many doorways. A broad man stood there. He had a familiar angle to his face along with tan skin and dark hair. The only difference was that his eyes were a steel grey instead of brown. I could tell without a doubt that Taylor was his son.

“Hello, Dad.” Taylor stood up as the big man made his way into the room. They shook hands and Jonathan senior took a place by his wife. Taylor remained standing, reaching out for my hand. “Dad, this is Kale.” His dad did not look at me, but only at Taylor.

“Very nice, have a seat, son.”

“You’re not going to stand to greet a guest in your home?”

“She is familiar with you, so she is familiar with me. She is no guest in this house.” There was a bitter tone to his father’s voice. Taylor’s face gave way to a hint of anger, but he sat down.

“Taylor, I do believe your premier is coming out fairly soon. Are you prepared with the proper dress attire?” He dad asked, avoiding my gaze at all costs.

“Not exactly.”
“It’s coming up, how can you not have a suit picked out by now?”

“Well, you see, I’m taking Kale with me to the premier. We have not yet picked a dress out for her to wear, so I have not picked out a matching tie. A suit has been chosen, I just need a proper tie.” His tone was now all business, it seemed more like he was dealing with a business partner instead of a parent.

“You’re taking her to the premier?” His dad sneered. Taylor nodded.

“I have asked her and she has kindly agreed. I was hoping to take her sometime this week to pick out a dress. I’ll fly her back to California when the premier happens.”

“You believe it’s a good idea to go flashing her around public like she means a great deal to you?”

“I believe it’s a brilliant idea, mainly obliging to the fact that she does mean a great deal to me.”

              A servant came back into the room, announcing dinner. Taylor let out an annoyed breath and stood. I followed suit and we all tramped down the hall into a vast dining area. The dining room table could probably fit twenty people. Plates were set up at the very end. Taylor pulled a chair out for me and I sat down. He quickly took a seat beside me as the children all took their places. J.J. was sitting next to Taylor, Jonathan senior sat at the head. Gladys sat at Jonathan senior’s other side while Nathan and Clara sat in a row beside her.

              Tremendous plates full of food were brought out, more food I’m sure than any of us would eat. A blessing was said at the table and when Jonathan senior finished blessing the food, Taylor rolled his eyes.

“He only prays when someone he doesn’t know or he’s trying to impress is at the table.” He hissed in my ear. “He isn’t a religious man.”

“Something that you’d like to say to the table, Taylor?” His father interjected.

“I was just mentioning how lovely Kale looks today, not that any of you had noticed.” There was a weird air to the conversation in this house, almost an angry politeness.

“Perhaps you hadn’t given me the chance to compliment her properly.”

“I think that’s bullshit because you haven’t even bothered to look at her.”

“Oh! Taylor said a bad word!” Nathan popped up, bouncing in his chair.

“Taylor, language?” Gladys snapped. Taylor turned back to his father.

“It wouldn’t kill you to be the least bit polite to her.”

“Why should I be polite to her? She’ll be gone in a month. I have no reason to be polite to this month’s bed buddy.”

              My face turned red as I reached for my glass of water. Oh dear, God.

“I don’t appreciate that. You have no idea how our living arrangements work or what our future plans consist of, you have no right to criticize when you haven’t the faintest idea of what you’re talking about.”

“I do know what I’m talking about.”

“You don’t know everything, Dad. You never did. Like how to communicate, for example. Instead of expressing to Mom that you weren’t happy with the way she was raising me, you divorced her.”

“We both tried to raise you.”

“No, you stayed at work and managed my acting jobs and she raised me single handedly. And you got mad when I didn’t turn out just like you.”

“Instead you grew into a pompous, arrogant son of a bitch who can’t keep it in his pants to save his life.”

“You see, I find irony in that son of a bitch statement. Because I know you’re not referring to Mom.”

“Jonathan, please, language.” Gladys looked at her children.

“Oh bite your tongue, woman. Taylor you have no idea the sacrifices I’ve made for you in this lifetime. Forgive me if I don’t want you tramping off with some education major whore who is only using you to pay off college debt!”

“I have a full ride scholarship.” I bellowed. Both Taylor and Jonathan looked at me, surprised. “I don’t need his money to pay for college. And as far as your son’s sex life goes? I don’t see you selling a life-sized blow-up doll with his face on it, so I’d say who he’s sleeping with is none of your business.”