April, Dani - Superstar (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (29 page)

One is so kind makes me wanna cry.

One is so cruel—but think I love him, too.

Being in love with three brothers makes me want to die.

Ethan sat back farther in his seat as he listened to Chrissie’s video and slowly drank his scotch. He smiled to himself and looked out the window and down at the clouds.

* * * *

When Ethan got into Los Angeles, he rented a car and then checked in at a touristy hotel downtown. He had an appointment for later that morning, and so he didn’t have much time to waste.

He got lost three times on his way and had to pull over twice and ask directions at service stations. He still hated the traffic out here.

The movie studio north of the city was set apart by itself on a rolling lot with huge soundstages built along avenues, giving it the feel of a city within a city. Ethan had to park out on a lot far away from the main entrance and then had quite a walk to make it back to the lots where shooting was in progress.

There were several upcoming Hollywood blockbusters for the following season being shot on these lots today. Over a thousand people were at work in the various complexes. As he walked down the avenues, he was passed by trucks carrying various pieces of equipment to and from film locations, and the occasional go-cart transporting someone of importance who had to make it to their shoot in a hurry.

Ethan looked down at a little card he was carrying to make sure he had the right building. Here it was in front of him. Soundstage A14, a sprawling building that looked to Ethan more like a warehouse or factory than a movie studio. It had no windows, and numerous loading docks for large delivery trucks were built all around the structure.

A chain-link fence separated the avenue he was walking down from the entrance to A14. As Ethan stepped forward, a security guard came out of a little booth.

“I’m sorry, sir. You’re not allowed in this area.”

“I have a pass.” Ethan handed over his card to the guard.

The guard took it from him and frowned down at the card for a long while. “Okay, you can go on through.” The guard finally relented and handed the card back to Ethan. “No cell phones, cameras, or any other electronic devices are permitted inside. You’ll have to leave all of that here with me. Please step through this metal detector over here.”

Ethan complied with the guard and handed over his phone. Then he stepped through the indicted metal detector.

“Wear this at all times when you’re on the soundstage.” The guard pinned a badge on his shirt that proclaimed him a visitor. “When you enter, just take the hall all the way to the end. That’s stage three. That’s where you’ll want to go.”

“All right. Thanks.” Ethan took off walking.

He entered through a pair of double doors and then took the hall all the way to the end. The building was so large he felt like he had walked a mile by the time he finally got there. Toward the end of the hall, all the lights were dim, and digital message boards cautioned visitors to be quiet as filming was currently in progress.

When he entered the soundstage, it was massive, with close to two hundred people. Lights were set up everywhere, though the overall lighting was very dim. There was apparently no ceiling on the giant set, and as Ethan looked up, he could see cameras hanging from the rafters overhead. As he strolled about, he found cameras positioned strategically all over, each one pointing forward.

“Have a seat over here, please,” a man with a European accent called to him.

“I’m here to see…”

“You’re fine.” The man with the accent pushed a little foldout chair over to him. “Just take your seat. They’re about to start the take.”

Ethan set down and felt like a scolded school boy.

Then he got his first glimpse of Chrissie. It had been six months since he had last seen her in person. This was an outer space science fiction film, and she was wearing a tight-fitting jumpsuit. She had never looked better or sexier to Ethan. She was holding a laser gun and taking her mark next to her costar who was a big-name Hollywood actor.

“…And action!” the director yelled. Some explosions sounded, and fog filled the set. Chrissie and her costar ran forward in front of a twenty-foot-tall blue screen. She summersaulted into the center and fired off a couple of rounds from her gun which only shot light.

“I’ve got to save you now, princess!” the costar yelled across the stage to her.

“No, Buzz,” Chrissie corrected him in dramatic fashion. “Now it’s my turn to save you.”

They embraced for an on-screen kiss.

“…And cut!” the director called over his megaphone.

Immediately, Chrissie relaxed and set down her laser gun. “How’d we do, Enrico?” she asked the director walking over to him. “Did I overdo the tumble? We can shoot it again if you want us to.”

“No. You were brilliant, darling. That was a marvelous tumble. We can get stunts in here to do the next one if you like.”

“No thanks, Enrico. I like to do everything myself.”

Ethan stood up then, and Chrissie saw him for the first time. At once a smile brightened her face, and she came bounding across the set to him. He opened his arms for her, and she flew into them. Ethan was surprised at how good he felt to have her in his arms again after so long. He didn’t care if he was being inappropriate or if others would see, but he leaned down to her and kissed her full on the lips. To his even greater surprise, she returned his kiss with equal force.

“Oh my God!” she screamed. “I didn’t know you would be here today. Brad told me he had a surprise for me, but he never said what it was.”

“Brad didn’t tell me you would be here, either. He just invited me out here to see my kid brother on his new job.”

He took her in his arms and hugged her again. “Brad’s in trouble when we catch up with him,” she said and laughed.

“Hey, did I hear my name?” Brad rounded a corner of a wall that was being constructed for another shot that afternoon. He was wearing blue jeans and a tool belt around his waist.

“Bro!” Ethan called to him. Both brothers embraced. “What’s happening, man? Good to see you.”

“You’re looking well after selling the business for a small fortune.”

“I didn’t get that much for it, but I thought it would be a good chance to maybe start over out here. That is, if I can get use to the goddamned traffic.”

Chrissie came up and got between them. She put an arm around each man’s shoulder. She reached up and socked Brad on his shoulder. “You meanie, you didn’t tell me Ethan would be here today.” Then she immediately reached up and kissed him.

“How do you like living out here, bro?” Ethan asked Brad.

“So far so good,” Brad answered. “This work is a hell of a lot more challenging than building suburban houses in Arizona. Last week I built a castle. This week they have me working over here building a space station, and next week I’m starting on a minireplica of the Hoover Dam.”

“You’re not going all ritzy and Hollywood on me, are you, bro?”

“I might be. Although I’m working twelve hours a day, six days a week right now. But the pay is twenty times better than it was back home. Pretty soon I’m going to have enough saved to buy a home of my own in Chrissie’s neighborhood.”

“What’s going on down there, guys?” Ethan would have recognized Scott’s voice anywhere. A motorized lift was lowering him down from the rafters. He saw Ethan and waved. “I thought I heard my oldest brother yacking down here.”

“What in the hell were you doing up there, man?”

“I was just checking out those camera angles. I like to view them in person before I design the effects.”

Chrissie went up to Scott and gave him a big hug. “He’s helping with the special effects on our film. He’s shown me some of the outer space shots on his computer, and they’re just mind blowing. You know they actually give out an Oscar for best visual effects. I think your kid brother here will have a shot at it next year.”

Ethan came up to the three other people. The three people he loved in his life. He brought his brothers in for a hug, one in each arm, and Chrissie was between them. She put her arms around him again. Once more he was surprised by how right that felt and how he had missed her touch.

Chrissie looked up at him and at his brothers, a mischievous grin parting her lips. “We have a few hours before we have to be back on set. Why don’t we go back to my place? We have a lot of catching up to do…and knowing the four of us, we might find a few other interesting things to do, too…”

THE END

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