Get a Grip (Hollywood Nights) (18 page)

             
Bo sat in his car still parked at the gym and looked at the phone. He waited for the text to say…At the gym.

             
“Fuck!” he shouted.

             
He had no idea where she was.

             
He was known for both timing and luck. As luck would have it, the next day he ran into a photographer that was around Ivy quite a bit. An older guy, he always kept his distance from them, but Ivy sometimes would go over to talk to him because she thought he did his job respectfully.

             
“Come on Gordon, another part of this business is the paparazzi. Let’s see what we can learn from this guy.” Bo hated that Gordon was with him, but he didn’t have much choice. He might not ever get a second chance to ask this guy these questions.

             
“Hi, I’m...”

             
“Bo Bliss. I know who you are. I’m Larry.” He extended his hand.

             
“This is my nephew. He’s learning about the behind the scenes aspects of this town and I thought you could tell him a little about what you do if you have a few minutes and don’t mind.” Bo hoped this would break the ice. It actually broke the iceberg.

             
“I don’t do this job the same as others. For instance the other day I was getting some coffee while waiting for one of my regulars to show up with his new girlfriend and lo and behold, your wife walks in.” Larry was happy about it.

             
“Go on.”
Ivy doesn’t drink coffee.

             
“Well, I wanted to grab a few shots, but she gave me the ‘no’ sign. It’s the hand signal I tell all my regulars to give if they don’t want to be photographed for some reason.” Larry was proud of his ethics.

             
“And.” Gordon folded his arms and listened intently.

             
“I figured it was because she was dressed down, but she’s been showing up there regularly according to the owner.” Larry shrugged. “I don’t get over there much, only when that particular guy’s publicist asks me to head that way. They have the best coffee in town though I won’t lie.”

             
Bo got the address and thanked the man. When Gordon got into the car he said, “Aunt Ivy doesn’t drink coffee.”

             
“I know.” Bo started the car. “I know.”

Later that week…

              “Mathis, how’s it going?” Bo was glad to get home and find him in his assistant office. Mathis rarely used it, but he came in a couple days each week to do paperwork.

             
“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. It seems like I haven’t seen you in forever!” He seemed excited to see him. Bo wasn’t sure if her loyal assistant would be of any use, but he had to get to the bottom of it before he wound up with an ulcer or worse, a divorce.

             
“How are the wedding plans going?” Bo asked.

             
“Great! Everything will be ready for December.” He lit up as he talked about it.

             
“You uh.” Bo didn’t quite know how to say any of this. He looked at the little dude and his bright clothing and innocent expression and blurted, “You wouldn’t let her go through with this if she didn’t really want to, would you?”

             
Mathis gave him an odd expression and took a seat. He said in hushed tones, “It’s a little late to be getting cold feet since you are already married, don’t you think?”

             
Bo laughed. “No, no. It’s not me. I just…worry about her. I mean I’m all she…maybe she would rather…”

             
“Bo Bliss, what in the name of Billy Dee Williams are you talking about?” Mathis put his hands on his hips. He only broke out the names of musicians when he wanted to avoid cursing. It was usually funny, but Bo couldn’t pull up a laugh.

             
“Something’s going on. I don’t know what, but she is lying to me. She is telling me she is going one place and she is going another. She keeps coming home with wet hair or when it’s dry she still smells like she just took a shower. What’s worse is that there is always the taste of mouthwash when I kiss her.” Bo leaned forward and covered his face with his hands. “I can’t…I can’t do this again. Not with her.”

             
“There has to be a mistake. She’s been going to the gym. You know…” Bo looked up and shook his head no as Mathis said, “that.”

             
Bo knew whatever was going on was something she was keeping from everyone. If Mathis didn’t know, no one would. Maybe that’s the reason he had the reaction Bo should have had to begin with.

             
He jumped to his feet and said, “We are getting to the bottom of this tonight! I’ve been working for her for ten years now. I can’t… no. There has to be a misunderstanding. Not Ivy. She’s a…”

             
“Good girl.” Bo snorted. “Yeah. I know.”

             
“Tell me what you know.” Mathis propped his hands on his hips and might have looked imposing to someone his own size but he looked a bit silly to Bo.

The stakeout…

              “Ivy doesn’t drink coffee,” Mathis pointed out the obvious.

             
“I know.” Bo groaned.

             
“Well this is a coffee shop.”

             
“I think you need to lay off the highlighter yellow, because it is frying your brain cells.” Bo grumbled. He wasn’t happy about spying on her. He had been doing it for a few days.

             
“There she is,” Mathis gasped. “She’s really here.”

             
The text came and when Bo showed it to him, Mathis gasped. Bo let out a long breath and said, “See, I told you. At the gym.”

             
“This can’t be happening.” Mathis shook his head.

             
“She goes inside for a few minutes, comes out with a drink and something to eat.” Bo let out a controlled breath.

             
“You’ve done this before?”

             
“A few times.” Bo admitted.

             
“Then what?” Mathis asked as Ivy emerged with the drink and bag. She took a seat at the corner table. She was wearing a large hat, her coat, and sunglasses. She was in hiding.

“Then she starts eating and looking around and.” He cleared his throat. “I call her.

              “You call her?” Mathis looked at him as though
he
needed to lay off the highlighter yellow colored clothes.

             
“I don’t want to…I might pop out of this car and beat the shit out of someone…I just…” Bo looked over at Ivy. She looked down at the phone. This was when he would usually call her and she would hurry up and leave throwing everything she had away.

             
He pulled out the phone. Mathis snatched it so fast it surprised him. “No. We need to see it through.”

             
It looked like Ivy would break both of their hearts tonight even if for different reasons.

             
They waited for what seemed like an eternity but was actually more like fifteen minutes. Once he didn’t call she seemed to take her time, she looked at the phone constantly. Then she got up, threw everything away, and left.

             
They looked at each other at the same time.

             
“Maybe someone cancelled?” Mathis asked.

             
“This doesn’t make any sense.” Bo grumbled.

             
“Let me see what I can find out. Sit tight.” Mathis headed into the coffee shop.

             
Bo waited anxiously for him to come back with some word of what was going on. His phone rang. It was Mathis.

             
“Well?”

             
“Oh my God, Bo. You have to see this place. She’s not cheating on you with another man. She’s cheating on you with peanut butter, and walnuts, and coconut…this cake is as tall as my hand I swear it. Look you can’t come in here.” Mathis said as he made another noise of appreciation for what he was seeing.

             
“Don’t lie to me.” He could handle this. He could handle her sneaking off to eat things that might kill him a hell of a lot easier than her sneaking off to be with another man.

             
“I asked. She used to come every so often, but now she is here almost every day. She gets a few cookies and a cup of milk. Lord! That girl has problems!” Mathis giggled. “Now you go on home. I’m going to get a slice of this pie and I’ll call my slice of man to come pick me up. I might have to start cheating on my diet.”

             
Bo was so relieved he could have cried. He could have ran into that place and hugged that bright little dude. Mathis sent him a text message. When Bo opened up the text he saw the picture. It wasn’t just a coffee shop. It was a bakery filled with unique cakes and cookies. Mathis was right, that place would kill him.

***

              Ivy felt as guilty as possible when he pulled in the drive. As usual, she had stopped by the gym to take a shower. It was the only thing she was doing at the gym these days, but at least she got use of her membership. She was always anxious in these first moments of him interacting with her after she had been scarfing down cookies or cake filled with ingredients that could kill him.

             
It started innocently enough. Someone brought in some cookies to the recording set. She used to go by the place once in a while because everything was custom made and luxurious. A chocolate chip cookie was never just a chocolate chip cookie there.

One led to another. Then she was thinking about them. Then she went there and the smell of the place was intoxicating. She had been following her gut and what it wanted for the past week and a half when she walked in. Always something different plus a peanut butter and chocolate swirl cookie.

              “Hey.” He seemed happier than she had seen him in a long time. She wished she could say the same.

             
“Hi.” He kissed her and she held him a little longer than normal. He didn’t pull away or back up today. He squeezed back. It gave her the courage to say, “I ran into Gordon today. He’s been avoiding me, so I stopped by May’s house. He was so…mad at me. So…mean. He just… broke my heart.”

             
“Did he say why?” Bo stroked her hair and she found her nook, it was the spot on his chest between his collarbone and shoulder where her head fit perfectly against him.

             
“No he just told me to go grab another cup of coffee and leave him alone.” She sighed. “I don’t drink coffee. I don’t understand.”

             
“Sweetheart, I have to tell you something.” Bo separated them enough that she looked up at him. His expression was serious and she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear what was next.

             
“I think I need to sit down for this.” She moved to the table and he followed. Bo then went into the whole reason her nephew was mad at her. The reason he thought she was cheating on him. By the end of it Ivy was stunned, embarrassed, and unable to hold back her nervous laugh. “You thought I would…”

             
“You were lying to me. I knew you were.” He frowned and looked down at the table. “You could have told me you were going to eat cookies.”

             
“I’m so sorry, Bo. I didn’t think it would get so addictive. I just crave them.” She got up from her chair and moved to stand behind him. She put her hands on his shoulders and pressed against the tense muscles.

             
“That hurt,” he whispered.

             
“Too rough?”

             
He chuckled. “Not the grip, sweetheart. The lying.”

             
“Oh.” She gulped. “I won’t do it again. I promise.”

             
“Lie or go eat cookies?”

             
“Lie. I can’t guarantee I won’t be back there tomorrow for more cookies.” She pressed into his muscles again.

             
“I need to call Gordon. He needs to know you are still his Aunt Ivy and you aren’t drinking anyone else’s coffee if you know what I mean.” Bo pulled out his phone.

             
She leaned over to hug him. “I love you.”

             
He put the phone on the table. “Well, he’s been mad this long. It will keep till morning.”

The next morning…