Hollywood Stardust Supporting Roles - Wilson and Giselle (5 page)

“
How are you Elle?
Working?” Ivy’s mom’s parental voice filled her ear. While Ivy’s
mom was the type that lived in a house, baked cookies and did
homework, Giselle’s own mother was the one who went shopping and
lived in a spa. The woman actually lived inside a spa. Seriously.
Both types of moms were good.

“
Yep. I’m here now just
waiting for a big meeting.” She wasn’t going to tell the woman she
considered her second mother where she found employment
either.

“
I called because I want
you to come to the Palm Springs house this weekend, but it’s a
surprise. You can’t tell Ivy.” Ivy’s mother’s tone took on a
warning. “Do you understand? You can’t tell Ivy you’ll be there.
I’ll just invite her for the family dinner and such.

Geez, you let the cat out of the bag on one
birthday party in high school and you are never trusted again. She
frowned. Fine, she might have also mentioned Ivy’s graduation party
to Ivy, but that was only because Ivy hated surprises. “I got it, I
won’t say anything.”

“
All right, I’m trusting
you.” Ivy’s mother made a noise into the phone. “Don’t think I
forgot about the party when Ivy got her job at
chargge.com.”

“
Okay, I’m guilty, but I
won’t be this time.” Right, there were three times, maybe more.
“What’s the occasion?”

“
I’m hedging my bets.” Mrs.
Vermont chuckled into the phone. “You can bring a date. Ivy said
you’re seeing someone.”

“
Now who’s telling tales
out of school?” Giselle put a notepad out for Wilson.

“
Are you seeing someone?”
The woman point-blank asked the question.

“
Technically, I see a lot
of people.” In fact, just last night she met Wilson’s friends.
“There are people all over the world.”

Ivy’s mother sighed. “So, tell me about your
new job.”

No, she wouldn’t be suckered into telling
her anything. She and Ivy were most definitely in cahoots. She
wondered where cahoots was located, maybe by Area 51.

“
Giselle?” Wilson called to
her from the kitchen. “Where are you?”

Saved by the guy… the guy she was seeing.
Well, once he walked into the room, he would be the next person she
saw.

“
My boss is here. I have to
go, text me the details. I won’t say a word. Bye!” She hit end on
the call and put her phone aside. “In here!”

The door between the kitchen and main room
swung open and he entered, appearing much more put together in
jeans and a button down and clean-shaven. “There you are.”

“
Look, I’m using the
charging station.” She motioned toward her creation and decided not
to mention her call.

“
That’s awesome.” He joined
her at the booth, picked up one of her ballpoint pens, and blinked
as he tapped the pen against the pad of paper. “So, what are we
meeting about?”

“
Oh, I made an agenda.” She
pulled her paper closer. “First, we need to discuss the opening. I
feel before we have the grand gala, we should have a soft opening
just to make sure that everything is running smoothly. It can be
for just friends and family. Like a practice run.”

“
Soft opening?” Once more,
he blinked. “I like that idea.”

“
Maybe you should write
that down.” She motioned toward the pad of paper. “I worked for
three event planners, so I’ll take the helm on this.”

“
That’s great.” He wrote
something down.

“
Also, being that this is a
speakeasy and in Hollywood, the land of who you know, I think we
need to develop a secret menu.” She turned the page on her notes.
“We can have The Wilson which would be a very dirty martini and
extra olives.”

He raised his eyebrows at her.

“
I thought that was
appropriate cause you can be very dirty.” She cupped her hand
around her mouth and lowered her voice. “And it’s our
secret.”

“
I’m happy to demonstrate
my dirtiness with you anytime.” A smile took over his face and the
corners of his eyes crinkled. “Maybe we need to name one The G-spot
for you.”

Her cheeks heated and she lifted her notepad
for him to see. She had named her own drink the same thing. “The
only thing is, I think you may be the only one able to find it.” If
last night was any indication, that was true.

“
Well, we have to make that
drink especially sweet.” He scooted over and kissed her neck. “I
can go searching again anytime.”

“
Look at you letting
loose.” As tempting as that was, they had work to get done first.
“Business before pleasure.”

“
All right. Tell me the
rest of the menu.” With a bit of possessiveness, he put his hand on
her leg and leaned over to read her paper.

“
The Stardust can be
Logan’s drink. It has to have lemon and club soda in it.” She was
now privy to some of Logan’s quirks thanks to Ivy.

“
My brother’s drink
shouldn’t be a secret. His drink needs to be public to draw people
into the bar.” Wilson took her hand and kissed the back.

At Wilson’s odd comment, she turned to him.
“Is he going to help with publicity?”

“
He doesn’t want to. He
wants to stay behind the scenes, but it’s his duty.” Wilson sat up.
“What else is on the list?”

Something didn’t set right. “Why is it his
duty?”

“
I gave up a lot to make
sure he got to stay with me after our mother died, and I made sure
he got to act and be in
Hollywood
Stardust
.” As he talked, Wilson played with
her fingers. “After all that movie gave and took, it’s time for
some payback. I spent a lot of time being a parent.”

“
You know parents aren’t
supposed to ask for payback from their kids.” As soon as the words
left her mouth, she turned away. This wasn’t her deal, she didn’t
get involved in things this deep, these types of conversations only
dug holes that wanted to take roots.

He looked at her and pressed his palm to the
side of her face. “So, what’s next on the agenda?”

“
Well, I thought I would
start by organizing a few things and get started on the soft
opening. Unless you needed me to do something else. Let me know if
there are any forms I need to fill out for payroll, or if that’s
something I need to start.” She straightened out her
papers.

“
Payroll?” The word left
his mouth right as his phone rang.

“
Yes, silly, I took you up
on your offer to hire me, but I have a question. Am I allowed to
kiss you at work?” She leaned into him.

“
I need to get this.” He
lifted his phone and put it to his ear. “But you are allowed to
kiss me at work.”

She kissed him.

“
Hello.” Once more, he took
her hand. “No, Nick, you are not allowed to kiss me at work. That
is reserved for the woman I’m seeing. She just accepted a job here.
I really need her help, and she has some great ideas.”

Woman he is seeing. At the end of the day,
she knew they were seeing each other, but that’s as far as it went.
Seeing each other and working together. That was all.

“
Why don’t you bring over
the information on the premium brands? Giselle and I will have a
meeting with you.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I also need to
start hiring a crew now that I have my main person.”

His main person. She inhaled and exhaled. It
was all good.

Wilson hung up. “Well, we have a meeting
later and then tonight our date.”

“
I can help you hire
people, I’ve been a waitress more times than I can remember.” She
glanced up at him.

“
You can completely be in
charge.” He gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose.

Her phone vibrated, and she glanced down to
see Ivy’s mother texted her the information on the Palm Springs
trip, with another reminder not to say a word to Ivy. “So, I guess
you are the guy I am seeing.”

“
Yes, I will wear that
title with pride.” He grabbed her list of drinks and read it once
more.

“
I have to go to Palm
Springs next weekend. Will you go with me?” Yes, she just asked
him. “I’m supposed to bring the guy I’m seeing.”

“
Then I guess I have no
choice but to say yes.” He winked.

She guessed she had no choice but to give
him a title. Damn, she didn’t want anyone to have a title. With a
title came anxiety and responsibility. “I need to figure out how to
hire people for the next big Hollywood hot spot.” She slipped out
of the booth.

* * * *

THE LINE OF PEOPLE in front of his not yet
open bar was Wilson’s first clue something strange was going
on.  The second clue was there was not one parking space in
the back, except for the one designated for the owner.  
He parked his car, grabbed his file folders, and entered the bar
through the back, where he received his third and final clue
something was amiss at Wilson’s in the form of Logan greeting him
with a scowl and crossed arms.

“
Hey bro, what’s
cooking?”  Wilson put his folders down and waited.

“
Not me.”  Logan
crossed the room and stared him down.  “Would you like to know
why?”

“
If you feel it will be
cathartic for you.” With Logan, one had to act like things weren’t
a big deal.

“
I cannot cook because your
girl Friday, or girlfriend, or friend with benefits or whatever she
is, has my spoon.”  His baby brother pointed behind
him. 

Oh Lord, not Logan’s spoon. “Let me see
what’s going on.”  As the older brother and the one in charge
of the blonde with several titles, he pushed Logan aside and went
to the door, opening it only a crack to get the lay of the land, a
key strategic move when dealing with Giselle, as he was quickly
discovering in the week since he hired her, or she hired him. 
He wasn’t quite sure.

The scene on the other side of the door made
him glad he decided to only peek at the goings on in his own
bar.

Lined up throughout the space were the
people he assumed were coiled around the building.  Each
person stood perfectly straight holding a paper as Giselle walked
down the line, stopping in front of each one and taking a peek at
the paper.

“
You’re eliminated.” 
She handed the paper back to one of the men.

The man took the paper, hung his head down
low and exited the bar.

Wilson furrowed his brow and waited.

Giselle repeated this ritual a couple more
times and finally stopped in front of a woman.  She took the
paper, tilted her head from side to side as she read it and then
nodded.  “You will move forward to the next round.”

The woman beamed at her and went to what
seemed to be a designated area by the back booth for those who were
moving forward.

Staring, Wilson leaned against the doorjamb
and continued to watch what was strangely entertaining.  Even
Logan came over and spied on the show.

Only then did Wilson notice there were more
players to the game.  There was also a bartender in full 1920s
dress and some people in period costumes at the different tables
and booths and at the bar.

Finally, Giselle made her way through all
the, dare he say, participants.  Once the last person left,
she closed the front door and went to her selected few.  She
lifted Logan’s prized metal spoon off the table and held it up like
a microphone.

“
There it is.”  Logan
hit him on the shoulder.  “Go save it.”

“
Hold on.” 
Captivated, he really needed to see what would
transpire.

“
If it gets hurt…” Logan
growled.

“
I’m sure it will be
spared, just wait.”  He held up his hand to shut up his
brother once Giselle began to talk.

“
Okay, we’re going to do a
mock service, and I’ll choose who will go to the final
elimination.”  She corralled her people and continued to talk
into her spoon.  “You need to take the orders, bring them to
the bar, serve the patrons and of course clean up and ring them
out.”

Everyone took their respective positions,
and Giselle lifted a stopwatch.  “All right, on your mark, get
set…”

The group seemed to hold their collective
breath.

“
Go!”  With her yell,
Giselle jumped, her boobs giving a little bounce.

Neither he nor Logan moved as the group
began roaming around the bar taking orders.

A whistle screeched through the space. 
“Freeze!”  Giselle screamed into the spoon.

Every person in the room stopped.

She pointed, stomped over to one of the
tables and patted one of the waitresses on the shoulder. 
“You’re out, you did not ask for an ID.”

The woman stared at her.

“
You cannot ever assume
anyone’s age, especially in Hollywood.  I want to make sure
all IDs are checked.”  Giselle held the spoon out to the
woman.  “Do you have any parting words?”

“
Is this being
filmed?”  Logan whispered.

“
I have no idea.” 
Wilson put his finger over his lips.  No way could he miss a
moment.

“
Thank you for this
opportunity.”  The woman actually bowed and then left by way
of the others before her.

“
All right, back with
it.”  Giselle wrangled the whistle from around her neck and
blew it again.

Once more, the crew got to work.

Giselle walked among the would-be waiters
and waitresses.  By now, a few had their orders and were
bringing them back to the customers.