Love Unscripted (76 page)

“
How small is her finger?” Marie asked.

The sales lady slid a few metal rings around my finger. “You would wear a five and a half.”

“
Are both hands the same size? I heard one hand is always bigger,” Marie stated.

The lady measured my other hand. “They’re the same.”

“
Try that one on.” Marie pointed to another ring. The sales lady handed me an opal and emerald disaster.

“
You know you’ll have to start working your fingers out more if you’re going to be interviewing for all those hand jobs,” Tammy snorted at her own joke.

“
I’m sure Ryan would be happy to help there!” Marie laughed. “Come on, let’s get out of here and go try on some really ugly taffeta dresses now. We got what we needed.”

“
Speaking of dresses…” I muttered and opened my purse to retrieve my cell phone. There was another very important affair which required a very special dress closer than Tammy’s wedding on my calendar.

“
I can’t believe you have Kelly Ann Gael’s number and you can just call her to talk about dresses like it’s no big deal,” Marie teased. “Who else do you have in there now? Drew? Gwyneth? Demi?” Marie grabbed for my phone just as her own phone started to ring.

“
Hi… Cheryl,” Marie muttered awkwardly. “Hey, can I call you back? I’m out with my friends Taryn and Tammy right now.”

Marie groaned. “Okay, well… um, let me think. How about if I call you at
five thirty
? Five thirty,” she repeated.

“
Gary’s sister,” Marie answered my questioning stare. “She’s being a real pain in the ass lately.”

It was still dark outside wh
en Tammy drove me to the airport the following Tuesday morning. My flight out would put me on the West Coast at one o’clock in the afternoon, leaving me plenty of time to be entertained by Kelly. Ryan told me to make sure I packed light, since it was a lot warmer in Los Angeles, and to bring my new Shell-B Enterprises credit card as well to check into the hotel. Ryan wouldn’t be landing at LAX until almost nine o’clock at night on his return from Scotland. It would take him three different flights to reach California.

The sun was bright when I walked through the terminal at LAX. I smiled to myself when I went almost unnoticed by the leeches with cameras. My hunch was correct; there was paparazzi staked out at this airport twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. My reverie quickly faded when I realized that Ryan would have a different fate when he landed tonight. He would be tired and annoyed by the unwanted attention from the paparazzi. Surely they would not let him go unnoticed.

There were quite a few drivers waiting for arriving passengers near the exit. My eyes quickly scanned the names on the cards that each one of them was holding but I did not see my name. I looked again. Surely I must have missed it the first time. I reread each card looking for Ryan’s name. That’s when I saw “Bailey” written on a card. Underneath it was Shell-B Enterprises. A smile broke on my face when the driver asked if I was Mrs. Bailey.
Not yet, but maybe one day?

I definitely felt like an outsider in this foreign land called Los Angeles… palm trees and expensive cars were on every street. The hotel where we would be staying was beyond anything I had ever experienced as well. It exuded wealth.

“
Good afternoon. I’d like to check in please,” I said to the man behind the marble counter.

“
Bailey?” I stated sheepishly, unsure if that was the name of the reservation or not. He typed into his computer.

“
Card please,” he requested.

Familiar panic welled in my chest. I had no identification with Bailey on it. I handed him my driver’s license and wondered how long it would take Kelly to drive here and rescue me when this guy kicks me out of the lobby for false impersonation.

He handed it back to me with a smile. “I need your credit card please, for verification,” he corrected.

The key card he handed me in return didn’t unlock just any old hotel room. That wouldn’t be Ryan’s style for treating me well. This room was a huge suite dressed in shades of burgundy and cream with a rich mahogany wooden floor. Elegant wooden doors separated the grand living room from the bedroom, and there were two separate sets of French doors that opened up to the private balcony. The suite even had its own dining room.

I set my bag down on the billowy beige and burgundy striped duvet that covered the king-size canopy bed and sighed out loud. Mr. Christensen would surely be treated like a king in this bed later.

I turned on the light in the bathroom and was surprised to see a plasma television mounted on the wall, in perfect view from the large soaking tub. And then there it was - the final touch – the glass encased shower with the shower panel of many pleasures. I had to give him credit; he was a simple man with simple needs, but when it came to providing luxury, he surely did it right.

Kelly picked me up at the hotel an hour later and proceeded to take me to the swankiest stores in L.A.

“
Two things before we go in there,” Kelly announced, parking her car. “One, you’re going to go into sticker shock, so don’t look at the price tags, and two, Ryan said you have a fifty grand credit limit on your card so we have to behave.”

“
Fifty thousand?” I felt faint. I reached for the air conditioning dial in her car and turned it up. She laughed at me.

“
There’s no way in hell I’m spending…” I had to swallow. My throat felt tight. “I don’t care how much money he has!”

“
Relax!” she told me. “We won’t spend all of it.”

“
I just need a dress for the party and something nice to wear for our dinner meeting with Mr. Follweiler. That’s it. I even brought my black heels from home.”

She spent the next several hours dressing me like one of her daughter’s Barbie dolls.

“
Kelly, four thousand dollars for two dresses?” I whispered nervously in her ear. Apparently these prices were no big deal to anyone living on this side of the country.

“
We’re going to take all of this,” Kelly informed the girl behind the counter. She had stacked up the jeans and tops and even the totally sexy black leather ankle boots that I fell in love with. “Oh and the Dior handbag as well.” She piled that on top.

“
Kelly!” I grit through my teeth. Everything that I said I loved was on the pile. The purse alone was over a thousand dollars.

“
No!” I stated adamantly to the cashier. “Only the two dresses and these shoes. I don’t want to buy any of these other things.”

Kelly smiled and then whispered privately in my ear. “You are going to be photographed the entire week. You need to look the part. This isn’t some wanna-be actor we’re talking about here. The public expects his girlfriend to be stylish and sexy.”

I turned around and spoke quietly. “I don’t care. I’m not spending his money on things that are unnecessary.” I pushed the extra items to the side.

“
Can you give us a minute?” Kelly asked the cashier, pulling my arm for me to follow her. “Taryn, he told me to make sure you get whatever you want.”

“
All I want are these two dresses and the shoes,” I informed the cashier.

“
Your total comes to four thousand seven hundred and ninety,” the cashier announced.

I swallowed hard as I handed her my Shell-B credit card.

It was almost eleven o’clock when Ryan finally came through the door of our suite. He barely stepped four feet inside when I wrapped my arms around him. He dropped all his belongings on the floor and grabbed a hold of me. It felt like everything that had been wrong was put back to right the moment his lips touched mine.

“
Looks like you had fun yesterday,” Ryan said, nodding his chin at the garment bags hanging on the door. I couldn’t believe how much I missed waking up in his arms.

“
I wouldn’t necessarily call it fun,” I breathed out on his neck, hiding my eyes in his hair.

Ryan lifted up the bed sheet and looked down at our bodies.

“
Okay, now I’m really worried! I have thoroughly checked, and I know you’re a girl. You have all the proper girl parts.” He ran his hand down over my rear, causing me to fidget. “I thought all women love to shop. What’s going on?”

I turned away, reluctant to have another conversation about my aversion to spending his money. “I don’t know. I mean I had a lot of fun with Kelly. It’s just, well I feel guilty.”

“
Guilty? Why, did you rob the store?” His eyes pulled me back, forcing me to tell the truth.

“
I just wanted to get a nice dress. I didn’t think it would cost so much. I’m only going to wear it for a few hours.”

“
How much did you spend?” he asked, sounding reproachful.

I looked up at him with one guilty eye. “In total?” I swallowed hard. “Four thousand eight hundred? I got two dresses and new shoes to wear, one for dinner tonight and another for the party Saturday.”

He shook his head and scowled at me. “What were you thinking?”

“
I know. I told Kelly it was too much, but she told me that your girlfriend has to look stylish,” I confessed. “I should have tried to find something more affordable back home, but it’s too late now. I’ll pay you back, I promise.”

“
No. That’s okay. I guess I’ll have to do another movie or something. It’s either that or we’ll have to drag the mattress out into the front yard again.” He sounded all disgruntled and then he rolled his body on top of mine.

“
Tar, you’re going to have to get used to dressing up when I do public appearances, award shows, and premiers. You know that, right?”

I nodded.

“
Dresses and stuff aren’t cheap. But if you feel that strongly about spending my money, you could always work off your debt,” he said slyly, softly kissing my lips. “I must warn you though; I may ask you to do things that you might find disgusting and perverse.” His devilish grin made my heart race.

“
Nah, that’s okay. Let me get my purse and I’ll write you a check.” I teasingly tried to wiggle out from underneath him.

“
I don’t take personal checks.” He pinned me with his long arms, pretending like he was going to take a big bite out of my exposed breast. “Besides, I was hoping to subject you to fifty years of hard labor.”

“
Does this mean we have to renegotiate our terms again?” I whined, locking my ankles together over his rear.

“
Absolutely! Now roll over so I can change the fine print on our contract. I just have to get my eraser out down here,” he joked.

Our morning together passed by so quickly and now he was off again.

“
I’ll see you around six,” Ryan said, kissing me goodbye in the privacy of our room. “Listen, just have fun and enjoy yourself this afternoon with Kelly. And don’t ask how much, all right? Just put it on the card –
my
card, not your card,” he corrected. “After the screen tests I have to pick up my new suits and then I’ll meet you here.”

I kissed him goodbye and frowned when he slipped from my hands.

Kelly saw to it that I had the works done at the spa that she took me to. I was scrubbed, massaged, and purified. I had never felt so relaxed in all my life. My skin glowed. After the manicure and pedicure I had my hair cut and styled. I felt fabulous.

“
Just so you know, when we get back to the room I’m tearing that dress off your body,” Ryan informed in the car on our way to the restaurant.

I rolled my eyes.

“
I’m serious!” He took my hand and rubbed it down the front of his pants. “Feel that? That’s from just thinking about it!”

“
You need to focus.” I nudged him. “Titles of Jonathan Follweiler films… go.”

He rambled three titles; I listed twelve more from memory.

“
I printed out all his work,” I said, unfolding the papers I had in my purse.

“
Let’s see, television credits… Director and Producer of
City Pulse
, Director of
Original Stories of Trouble
and
13 Lies
– all of which are current projects. He has never received an Academy Award, but he was nominated in 2004 for two - Best Picture and Best Directing for
The Wandering Road
. Oh, and his film
Safe Distance
grossed 200 million.”