Idolized (Hollywood Stardust Book 3) (62 page)

(Stares at her with wide eyes)

What are you saying?

ROXY slips the ring off her finger and hands it to him.

ROXY

I can’t marry you.  I’m going to ruin everything.

(Sobbing, she runs out.)

CHARLES

(Closes his hand around the ring.)

Catastrophe.

Chapter Thirty-One

“I HAVE CALLED THIS MEETING because I think we should discuss the final shoot.” Logan said and pushed a plate of food in front of Ryder. More accurately, a plate of vegetables.

Pen in hand, Ryder sat at the table inside Wilson’s bar and debated which alcoholic beverage he should indulge in this evening. He reached across the table, stabbed several pieces of Logan’s flank steak, plopped it on his dish, and shoved one in his mouth.

Everyone there, Logan, Ivy, Drew and Erin stared at him while he chewed.

Just to prove his point, he picked up another slice with his fingers and put it in his mouth. After chewing with much gusto, he chased it down with a soda and swallowed. “You know I’m not a vegan.”

Erin leaned over and pinched his arm. “I was wondering where that pot roast was from last night.”

Not caring about the pain or keeping up his half-truths, he faced his friend. “I snuck down and ate it all then put the empty container back in the fridge. I then topped it off with a hunk of cheese, the chicken from the night before, and some chocolate.” In truth, he didn’t really feel all too well. Cora would have never let him eat all that or, at least, he would have had a way to work it off.

“What are you, the truth brigade?” Erin stomped in front of him. “Since coming to live in my home, I’ve found out that you used a body double in
Charmed by Love
, that you sometimes drink water right out of the tap, and that you wrote a movie, didn’t offer any of us a part, didn’t make it, and then screwed your fiancée over.” At her outburst, she burst into tears and flung herself into Drew’s arms.

“You know, you’re pretty dreadful.” Drew told Ryder as he patted his wife.

He shrugged. Yes, he was a ball of shit, he knew it. Maybe he should have thought about jumping on the brigade of truth before he lost his person. He got up and went to the bar, spying a bottle of Moscato, Cora’s favorite. “What have I done?” He grabbed the edge of the bar. “Time does not heal all wounds. Whoever said that really did not have that big of a wound.”

Logan came to his side. “If you are this bad, just think how bad Cora must be.”

“That’s making it much better, and I thank you for that image.” Ryder went behind the bar and read the labels on the bottles of scotch. Of course, if he got shit-faced no one would be there to take a shower with him, and he still had to show up on set tomorrow. Getting shit-faced wouldn’t even be worth it without Cora. “I can’t even get drunk properly.” If he wanted to get drunk, Cora would have made sure he did it right. She would have had an inebriation plan, not some willy-nilly fly-by-night run-of-the-mill drinking out of a bottle until he passed out, hoping he could get rid of the sinking feeling in his stomach for even a few hours.

In a sudden move, Logan took him by the shoulders and spun him around. “Listen to me.” Logan got right up into his face.

Somehow Ryder found the strength to look him in the eyes.

“This is it.” Logan tightened his hold on him. “This is the finale of the series, one people have waited over twenty years for. This is the sendoff to one of the most beloved movie franchises of all time. You have to pull it together and let Roxy get her happily ever after.”

“I can’t be in anyone’s happily ever after. I’m a villain, I’m bad. In one of Cora’s musicals I would’ve gotten thrown off a cliff or run out of town while people around me sing some glorious song about redemption.” Between all the food, little sleep, and hardly being able to breathe, the need to vomit crept up on him.

“Then, instead of dragging your ass around like the loser you’ve become, why don’t you redeem yourself and try to get her back?” Logan lowered his tone.

“Am I redeemable?” He shook his head. How could he be redeemable when he put his love in danger? Even now he wasn’t sure what Glen and his men would do until they got what they wanted.

“Every villain is redeemable.”

The men caught gazes. Logan was once the villain in public, but now they loved him, embraced him. All Ryder cared about was one person’s embrace. “I did you wrong all those years ago, I’m sorry.”

Logan rolled his eyes. “You don’t need to redeem yourself with me.”

“I don’t know if I’m redeemable, but all I know is that nothing matters without her, not this movie, not my career, not my movie.” He froze and stared at Logan. Nothing mattered.

Nothing.

Adrenaline coursed through him.

“Then do something heroic.” Logan tilted his head.

No matter what, he had to protect Cora. Even if he never had her again, he had to make sure she stayed safe. “I need go somewhere real fast, it can’t wait it has to be done before we shoot the end.” He went to leave, but Logan held him in place.

“What about Cora?”

“I need to do this first, and then I need to show her what I can be. I’ll be back.” He pushed back from his friend and dashed out the back door to a waiting Ben.

“What’s up, boss?” Ben started the car.

Ryder slipped inside and pulled out his phone, texting the one person who in a major twist could put him on the path to redemption. Upon receiving his instant answer, his heart seized, but he had to go through with it. “Please take me to the storage facility.”

They drove in silence, and he took his opportunity to finally look at what he already knew was adorning all the media outlets about his failed engagement. The pictures alone made him want to throw up, and he didn’t even want to think about Cora’s reaction. He betrayed her in every way and, though he couldn’t take back what he had done, he could at least ensure her safety.

After weaving through major traffic, Ben pulled up to their destination.

“Stay here, buddy.” He got out of the car and went to his spot. His footsteps echoed in the empty space, a location that used to be crammed with memories.

“I hope you’re not going to ask for your items back.” Glen came up beside him. “It had to be done.”

“No.” He didn’t look the man’s way. “I asked for it.”

“Your father taught you well.” The man patted his shoulder. “You asked me here.”

Before continuing, Ryder took one last look. In his memory everything was there, but the one thing he wanted most was missing.

Strange, once upon a time, the storage space encompassed his whole life. However, gazing into nothing but a black hole didn’t really upset him as it should. He didn’t really need all those artifacts. Actually, he didn’t need anything, not the car or the clothes, or the roles, or the money.

“Yes, I did.” At last, he faced the man he went to for help, his enemy and, in ways, the man who represented his conscious. In order even to exist in the same universe as the one he loved, even have a spark that maybe one day he could possibly earn her back, he had to cleanse himself entirely. A rebirth of sorts. “I asked you here because have something for you.”

“Oh, really.” Glen chuckled. “What might that be?”

He swallowed. “My movie.”

Glen widened his eyes.

“Do you have the contract? I’m ready to sign my rights over.” Heat took over his body. Part of him prayed the man had the paperwork, part of him wanted to delay it a bit longer.

Glen opened his suit jacket and produced the papers. “You always were smart. Do you need a pen?”

“No.” Ryder took the documents and lifted Cora’s pen. He got down on the ground and laid both sets of papers out in front of him.

Glen stepped closer. “Why the sudden change?”

Rather than answer, he read the papers. Once he signed them, his movie would be gone. The little spark that made him start writing in the first place would belong to someone else. All the nights, all the years, his characters, they would not be his, and he would never be able to decide their fate. “Just swear to me you’ll never ever harm her.”

“I give you my word.”

“The final script was in the filing cabinet, should you choose to use it. I had made some changes.” He took a breath, signed and initialed in all the right spots, then stood. “I assume aside from my name as screenwriter, we are through as well.”

“You will never hear from us again.” Glen held his hand out.

He closed his eyes and handed Glen one of the sets of paperwork. “Do the movie justice.”

When he opened his eyes, Glen and his movie were gone. Maybe it wasn’t redemption, but it was a start, and for the first time in his life, he was completely clean. Next, he had to do something for Cora, something only he could give her. He had to play the role of hero and give it his all.

HOLLYWOOD STARDOM

FADE IN:

INT. HOLLYWOOD – STUDIO SOUNDSTAGE - DAY

CHARLES is on the set.  Behind him a huge computer graphic of a black hole.

CHARLES

A black hole is formed when a star dies.

(He motions toward the graphic.)

CUT TO: The graphic illustrates the black hole.

CHARLES

Some have theorized that the black hole could actually be a portal to which we can bend time and space, and that they hold the key to space travel.

In the background, the music becomes more dramatic.

CHARLES turns to the side.

CAMERA PANS over to ROXY standing there.

CHARLES

(faces forward once more)

The gravitational force is so strong nothing can escape its pull, not even light.  Nothing can escape.