Reece grumbled to herself.
“The truth, please.”
“Faith I don’t know. Would you if it were me?”
The actress contemplated that. “No. I wouldn’t be okay, but I guess I’d have to accept it.”
Reece got annoyed. “Oh, so I have to accept it? What if I hate it?”
“It’s part of my job, baby. Just one small part of it. You’re smart enough to know it’s not real.”
“I know that.” Reece replied defensively. “I just don’t like it.”
“But there’s going to be some contact, Reece. It’s not like I’m emotionally attached to her or anything. It’s just acting.”
“Who’s her anyway?”
Faith squirmed uncomfortably. “Alicia Alvares”
Reece exploded out of her chair. “ALICIA ALVARES???? NO way! No fucking way!”
“Baby! I didn’t pick her!”
Reece fumed as she stomped around the kitchen. “Not that bitch. There is no way!”
“Reece! It’s just acting!” Faith tried to calm her extremely irate wife.
“MY ASS! You want that woman! You TOLD me you do! And now you’ll be kissing her? That’s cheating!” Reece banged on the counter with both hands.
“No it’s not. It’s acting.” Faith said quietly, not quite believing it herself.
“Your lips are not touching that woman! “ The club owner banged out of the room.
“Reece! Don’t do this.”
“Leave me alone, Faith.” Reece had her keys in her hand. She was really angry. “I need to go out.”
Faith listened to the door slam and shrunk down in her chair. “That went well.”
R
EECE THOUGHT SHE was angry before, but now, she was furious. She kicked a garbage pail and raged to herself. “Alicia Alvarez! Of all the fucking women in this world… HER?” She walked aimlessly, knowing for some reason, getting out of the house was the right thing to do. She wanted to scream at Faith, tell her, no, insist she forget the movie. Somewhere inside she knew that wasn’t the right thing to do so she ran away. “How can I deal with this? How does she expect me to deal with this? I can’t! I’ll throw up if I have to hear about it. Oh god, I’ll have to go to this movie when it opens!”
Cori left the bagel store to find Reece leaning on a car, arms folded tightly, jaw clenching.
I haven’t been gone 15 minutes! What the hell happened?
She approached the club owner carefully. “Reece?”
Reece lifted her angry gaze from her feet to the dancer. “Leave me alone.”
Cori got slightly closer. “What happened?”
Reece pushed off of the car, arms flying, face twisted. “Alicia Alvarez? Did you fucking know that?”
Cori swallowed hard. “Uh… yeah.”
Reece kicked a tree. “Great! This is fucking great!”
“Reece, people are starting to stare. Come on, let’s walk.”
“I don’t want to walk, I want to kill something!”
Cori, sneered at a curious passerby. “You heard her, she wants to kill something so I’d get moving.” She turned to Reece again who looked about to blow her top. “Reece, c’mon, lets go home.”
“HOME! No way. I can’t look at Faith right now. I just keep seeing her fucking that tramp. I can’t.”
“Reece! It’s not real you ass! Stop behaving like an idiot! My toasted bagel is getting soggy.”
“Fuck your bagel Cori, and fuck you, you don’t understand.”
“Fine be a moron. I’m going home. I suggest you get over it real soon.”
Reece watched Cori walk away and flung herself against the tree she kicked earlier. “Stupid freak doesn’t get it. Fucking Alicia.”
Violet listened to Cori’s rehash of what happened and sighed. “Man, oh, man, Alicia Alvarez. She’s like a walking condom she has so many different men. I can imagine Reece’s anger. “
“Anger ain’t the word Vi, she’s inconsolable. Anyway, maybe it’s a good idea she get lost in this mood. Faith has enough stress and doesn’t need Reece’s immaturity.” Cori sat in her lover’s lap. “What did you say to her last night? She came home with flowers.”
Violet snickered then kissed Cori’s nose. “Nothing deep. Looks like she may be home with more flowers later though.”
“Who knows. She’s real pissed. She seemed to be coping with the whole sex thing until Alicia came up.”
Violet thought for a moment. “She may be hot, but she’s a ho. Maybe if we convince Faith that Alicia Alvarez is nothing but a sperm burping gutter slut she’ll lose her crush.”
“Ew, pretty attractive description. Good luck convincing Faith though.”
Unable to finish breakfast, Faith sat, arms folded on the couch. Reece’s behavior was getting tired and she wished her wife would just get over it. She reached down to Smudge who was watching her curiously. Picking him up to her lap she sighed. “You understand me. You get that it’s just a movie.” Smudge licked her nose with his tiny pink tongue. “See, you love me. You don’t care if it’s Alicia Alvarez or not.” Smudge cocked his little head to the side in a question. Faith felt she needed to reply. “What?” The dog sat down and stared at Faith. She swore it was in an accusatory manner. “Oh, I see, you too. Fine” Faith stuck out her chin in defiance. Smudge stood up and yapped. Faith leaned her head back on the couch in defeat. “I know, I know, you’re right. She has every right to be jealous, I know if it were her and Angelina Jolie I’d bust a vessel. What do I do? Even if I get them to take out the hardcore stuff, I’ll still have to make out with the woman.” Faith thought about that for a while, and realized it did give her a little thrill.
Stop thinking like that, this is strictly business. You can’t enjoy it, that’d be cheating.
She sat up and picked up the script from the coffee table. Leafing through it, she stopped on one particularly graphic scene. “Oh yeah, Reece can’t handle this. I can’t handle this, how can I expect her to. Smudge, I’m so fucked. I gotta call Brad.”
Reece wandered around aimlessly for a while before reluctantly returning home. She opened the door quietly and slipped in, heading straight for Smudge. Scooping him off of Faith’s lap, and gathering his ear medicine from the coffee table, she brought him up to the bedroom ignoring her wife. As soon as she settled down on the bed she heard Faith approaching the door.
“I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.”
Reece didn’t look up. “Believe me, I didn’t want to but he needs his medicine.”
Faith sat on the bed. “You can’t stay mad at me Reece, you have to understand. Please.”
“All I know is you wanted to do Alicia since the first time you saw her and now you’ll be rolling around like naked pigs for everyone to see. I understand you’ll be liking it. A lot. That’s all I need to understand.”
Faith watched as Reece pulled a small bit of cotton from a cotton ball, wet it with solution and gently wiped out the dog’s ear. She smiled despite the situation. Reece has it in her, she has the ability to be gentle, when it counts.
“There you go little man. Shake it out.” Smudge shook his head so hard he fell over. Reece picked him up. “Just a little drop or two of antibiotic and we’re done.” She held his head in her hand, swallowing the tiny dog’s whole face with it‘s size.
Faith watched the scene with envy. “You’re so gentle with him. Why are you so aggressive with me?”
“He’s not cheating on me.”
Faith threw her hands up. “Reece, if it were anyone else would you be acting this way?”
The club owner shrugged. She really didn’t know.
“You were okay with me kissing Jim on television.”
“That was Jim the dim. Besides, I had a talk with him.” Reece smirked to herself. “Maybe I should have a talk with Alicia.”
“No way!” Faith protested. “I will not have you threatening that poor woman…”
Reece cut her off. “Since when is she that poor woman? Because you want her?” The club owner became angry all over again.
Faith sat closer to her wife and touched her face. “Just calm down already. We have to solve this Reece, I don’t want it tearing us apart.”
Reece steeled her jaw and said nothing.
“Baby, please. I love you. This has to work out. You have to deal with it. Please. I know you’re the strongest woman I ever met, you can do this. ” Faith pled.
Reece sighed and lifted her gaze for the first time to meet Faith’s. “I’m trying, Faith. I’m trying. I’m selfish and I don’t share well. I don’t think I can stomach this.”
The last sentence was so quiet Faith had to strain to hear it. She wrapped her arms around Reece and sighed. “Just hold me baby. I need you to hold me so I know it’s alright.”
Reece wrapped her arms around her wife and closed her eyes. She had to let Faith do her thing, she knew she had to. But it was going to hurt. Bad.
“I love you, Reece.”
“Me too.”
Despite their love, the tension was a bit thick in the Corbett-Ashford household. Faith eventually and reluctantly left Reece up in the bedroom with Smudge while she went downstairs to resume her phone calls. She left another message with her agent, Brad, and made a call to Mr. Wells, the gentleman that assured her the part when she went to audition. Without anyone else to call she waited impatiently for a response.
Reece made her way downstairs after a long while and announced her departure to the gym.
Faith watched her put on her sneakers. “Don’t be so angry Reece, please.”
“I’m fine” she replied flatly.
“Oh, that was convincing.” Faith replied sarcastically.
Reece turned to Faith and sighed. “Look, I’m not okay with this, and before I act like another ass, I’m going to the gym. I think I learned my lesson and the weights won’t talk back. Just let me leave without annoying me about it.”
Faith’s eyebrow was raised high. Reece just spoke more words to her in that instant than she had for days. “Okay, you go, but don’t hurt yourself. You’re not Hercules.”
Reece nodded as she left.
Faith stared at the door silently.
Reece walked sullenly to the gym, a lot on her mind. She was really conflicted. Faith has a job, not just a job, but a dream job. She wanted this more than anything. Moving to New York City all alone, with nothing, leaving her parents against their wishes, working shit jobs, living in a slum. All in the name of an acting career. Reece sighed loudly. Knowing full well what her own job asked of her, asked of Faith, she felt guilty for her own negative feelings. Surrounded by naked women all night, having to audition new ones, watch the acts of regulars to gage the response levels. She knew in her heart she would never want Faith to do what she does, yet Faith never complains. Could Faith be more trusting than herself? The club owner sulked.
But I don’t want her kissing Alicia Alvarez. She’s my wife, and I have a say don’t I? Why does this even have to happen anyway? Sure I want her to be in a movie, that’s what she wants, that makes her happy.
Reece scowled hard. She knew she really didn’t have a say one way or another. The only way to stop it was to put the fear of god in Alicia and Faith was on to that plan. Not wanting to think about it any more, Reece opened the door to the gym. The smell of sweat, the blast of manufactured cold air greeted her like an old friend. Feeling immediately more comfortable, she strode to the locker room with long steps.
Faith busied herself cleaning the house while she waited for someone to call her back. Then it happened, while she was on her knees, cleaning under the couch, the phone rang. Rushing to get it, she smacked her head on the coffee table and cursed all the way to the phone. Filled with anxiety she grabbed the phone. “Hello?”