Star-Struck, Book 1 (14 page)

“I’d love that!” The happy-go-lucky Sunny he knew just made an appearance.

“And you’ve already gotten Friday off for the premiere, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I’ll call you when I get home, to let you know I made it safely.”

“Alright. Be careful, Gabe.”

“I will. Oh, and Sunny?”

“Yes?”

“I’ll wait right here while you get me your screenplays.” He smiled at her, knowing she had hoped he’d forget. She gave him a nervous scowl and walked into her apartment.

“Here. This is the flashdrive with all my work on it, and this is my notebook with more notes on each one. The notes are titled.” She said once she’d come back to the door with the items.

“Thank you.” He knew showing him her work took a lot of courage on her part.

He leaned in once more and kissed her softly on the lips, keeping it chaste so he wouldn’t be tempted to stay. Leaving her was already hard enough.

Chapter 12

Sunny woke up Monday morning, way too early for her tastes. But it had been a restless night, so when she woke up for the fifth time, she decided to just stay up.

So with plenty of time to kill, she decided to make a cup of coffee and check her
Facebook
. She hadn’t been on her page since she’d met Gabe, not wanting to be tempted to post something about her new relationship. She still doubted her ability to hold onto the most sought after man in the country.

Opening her laptop, she brought up her browser. Her main page popped up with the latest news stories and before she could click on her ‘favorites’ a headline caught her eye.

”OH MY GOD!” She said to herself.

There in the middle of the screen was a still shot of her and Gabe on a crowded dance floor, with a headline that read
: GABRIEL WOLF HEATS UP THE DANCE FLOOR WITH A LITTLE HOT COCOA-click to watch video
.

“Fuck my life!” Sunny shouted into her empty apartment. “Can we not do anything, without it being recorded for fucking prosperity?!”

Sunny stared at the screen for a few minutes, debating watching the video. Unfortunately, curiosity got the best of her and she clicked on the link. The website with the video loaded and then she clicked play. Before her eyes, she watched the sexually charged moment between herself and Gabe. Even a blind man could see the passion and tension between them, so she knew everyone else would too. Oh, God! She hoped her parents wouldn’t watch it, but she was pretty sure this would make it to;
E!
,
TMZ
,
EXTRA
, and
ACCESS HOLLYWOOD
.
Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to present Dirty Dancing: Catalina Nights!

Sunny picked up her phone to text Gabe; she hoped that he was already up.

Sunny:
Gabe please call me as soon as you can.

Her phone rang within seconds of sending the text. She answered immediately.

“Hey.” She said trying to control her shaking voice.

“Sunny! What’s wrong?” She could tell that he was panicked.

“There’s a video of us that just went viral.” She said quietly.

“What?! Fuck! A video of us doing what?” Gabe growled into the phone.

“Of us dancing at the music festival. And if you remember that dance as well as I do even before I watched the video, you’ll know that that was an intense moment. And it totally came across on camera. If it wasn’t so public and embarrassing, I’d say it was smoking hot. But knowing the whole world is going to see it…I might as well walk around naked, that’s how exposed I feel.” She finished her tirade in a huff.

“Sunny, please don’t let this get to you. Eventually it will all die down. They’ll get bored and move on to stalking someone else. But I can tell you what will speed up that process…”

“What?”

“Letting the media know we’re together and not just as some fling. The more we hide from them, the more they’ll hound us.”

“You know, I think you’re right. It’s kinda like the Madonna-effect.” Sunny said perking up a little.

“What’s the Madonna-effect?” Gabe tried to contain his chuckle.

“Well I just made up the name. But I always thought she was a genius back in the day. She was just totally up front about the fact that she was a freak. You know, with the
Truth or Dare
movie and all that. It gave the media nothing to write about, because she’d already put it out there.”

“Exactly! So Friday at the premiere will be our first night out in front of the media and I’m gonna put this shit to rest. I don’t like the way all this makes you feel.” Sunny could sense his worry.

“Well hearing your voice and talking it out with you, always makes me feel better.” Sunny smiled into the phone.

“Good, I’m glad.”

~~~

Gabe was already on the set in his trailer when Sunny had text him. She’d nearly given him a heart attack, she never
texted him first or this early. But now that the situation was under control, the first thing he did after he got off the phone with her was look up the video on his tablet.

Shit!
She was right; it was fucking hot as hell. He was getting hard just watching it, remembering the anticipation he felt in that moment of eventually making love to her. But he could understand why she had been upset. Even though they had been in a public setting, their intimate moment was not something for the world to see. 

Gabe shook his head as he backed out of the website.
Do these people understand that they’re literally fucking up my love life?!
He sat the tablet down on the table and headed out the trailer to start the day. All of the cast and crew that were scheduled for the day were outside waiting for the morning meeting to start. And there in the middle was Josiah with a snide look on his face, like he was waiting for Gabe to show up.

“Hey Gabe.”

“Josiah.” Gabe nodded his head to the actor, prepared to ignore him. He found that wasn’t so easy.

“Man, I never really thought about hooking up with a black chick before, but you’ve made me rethink things. She really is one hot plump piece of ass.” Josiah said loud enough for almost everyone to hear.

The various conversations died down, and it was so quiet Gabe could hear a pin drop. Not that he would hear it anyway, with the roar of blinding rage in his ears. Before anyone realized what was about to happen, Gabe took two steps forward and dropped Josiah like a ton of bricks when he clocked him in the face with a clenched fist.

Everyone gasped and rushed forward. Some to hold back Gabe from beating the shit out of Josiah further, and some to help Josiah who was rolling around on the ground.

“You broke my fucking nose, asshole!” Josiah screamed through the blood pouring from his face.

Kyle, who rarely ever raised his voice, got in Josiah’s face. “Shut the fuck up Josiah, before I let him beat the shit out of you! What you said was uncalled for and you deserve more than a bloody nose. You’re not that big a star yet, a few words from this cast and crew and the only work you’ll be able to get in this town are
Viagra
commercials.”

Kyle motioned over the set paramedic, and then he walked over to Gabe.

“I’m sorry man. I just kinda lost it.” Gabe shook his head frowning.

“Don’t worry about it. You need someone to look at that hand.”

“Naw, I’m good.” Gabe looked down at his swelling knuckles, trying to figure out how he was going to hide them from Sunny.

“Well at least put some ice on it.” He paused, thinking for a moment. “Gabe, you’re going to have to figure out how to control your temper when it comes to Sunny. It’s great that you’re protective of her, but you can’t fight everyone. And I just don’t want to see you getting smacked with a ton of lawsuits.” Kyle said with genuine concern.

“God, I know. I’m just so afraid of losing her because of all this.” Gabe gestured around the set and the paparazzi at the gate in the distance.

“Don’t worry man. I’m sure everything will be fine.” He patted Gabe on the back and walked away.

Gabe wasn’t so sure anymore.  

~~~

“Woo honey! That was one crazy hot video! I’m so jealous!” Sunny cringed as Santiago came up to her while she was checking inventory in the back room with a few others.

So far no one had seemed to have seen the video and Sunny had thought she was in the clear. Now thanks to Santiago a few ears pricked at the new gossip, especially Becca’s.

“Ooh what?! What happened?” Becca begged Santiago.

“Santiago, please don’t start. I don’t need everyone in my business.” Sunny begged for a whole different reason.

“Honey, how could you not want to share what it’s like to be with a mega famous celebrity? And you’ve been with him, right? Because girl, that video said it all!”

“Oh now I’ve got to know what’s going on!” Becca bounced up and down pulling on Santiago’s arm.

“Don’t worry, I already have it up and ready on my phone to show you.” Santiago ignored Sunny’s scowl.

Swiping the screen on his phone, Santiago did indeed have the video ready to go. Sunny walked away from them to finish what she was working on, trying to calm her fury. But it was hard when she could hear the reggae music from that night blaring out his phone and the loud gasps of Becca.

Sunny had had enough when she heard the video start again and looked over to see Santiago and Becca watching it again with another co-worker. At this point everyone would know before the hour was up. She stormed out of the backroom to the front of the store, more willing to deal with customers than her so-called friends.

But that didn’t stop them. Becca came running up to her.

“Please Sunny; tell me what it was like to be with him. He is so gorgeous and
big
! Is he big everywhere? You have to tell me!” Becca pleaded with her.

“You know what Becca; I don’t have to tell you a goddamned thing!” Sunny hissed under her breath, finally having enough.

“Oh, so it’s like that? You get with a movie star and now you’re too good for your friends?!” Becca gave her a look of disgust.

“I just don’t like my life on display for the whole world to judge. And I have no idea if what we have is even going to go anywhere, so why would I boast about something that may be over tomorrow?”

“Well duh! He’s a superstar who dates models and can have anyone he wants. Of course you’re just a fling, he’s not really gonna marry you or anything. So you enjoy it while it lasts and have great stories to tell in the process.” Becca gave her a hateful look.

“Go fuck yourself, Becca.” Sunny stomped away angrily, tears welling in her eyes but not wanting Becca to see them.

After that, everyone avoided Sunny like she was a leper. Every now and again she received curious looks from those not very close to her and dirty looks from her friends.
Some friends. Thank God I’m off again tomorrow.
She wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take. Her whole life was being turned upside down in the best and worst ways.

~~~

The next morning Sunny dressed for her day on a real movie set. She wore her favorite long white Spanish style peasant skirt and an 80’s style off the shoulder coral t-shirt. She paired them with her colorful ankle band sandals, silver hoop earrings and a long necklace. And she pinned up her hair in a pile of curls.

She headed outside when Gabe called to let her know he was waiting for her out front. The ever familiar butterflies started in her stomach as she walked outside, which turned into the full-blown bats when she saw him for the first time since the weekend. It had only been a day, but it had felt like forever.

He must have missed her too, because he met her halfway, grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her silly before walking her to the truck and opening the door for her. As she got in, she noticed various men scattered here and there with cameras that had huge lens, across the street snapping pictures. Sunny was looking back at them when Gabe slid into the driver’s side.

“Don’t pay attention to them Sunny.” Gabe looked at her apprehensively.

“They know where I live Gabe!” She threw her hands up in frustration.

“And I’m so sorry for that. But please don’t let this come between us.” He reached out to clasp her hand in his and squeezed tight.

She squeezed his hand back reassuringly. “I’ll try Gabe. But you have to understand that I’m not used to this, and there are going to be times that I freak out. I just need time to adjust, I guess.”

“Alright, I’ll try not to freak out when you freak out. One freak out at a time. Got it.” He winked at her.

“Exactly. So anyway, I can’t wait to see you in action today.” She put her worries aside and smiled brightly at him.

“Hopefully I’ll be able to concentrate. I’ve never had someone I care about watching me before.” He actually looked at her shyly.

They were having so many firsts, not just her, but both of them. It seemed to put them on a level playing field for once.

“So I read your stuff.” Gabe said; she nervously looked at him waiting for his thoughts. “They are
great
Sunny. I love the animated movie script.
Disney
or
Pixar
would be perfect studios for that one. And your romantic comedy has a lot of heart and a nice spin on the classic rom-com script formula that is overdone.” He reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “It only confirmed what I already knew…you’re extremely talented Sunny.”

Sunny glowed with his praise. “Thanks Gabe, that means a lot coming from you.”

“You’re welcome, and I’ll get them in the right hands a.s.a.p.” He winked at her.

He parked the truck on a residential street. They were filming at a pretty California bungalow today, which posed as the main characters’ home, so most of the street was blocked off. Equipment, trailers and
people crowded the closed off area. Sunny was bursting with excitement to be able to watch the whole process.