Bray Array - The Ultimate Erotic Short Story Collection 19

"28 seconds."

"What?" she asked, resisting the urge to shake herself dry like a dog.

"28 seconds, from car to lobby. It always rains here, so I time people as they run in. I keep telling them if they beat their time, they'll be dryer for it."

Avaline laughed, casting her gaze towards the parking lot as she saw other cars pull it. It was 6:58, and the cast call was 7. Sure enough, there was the rest of the cast, racing against the clock. Jerrard, the lead, emerged with Dean, his on screen brother, at the same time Daniel exited his car. Avaline raised an eyebrow, glancing at the stagehand.

"10 bucks says Daniel beats both of them in the door."

"You're on."

The race to the door was extravagant, dodging puddles and worms. Avaline drew a deep breath.

"C'mon Danny, I got money riding on you! Let's go let's go let's go!"

To her delight, he quickened his pace, skidding to a stop just inside the door, a hair's length ahead of the others, and a few feet from her face. In excitement, she threw her arms around his neck, their wet bodies mashing together.

"You won!"

He chuckled softly, unravelling her from him.

"That I did."

"Only because he caught me off to get there," Dean snorted, trying to make it sound light-hearted.

But now that Avaline knew the context, she knew it wasn't.

"I don’t know, I think he got here fair and square," she replied. Dean raised an eyebrow, but Jerrard bumped him.

"C'mon, let's go get ourselves pretty."

They left the other two standing there, and Avaline turned to Daniel.

"Well, their attitude sucks."

He brushed a lock of wet hair out of his eye, shivering a bit.

"Do you have your own trailer?"

"I do not," she replied.

"Well, you're welcome to frequent mine today. It would be wonderful to have some company for a change."

"Sure," she nodded, following his lead. For a brief moment, their hands bumped each other as they walked. He took hers, squeezing it quickly and giving her a smile. With her as a ray of sunshine, perhaps it wouldn't rain forever.

His morning had been harsh, another tabloid report falsified, another rumour spread. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly who in the cast was doing it, but he knew very well it was one of them. The nasty comments and backhanded retorts every morning were getting to be too much to take. He wanted to be an actor, his whole life, and he loved this role more than anything he had ever done.

But gritting his teeth to not curse or take a swing at one of them was almost too much to ask. He already knew that a director on the other side of town had blacklisted him for his ‘behaviour’ on set, which was nothing short of perfect, minus the odd line slip. He understood their hurt and frustration, but his career was about to come crashing down.

***

Avaline was two weeks on set before she took the next step. It was Friday, and everyone was excitedly talking about plans for the weekend. Everyone, she noticed, except Daniel.

"No plans?" she asked him, and he shook his head, giving her a pained smile.

"As you may have noticed, love, I'm a transplant to this side of the world."

"You could come over to mine," she said, excitement lighting up her eyes. "I mean, its not like it's going to be exciting. I have some friends coming over to play board games, that's all."

"Your friends must be so proud of you," he said, his eyes flickering to meet hers. She paused for a moment, and then laughed.

"Daniel, they'll be cool, I promise. They aren't going to be all weird around a genuine celebrity. Except for one," she paused thoughtfully. "Maybe he won't come."

Daniel laughed, placing his hand on hers.

"I'd be delighted."

"Great," she grinned, pulling out her phone to text him the details. "See you at 2 tomorrow."

She didn't miss the raised eyebrows she got from the rest of the cast, but she didn't really care.

On set, that day, he was more open to her, his attention focused on any assistance he could give her. Which she was grateful for, when a writer’s assistance came running out of the writing room at noon, waving new pages.

“Scrap scene 4, we’re doing this one instead.”

“Duh…” Avaline said, taking the pages and looking horrified when she saw that she had pages and pages of new dialogue. Scene 4 was due to film in an hour. She turned to Daniel, who gave her an encouraging smile.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. We spend so much time setting up lights a monkey could memorize lines in between. May I offer you the keys to my trailer so you can work in peace?”

She nodded, taking them gratefully. Without him, she wasn’t quite sure she’d be able to stay afloat on this show.

But more than the offer of a place to work, was the assistance he gave her on camera, staying when it was her close up to feed her lines with the proper emotion, giving her a 100 % take every time so that she could always feed off his energy. She had heard of actors who ran whenever it wasn’t their turn, and she was glad her first on screen partner was willing to help. And it didn’t hurt that he made her skin tingle every time he touched her.

***

Avaline's friends were a mixed bunch, and she had known most of them since childhood. Writers, librarians, civil servants, a genuine mix of people who bonded over school time memories. Avaline had been a model for most of her life, and so her own career and celebrity was not that strange to them. They were used to beautiful photos of her, in little clothing, strange get ups and even stranger destinations. But a celebrity that they didn't know seemed to have the same effect as it did on common civilians.

"But he's stunning!" Lily gushed when Avaline told them who would fill the last place at the table. She snorted into her tea.

"So that makes it different? Guys, be cool or I'm going to kick you out."

"He was kick ass in God of Lightening," Riley put in and she rolled her eyes.

"And he's also having a terrible time on the show, kay? So let's be nice and maybe you'll have a real celebrity friend. Because I apparently don't count or something."

"I think it's dumb that they are mean to him," Lily piped up. "I mean, he was the guy they chose, it's not like they kicked the old guy off the show because Daniel came around. I watched, he sucked anyways."

"Try to talk about anything but that," Avaline said. "We spend all week dealing with it."

Just then, a knock came at the door. Everyone gasped, except Avaline who rolled her eyes and went to answer it.

Daniel stood in the condo hallway, looking different than she was used to seeing him. He had on the typical celebrity sunglasses, but he was clad in loose jeans and a grey tee-shirt, his hair still wet from out of the shower and his jaw freshly shaven. Makeup free and in modern clothes, it made her smile at how… normal he looked.

But then, she looked the same. Bare feet and grey sweat pants complimented her black tank top and pony tail hair. She was also makeup free, her face fresh and looking years younger than the normal glamazon she was made up to be.

"Hey, come in," she smiled, holding open the door with one arm. Her other reached out and wrapped around him and he returned the hug with a happy sigh. He smelled freshly of soap and aftershave, and she inhaled deeply.

"Mmm. Not set smell."

"Ha," he pulled back, presenting her with a bag. "I wasn't sure what to bring so I just brought…"

"Everything?" She looked into the bag, raising an eyebrow. There was chips and dip, fruit salad, regular salad, and much more. "Come in, you goofball."

She led him through the hallway, to the living room where her friends were sitting.

"So, guys, this is Daniel. Daniel, this is Lily, Riley, Cole, Michael and Sarah."

"A pleasure," he shook hands all around, although everyone noticed he was a bit awkward about it. When Avaline went to the kitchen for plates and cups, he followed her back and forth, until she turned, laughing.