“I’m really sorry. I should have said ‘no.’”
He was quiet for a moment before he responded.
“I really want to be mad at you, but it was my own fault. You at least had the balls to tell me that you would kill me if I touched Brook. I should have done the same,” Ben said.
“Let’s make a deal. No more sleeping with the other’s girlfriend, even if they beg,” I suggested.
“I’m glad you added the last part because I’m not convinced that Isabel won’t want you as a ‘special treat’ at some point. I honestly don’t think you would survive round two.”
Despite being sure I could take his wimpy ass, I decided I would give him that one. That didn’t mean I couldn’t give him a hard time.
“After she dumps you, how long do I need to wait until I hook up with her?” I asked.
“David, I just changed my mind; I can be mad at you.”
We both laughed. It felt a little forced, but I thought we would get past this.
“I plan to chalk it up as something I can take off my bucket list and put behind me. I hope that it doesn’t cause you or Isabel any problems.”
“We’ll be okay, I think. I want to thank you for making me realize that I have to back off on Halle. Seeing you with Isabel made me aware of the hurt I would cause her if my feelings for my costar ever got back to her. I called Halle and apologized. We should be fine to finish the movie,” Ben shared.
“That’s good because she’s in the next two
“It’s all good. It caught me by surprise, and it made me worry that it even happened.”
“You’re supposed to be in love for the part. You’re thrown together for long hours. There’s a reason it’s cliché that the leading man hooks up with the leading lady. It’s because your make-believe feelings suddenly seem real. Plus, it doesn’t hurt when your leading lady is Halle James,” I said.
“Believe me, I get the last part. Halle’s a great girl.”
“So is Isabel,” I reminded him.
“Yeah. So is Isabel,” he agreed.
◊◊◊
While I’d been talking to Ben, Halle had tried to call me, so I rang her back.
“My mom isn’t happy with you.”
“What did I do?”
“At lunch today, Trip announced he’s in love.”
“And that’s bad, how?” I asked.
“Mom has met Teresa’s mother,” Halle said to clue me in.
“And now that she’s met her, she’s convinced that Teresa is only after Trip’s money. Fortunately for Trip, Teresa’s not like her mother.”
Halle chuckled.
“Try to convince my mom of that.”
“I have faith she’ll figure it out,” I said, and then changed the subject. “I just got off the phone with Ben.”
“Did you threaten him?” Halle asked.
“No! Why?”
“He apologized. I saw the two of you talking after … well, you saw it,” she said, referring to her slapping him at the party.
“Do you think it’ll be okay on set?” I asked.
“It should be. Ben isn’t Zander. He never tried to force the issue.”
“Speaking of Zander, it looks like we’re going to settle.”
I told her that I’d agreed to take real estate instead of cash. She pointed out that the downside was that I would have to pay my lawyers. I left out the bit about him sending a fixer to try to force a settlement. I was just glad it was almost over.
◊◊◊
At our dinner break, Lexi announced that everyone was invited to lunch with me on Monday. She’d made reservations at the Paradise Cove Beach Café. It was right on the beach and supposed to be casual. The crew was especially happy because they didn’t expect that they would get to go to one of my outings. I should have thought of inviting them to more of what we did, but I’d been focused on showing my castmates a good time while they were in the states.
My uncle sent me a text that gave me their flight information. I promised to have Manaia there to pick them up. He would need to take them straight to the restaurant. It was fortunate that they would lose a couple of hours with the time zone change, or the timing would have been tight for tomorrow.
During dinner, Haru made a point to sit with me. This must have been planned because everyone avoided our table.
“I need to beg your forgiveness. I made inappropriate advances,” Haru said formally.
“What are you talking about?” I asked to make her squirm.
She bowed her head.
“The kiss.”
“Oh. I thought you were just acting.”
She blinked in confusion and then saw me smile.
“Thank you,” she said as she blushed.
“I do have a bone to pick with you, though. What’s with this declaration of love?” I asked.
If possible, she got redder.
“You weren’t supposed to see that,” she blurted, and then looked down again. “My publicist ‘leaked’ the story.”
“I take it I’m good for your career.”
“Yes. Do you want me to fix it?” she asked.
“No. I know you guys are all sending stuff to fan sites about your trip here. Before your publicist ‘leaks’ anything else, have her contact my guy. He’s pretty reasonable, but I pay him to make sure I come off with the right tone.”
She agreed and was happy I wasn’t mad at her. She shared her excitement about wrapping up the filming so she could go home.
I sent Frank a text with Haru’s publicist’s information and the links I’d been given so he could do his job.
◊◊◊
