“If you don’t want to wait for an omelet, pancakes, hash browns, and bacon are in the oven to keep them warm,” Chubby said.
I grabbed a stack of pancakes and a handful of bacon to get started. The girls wanted eggs. I figured I could come back for that.
Manaia didn’t say a word, which I much appreciated. When Mia joined us, she had what looked like a platter’s worth of food. Halle, on the other hand, had an omelet and some fruit.
I must have made a face because Mia stopped right before taking her first bite and glared at me.
“I’m fueling up for more sex. Obviously.”
Manaia snickered but stopped abruptly when I looked over at him. I watched Mia take a healthy bite of her pancakes. She closed her eyes and moaned.
“Oh, God. It’s so good.”
Both Halle and Manaia had to turn away.
“You should be careful, moaning like that around me,” I warned her.
She looked at me a defiantly, popped a piece of bacon in her mouth, and licked the grease off her fingers as she moaned again. Seeing her wrap her lips around her fingers was almost too much. Then she stopped and gave me a confused look.
“Did you want some of my meat?” she teased.
Halle choked on her juice.
Just as I started to say something in return, Mia floored me.
“I was thinking we should have a June wedding.”
OMG! Another stalker.
Both Halle and Manaia burst out laughing. Then I saw a twinkle in Mia’s eye. She’d gotten me. She’d heard about Chloe, obviously.
◊◊◊
We ended up hanging out at Chubby’s until lunchtime. Other people had spent the night, either because they’d imbibed too much or had been up to the same thing I’d been up to. I won’t name names, but a few overnight guests shocked me. I was positive that at least three of them were reported to be happily married—to people other than their apparent hookups. What amazed me was everyone acted like it was no big deal and not unexpected.
Mia had to get going, so we said our goodbyes. I looked forward to seeing her on set. We agreed that we would play it by ear, but last night had been more about curiosity than anything more. I suspected that once we began to work together, our relationship would be about the work.
Of course, I would be politicking for Chubby to add more sex scenes with Mia. It was a Bond movie, after all.
◊◊◊
When we got back to Rita’s, I discovered my parents were there.
“This is a nice surprise,” I said as I came in.
“Rita finagled two extra seats and invited us,” Dad explained.
Rita came sashaying in.
“There you two are,” she said, and then turned to her daughter. “The stylist and all her people will be here in twenty minutes. Go take a shower.”
Halle gave me a kiss on the cheek and bounded up the stairs. She was excited to be going to the Oscars as my date.
“Carol, why don’t you do the same? They’re bringing some dresses that should work,” Rita said, obviously in full command of what had to be done.
I looked at my watch and realized that with the time difference, we would be walking the red carpet in just a few hours.
“You two better go eat because it’s going to be a long night,” Rita ordered and then went upstairs.
I took Dad with me to reacquaint him with Rosy and her cooking.
◊◊◊
While Dad and I ate and caught up, Stewart Thatcher arrived. He and I had met in Cuba when he played the MI6 agent. Stewart would be playing James Bond in the upcoming movie. As a happy coincidence, he and Rita James, his love interest in the film, were now officially a couple. Stewart was a great guy to boot.
“I hear that you and Halle didn’t come home last night,” Stewart said.
“We went to Chubby Feldman’s party, and it got late, so we decided to just crash there,” I said.
Neither my dad nor Stewart were buying my explanation, but I wasn’t talking.
“What have you been up to?” Stewart asked to change the subject.
“Finishing high school, baseball season is about to begin, and I still have to figure out where I’m going to college. Just trying to live a normal life.”
“I bet the last few days have shown you that your life isn’t going to be normal.”
“It has been eye-opening. It makes me appreciate where I live and how everyone acts around me. Last night at Chubby’s, I was shocked when actual stars sought me out to talk to me like I’m some big deal or something,” I said.
“I hate to break it to you, but you are a big deal,” Stewart said.
“You still have to take out the garbage when you get home,” Dad warned me.
That was what I loved about my parents. They would always keep me grounded if I ever got too full of myself.
Our phones all chirped. Rita had sent us text messages telling us the stylists were ready for us.
◊◊◊
I was a nominee at the Oscars. It suddenly became real. Halle and I had our red-carpet moment, then we were whisked inside where we had photos taken in front of giant Oscars. I made sure that our group all had our picture taken together. I enjoyed the photographer’s comments.
“All right, get together,” she ordered.
My dad put his arm around my mom.
