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Dinner & Deals

Alternative

Chapter 4

I just stared at him, this had to be another dream. Why is Alan Rickman in a central Louisiana hospital? I looked down at my food for a second, even though I had completely lost my appetite.

I looked up again and he was just slightly smiling still, staring back at me.

"I'm Alan, but something tells me you already knew that," He chuckled at himself, he began to eat his vegetables.

I laughed a bit too, "How could you tell?" I asked him, hoping he would have an amazing response.

"You're shaking, dear," My hands were shaking terribly from nerves so I kept them resting on my lap, I didn't even realize it until Alan told me.

I blushed uncontrollably and avoided eye contact for a minute, this is so embarrassing. Why.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked in desperation of changing the topic.

"You told me I could sit here," He sassed me, my jaw dropped in shock after he said this. Alan no longer had a smile on his face but I could feel that he was joking with me, the air around us was light.

I rolled my eyes, beginning to get comfortable around him, "You knew what I meant. In Louisiana, what are you doing in Louisiana?" I asked, slowly picking up a noodle and starting to eat again.

"Well, I broke my leg a little while back. I'm almost completely healed though, I should be heading back home pretty soon. I'm all the way in Louisiana because I was on vacation for a bit, traveling the states. Just happened to fall off a deck around the block," he said nonchalantly, like falling off of a deck was no big deal. What have I gotten myself into?

I looked at him confused, out of all the personalities in the world I wouldn't have expected Alan to be this way. Yes, I had always been a big fan, but I never actually went outside of watching his movies. Every once in a while I would see a new film coming out with him in it and make a mental note I needed to go see it, but never did extensive research on him.

I always thought he would be a less-lively, un-sarcastic person.

"Now you know why I'm here, why are you here?" Alan asked matter-of-factly.

I shrugged, slurping another noodle into my mouth, "Your guess is as good as mine. I was at a party, hit my head, woke up here, and now they won't let me leave. Plus these robes are not very flattering if you couldn't tell," I looked at his outfit, expecting him to be wearing the same dull blue dress, he wasn't.

Alan was wearing a dark sweater and washed out jeans, extremely casual.

"Hey... where's your robes?" I asked confused.

"When you've been in as many productions as me, you can't afford to be caught wearing something as ugly as a hospital gown," He spoke with a huge grin on his face, pretending like it was obvious for me to understand this.

I laughed at the British man and nodded understanding, "Are you still checked in here?"

He nodded, "For two more days, then I'm headed back on my way to finish this bloody vacation," I could tell he was tired of being here, I don't blame him.

"Well, I should probably be going back to my room. My nurse is a nightmare, putting me on who knows what. Oh and... Stay next to me, you don't want to see my backside," I murmured.

Alan snickered and followed along side of me, the two of us set our trays down near a sink and went on our way up to our rooms.

"So what floor are you on?" I inquired, I looked up at the much taller man.

"The third, yourself?" He didn't even flinch when a bed came flying out from a nearby bedroom, like he hadn't even noticed. I watched the person on the bed lay there, looking lifeless.

I had never seen someone dead before.

"Dear? You alright?" Alan took ahold of my arm. I felt chills run up the back of my neck, I turned to him and I saw the exact worried expression I saw in my dream yesterday, or was that today?

My mind started to get everything confused, was this just another dream?

Without a second thought, I went and grabbed Alan's hand off of my arm and held onto it with my hand. I stopped walking and just stared at it, I was holding his warm hand in mine.

"If you wanted to hold my hand, you only needed to ask," Alan playfully teased, squeezing my hand firmly in his.

At this point in time I didn't even feel embarrassed. I was so incredibly surprised this was real that I didn't care that I was making a complete fool out of myself.

"This is real," I whispered.

"Pardon?" He asked louder, shaking my hand a little bit to get my attention.

I looked up and pulled back from him, "I'm sorry, it's just I had a feeling that this was only a dream. I wasn't expecting you to actually be... you. This is all a misunderstanding, I didn't mean to-"

"No need to explain yourself, Aspen. Come on then, let's find your room. Which floor?" Alan quickly tried to move topics so I didn't feel uncomfortable anymore. I really appreciated that.

"Second."

"Come along, then," Alan rested his hand on the small of my back, lightly pushing me and helping me down the hallway, "So you grew up here?"

I nodded, desperate to get the tension out of the air, "Yeah, about 45 minutes south of here. My dad's the mayor of the town actually, but there isn't too much going on there. I would rather stay here where there's a bit more action."

"Oh yes, I could tell you're more of a city type. Parties that nearly give you death sentences seem to be the best of the night life, wouldn't you agree?" Alan laughed at his own joke as we made it to the stairwell.

I let out a sigh, "You sound like my father," I said.

"Must be a smart man, runs in the family I see," He noted to himself.

"Yeah, nothing like an air head who will do anything to keep his reputation safe. Real smart man, but nothing beneath the surface." I huffed, making my way up the steep stairs.

Alan slowed down on the stairs and came to a halt, it took me a second to notice so I was standing taller than him now by a few feet.

"You're not fond of your father?" Alan asked, it looked like he was thinking hard, like all of the pieces were finally starting to be put together.

I shook my head.

"Who's watching after you, if I may ask?"

"Myself, my parents don't even know I'm here. They think I'm still at my apartment, please don't tell them though. They don't know that I go out to parties. And it happens that the last one I was at had illegal drugs, Alan. They'll make me go back home if they found out." I began to step down each step to get closer to him.

He was now the one shaking his head, either in disappoint or awe, I couldn't tell.

"You shouldn't have to do that," he gazed at me in disbelief, "How old are you?"

I swallowed, "Eighteen." I searched for an expression on his face that I could understand, he was very good at hiding his emotions though.

"I'll make a deal with you, Aspen. But only if you follow my rules." Alan stated firmly, stepping up the last step until we were face to face, "I am going to stay with you, at least until I know you are well. After that I'll leave you alone because you won't need me. I won't tell your parents, but if you try to leave this hospital without the doctors' permission, I will call them."

His face told me everything, he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

I raised my hand up, caught his in mine, and shook. The warmness within our touch fueled me even more to make this become a reality,

"Deal."