„Alright", she said, more to herself than him, as she added the finishing touches to his face, „There you go! Good as new!"
He turned around to check on her work in the mirror. Somehow he felt like he could still see the by now rather greenish shades of the bruises around his left eye shine through the heavy make up she had applied on him. Maybe because he knew they were there?
„I don't know... Are you sure?"
She nodded. „I am. No one will notice, I promise! Besides, why shouldn't they know? You were outnumbered by a group of drunk assholes while defending your friends and yourself. You're a hero! No need to be ashamed of your scars and bruises, you hear me?"
„If you say so..."
„But aside from what you look like, how do you feel? How's the head? The ribs?"
He smiled. „I'm alright. I'm good! It barely hurts. I'm just looking forward to seeing everyone again."
„Me too! And how about... do you like my dress?"
She twirled in front of him, wearing a white silk dress adorned with large and colorful flower prints and hems in blue and red. The long-sleeve, knee-length design displayed elements of traditional garments from East Asia... China, or Japan. He wasn't an expert. All he knew was, she looked breathtakingly beautiful, as always.
„I do! You look amazing, baby."
„Are you sure? Is it my style? Isn't it a bit much going on in the dress?"
„No! You're Rita Castillo! There is no such thing as ‚too much' with Rita."
Her lips curled up into a broad smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck. „You're damn right!", she whispered against his lips, just before kissing him.
They had agreed on taking his car and him being the designated driver for the day, so she could enjoy a drink or two. He'd rather stick to water and soda anyway, with all the medication he still had to take. The cocktail brunch would take place in a Hollywood villa with a large garden and pool that Paramount Plus had rented for the occasion, it would finally be the wrap party they hadn't been able to have when they completed filming last month. By now though, all of them were fully vaxxed and it was deemed safe to meet and celebrate, without masks or social distancing. Life was slowly but surely getting back to normal, or so it seemed. Hallelujah!
When he had parked the car, he gentlemanly opened the door for her and helped her out, and he didn't let go of her hand anymore. The beaming smile on his face made her heart sing, she knew exactly how he felt. Both of them had been excited for days if not weeks for this event – their colleagues knew about their relationship, and there wouldn't be any strangers or press present they'd need to hide from. They could feel free around each other and completely be themselves. Finally! She gave his hand a gentle squeeze before asking: „Ready?"
„Born ready!", he replied.
When they entered the party, hand in hand, they were instantly greeted by a massive wave of cheers and hugs. Eileen was there first, pulling Lana into a tight embrace, while Jordane was snatched by his on-screen wife BK. She hugged him so tight that for a moment there he was worried about his healing ribs.
Eileen squeaked: „Oh my God, now look at you two!! Aren't you just the absolute cutest?"
BK nodded, asking: „So you're still together then? That's amazing! Why didn't you tell me??"
She gave Jordane a gentle slap on the shoulder, he just smiled, a bit shy. „I'm sorry! Things were a bit crazy lately."
One after the other, their former colleagues greeted them and congratulated them on their relationship. It felt a bit weird, but they took it gladly, they were just too happy and in love to be modest. Marc Cherry, their show's creator and the man in charge who had cast them both, admitted with a soft smile: „You know, sometimes before I start filming with a new cast, I allow myself to wonder whether there'd be any love affairs among them – and between whom – or actual relationships, even, that'll outlast the project itself. Quite often... surprisingly often I'm right, actually. But, you two? I couldn't have imagined in a million years, even though you work so well together in front of the camera."
Many of the others who were listening agreed with him – no one could have! Least of all the happy couple themselves as they weren't ashamed to admit.
Finally they split up in an attempt to draw less attention to themselves, this wasn't another awkward fake wedding party for them after all, it was everyone's party, celebrating their hard work over the past months.
Matthew Daddario, Lana's love interest on the show, found a moment to pull his buddy aside and clink glasses with him. In this predominantly female led cast, the two of them along with Nick Frost, who played the slightly cuckoo, but good hearted veterinarian Bertram and wasn't here today, had formed a little testosterone alliance that they had used to retreat to every once in a while while on set.
„Cheers, dude! And congrats! You got a good one there."
They both looked over to Lana standing alongside some of the other women. Jordane smiled. „I know. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am."
„How did you do it?"
„What do you mean?"
„Conquer Lana Parrilla?"
„I'm not even sure whether I conquered her or she conquered me! But I think... I don't know. Just be there for her? Maybe I just got lucky and was at the right place at the right time? Be open, I guess, be honest. Keep up with her, don't fall behind. Fight for her. I can assure you, it wasn't easy."
„Why not?"
„Ah, I don't know", he waved it off with his hand, „As you can imagine, the age difference, mainly. For the longest time she has been convinced that we'd be doomed right from the start, just because she's older than me. She still is! But by now... I don't know. Our feelings for each other have just become too strong. And I think we just decided to accept it and live with it. And I can tell you, it's much more fun like that!"
„Cheers to that!"
Later that afternoon, Lana stood with Eileen and Veronica Falcón, who played her detested step daughter Catherine, Rita Castillo's main arch nemesis – until she'd eventually learn who her true enemy was and had been for a while. Neither of her two colleagues had appeared in the last episode and had thus missed her and Jordane's public and tearful goodbye in front of the entire cast and crew after her final scene on the last day of filming. Eileen had known about their affair since she had once visited Lana on set when they were later surprised by Jordane, but Veronica had no idea. Or so they thought...
„You don't look too surprised seeing Jordane and me together."
She scoffed. „Are you kidding me?", she said in her thick Spanish accent, her voice even deeper and raspier than Lana's, „On set you two had been smelling like sex from miles away."
„Really? You knew??" Even Eileen was surprised.
„Of course! The way you undressed each other with your eyes each time you came across one another. And... don't forget my room was right next to yours. And the walls weren't all that thick..."
„Oh", she blushed and cleared her throat, then took a sip of rosé, „Right..."
„So, I assume your relationship is mostly physical in nature?"
She shook her head. „Uh uh. It was when we were filming, but it has developed since then. And right now, quite the contrary, actually. We haven't done it in... I don't know, two weeks?", she sighed desperately, „I'm telling you, I'm slowly going crazy, I can't keep my hands off him for much longer!"
„But why? You've been too busy?", asked Eileen.
She shook her head again. „Also, yes, but that wasn't the reason. Actually, you don't see or notice it today because he's such a trooper, but he had a pretty bad accident earlier this month and was in the hospital."
„What?? Oh my God, that's terrible, what happened?!"
„I don't want to go into detail, but yes, it was terrible indeed. Out of the blue the police called me because I'm his emergency contact, I had the worst horror scenarios playing out in my head, I was terrified! Thankfully, he was okay. But yeah... that meant, no sex since then."
„Awww, you're his emergency contact? That is so sweet it makes my teeth ache!", Eileen gently stroked her friend's arm. She was so happy for her! Some months ago, in a sentimental heart to heart while waiting for their turn on set, they had just talked about how lonely Lana felt at times, how she just couldn't seem to find a decent guy after her separation from her ex husband more than two years ago.
„You're truly the most amazing couple, I'm telling you! You're perfect for each other, I can feel it. You two will go all the way. Fuck the age difference!"
„Speaking of perfect for each other...", Veronica chimed in, „Does your lover boy here have a type? And if so, are you his type? If yes... you may want to keep an eye on him."
She heard Jordane's laugh, one of her favorite sounds in the whole wide world and one she'd instantly recognize anywhere, coming from the other side of the garden where he was standing with another woman – Cynthia Quiles. Cynthia played Brenda on the show, member of the Elysian Park Garden Club. As such, she didn't have a lot of lines, but quite some scenes with Lana. They had even joked about how she could have just as well played her little sister. She was like a younger copy of her, dark long hair, dark eyes, very pretty and of Puerto Rican decent as well, just like herself. Indeed – if Jordane had a type, and if Lana was his type, then Cynthia was his type as well.
In any case, it was more than obvious at least that Jordane seemed to find her absolutely hilarious, and Lana had to admit that she did feel a little sting in her stomach looking at them, and her heart started beating faster. Her instant reaction would have been to walk over there right away and show her younger colleague that Jordane was hers, just in case she hadn't noticed or forgotten. After thinking about it for a few seconds though, she was able to convince herself that she didn't have a thing to worry about, that there was no need to be jealous. Her boyfriend had the right to talk to other women after all, even pretty ones or those who bore a certain resemblance to herself.
So in the end, she just swallowed, smiled and shrugged, turning back to Veronica. „That's alright. He knows that he's to eat at home. And I know that he prefers my ‚cooking' anyway. I make sure of it." She winked.
Veronica just raised an eyebrow. „If you say so..."
Either way, when later that day she found herself standing next to Cynthia, she wasn't able to keep herself from giving her a certain look. The younger woman just smiled and amicably put her hand on the small of her back.
„No worries", she whispered at her, „He's an amazing guy, your boyfriend, but he just cannot seem to ever stop talking about you. Gets tiring after a while."
She winked at Lana and went over to get another drink.
She turned around and saw Jordane walking towards her, smiling, and all of a sudden she felt the sudden urge to be with him, be close to him. She had spent the whole day talking about and hearing how great he was, she had spent the day watching him from afar and sharing him with all the others, she missed him! The last few steps she came towards him to reduce the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling up to him, letting her lips brush over his neck. Carefully she looked around, and when she found that no one was paying them any mind, she allowed herself to gently squeeze what she could grab between his legs – and that gesture didn't fail to produce the intended reaction.
Jordane blushed and stared at her in horror. „What are you doing?!"
She just looked at him with big eyes and whispered in his ear: „I think I've got enough company for one day... and I most definitely have enough of NOT sleeping with you! Let's go home, baby! You still owe me that non-wedding night... Please, take me home!"
Naturally, she didn't need to ask twice: they left the party without saying goodbye.