***** Brenley's Point of View *****
"And your date is absolutely stunning. Who is she?" the reporter asked Dylan and my stomach sank. The last thing I wanted was to get dragged into an interview that was being live-streamed all over the world. That was literally my worst nightmare.
My heart started beating faster and I held my breath, looking at Dylan with pleading eyes, waiting to see what he was going to say.
He looked at me, giving me a nod of his head and then he turned back to the reporter and said, "You're right. She is absolutely stunning, but unfortunately she's also a little camera shy. How about we talk about the movie? I know you got to do a pre-screening. What did you think of it?" he asked her, changing the subject.
The reporter went right into talking about his movie, forgetting all about me. I exhaled out the breath I had been holding in, feeling relieved. I was going to have to thank him for that later.
I stepped off to the side as I waited for Dylan to do several more interviews, some alongside his co-stars and some by himself. Then the main cast posed for pictures for a while before Dylan and the female lead took a few with just the two of them. I knew she was a really famous actress, but for the life of me I couldn't think of her name.
She was drop dead gorgeous, the kind of woman that turned every head when she walked into a room and immediately drew everyone's eyes to her. She was 5'9, half-hispanic, half caucasian with an hourglass figure and long, stick straight black hair that was very shiny and smooth. She had delicate, feminine facial features, strong arched eyebrows and pouty lips like Angelina Jolie. Her smooth, lightly tanned skin complimented the cherry red dress she was wearing that was so tight and form-fitting that it looked like it had been painted on.
She was wearing matching cherry red heels and lipstick and she swayed her hips seductively when she walked, with her shoulders back and her large chest popped out, smiling and making direct eye contact with the people around her. She carried an air of confidence and Hollywood glamour about her that was very intimidating to a small-town, Iowa girl like me. I had felt pretty at the beginning of the night, but after seeing her, I felt like a toad. Seeing her clinging onto Dylan's arm and smiling up at him made me suddenly feel a pang of jealousy for some reason, which confused me.
When they finished taking pictures I noticed Dylan looking around the crowd, searching for someone. When his eyes landed on me, he smiled and then leaned down and whispered something in his co-star's ear, pointing in my direction. The next thing I knew, both of them were walking my way.
When they reached me, Dylan smiled and said, "Rose I want you to meet Brenley. Brenley this is Rose Davenport."
As soon as he said the name, it instantly clicked and I couldn't believe I had forgotten. It was a household name that everyone else in the country would have known but me. If Ellie were here she would definitely be making fun of me for that.
"Of course. I know who she is," I smiled, holding my hand out. "It's really nice to meet you Rose."
It wasn't completely a lie. I had recognized her. I just hadn't remembered her name. Famous people don't take it well when people don't know who they are, so I didn't want to offend her by confessing I had forgotten her name.
Rose gave me a weak smile that looked forced, shaking my hand with a loose grip before saying half-heartedly, "Yeah, It's nice to meet you too."
The look on her face and her body language told me that was a lie. I got the distinct feeling she didn't like me for some reason.
There was a moment of tense awkward silence between us. "Oh! That reminds me," she said suddenly, turning her back to me and facing Dylan as she told him a story, blocking me out. I could take a hint and it was obvious my presence wasn't wanted, so I took a few steps backwards and slipped away.
I walked around the red carpet and just watched people and observed, taking in all the sights and sounds around me because I was sure I was never going to be in a place like this ever again. I wanted to be able to tell Ellie everything.
Everyone around me was stunningly beautiful, dressed to the nines and they all had the biggest smiles plastered on their faces. I couldn't get over how happy everyone looked and I wondered if they were real or fake smiles put on for the cameras. With actors, it was hard to tell.
Many of the faces around me I recognized from movies or TV shows I had watched through the years, but I didn't know most of their names. Ellie and Dave could probably tell you every single one of their names plus name off every movie and show they had been in. I really wished they were there with me. I got my phone out and started taking a few pictures to send to them.
A while later Dylan found me again and said, "Hey, there you are! Are you having fun?"
"Ummm. Is that a rhetorical question or do you actually want the truth?" I asked with a laugh.
"The truth of course. I know you won't be afraid to tell it like it is," he said with a smile.
"Honestly, it's kind of cool being here, but this isn't really my type of thing. It kind of stresses me out." I cringed at my own words. "Ugh, I sound completely ungrateful don't I? This is a movie premiere and I should be really excited to be here. I'm sorry. You must think I'm such a brat."
He shook his head and gave me a smile. "No, I could tell by the look on your face earlier that you weren't enjoying yourself. I'm sorry you're not having a good time. Selfishly, I'm glad you're here though, because I'm excited for you to see my new movie. I really want to know what you think."
"Why do you care what I think?" I asked with scrunched eyebrows.
"Because you're the only person I know that won't be afraid to tell me the truth."
That made me laugh. "I've been told more than once that I'm brutally honest. My mouth gets me in trouble sometimes."
"I don't mind," he shrugged. "You have no idea how frustrating it is to be surrounded by fake people that only tell you what they think you want to hear all the time."
"I bet," I said, giving him a sympathetic look. I couldn't even imagine what that would be like.
He looked around at the dwindling crowd and said, "We better get inside. They're probably waiting on us."
He slipped his arm into mine and led the way inside the huge, fancy theater where we sat down in our reserved seats, right in the center of the front row.
Pretty soon a man walked up and broke the awkward silence between us by asking Dylan if he would stand up and say a few words to the crowd before the movie got started.
Dylan nodded and said, "Of course" before standing up and the people in the audience started cheering and screaming for him.
He waited for them to quiet down before saying, "Thank you all for coming out tonight to watch The Long Road to Redemption with us. This was the biggest budget movie I've ever been a part of and they hired the best and most talented people. I feel lucky to have had the privilege to work with all of you. It really was a group effort. We all worked really hard on this movie and I think that'll show on the screen. The entire cast and crew put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into making this movie absolutely perfect, not to mention spending several long, hard months being covered in mud on a cold, rainy and sometimes even snowy battlefield. I think the only reason I survived was because of the electric warming pads I wore under my costume and the hot Starbucks the set assistant snuck onto set for me," he laughed. "Shout out to Maggie. You're awesome. And no, Starbucks didn't pay me to say that, but hey, if they're listening and they want to sponsor me, I'd never turn down some free coffee," he joked and the whole audience laughed.
Dylan made public speaking look so casual and effortless. I could never.
"But anyways, back to the movie," he said. "This film is about a really flawed person. He's kind of an anti-hero that made a lot of mistakes and wasn't a good guy in the past. He fought his demons and changed his ways, and now he's fighting to get his life and the woman he loves back and he wants to make amends for the mistakes he's made in the past. It's a story of redemption, of forgiveness, of perseverance. It's not an easy road that he has to take, but no matter what's thrown at him, he never gives up. I hope you all can find some inspiration from it for your own lives and I really hope you'll love it," he said with a smile, walking forward as the crowd cheered and clapped.
He sat down next to me again and then the lights slowly dimmed as the movie started. Apparently when it's a premiere there aren't previews like there are in a normal theater.
Everyone was completely silent as the opening scene came up showing a foggy field with the sun slowly rising up in the distance, shining through the fog. The camera zoomed in on a drop of dew on the petal of a pure white flower in the field and then suddenly there was a buzzing sound of a bullet wizzing by and the gunshots gradually got louder until the flower was torn from it's stem.
"Go, go, go," a deep voice shouted and the camera zoomed back out to a scene of Dylan dressed as a civil war General, leading his troops across the foggy field right as raindrops started to fall. He stopped, leaning against a tree and catching his breath. He reached into his uniform jacket and pulled out a flask, taking a long drink from it, before letting out a sigh. He screwed the lid back on and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before grabbing his gun and rushing ahead through the tall grass.
As I sat there and watched the movie, it was so weird to think that the guy up there on that screen was the same guy sitting right next to me. It was surreal.
It cut to a scene where Dylan was kneeling on the ground, sobbing and rocking back and forth as he held his best friend's head in his lap, covered in blood. Dylan cried out, sobbing, "I won't let you die in vain! I'm gonna become a better man, a man like you were!"
Man he was a really good actor. His emotions felt so real.
After the war was over, it showed him finally making it back home to his parents and siblings. Over the next couple months, he worked hard to get sober and he was determined to right all the wrongs from his past, and win back the woman whose heart he had broken. One night he had gotten drunk and cheated on her and he had regretted it every day since. He was haunted by the flashbacks. She was the love of his life, his childhood sweetheart and he made it his mission to do everything he could to regain her trust and get her back.
It was a great storyline that drew me in, but when they finally got back together at the end, watching Dylan and Rose kissing on this huge screen right in front of my face was really hard to watch for some reason. I looked away, waiting for that part to be over, but when I looked back up, they were taking off their clothes. She was completely naked from the front and for him it showed everything but his privates.
They started kissing and fell back onto a bed and the next thing you know, they're having sex. It looked so real and showed so much skin that I was stunned. My eyes widened and my mouth fell open slightly as I tried to process what I was seeing and the way it was making making me feel. My stomach felt like it was tying up into knots.
That's when a realization hit me. I could never date or marry a man that was an actor. How could any woman watch their man doing love scenes like that with someone else and be okay with it? No wonder so many Hollywood relationships didn't last.
I was relieved when that scene was finally over and I looked down and realized I had been gripping the armrests of my seat, so I slowly peeled my fingers off and sat back in my chair, letting out an exhale.
It felt like it took forever for the three hour movie to finally be over. There were so many scenes of Dylan and Rose kissing, making love or having deep, intimate conversations and I didn't like seeing it. Watching him with her made me uncomfortable and I actually thought about faking a stomach ache so I'd have an excuse to leave the theater early. I somehow stuck it out though.
When the credits finally started to roll, Dylan looked over at me with a smile and asked, "So what did you think?"
I hesitated before saying, "It was good. I ummmm. I really liked it."
He was wrong when he said I was the only one that would tell him the truth about the movie, because I couldn't. My opinion was obviously biased. Everyone else would probably think it was an amazing movie, but for me, watching him up on the screen making love to Rose was absolute torture. I wasn't sure why. He wasn't mine and he never would be, but even still, I didn't enjoy watching him with someone else.
Some older men came over and congratulated him and I stepped to the side waiting, not sure what else to do. Every time I'd think he was finally going to be done talking, another person walked up and shook his hand and started up a conversation.
Then Rose walked over and pulled him into a long hug, pressing the front of her body against his. She raised her head and glared at me over his shoulder, before leaning in and whispering something in his ear. Then she kissed his cheek, lingering on it a little too long.
My heart started pounding faster and I suddenly felt nauseous, like the room was spinning. I had to get out of there. I turned around and walked away as fast as I could, breaking through the crowd of people and then jogging as I pulled my cell phone out of my clutch.
Melissa answered on the second ring.
"Hey Brenley! Are you having fun?"
I stopped jogging, propping myself against a column and trying to catch my breath.
"Melissa," I said breathlessly. "Can you please send a driver to come get me? I'm not feeling well."