4. Welcome to Hollywood
When I woke up the next morning I instantly curled up under the sheets, embarrassed when I thought of last night. I never showed my emotions like that. After a quick glance at the clock I realized that it was past 9 already. That meant that Sally and Mia would be in school. I wondered if Kathie was home again, or even Lucas. I listened but could hear no sounds in the house, so I eventually crawled out of bed and under the shower. After I was ready I went downstairs into the kitchen.
I didn’t see anyone in there either, but after a few seconds I heard a voice behind me. “Hey, good morning? What’s that?” Lucas asked as he tapped me on the shoulder. I blushed. I had decided on only a jeans and a tank top since it was very warm outside already and with my shoulders exposed Lucas had seen my tattoo.
“Good morning.” I said as I turned around to face him. He was wearing jeans and a simple button-up with the sleeves rolled up. “Just a tattoo.” I replied, shrugging.
***
When Alex came down into the living room I got up from my reading chair on the porch and went inside. As I walked behind Alex I noticed a tattoo on her left shoulder. It was a the outline of a butterfly in thin black and red lines, inside the butterfly the words “surrender to nothing” were written in black… it looked unique, very artistic. I had never seen a tattoo like that before. I actually liked it. It fit Alex.
“Good morning. What’s that?” I asked her and tapped on her shoulder. Alex blushed, looking down. “Good morning. Just a tattoo.” She replied. I smiled. “It looks nice. What’s the motif? I’ve never seen it before.” Alex smiled softly. “It was done by a British artist, Banksy. It is actually part of a work by him. I just took one of the butterflies out of it and modified it slightly. I always liked it.” She explained. I nodded. “Why a black butterfly?” I wanted to know. Alex shrugged again. “I don’t know, it seemed fitting, somehow. Hard to explain. But I liked it then and I still do.” She said. I grinned. “And the text?” Alex smiled. “It’s out of a song by my favorite band. And it reminds me to never give up.” I nodded. I was no huge fan of tattoos, but Alex’s had a personal meaning and I liked it.
***
“You slept okay?” he asked after a few moments. I nodded, not wanting to discuss anything that happened last night. “So, erm… how about some breakfast?” Lucas offered. I grinned, happy about the change of topics. “Yeah, sure… Can I help you? Or, I can get myself something, if you tell me where everything is…” Lucas shook his head. “Nonsense, sit down and tell me what you want.” He said jokingly. “O..okay…” I mumbled after a minute. “Erm, where is everyone, Kathie, I mean?” I asked as I sat down.
Lucas turned around again, silently asking me if I wanted juice of coffee. “Kathie had to run some errands. She brought the kids to school and met some people in the city…” he said, but I got the feeling there was more behind it. “What’s up? You’re not telling me everything, are you? I mean, will I see Kathie on Oprah tonight or what?” I tried to joke, but Lucas immediately looked guilty.
“No way.” I mumbled. Lucas grinned sheepishly. “Well, not Oprah, but Jimmy Kimmel, yeah…” he admitted finally. I choked on my cornflakes at that, my eyes nearly bulging out of my head. “What?” I finally managed to say. Lucas sighed. “I will tell you everything from now on, Alex. I don’t want to keep any secrets. This will maybe not always be easy. I mean, it takes a while getting used to it all.” I could only nod. I had no real idea what that meant. Living Lucas’ life. “I have the day off. I thought we could spend it together. Talk about a few things, I show you a little bit of the city?” I smiled. “Okay. Yeah, that sounds great.” I said. Lucas smiled. “Good. I hope you’re up to face LA...” He said to me. I grinned. “Yeah, I think so…” I replied, grinning.
After I finished breakfast I went back into my room, getting a pair of sneakers and changing my tank top for a blue t-shirt. Then I went down into the living room to Lucas. “Are you ready to go?” he asked. I nodded and followed Lucas into the garage.
“What the hell is that?” I asked confused as I stopped in front of a silver grey, extremely flashy car, that I had not seen before. It was a Mustang, but that was all I knew. “Err… yeah, one of my guilty pleasures….” Lucas admitted lowly. “This is your car???” I asked him, unbelievingly. This… thing was probably worth a fortune. And much too precious to drive. It belonged in a museum! “Yes, calm down Alex. It’s just a car. My favorite car. A 1967 Mustang Shelby GT500E.” he explained. I just nodded. “Yeah, whatever…. Are we going to use this… thing?” I asked. Driving just didn’t seem the right word for it. Lucas shook his head. “Don’t dis my baby. Come on, I’ll show you why I love this car so much…” he said and opened the door for me.
“Where are we going?” I asked as Lucas started the car. “Well, I thought we could take a walk on the beach. I mean, this is LA, the beach is famous. If you don’t want to, we can still go somewhere else, of course. But the plan was to show you the many faces of LA today.” I shook my head. “No, that sounds nice.” I said. “Good.” Lucas grinned.
***
I stopped the car really close to the beach but didn’t get out right away. “Hey, ahem, I promise I will explain everything to you, today. Whatever you want to know, alright Alex? Just, when we’re outside…” She frowned. “What? Crazy Fans coming after you?” she asked. I shook my head. “No, not like that. But, sometimes people recognize me. I just want you to be warned, okay. In case someone takes pictures or stuff like that.” I said carefully. Alex looked a little worried, but she nodded. “Good. Thanks for the warning.”
We left the car and strolled down towards the beach. The weather was nice but there weren’t too many people out yet. Alex visibly relaxed when she saw that indeed people were not swarming around me.
“Well, welcome to the beach, one of the greatest places in LA, in my opinion!” Lucas said. “Our first stop on today’s sightseeing tour.”
We walked along the shoreline for a bit, not talking, barefoot the water splashing around us. Alex seemed to enjoy the calm atmosphere of the sea close by. I understood that. No matter how crowded the beach may be, taking a walk along the beach always relaxed me too.
“So, you wanted to tell me… things?” Alex finally said. I nodded. “Yes, I am sorry for not telling you right away, first of all. If this is too much for you, whatever I tell you now, you tell me. We will find a way, no matter what. If you can’t cope with it, it’s fine. I understand that.” I began nervously. Alex nodded. “Okay.” She said slowly. “Well, yes, I don’t really know where to start… You know what I do, so maybe I should tell you what Kathie does. She’s an actress too. I don’t think you know her, she tends to do TV productions, and not so much recently, because of the kids. Family life is hard enough with me always away on set.” I said. “Yeah, she’s still doing a lot of interviews and stuff, charity work mostly. That’s why she’s away today.” “On Jimmy Kimmel.” Alex said, still somewhat unbelievingly. I blushed. “Yes.” “So, what did you do yesterday?” Alex asked me. “I was meeting up with my agent, Emily. Actually, that’s another thing I should tell you. She was pretty mad at me yesterday. There seem to be some pictures of you and me hugging at the airport in London floating around some dubious papers and the internet. Emily actually accused me of having an affair with you…” As soon as I had said that, Alex stopped. “What?” she gasped. “Yes, she went way overboard with this. But she’s got quite the temperament. It’s all okay now, though. I explained. I am sorry, I know how that sounds. I mean, you must feel like…” “I can hardly believe that!” Alex said. “I feel…. Overwhelmed. What else is there? This can’t be real. You’re a movie star, your wife too. I am in the newspapers, accused to be your lover… this is no crazy, fucked-up reality show is it?” I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I never wanted it to be like that. I had no idea how this would be for you. I didn’t think about it. If you want to… step out, you can. I will not abandon you, but maybe get a little distance, your own flat, live somewhere calmer…” Alex shook her head, biting her lip nervously. “No. I… I’d like to try… stay with you, if I can.” “Of course you can!” I interrupted her. “It feels good to… not be alone.” She admitted.
“I like to have you stay with us. Kathie does too and the girls love you already.” I told her. We continued to walk along the beach while I told Alex everything about my life now. She took it relatively well, but seemed a little overwhelmed.
***
“So… is that all?” I asked Lucas after a few minutes. “Or do you have more secrets?” Lucas shook his head. “No, this is it.” He said. I grinned. “Okay.” I said. It was a lot to take in and it would surely take me a while to get used to it, but I think I could handle it. I had to. I wanted to try this, to stay with Lucas and his family. I didn’t want to be alone, not again. I walked next to Lucas along the beach and enjoyed the cool water on my bare feet and the sun shining. This was entirely different from London. It was entirely different from everything I had known so far. I wanted to make this work. Something like this didn’t happen twice in your life…
I grinned and then used my foot to splash some water towards Lucas. He looked up. “What was that for?” he asked, grinning. I shrugged. “Not telling me how crazy your life really was?” I said with a grin. Lucas shook his head, still chuckling and splashed water back at me. I quickly stepped out of reach. “Hey! I didn’t do anything!” I protested. Lucas grinned. “Neither did I.” he defended himself. I kicked into the waves, splashing a large amount of water onto Lucas’ jeans and even up to t-shirt. “Sure, you didn’t, Mr Hollywood.” I mocked. Lucas quirked his eyebrows, looking surprised and a little shocked. He then shook some water off his clothes and splashed water towards me.
“What did you just call me?” he asked incredulously. I grinned. “Mr Hollywood.” I repeated. “Fits, doesn’t it?” I asked him with a shrug. I had no idea where I had gotten this stupid nickname from. It sounded silly, really, but also fitting in a way. Lucas shook his head, laughing. “Oh no, you’re not going to call me that…” he threatened, again trying to spray me with water. I shrieked, running a few feet away, out of reach. “Mr Hollywood!” I teased again, feeling silly all of a sudden. What happened then took only a moment, but to me it appeared like it happened in slow motion. I saw how a devilish glint appeared in Lucas’ eyes before he smirked and quickly crossed the distance between us, pushing me into the water. Desperately trying to keep myself from falling I gripped his shirt, making us both stumble into knee-deep water, laughing like crazy.
***
As the waves washed around my knees I realized that my plan hadn’t quite worked out the way I wanted it to. I hadn’t planned for me to get wet too. I looked at Alex who was just letting go of my t-shirt, a silly grin on her face. I simply shook my head and began to laugh. This was ridiculous. I don’t know why I was acting like a child all of a sudden, though Kathie often insisted on telling me I could be worse than the girls. But I was having fun. And I was glad Alex was acting more carefree for once.
Alex joined my laughter, looking down at our soaked clothes. “I guess that didn’t work out like I imagined.” I admitted with a chuckle. Alex shook her head. “You’re a silly person!” she accused. I laughed, poking her arm. “Who started with it? Mr Hollywood, really?” I asked. Alex pouted. “What? You don’t like it?” she asked, feigning hurt. I smiled at our silly behavior, but Alex needed a break from all the heavy stuff for a while. This was exactly what I had hoped today would do to her.
I glanced back at the shore , happy to see my sneakers lying in the sand and not floating around us. Alex followed my gaze and grinned. “You know, it’s a good thing there’s no one at the beach right now.” She pointed out. I frowned. “Why?” I asked. “Because if someone would take photos of this…” she began. I laughed. Yes, if pictures of Alex and me standing in the sea, soaked to the bones turned up in any newspaper Emily would probably kill me…
I held out my hand to Alex and we both walked back to the shore. “What are we going to do now?” She asked me. I shrugged. “I actually wanted to show you some parts of the city …” I trailed off, looking down at my wet clothes. Alex laughed. “Like that?” she asked. I shrugged. “I guess… Or do you want to drive home for a change of clothes?” I asked. Alex grinned. “No, you know what, let’s just do this. Show me the city, just like that! Let’s do something crazy!” she laughed. I grinned. “Alright… come on then.” I said. Alex followed me, her eyebrows raised in question.
“Where are we going?” she asked when I headed back to the car. I grinned. “I’ll show you the city.” I replied. “Come on now. LA won’t wait for you.” I joked.
Alex quickly caught up with me again, stopping next to the car with me. “Just wait a moment.” I said, getting some blankets out of the trunk and spreading them over the seats. I grinned at Alex. “I just don’t like the salt water to get on the seats…” I explained sheepishly. Alex grinned. “Yeah, sure…” she said, getting in the car.
“Okay, where are we going now?” she asked when she I started driving again. I smirked. “How about Rodeo Drive?” I asked with a lazy grin. “Whatever you say… Mr Hollywood.” Alex teased. I shook my head, but started driving towards the city centre.
“Okay, I’m telling you some things about this city now. It’s LA. Dreams are coming true here, or lives get destroyed. It’s a city of opposites, and I want to show you that today. The richest and the poorest are living door by door here. There is the beautiful white beach, swimming pools in every garden and the deadly desert within a few miles drive. Nothing is like it seems. Waiters are really actors, beggars on the streets are millionaires… Even most of the women are only partly real!” Lucas laughed. I grinned.
***
Lucas was completely serious when he mentioned Rodeo Drive. As we slowly drove along the street I must look like a complete idiot with eyes wide as saucers and my mouth hanging open. This morning I had declared Lucas crazy for driving such a fancy car, but here it didn’t stand out at all. In fact, the Mustang looked almost ordinary among all the flashy luxurious cars I saw on Rodeo Drive. I didn’t know half of them, but it was clear that they all cost more than a family home.
“Okay… do you actually go shopping here?” I asked unbelievingly, glancing at all the stores from Armani over Chanel to Louis Vuitton. I watched a woman stand next to a black limousine, ordering her chauffeur around who was loading bags into the boot of the car. Lucas shook his head. “Erm, no… normally not. In fact, I pretty much hate all those salesmen sucking up to me, but sometimes you can’t help it… like for a movie premiere or something. I have to turn up in fancy clothes for things like that, but if I can I order them and don’t go into the store myself.” I shook my head, grinning. “Really, this all sounds so… surreal to me. I’m still thinking I’m in a dream here.” Lucas smiled. “It is no dream. Believe me.” he said. “So, are you tired of luxury window shopping now? We can stay longer if you want, get out of the car maybe, but I have to admit I am hungry…” I laughed. “Okay, lunch it is, I’m hungry too…” “Where do you want to go? There’s a nice restaurant not far from here, a little fancy, but not too much. Just classy.” Lucas explained. “But the food is heavenly.” I agreed and Lucas took us to the Plaza Garden Restaurant, which looked more than a little classy to me, but okay…
“Well, do you think they will let us in, like that?” I asked, gesturing down to our wet and also not very elegant clothes as we left the car.. “Hey, do you really think they would kick me out… watch and learn little One, here comes Mr Hollywood.” He said with an exaggerated over-confident grin and walked towards the entrance, throwing his keys the valet. “Park it, but if I see a single scratch on it I’ll get you fired…” he told the young man in a bossy voice. He was clearly acting. I shook my head at this. “You scared him…” I said to Lucas as the man drove off with the Mustang, looking like he was barely daring to breathe. Lucas gave me a cocky smile. “Well, I’m sure he has worse customers, also, Robin is a nice kid. He knows I was just kidding.” I gasped. “You know him?” He shrugged. “As I said, I like the place.”
“Mr Falconer, what a pleasant surprise.” An elderly man said as we stepped inside, immediately shaking Lucas’ hand. “We haven’t seen you in a while.” Lucas smiled, all mischief gone now. “Yes, hello Bernard. I was away, the job you know. But today I thought I’d show one of LA’s greatest attractions to a very good friend of mine. This is Alexis. Alex, this is Bernard. He is Manager of the restaurant, which makes him one of my favorite persons in the world.” Bernard smiled. “Very flattering, Mr Falconer. Miss Alexis, it’s a pleasure meeting you.” He said, bowing a little. I didn’t really know how to react. “Erm, thank you. This place looks great.” I said. “Thank you. Let me show you a table. For two? Or is your lovely wife and maybe the kids also coming?” Bernard asked Lucas. “No, Kathie is busy today. I was just showing Alexis the city, she’s new here.” Lucas explained easily. “Ah, so I thought. I thought this accent of yours might be British.” I grinned. Of course my accent would stand out here. “Yes, from London.” I replied. “A wonderful city. Sadly the weather is not so much in my favor, the knees, you understand young lady.” Bernard said. “But I loved to visit it when I was younger. So how do you like LA so far? It is quite different, isn’t it?” I nodded. “Yes, it is…” I replied. “You’re a colleague of Mr Falconer, Miss Alexis?” Bernard asked me. I blushed. “No, I’m… erm…” I had no idea what to tell him. What was I? Luca’s guest, a visitor, nothing more… “She’s my guest. And a very talented young lady, you’d be impressed Bernard.” Lucas saved me. I blushed again. “I am showing her the city today. Or as many parts as I can. Maybe you can tell her some anecdotes? You know far more of LA than I do. I’m still a New York boy at heart.”
Lunch was extremely delicious and Bernard stayed after Lucas invited him and told funny stories of the city. I really enjoyed myself. I… felt at home, in a strange way. As if this wasn’t my second day in LA, as if I knew Lucas much longer.
After lunch we were driving around the city a little more. “See, over there, the most famous part of this city, I think. The Hollywood hills!” Lucas pointed out. I followed his gaze and grinned. Didn’t the call Hollywood the dream factory? Well, I felt like my dream has just been made here. Within a few days, with a simply dinner at a snack bar my life turned 180 degrees.
***
Lucas then turned on the Highway and I soon realized we were heading to the outskirts of the huge city. If you could call it that way. LA seemed to be bigger than any city knew. I couldn’t imagine it ending, really. There seemed to be one house after another.
“Okay, another thing about LA. There is no place that has worse traffic. If you have an appointment you might need half a day for it. Just because of the traffic.” I couldn’t believe that. “Really?” Lucas laughed. “Yes, don’t ask how often I was too late just after I moved here. I mean, New York is crazy too, but not half as crazy as LA.” “So if I have to go somewhere I should start a day earlier or what?” I asked. Lucas laughed. “Yes, probably. NO, seriously. Kathie or I will drive you anywhere you want to go.” “O...Okay.” I said slowly. “Thanks, you are way too kind… Really. I mean, I can’t even pay you back in some way…” Lucas shook his head. “I told you already. You don’t have to. See it as a… scholarship. Supporting a talented young lady.” He said with a smile. I blushed, mumbling another “thank you”.
It took some more time but, as Lucas told me, the traffic was good for LA and suddenly we left the loud city behind us. Another ten minutes and Lucas stopped the car on a dusty roadside. I looked up for the first time then and saw nothing but red dusty rocks. We were in the desert! Lucas chuckled at my reaction, I guessed.
“Yes, we are just outside LA. In the deadly desert.” I frowned. “I always expected it to look different, I don’t know, this looks like we are in the middle of nowhere. And we were just in the middle of this huge city.” I tried to explain. Lucas nodded. “Yes, right. It is strange. I sometimes come here when I want to calm and think about some things. It’s dangerous, though. The heat can easily harm you. You have to drink plenty. So, ahem, please don’t go here alone. I don’t want you to get harmed.” I nodded. “Okay. Promise.” I replied.
***
After the short trip to the desert I drove back into twon, giving Alex a tour of “classic Hollywood” as she called it. I drove past the Paramount-studios and walked her around some other parts of the city like the Ocean Front at Venice Beach or Sunset Boulevard . It was late afternoon when we decided to look for a nice place for dinner. I took Alex to a nice vegetarian restaurant I knew. Dinner was great and very relaxing. I had to admit my feet also hurt a little bit after all the walking we did. I called Kathie to talk to the girls for a few minutes and asked them about their day. They told me a lot of things about school and even wanted to talk to Alex to say good night. It was sweet and I loved how readily they had accepted her.
I had loved spending my day with Alex, but still had a few things to tell her. I hadn’t told her about the dinner with Emily the next day and some other things. So after dinner I finally took the chance. I was picking at my dessert, thinking of how to bring this up.
“What’s up Hollywood?” she asked me, frowning. I sighed. “I’m not good with this… Kathie tells me all the time, but… erm… I think we should set up some… rules, or something, okay?” Alex nodded. “Yeah…” I sighed again. “Okay, you’re living with us, you’re not my kid and you’re 21, but… I would like it, if you told me when you want to go somewhere, hell, I would drive you or borrow you my car, I just want to know where you are, okay Alex?” she nodded. “Sure.”
***
Dinner had been amazing, just like the whole day. I had seen so much and now I had finally time to relax a bit and process some of the things. We were just having dessert when Lucas began acting strange. He wasn’t eating though he had just swooned over how delicious what he chose was. I got nervous, more than nervous in fact. I was close to panicking. Rules? I had no idea what that meant. I was trying to keep calm, joking with him, but my nerves were on edge. I visibly relaxed when Lucas talked about me telling him where I was and if I wanted to go out. This was normal. Of course I would tell him that. Besides, I knew no one here, why would I go out?
“Yeah, okay… erm, like I said I am not good with this… so, if you need anything just tell me or Kathie, okay? For the rest I will give you some pocket money, 150 bucks, is that alright? You can spend that however you like…” Lucas rambled on. I held up my hands. “Wait. 150 bucks?” I asked. Was he crazy? I mean, Lucas and Kathie had already spent so much money on me, buying me clothes and stuff, I was allowed to live with them, not even paying rent or something. Nothing was expected of me. And now Lucas even wanted to give me pocket money? “No, you don’t have to…” I protested. Lucas grinned. “Alex, believe me, it is alright. You live with us, you are part of my family now, if you want it. And these are my rules, okay?” he said with a smile. “So either you accept them, or you don’t.” I nodded. “Okay, erm… I guess I accept, then.” I said slowly. “Good. Cause I’d like you to be part of my family.” Lucas admitted. I smiled. “Thank you…”
I thought everything was clear now, but Lucas seemed a bit more nervous. “What’s wrong? Is there something else?” I asked him. He sighed. “Well, yes…”
***
I sighed and gave Alex a quick look. “I invited Emily for dinner tomorrow. I hope that is alright.” I told her quickly. I was happy she had such a good day today, and I didn’t want to spoil it in any way. Apparently, this one sentence was enough as Alex fixed me with a stare. “What? Emily? The woman who almost killed you for taking me with you to LA? And now you invited her? So she can kill me, or what?” I shook my head. “No, she won’t. Emily is my agent and she is curious and just wants to get to know you. Don’t worry, she is very nice. Her partner, Dominic is too. They are my friends and they want to know you. Don’t worry. If you say no, I can still tell them not to come or drive you to the coolest club in all LA if you want.” Lucas rambled. I shook my head. “Okay, you know what? If you promise she won’t kill me I’d like to meet her. But if she does so much as stare at me, I will hide behind you.” I grinned, holding out my hand for Alex to shake. “Deal?” Alex smiled, grasping my hand. “Deal.”
“So, how tired are you now?” I changed the topic after a few more minutes. Alex grinned. “A little, why?” I chuckled. “Well, if you want we could go to a nice bar on Hollywood Boulevard. It’s a nice place, very relaxing. It’s a cool meeting place for a lot of people. Also some colleagues of mine.” I admitted, preparing Alex for meeting other “stars”. I would understand if it was too much for her now, but she seemed really strong and able to handle a lot of things. “If not just tell me. But we could have drink, chat some more and then drive home and head to bed.” I explained. Alex nodded, smiling softly. “Okay, one drink can’t hurt.” She said. “So, I surely won’t know it, but where are you taking me?” she asked. “I thought of the Tropicana Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel. It’s very nice, you can sit in the lounge under palm trees and just sip your drink. Very relaxing. A nice end of the day, I thought.” Alex smiled. “Yes, it sounds great.”
***
After dessert we left the restaurant and Lucas drove along Hollywood Boulevard that now looked really beautiful in the dark. Colored lights were on everywhere and bathed everything in a bright glow of various colors. This city really never slept. There were just a many people on the streets as this afternoon, if not more.
I relaxed while Lucas drove, letting the lights and people flash by outside. Today had been really exciting and I loved that Lucas had taken the time to show me LA.
We reached the Hotel entrance and already saw a long line waiting outside the Bar entrance. I shook my head, I only knew these things from movies. Long lines outside hot clubs and grumpy doormen who let nobody in, except you were a star, of course.
“Are you coming or what?” Lucas asked and ripped me out of my fantasies. I hadn’t even noticed how he parked the car on the side of the road and opened my door. “If you are tired we can of course head home, just tell me, Alex.” I shook my head. “No, I’m not tired. I was just lost in thought. Sorry.” I mumbled quickly and jumped out of the car. I got a little nervous as I saw everybody in line staring at us. Lucas’ car had drawn a lot attention to the people hoping to be let in. Lucas placed his arm around my shoulders as he gently guided me towards the doormen, past the waiting crowd.
“Hey, you should wait in line!” one of the guys shouted angrily but the doormen gave something close to a smile to Lucas. “Mr Falconer. We haven’t seen you for a while. And you brought a guest, I see.” He said in a deep rumble. Lucas smiled. “Yes, this is Alexis. I am showing her the city. Well, I was away on the job. How have you been Ray?” Lucas replied as he shook the man’s hand. “Good, thank you. Enjoy your evening, Mr Falconer, Miss Alexis.” He said and opened the chain to let us in.
We were greeted with loud, but not too loud music and laughter. As soon as we entered I gasped. The bar looked like a beach club. There were palm trees in huge pots throughout the room, colorful lanterns hanging from the ceiling and very comfortable looking seating groups. The bar was designed like a hut with palm leaves and the barkeeper whore white shirts with the sleeves rolled up and black vests. It looked classy but still very relaxing. “How about over there?” Lucas asked me and pointed to a table on the left side. “Or do you want to sit on the bar?” I smiled. “No, over there looks fine.” I replied.
We took our seats and just a minute later a waiter handed us the cocktail menu. The drinks al looked very good and there were so many of them. “You can of course drink, alcohol I mean, I just stick with non-alcoholic drinks tonight, I am driving after all.” He told me. I nodded but selected a non-alcoholic drink too. I rarely drank.
We got our drinks and sipped them, watching the different people in the bar. Suddenly a group of five entered. Two men and three women. They were laughing as they stumbled inside. One of the women, a tall one with perfect proportions and blond hair was obviously a little drunk. A guy in a black tuxedo had his arm around her. He looked very handsome, I had to admit. His hair was dark blond and ruffled, he was tall and slim and the tuxedo fit him just perfectly. Also, his laugh sounded beautiful. The guy helped the woman to the bar and sat her on a stool there, making sure the others kept her seated before running a hand over his face and grimacing. Suddenly he didn’t look that happy anymore, but tired. He let his eyes search the room and stopped at our table, grinning and waving. I blinked twice, confused but a glance quickly told me that Lucas obviously knew the man.
Lucas chuckled next to me and shook his head as he watched the guy come over. I waited, nervously. “Hey, I see you are back and you brought something with you? I don’t think I know this friend of yours.” The blond guy said and I blushed a little. A yellow lantern allowed me to see his face more clearly as he stood in front of our table. He had light blue eyes that twinkled with something like mischief and a, I had to admit; very sexy stubble covered his chin.
“Yes, well… Alexis, this is Jayden a colleague and friend of mine. Jayden, this is Alexis. She came with me to LA from London.” “Hey Alexis!” the man said and held out his hand for me to shake. “So, you’re a friend of Lucas, I guess that makes you my friend too.” I shook his hand. “Hey. Nice to meet you.” I said. “Oh, I believe the pleasure is all mine, gorgeous.” Jayden whispered. I blushed and caught Lucas rolling his eyes out of the corner of my eye.
“What are you doing here, I thought you were in Chicago.” Lucas said as Jayden sat down. “Well, I got back this afternoon and Lauren wanted to party, you know her.” He replied with a shrug. Lucas shook his head. “You look tired and you’re always on the run.” Jayden laughed a dry laugh. “You’re talking, man, you are gone as much as I am.” “But I actually have a family to come home to and relax.” Lucas said lowly. Jayden gave him a smirk, but even if I didn’t know him I could see it was fake. “I also got a family, you know. I got a very hot wife waiting for me. So, it was nice talking to you, but I think you have to excuse me again…” Jayden said and got up again, glancing towards the bar where the blond woman was just heavily flirting with the barkeeper. He didn’t look as if he was overly fond of her doing that. “Don’t overwork yourself…” Lucas said as his friend left.
“So, how do you like LA? You think you can stay here for a while?” Lucas asked. I smiled. “Yes, it surely is a very interesting city. I think I’ll stay a little longer.” I joked. Lucas smiled. “I’m glad you do.” He said.
Suddenly someone cleared their throat next to us. “Excuse me, ahem, but are you… Lucas.. Lucas Falconer?” two young women were standing in front of our table, grinning shyly, one of them was holding a camera. So, this were some of the fans Lucas talked about, it seems. Lucas smiled. “Yes, I am…” he said calmly. “Can we take a picture, with you?” the other girl asked. Lucas stood up. “Yes, sure you can. Alex, would you take the photo?” I nodded and took the camera, snapping three pictures for the girls. They were over the moon and left our table giggling and smiling.
“They were nice.” I remarked. Lucas chuckled. “Well, what did you expect?” I shrugged. “Screaming and fainting? Them being rude and clingy?” I asked. Lucas smiled. “Luckily most of them aren’t. The majority is just shy and nice like these two, and the ones who aren’t, well, I’m not quite as charming then.” He told me with a wink. I laughed.
We quietly sipped our drinks and talked a bit more before leaving the bar around ten. I was really getting tired now, it had been a long day and I wasn’t completely over the jet lag yet.
I must have fallen asleep when Lucas drove home because the journey was over really quickly, especially when I now knew of the horrible traffic LA had.
“Thanks for the great day.” I said as I stood outside my room. Lucas nodded. “It was my pleasure. I’m happy you enjoyed it. Have a good night.” He said. “Thanks, you too.” I replied and got into my room.
When I was lying in bed, watching the dark sky outside and thinking of today. Being in the city with Lucas had felt great. I had no idea when I had had a day as great as that. It almost felt… like a family trip you did on weekends when you were younger. I felt… comfortable here. Almost at home. Like I belonged.
***
I took a quick shower before joining Kathie in our bedroom. “Hey, how was your day?” She asked smiling. “Very good. I had a lot of fun with Alex and she liked it too, though she is dead tired now.” “Well, she probably isn’t completely over the jetlag yet. I am glad you had fun, though. Alex is staying with us then?” she asked. I smiled and nodded. I knew Kathie had been a bit worried everything might be too much for Alex to handle. I had had the same worries, but Alex was strong, I hoped she wouldn’t back out because of things being difficult. And I secretly wanted her here.
“Where did you go?” Kathie asked me as I lay down next to her. “Everywhere.” I mumbled. “The Beach, Hollywood Boulevard, we went to Bernard’s for lunch, the desert, Venice, really, all the good places. And at last a drink at the Tropicana Bar, at the Roosevelt. It was nice. Jayden was there too, I spoke to him briefly, but he was out with Lauren.” Kathie grimaced. She didn’t really get along with Lauren, Jayden’s wife. In fact, hardly anyone did. She was a classic bitch, how Jayden, who I considered a very good friend, ever got the idea of marrying her was beyond me. “Well, you gave her a proper tour of the city then…” Kathie said, probably to change the subject. I nodded. “Yes, but now I am tired too, do you mind if we talk more tomorrow?” Kathie shook her head. “No, get some rest love.” She said and kissed me sweetly. I smiled, kissing her back for a few minutes. “Good night.” I whispered, wrapping my arms around her. I closed my eyes and soon feel asleep. Today had also been tiring for me.