Chapter 20
These past few weeks, I had gotten to know Tyler so much more. He was hilarious and sweet and charming and just an amazing person to be around. I had been spending most of my time at Tyler’s house ever since Danny left to go back to America.
Tyler would help me learn my lines and in return he would sing to me. He would perch up on his stool, guitar in hand, and strum away. His voice so different than those on his CD’s. His voice was smooth and calm like the ocean tide, sweeping me away with his voice. He did rap once for me but the other times he let his voice drift away, singing songs of love and heartbreak, making me feel those lyrics with him, taking me away from my life and feeling the emotions of his.
Usually the day ended with a little peck on the cheek from Tyler, making my insides flutter with happiness and leaving my cheeks burning red.
Today was my last day at home before I left to go back to the States to start my next film. However, before filming started I was invited by Indigo to go to her bachelorette party, which was a weekend away in a lodge.
Tyler had offered to take me to the airport, which I happily agreed to. Any reason to spend time with Tyler. My suitcases were in his car and we had a couple of hours to kill before I had to leave for the airport, so we were just relaxing at his house.
We were sitting on the sofa inside his studio room, his arm wrapped around my shoulder as my head lay against his shoulder, his body heat keeping me warm on this chilly day.
“You know, I haven’t heard you sing” he said.
I peered up at him. “I don’t think you want to”
“I bet you’re a really good singer” he smiled.
“Where are you going with this Tyler?” I asked curiously.
“I just want to hear you sing” he said and got up off the sofa, leaving me to fall on it with a groan. He pressed some buttons on his control panel and went to fix the microphone.
“What are you doing?” I asked, grumpy now that I was missing his body heat. I wouldn’t have minded staying the way we were for the next couple of hours.
“I want you to sing for me. I want to hear your voice when you’re gone. You’re going to be away for a long time and I’m going to miss having you around for company everyday” he pouted. With that adorable pout, high defined cheekbones and his hair windswept, he looked like a kid who didn’t get his way. How could I say no to that face?
I reluctantly got up off the sofa, heading to the microphone where Tyler stood. “You sound like some whiney boyfriend” I teased, sitting myself on the stool, the microphone inches from my face.
“I could be you know” he said nonchalantly, passing me the headphones to put on.
I was a bit startled by his revelation and gave a nervous chuckle in reply not knowing what to say to that and looking anywhere but at him.
“What do you want me to sing?” I asked, hoping to forget and avoid what he just said earlier.
“Anything you want” he smiled.
I took my time thinking of a song to sing. There had been a catchy song that had been playing on the radio constantly lately and had been stuck in my head for the past few days, so I decided to sing that.
“Don’t blame me if my voice starts to sound like a cat being strangled. Remember you asked me to sing” I laughed.
“I’m sure you won’t sound like that” he grinned, showing me his gleaming white teeth like he was promoting toothpaste on a commercial.
Tyler sat in front of me, the control panel in-between us. As he messed about with a few buttons I closed my eyes and sang. I sang and in my head it was like I was in my own music video, the upbeat tempo making me sing and dance along in the street, passerbyers ignoring me as I twirled around in my dress, where I bump into a mysterious man mid twirl and we walk hand in hand along the street to, I assume, our happily ever after.
I opened my eyes once I finished singing the song to a smiling Tyler. He didn’t say anything for the first few moments, just stared at me as if I had something on my face, making me think I might have had something on my face. Being self conscious, I swiped at my face, hoping there was nothing on it.
After a few agonising moments, I could no longer take it. “Please just tell me I sound good even if I did sound like I sat on cat”
“Lena that was beautiful” he looked at me with awe, his eyes wide, as if I was something special, something he had never seen before.
“So does that mean I sounded like I sat on your cat?” I smirked.
He shook his head, a hint of a smile appearing on his face. “No, that was amazing. Your voice is... its... I don’t even have words for it” he looked baffled as he thread his hand through his hair, making it stick up all over the place as he drew out a breath.
“Wow, I don’t think I’m that good but thanks” I blushed.
“You should be a singer, you could be huge” he gushed.
“I’ll stick to acting thanks. I don’t think I could be a singer”
“Why? I’ve been thinking of setting up my own record label and you could be my first client. You could be amazing. And pretty much everyone already knows who you are so you could make lots of albums and you would make thousands, millions of dollars even” he said as he flourished his hands about, the plan forming in his head.
“Wow, you’re really being serious about this” I said as I noticed his face had turned red with near exhaustion going over his plan. “But I don’t think I’d be able to do it. My heart wouldn’t be in it, not as much as it is in acting” I said rather sheepishly, hoping I didn’t hurt him.
He nodded in understanding. “Still, if you ever change your mind” he shrugged.
I gave out a chuckle. “I’ll let you know”
He glanced at his watch. “We better get you to the airport, I don’t want you to be late” he said, getting the music system off and grabbing his keys before heading out.
Once we arrived at the bustling airport, my nerves started to kick in. It was weird because I wasn’t exactly nervous about anything. It was always a feeling I got when I knew I would be leaving home for a long period of time. I had nothing to worry about since this wasn’t like the last time.
The last time I left for the States my parents weren’t too keen on the idea of me acting. Now they were happy with what I was doing. Last time I had a fight with my best friend and never spoke to her for months but now that would be the opposite because now we were talking and I don’t think we would ever stop talking.
My nerves had settled with those thoughts. I was excited at the thought of starting my new film and hanging out with Indigo and her friends at her bachelorette party, it would be fun.
Tyler held my hand as he walked me through the airport. I didn’t know why he did it but it felt nice nonetheless. I could see photographers in my peripheral vision, snapping pictures of us, somehow knowing that I was going to be here.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I arrived at the gate where I was supposed to leave what felt like one world and fly into the next. I looked at Tyler and smiled. “Thanks for taking me to the airport”.
“No problem” he smiled.
“And for everything else. With helping me with my lines and letting me listen to you sing and allowing me to crash at your house almost every day. And for allowing me to sing. Now I know what it feels like to be a singer” I grinned.
“It was all a pleasure Lena. It truly was”. As I looked into his eyes there was a gleam in them. I smiled as I looked into them.
Tyler leaned in closer, the scent of his aftershave surrounding me. I expected him to kiss me on my cheek as he usually did when we said goodbye so I was completely unprepared when soft lips landed on my own.
Flashes of camera lights and the sound of cameras clicking were all around me. Tyler’s tongue ran across my lips asking for entrance. I closed my eyes and allowed it, kissing him back for a second before pulling back, slightly out of breath. The sound of people chatting and screaming our names and the camera flashes were suffocating me.
“I better go” I said, a crowd now forming around us and the flash of several cameras almost blinding me.
“Until next time Lena Brooks” he smirked, that infamous charming smile of his the last thing I saw of him before I lost him to the crowd of people that had swarmed around him.
The car dropped me off at the beautiful lodge, secluded in a forest environment with a beach not far from it. Other lodges were enclosed around the area, little flies surrounding the cool evening air with the sun setting beyond the horizon.
The lodge we were staying in was a two story lodge made of wood to give it that outdoorsy feel. I entered through the sliding glass doors leaving behind the scent of pines from outside. Upon entering I could see two bedrooms were on my right and two more on my left. A little stand with flowers stood in the hallway right beside the staircase.
Indigo flew down the staircase with some of her friends trailing behind her as she saw me come in. “Lena, so good to see you” she squealed as she engulfed me in a tight hug.
I dropped my suitcase on the ground and hugged her back, so happy to see her. “I can’t wait to get this party started” I laughed.
Indigo introduced me to the rest of her friends with whom I would be staying with for the weekend, before going upstairs to relax and chat some more. To my right was the kitchen area with all the typical kitchen appliances such as an oven, microwave, and a fridge and in the middle a small island. There was also a dining area adjacent the kitchen where we could sit for our dinner.
To my left was the lounge area where there were three sofas, one on each side of the room, a table in the middle where a few magazines lay and a television at the far end of the room. There was another set of sliding doors which led to the balcony outside where a small wooden table stood with a couple of chairs and a hot tub right beside it.
The hazy purple orange sky was giving way to the night sky when we sat down on the sofas and got to know one another.
“So what’s the latest gossip?” Indigo asked with a glint in her eye making me think she was up to something.
I shrugged. “Nothing. I’ve just been learning my lines for my new movie, so not much else has been happening”
“So, no new guys in your life?” she smirked. I turned to look at all the other girls who all held the same smirk.
I turned back to Indigo with a curious glance. “Nope, not that I know off”
That’s when the girls laughed and one of the girls, Patricia, a model with long blond hair, stood and handed Indigo a phone which Indigo practically shoved in my face. “So care to explain this?” and all the girls burst into a fit of giggles. It was a picture of Tyler and me at the airport, when he kissed me.
I could feel my face turn red at the memory and went to quickly assure the girls that nothing was going. “Oh, that’s Tyler”
“We know who he is” Indigo rolled her eyes playfully.
“Were just friends” I assured them.
“Just friends my ass. That doesn’t look like just friends to me” Indigo teased, making sure to show me the picture once again. I moved the picture out of my face; I didn’t need the reminder of what had just happened.
“Seriously, nothing is going on between us. I don’t even know why he kissed me”
“I bet you still liked that kiss though?” Patricia teased from across the room.
I decided to play along; it was a bachelorette party after all. I leaned back against the couch, crossed my arms behind my head and put one leg on top of the other giving a relaxed impression. “Well, a kiss from Tyler Talon is certainly going to be one heck of a kiss right?” and we all laughed at that. Although it wasn’t necessarily true it was still good being in the company of girls and joking about boys like this.
Just then my phone rang. I looked at the screen to see that it was Danny. Since Indigo was sitting beside me, she saw this and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Seriously, first Kason, then Tyler now you have Danny hot on your trail. Wow little miss playa” she laughed.
“Were just friends” I assured her. Why was this feeling like a recurring theme here?
“Well with your definition of ‘just friends’” she air quoted “I can see what you guys do in your spare time”
I chucked a cushion with a satisfied smile when it hit her as she practically laughed her head off. I got up off the sofa and went into the kitchen area, leaving behind a group of giggling girls. I could tell this was going to be a great weekend just as long as the focus was not on me.
I hit the green button to accept the call. “Hey Danny” I smiled, happy to hear his voice.
“Hey” he replied, not sounding as chirpy as usual.
“What’s up?” I asked, hoping everything was okay.
“Nothing much. Where are you?” he asked out of the blue.
“I’m at Indigos bachelorette party” I answered with my eyebrows furrowed, confused as to why he was asking.
“Oh okay” he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief but I couldn’t be sure.
“Why are you asking? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah everything’s fine” he said, starting to sound lighter. “It's just that...erm... I seen this picture and-“
“The picture of Tyler and me kissing. Yeah, what about it?” I asked, annoyed that he would even care about something stupid like that.
“Well I just didn’t know that you were even together” he replied sounding almost as furious as I was.
“Were not together”
“Well then what was that kiss about?”
“I don’t know, he just kissed me alright. Why do you even care about it anyway?”
He groaned into the phone. “Because I... I just... he’s not good for you. He has a reputation you know”
“I know, you mentioned it before”
“Good. Make sure you remember it because he will break your heart Lena”
“What are you even talking about? Were not together Danny. Were just friends” I almost screamed but refrained from doing so since the girls were behind me.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you” he growled into the phone. I couldn’t believe the tone he was taking with me. How could he not believe me?
“Okay Danny, I have to go now” and hung up without hearing what else Danny had to say. I didn’t want to hear because he would probably spout out some more nonsense.
I took a deep calming breath and plastered on a smile. I was determined to enjoy this weekend with the girls and not have some boys ruin it for me.
I made my way back to the girls. “So who’s ready to get in the hotub?”