Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
At a small shop just a few streets from the café, the car stopped and Benson pulled Luka from the back. “We have to change.”
“Here?”
“Yes, I know the owner. He was a…friend in college. Another person who came from poverty to do great things.”
Luka glared and asked, “What are we doing?”
“Stop asking questions,” Benson ordered as their driver handed him the two garment bags and suitcase.
In the shop, a tall, very thin man in a Prada suit rushed over to Benson and kissed both his cheeks. He was dark-skinned, handsome, but they’d had a rough relationship for the two months they’d tried to be together. Neither was ready for love.
“Benson, you handsome thing. I have your dressing rooms ready.”
“Kyle, this is Luka, my date. Luka, this is Kyle.”
They shook hands as Kyle drooled. “My, you are a piece of candy, aren’t you?”
“No. I’m not a piece of candy.”
“Just a compliment, honey. No offense. Come on and let me help you with this tux.”
“Tux?”
Benson laughed as Kyle dragged him off to the back, and Benson was left alone, following with his own garment bag.
It took only half an hour before they were both staring into the huge mirrors in the back of the store. Luka was eyeing himself as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. “I went to prom when I was a junior in high school. I worked for a month to afford to rent the tux. It looked nothing like this.”
“Chile, this is a Tom Ford tuxedo. He’s one of my favorite designers.”
Benson whispered, “In other words, the price of one of these could feed an entire town for a month.”
“Right,” Luka said as he stared, his eyes huge with the knowledge.
After they were dressed, the car picked them up and whisked them away towards downtown.
Luka was almost breaking his neck to look to the front of the limo to get some hint of where they were going, but once they pulled in front of the theater, he stared out at the crowd in front.
“This is the new play. I tried four times to get a part!”
“I didn’t know that. I hope this isn’t terrible for you.”
“No! Of course not. A red carpet?”
“Yes, dear, a red carpet. That is something you need to get used to if you continue acting. Come,” he said as the door was opened for them.
They came out holding hands and had people screaming and cheering. It was a great way to get Luka ready for a spotlight that was undoubtedly about to be his own.
They strolled up the red carpet toward the doors. Luka shyly waved to some people in the crowd, and there were girls there that absolutely swooned over him, regardless of the fact he was holding another man’s hand.
Three reporters stopped them fifteen feet from the entrance, and Benson was ready for them.
“Benson Carter,” Marianne Shultz from the Times started. “You look amazing tonight! Who is your date?”
“This is Luka Babic, an up-and-coming stage presence who came with me tonight to see the show. We’re both very excited.”
And that was all it took to be completely ignored as they all surrounded Luka and began belting him with questions.
Luka mentioned the show he was about to star in, and those he’d already performed, but they didn’t just want his resume. Of course, they wanted gossip.
“How long have you been dating the tech titan, Benson Carter?”
“Well, we’re just getting to know one another, but I’ve seen enough to know you might see us together quite a bit,” he said as he landed a perfectly timed wink over to Benson, just as the flash of the camera went off.
Benson preened, so proud of Luka. He wasn’t shy, and he already knew how to handle the sometimes overly persistent press.
Once Luka got their gossip mills set for the next day’s posts, he held his arm out for Benson, and once Benson took it, they heard the shutter clicks coming like gunfire.
“You handled them well.”
“I practice.”
“It shows, but you looked very natural.”
“This is amazing, Benson. I love this. Really.”
“I thought you might.”
They were inside the lobby, drinking champagne a few minutes later, off in a corner, flirting terribly. “If there weren’t press all over, I’d drag you to a quiet corner and thank you properly for this.”
His eyes were shining with mischief that drew Benson in like a tractor beam.
“Oh, well, next time I’ll choose a much quieter theater.”
“Don’t you dare!”
The night started off wonderfully and didn’t dip below wonderful once. They sat through the play, which was very good, though Luka told him that Monty’s was much better. “The comedy and drama in this one are good, but Monty’s has an easier mix with fresher lines.”
“I wouldn’t know. I’m afraid I’m not that skilled in the acting world.”
“Well, I am, so you can take my word for it.”
The play was great, the company was better, and once they were out of the theater doors, more press were waiting, asking very few questions about how much they liked the show.
No, they got questions hurled at them about their relationship.
Instead of indulging them again, Luke hollered to all of them they’d be seeing more of them, and it was time for them to get into their car and go.
Luka, in one night, had catapulted himself into the limelight, and papers from New York, Chicago and more were already covering him.
So, it didn’t seem strange when he didn’t return Benson’s calls. Not at first.
After four weeks, however, Benson’s heart broke. He’d stopped calling, unwilling to be some kind of stalker to someone that had obviously moved on from him. He was miserable and had started not going in to work as often.
He couldn’t understand what he’d done. They’d made love after the play for hours, laughed together the next morning over croissants and Turkish coffee. When he dropped Luka off at home, he kissed him for nearly half an hour in the hall.
Then…the calls stopped being returned. Texts were read but unanswered.
Monty called to keep him up on the play, but he didn’t ask about Luka. He couldn’t. He didn’t want to know how happy he might be in Benson’s absence from his life.
But it was Monty who first mentioned him, and when he did, Benson was more confused than ever.
“What the hell is going on with Luka? He’s snapping at everyone and misreading his lines. At this rate, he’ll never be ready for opening night.”
Benson sat up at his desk, and fear struck him. “Is he okay?”
“How would I know? I’m not his boyfriend.”
Falling back in the chair, Benson groaned, “Well, I’m not either. He stopped taking my calls almost six weeks ago.”
“What? What happened?”
“I have no idea.”
“Wait a minute. That’s…that’s about the same time he changed. I thought it was just the same old Luka, set and focused on the work. But he’s not focused. Opposite, in fact. He’s distracted and just…angry.”
Benson thought of the reporters, but he’d read the papers. He knew that they’d all be kind to him and Luka and their budding relationship. “Angry? I do not know why. Monty…I miss him terribly. I dare say I’d already fallen for the guy. This is killing me.”
“Well, figure it out, or I’m replacing him, and I don’t care about your opinion on that. He’ll ruin this play.”
Benson wasn’t one to place himself where he wasn’t wanted, but something was off. If he’d ghosted and dumped Benson for something that Benson had done, wouldn’t he be happy about it? Surely Luka would at least be settled with the decision after so long.
Benson grabbed his coat and walked past Joyce, who’d just come through his office door. “Where are you going? We have that meeting in fifteen.”
“Not anymore. Cancel it. I have something I must do.”