Chapter Six
Hazel leaned back in her chair in the shade of her jasmine-trailed pergola, breathing in the flowers’ heady scent. Harry was lying under the cool of the outdoor table, panting happily. His first meeting with Kevin had gone exactly as expected – the cat had taken one long, appraising look at Harry as the dog entered the lounge room, then with a flick of his tail, had stalked away up the hall.
A tall glass of iced water sat dripping on the table in front of her and her bestie Meredith was on FaceTime.
‘I can’t believe you get to hang out with Ethan James.’ Meredith’s face was so close to the camera, all Hazel could see was her nose. ‘I’m so jealous. What did Violet say?’
‘She told me she’d never talk to me again while issuing me instructions.’
Meredith cackled, then sighed. ‘I think I had a sexy dream about him the other night.’
‘Ew, Mer.’
‘Ew? Hazelnut, you’re a weird one. I can’t remember what it was about, but I can guarantee it was the opposite of ew.’
Meredith and Hazel had been best friends since high school, when they met outside the headmistress’s office after being summoned for uniform infringements – Hazel for her purple sparkly sneakers and Meredith for wearing her skirt too short. They became inseparable – the school odd couple. Meredith was gorgeous and tiny, barely five-one, while Hazel was an ungainly five-ten by the time she was fourteen. A year older than Hazel and a year younger than Violet, Meredith slotted perfectly into their trio, with Meredith dubbing herself the filling in the friendship sandwich. ‘Too delicious to resist,’ she always said, which made Hazel laugh and Violet frown. They took holidays together, shared homework, celebrated each other’s victories and patched up each other’s broken hearts. Even as adults they were joined at the hip.
‘So,’ Meredith said, placing her hands under her chin, ‘what’s he like? Is he as hot in real life as he is in photos?’
‘He’s not really my type, you know that.’
‘Not pasty and miserable enough for you?’ Meredith’s chaotic ginger curls bounced with her laughter.
‘Ha fucking ha,’ Hazel grumbled, though she had to admit it was pretty accurate. She took a long drink. Sweat trickled down her spine, and her thighs were sticking to the chair. She was already thinking about taking Harry back to the beach for another swim. But first she wanted to go to the market. She had an unexpected, surprising and slightly terrifying urge to cook. Ever since her conversation with Ethan that morning, something had flickered to life. She couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said and how he’d reacted. She’d made his mouth water just by describing her cooking. That was what it was all about, making people yearn for the food she could create. Food excited and connected people, and somehow she’d fallen into such a cycle of self-doubt, she’d lost sight of that.
‘Fine,’ she huffed. ‘Ethan James is hot. I’d even say he’s too hot.’ Her mind replayed his strip show on the sand that morning, and she reached for her water and took another gulp.
‘There’s no such thing as too hot,’ Meredith said. ‘You sound like a crazy woman.’
‘I mean, he’s too perfect. He’s all appearances. He was wearing these boardshorts with this wild floral pattern that I bet cost more than my car. And you should see the house he’s staying in. It’s this huge concrete and glass mansion which apparently has four bathrooms – all for him and his dog.’
‘No girlfriend?’
‘I don’t know. He said it was just the two of them. But he did tell me some personal stuff, which was a bit weird seeing as we basically just met. And no, I’m not going to tell you,’ Hazel quickly added before her friend could ask. ‘I wouldn’t anyway, but I’ve also signed an NDA.’
‘The hottie is an oversharer?’
‘I don’t know. He’s certainly an over-talker. He wouldn’t shut up when we were in the surf this morning.’
Meredith moved her face closer to the screen again, her golden eyes giant circles. ‘You were in the surf with him? Why am I only just finding this out? Was he shirtless?’
‘We were in the water.’
‘So confirming, he was without shirt.’
Hazel laughed. ‘Confirmed. No shirt. Are you okay?’
Meredith fanned herself. ‘I’m going to need the full picture. From top to bottom.’
‘Half of him was under the water, so I can’t help you with the bottom half, and you must have already seen what the top half looks like, because from what I can tell from the billions of photos online, he hardly ever wears a shirt in his movies.’ She glanced down at Harry and scratched the little dog’s head. She didn’t want to dwell on the top half. She still couldn’t get over the way his abs had flexed with every breath of laughter or how flawless and golden his skin was. Not that she was going to tell Meredith any of that. Her friend was practically hyperventilating as it was.
‘And here’s something else about him,’ Hazel said. ‘He’s too smiley. It’s all fake. He has these dimples that he tosses around like hand grenades, and he does this single eyebrow arch thing that just feels so performative.’ She lifted her ponytail and wiped her hand across the back of her neck. ‘Ugh, why is it so hot up here?’
‘Maybe it’s all the Ethan talk, because you sure are talking about him a lot.’
‘You’re the one who asked me about the guy. I hardly know anything about him other than that he can cook risotto and he’s an oversharing smiley flirt.’
‘Okay, stop.’ Meredith’s palm lifted. ‘He flirted with you? That’s it, I am officially dead. In lieu of flowers please send prosecco.’
Hazel laughed. ‘I think he flirts with everyone, Mer. It’s his default setting. The guy is permanently “on”.’
Meredith’s eyes narrowed. ‘Do you think you might be judging poor hot Ethan too harshly? You barely know him. Have you considered that maybe he’s just a friendly, smiley, dimply, super-hot effervescent guy?’
Hazel wrinkled her brow. She wasn’t judging him harshly. She wasn’t judging him at all. She was simply stating how he’d come across to her. Besides, no one could be that naturally effervescent. She shook her head.
‘Can we talk about something else? How’s Marco?’
‘The husband is fine. Busy with work. How’s Kevin?’
‘The cat is indifferent. Busy ignoring me.’
‘We always hurt the ones we love.’ Meredith smirked. ‘Listen, Nut, I know your experience with celebrities hasn’t been particularly positive, but I don’t think you should jump to conclusions with Ethan. You’re basing your opinion of him on somebody else’s behaviour. Wait until you get to know him, then you can judge him all you like.’ She paused. ‘You know, Violet thinks you’re hiding up there because of the spaghetti and meatballs incident with that dickhead. She thinks that’s why you didn’t come home when you lost your job.’
‘I know she does, she told me. But I’m not hiding. I didn’t come home because I’ve paid rent and I have a lease and I want to make a go of it here. And please don’t call it the spaghetti and meatballs incident. You make the whole thing sound like some wacky kids’ movie.’
‘Sorry. Just as long as you’re still up there for the right reasons. Remember, you’re a chef, not a dog walker.’
‘You’re right, I’m not a dog walker.’ Her voice was serious. ‘I’m a pet minder to the stars!’ She threw out her arms with a flourish.
Meredith chuckled. ‘I miss you. I’m going to come up soon and visit you and your new bestie Ethan. I’ll ask Marco which weekend he can spare me.’
‘Come and see me, but don’t expect to see Ethan. I can promise you one thing, we are not going to be hanging out together anytime soon.’
Ethan tipped his head back, took several deep breaths and tried to remember everything he’d learned about meeting a new dog.
‘Ethan, meet Zoe,’ his director, Jem, said. ‘And Stan, her trainer.’
‘It’s incredible how much she looks like Sadie,’ Ethan said, studying the dog as he shook Stan’s hand.
Sadie had been Ethan’s canine co-star in Sit, Stay, Love. A half border collie, half couch-potato mix. With Australia’s strict biosecurity laws, it was too complicated to have Sadie flown over from the US to reprise her role in the sequel, so they recast the part. Ethan couldn’t believe two dogs could look so much alike.
‘May I?’ He tentatively offered Zoe the back of his hand to sniff, breathing out a soft sigh of relief as the dog wagged her tail.
‘She’s a total sook,’ Stan said. ‘Her favourite thing is to play with her bear.’ He handed Ethan a large, squishy brown teddy bear. ‘Give it to her and she’ll be your friend for life.’
Ethan held out the bear. ‘Here you go, Zoe.’ The dog wagged her tail again, then gently took the bear from Ethan’s hand and gave it a vigorous shake. A piece of white stuffing flew into the air.
Stan groaned. ‘There goes bear number eight. Lucky she doesn’t notice when we swap them out.’ He scratched the dog’s backside. ‘We’ve got an hour this morning for you two to work together.’
‘Do you think an hour will be enough?’ Ethan asked. ‘I feel like we should have got together before now.’ He hated how nervous he sounded, and hoped like hell he was the only one who could hear it.
‘Nah,’ Stan said. ‘Zoe’s a professional. You’ll find she’s easy to get along with.’ Zoe dropped her bear at Ethan’s feet, and he picked it up and tossed it gently into the air for her to catch. He smiled as the dog happily bounded after her toy.
‘Are we good?’ Lena whispered from his side.
‘We’re good,’ Ethan whispered back, his shoulders finally relaxing. One dog down. Two to go. He had this. ‘Are you still heading home today?’
‘I’m about to leave for the airport. Okay?’ She raised her perfectly threaded brows in a question.
He nodded. ‘All good.’
‘How did you go with the new dog minder?’ she asked. ‘Are you happy with this one?’
‘She didn’t hand me a script, so… yeah.’ Avoiding Lena’s shrewd gaze, Ethan collected the now slightly soggy bear, throwing it a little further so Zoe had to chase it. Lena could read him like a book, and he was pretty sure the words ‘The new dog minder is hot as fuck!’ were written right across his face. He had to keep reminding himself this was make-or-break time. He had to keep his head down and focus, keep building on that good reputation. Nothing was more important than that.
‘She picked Harry up this morning,’ he said, still looking away. ‘He likes her, that’s all that matters.’
‘It also matters that you like her.’
‘I do,’ he answered, as casually as he could. Lena’s eyes instantly narrowed.
‘But not as much as you liked the last woman who helped you with a dog, right?’
‘Lena.’ He gave her his best ‘Hey, I’m the boss here’ voice, and she gave him a look that only she could. Withering. He chuckled and pulled her into a hug.
‘Ethan, let me go.’
‘You love it when I hug you,’ he said with a grin.
‘I do not,’ she answered sternly. But her lips lifted a little at the corners, giving her away. Lena acted like a PR-zilla, but underneath the hard glares and eye-rolls, she was kind and eternally patient with him.
‘Ethan, can I borrow you for a second?’ Jem asked. She gestured for him to follow her.
He planted a quick kiss on Lena’s cheek. ‘See you in a couple of weeks,’ he said, then jogged after his director, falling into step beside her. ‘What’s up, Jem?’
Jemmason Liu was a petite woman with glossy black and blue streaked hair in a pixie cut, and though she barely came up to Ethan’s shoulder, her presence was imposing. Her last movie, an independent coming of age drama with an all-Asian cast, had been a huge hit, and Barks Will Fly was the first studio-backed project she’d helmed. Ethan and Jem had met over Zoom a couple of times while prepping for the shoot. They knew how important the next few months would be for both of their careers. They were in it together. Fingers crossed they made a good team.
‘I’m wondering if you’d be okay if we tacked an extra scene on today’s schedule?’ she asked. ‘I know it’s late notice, but it would only add a couple of hours to the day and on the plus side, tomorrow will be less heavy so the crew can have an early wrap going into the weekend.’
He shrugged. ‘How come?’
‘Ronnie has an event on the Gold Coast tomorrow night and wants to be released from set earlier than scheduled.’
Ronnie was Veronica Evers, Ethan’s new co-star. Career-wise, she was where Ethan had been eighteen months ago, on the verge of her big breakthrough.
‘And she’s just telling us today?’ he asked. ‘That’s bullshit.’
‘She’s blaming her management for the last-minute change.’
‘I don’t know, Jem. Shouldn’t you and Kath be making the call?’
Katherine Marshall was the studio’s on-set producer. Kath had a long and illustrious career behind her, and a terrifying air that made Ethan feel so much like a schoolboy he had to remind himself not to call her Ma’am.
‘You’re number one on the call sheet, Ethan,’ Jem said. ‘This is your movie, and these kinds of decisions come with that. We won’t say yes without an okay from you.’
He nodded, his stomach knotting with the sudden pressure. ‘Will it make a difference to anything?’
‘It’s an easy change. Same location, same set-up, just one scene with you and Ronnie.’
‘If you’re both okay with it, and the crew’s okay with it, then I’m okay with it. But tell Ronnie it’s a one-off. She can’t pull this shit again.’ Ronnie appeared from behind a trailer and launched herself at Ethan, her arms looping around his neck. She had obviously been listening – waiting on Ethan’s answer.
‘Thank you, E,’ she purred in her southern American drawl, using the nickname she’d christened him with the day they’d met. She flicked back her mane of chocolate curls. ‘It’s the premiere of the new Ron Howard movie and my team got me a late invite. They want me to be seen. Would you like me to organise an invite for you too? We could be seen together.’
He peeled her arms from around his neck. ‘Ronnie, I got an invite. I knocked it back because I knew I’d be working.’
‘Oh.’ Her face dropped. ‘Sorry, Ethan. If you really don’t want me to go…’ She stared up at him, her brown eyes wide and her red lips pouting.
Ethan scratched his chin. ‘It’s fine, Ronnie. You go. Have fun. Be seen.’
She squealed, and pressed her pouty red lips into his, kissing him full on the mouth before bouncing away. Ethan wiped the back of his hand across his mouth as he stared after her, wondering what the hell just happened.