Chapter 33
JOSIE
I try not to seem uncomfortable in the nice dress as we ride the VIP elevator down to the hotel lobby, but it’s very hard not to when you never get the chance to wear something as fancy as this. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone out for a proper dinner dressed up. Tonight is very much needed to refill my very neglected going-out cup.
“You look beautiful, Josie.”
The dark, lingering words from Victor seem to shower down over my entire body as I try to remain composed in the elevator. I can’t believe he said that. Beautiful. I can’t believe he just dropped that word like it means nothing.
I blush. I can’t control myself.
“Thank you, Victor.”
I’m trying my best to seem unfazed by his words, but that’s getting impossible.
The man stares at me, his blue eyes penetrating my very being...
It’s all fake, though. I gotta remember that with every interaction. Fake boyfriend. Fake girlfriend. Fake relationship. He might have nice words, but they are in service of something that isn’t real, and I gotta remember that.
The elevator doors ding open, and we step out into the hotel’s massive shining lobby. This has got to be, by far, the best hotel I’ve ever entered in my entire life. And now we’re going to be living here for weeks and weeks whilst Victor films his movie and becomes an even bigger movie star.
Evelyn is already waiting for us in the lobby. I’ve come to slowly figure out that she is Victor’s external consciousness. He’s so damn carefree and cocky and confident that he somehow needs a wound-up Evelyn by his side at all times, getting him to hurry the fuck up. I feel sorry for her helpless heart – the strain she exhibits must keep it beating at the same pace as a sprinter all the freaking time.
“You’ve got the screenplay memorized?” she asks him when she sees him, panic written across her face as she thinks of another thing to worry about.
Victor merely smiles.
“First Josie and now you, Evelyn. Everyone keeps asking me that. Of course I have the screenplay memorized. You know me.”
“Okay. Good. Excellent. I’ll tick that off the list.”
Victor places a friendly, warm hand on the publicist’s shoulder.
“How about you take a night off, Evelyn? You need the rest.”
“But I’ve got so much work to do...”
“Just take the night off,” Victor says quietly. “Have a bath. Eat a good meal. You deserve it. I’ll let you know if I suddenly catch on fire.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure,” Victor replies. “Go and get some sleep.”
Evelyn nods. Then nods again. She flashes me a weak farewell smile before she heads to the elevator to her room.
Yeah, her poor heart...
“Me? I can’t take a night off,” Victor tells me. “I am starting a movie tomorrow, but I’ve got an important dinner date tonight that I simply can’t miss.”
“What dinner date?”
The actor merely stares at me with those impossible blue eyes...
Oh. He means me.
I’m the important dinner date.
I raise the glass of fresh Italian spring water to my lips and look out at the view over the beautiful old city. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of this sight, that’s for sure.
Victor has decided to take me around the corner from the hotel to a terrace restaurant that overlooks the skyline. All the domes and churches surround us. It’s the most Italian experience you could ever hope to get. I really do feel like I’m in a movie.
“So you’re just having water?” Victor asks me, his eyebrow raised.
“Yes.”
“You know you’re not paying, right? You know you’re not paying for any of this? You can choose anything to have.”
“Yes, I know,” I say.
“You could pick any drink you’d like. A glass of wine, cocktails...”
“I don’t drink,” I reply. “I’m happy with water.”
Victor leans back in his chair as if the information is some major discovery.
“You don’t drink?” he asks me.
I nod. “No.”
“Why not? If I may be so bold as to ask.”
I shrug.
“I saw my ex drink when he gambled,” I explain. “I saw the worst, ugliest side of it. I don’t want to touch a drop, but I don’t mind if other people do.”
It’s Victor’s turn to nod now.
“Okay, then,” he mutters. “I won’t drink, then. Not around you.”
“You don’t have to do that, Victor. I really don’t mind...”
“I want to,” the actor replies sternly. He’s deadly serious. “I’m not going to drink while our... agreement is in place.”
“Okay. Thanks for that.”
“How do you find Italy?” he asks me, curiosity burning in his blue eyes.
“It’s incredible,” I reply. “I guess you’re used to it, though. I guess you’re used to flying all around the world in your private jet.”
“Do you want to know a secret, Josie?”
“Yes...”
Victor shakes his head.
“I’ll never get used to it,” he says quietly. “None of this. I promised myself when I started getting successful in this industry that I wouldn’t take all of this for granted. I might seem like I do when you read things about me online and whatever, but I do think about how incredible all this is every single day of my life.”
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” I ask him. “About your first day on the movie set? I would be freaking the freak out if I were you, but then again you are always so calm, so I don’t know.”
Victor slowly takes a long sip of his water. He’s taking his time to think – to mull my question over.
“I am nervous,” he finally says. “Yeah. You know what? I have never said that to anyone before, but I’m always nervous before filming. It can keep me up all night.”
“I’m so surprised by that,” I say. “You really never seem nervous.”
“I am a normal human being, Josie,” he says with a slight smirk. “I can be nervous sometimes. That’s allowed.”
“Come on, you’re too handsome and rich to get nervous. You’re not like the rest of us mortals.”
The man laughs loudly.
“You are funny, Josie. I’ll give you that.”
“You think this will be a good movie?” I ask him.
That makes him laugh again - a quick knowing chuckle this time.
“You never know in the movie business, and that’s why it’s so exciting,” he explains. “I really don’t know. Nor does anyone else, even those with decades of experience in this business. This movie could be the next billion-dollar blockbuster, or it could equally be the flop that bankrupts a studio and my career. We will just have to wait and see what the outcome is.”
“That would make me nervous,” I remark.
“It’s like with everything in life,” he replies. “You never know when you start something, but you put faith in it. You put in all your hope. You might start off something thinking it’s one thing, but then it turns into another wholly different thing.”
“You’re talking about movies, or about something else?” I ask him.
“Yes,” Victor replies. “And no. I’m talking about everything in life. Love. Sex. Business.”
“You’re a philosopher as well as an actor?”
“I can be many things, Josie. I’m not just a pretty face.”
“Yeah, and you can be arrogant.”
The man laughs again.
“Do you think I’m arrogant, Josie?”
I shrug and look down at my napkin. “No...”
“I bet you thought I was vain and selfish.”
“I try not to judge people,” I say quietly.
“Do you still think of me in that way?” Victor asks.
“That you’re vain, arrogant, and selfish?”
“Yeah.”
“No, I don’t.”
“I like how you try to see the good in people,” Victor remarks softly. “It’s a trait I’ve realized not many people share. People are quick to judge. People like to write others off before they even get to know them.”
I take in a long breath.
“Thank you for this evening,” I say. “I’m truly happy to pay half. I owe you that. It must be expensive.”
I’ll probably just make ramen back at the hotel from now on for the next few weeks if I were to pay my half.
But Victor is already shaking his head.
“I never check my bank accounts, Josie,” Victor replies coldly. “I have a whole team of trusted accountants taking care of all that, but last time I did have a peek, there honestly was more money in there than you could spend in a hundred lifetimes. Let me handle this.”
“You’re sure?” I ask him. I don’t want to be in debt to this man.
“Josie, I’m sure. Let me treat you the way that you deserve.”