Chapter 34
JOSIE
I’m suddenly overcome with the feeling of... happiness, and I realize it’s the first time I’ve experienced that feeling in a hell of a long time.
And it’s happening just as Victor and I walk back to the fancy hotel from the beautiful terrace restaurant along ancient Italian cobblestone streets - as the actor drapes his jacket around my shoulders because I’m feeling cold.
Happiness.
This is happiness.
I look up at Victor Penmayne. God, he’s so tall. And handsome. The perfect jaw and that pronounced Adam’s apple and that slight hint of a stubble. He’s a perfect package rolled into one.
And he smiles back at me with that irresistible Hollywood smile.
The night sky above us is dark, with only a faint scatter of stars as light. The quiet Italian streets around us are swathed in a faint gold. This is such an enchanted night – of course I’m feeling happy.
Yeah, this is happiness. Me with my fake boyfriend. Happiness is when I can experience what a real relationship might be like... even if for a moment.
“Want some gelato, Josie?” Victor asks.
“Yes,” I reply with a bashful smile. “That would be pretty magical.”
He leads me around the corner to a small hold-in-the-wall gelato place crewed by a cheery old Italian man.
“I’ll buy you one,” Victor whispers to me. “You can have anything you like. Any flavor.”
I know it’s wrong of me to indulge in this little fantasy, but I can’t help myself. I’ve been through so much these last few months. I’m allowed to dream and be happy, if just for a night...
I pick the mint flavor, and the cheery old man hands me the gelato.
And it’s amazing.
Real Italian ice cream, huh?
“How is it?” the actor asks.
I simply nod and grin at him with a mouthful of ice cream.
“I want a lick,” Victor tells me. “It’s my tax. Pay up.”
I giggle.
“Sure,” I say, offering him the gelato. The man takes a generous lick. “Hey, that’s so much.”
“It’s so good,” he replies.
“Yep. A million times, yes. It is.”
We continue our stroll back to the nearby hotel. The streets are practically deserted around us – making it feel like we’re stumbling through a ghost town – but I like the relaxing vibe.
And I’m happy...
“Victor?”
I’m wrong – there is someone else on these dimly lit streets with us. Both my fake boyfriend and I spin our heads to whoever is calling out his name.
She’s tall – that’s the first thing I notice about her. Waves of healthy chestnut hair flow down around her. Her expressive eyes are green. She’s smiling.
She clearly knows Victor.
And my heart surprisingly skips a beat.
How does she know him?
God, I’m protective like a real girlfriend.
The woman comes skipping over us. She’s so beautiful, in the same way that Victor is. That otherworldly Hollywood beauty. I bet she’s an actress. God, I mean anyone can just tell by observing her grace and beauty and confidence.
“Hayley?” Victor recognizes her too, it seems.
“It’s lovely to catch you here like this,” she exclaims.
Victor takes a step away from me to embrace her. Then he remembers I exist and turns toward me.
“Hayley, this is Josie.”
The pretty woman turns her smile in my direction, and I realize she must be a nice person. I can just gauge it by her sweet energy.
Okay, maybe I shouldn’t be so protective.
“Hi, Hayley.”
“Hello, Josie,” she says warmly. “I saw something about you online just then. About you both.”
Victor rolls his eyes. “You know better than to believe all that crap,” he says.
Hayley laughs.
“Of course I do. I read that you’re from Crystal River, right?” she asks me.
I nod.
“Yep.”
“I’ve been there,” she says.
“Really?”
“Well, I went through it, not in it,” Hayley confirms. “I was driving to a short film a few years ago and passed through Crystal River. I can’t remember it much except it seemed like a sweet small town.”
Oh, and now I know who she is.
“Wait, are you from that big cop show?” I ask her. “That one from a few years ago that got canceled even though everyone was loving it?”
Hayley laughs again.
“Yes. That’s me, I’m afraid. I’m the girl in all the canceled shows. I just can’t catch my luck.”
“You were so good in it,” I say. “I was watching that as it came out. I was so angry they just stopped it.”
“Thank you,” she replies. “And I was angry too. That was a good paycheck.”
“Hayley is my co-star in the movie we’re filming here,” Victor explains to me, butting in on the conversation.
“Really?”
“My agent keeps promising me that this will be my breakout movie role,” she tells me. “We’ll just have to see. Hopefully, they’re not going to cancel this movie halfway through like with everything else I’ve been in.”
“She’s going to be incredible,” Victor says. “I guarantee it. Hayley is going to be a star. Watch this space, Josie.”
“I only got this job because you pushed for me,” she says to him modestly.
“One percent was my help, and the rest was all your natural talent,” Victor replies.
“Good luck,” I tell her. “I trust Victor’s judgment. I’m sure you’ll do well. You’re a great actress.”
She’s eyeing what’s in my hand.
“God, I would love some gelato,” she says.
“Have a lick,” I say, offering it to her. “Victor’s already taken half.”
“I am on an extreme diet,” Hayley explains sadly, patting her stomach. “I can’t have anything fun.”
“Oh yeah?”
“It’s the industry,” Hayley says, rolling her eyes. “I have to give up the best things in life.”
“God, imagine not being allowed gelato,” I say. “That would be a death sentence for me.”
“I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone,” Hayley says, giving Victor a cheeky wink. “I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow. Molto bene.”
And, with that, she skips away into the night.
“She’s nice,” I tell Victor as we continue our walk back to the suite.
“Yeah, she is,” he replies. “I’ve known her for years. Hayley deserves her moment in the spotlight, and hopefully, this movie does it for her.”
“She’s the kind of woman you should be dating,” I observe. “You two would look good together.”
‘I don’t want to date any woman,” he replies.
Another skip of my heart.
“Why not?”
“I’ve just never properly dated,” he retorts. “I’m not a relationship guy, and I am especially not a guy who dates.”
“Well, tonight has been a rather good date,” I say quietly.
“Yeah, but this is different.”
“Sure.”
And suddenly my happiness evaporates, and I’m simply left with a feeling of how fake this all truly is, and how much of an idiot I am for expecting anything else.