Chapter 66
JOSIE
The premiere is one hell of a big thing. Look, I really didn’t know what I was signing up for when Victor asked me to be here. I thought it would be a fun time. I thought there might be a few hundred attending. But nothing on this... massive level.
Okay, so Los Angeles sure knows how to put on a party.
It’s truly a red carpet in all its Hollywood glory. There are journalists with microphones that dash after the stars like vultures. There are crowds and crowds and crowds of eager and screaming fans held back by fencing around the carpet. I spot wannabe B-list celebrities trying to get their moment in the spotlight even though they have absolutely nothing to do with the actual movie.
Wow, wow, wow.
It’s a hell of a lot more than a hundred people, that’s for sure.
It’s all very overwhelming for this lowly, small town barista, even after all the media training from Victor and the weeks spent with him in his life. This is a totally different world here in the heart of Hollywood. At least Italy felt like a million miles away from the manufactured glitz of Los Angeles. At least in Europe I was kept hidden from all of this... craziness.
And it’s all for Victor’s movie – the one he completed filming just before he met me in Crystal River. It’s coming out this weekend, and he really wants it to do well at the box office both here and around the world. Seriously, it could win him that award, especially with me in tow here at the premiere. This is the job I was hired for him to do – look pretty and be his girlfriend.
I’m here to give him that small town legitimacy.
I won’t let this moment get wasted on me. I know what I need to do.
And I play my part well. I want Victor to succeed. I want him to win that award and for this movie to go stratospheric.
I want to be a good fake girlfriend.
I’m introduced to so many people as we amble down the red carpet. Producers. Crew members. Directors. Financiers. Everyone urgently wants to speak to Victor and take a photo with him and tell him how much they enjoy his movies. Everyone wants to bask in his star power.
And I can see why.
This man fucked me in a private villa in Italy. He professes how much he likes me. He makes it out to be way more than a fake relationship.
He holds my hand throughout the entire stroll down the red carpet. It’s more than just a token gesture - he practically squeezes my hand the whole time. He makes sure I am introduced to everyone who tries to speak to him. He makes sure I am front and center in every conversation he has with important producers and interviewers and hangers-on and that I am not ignored like some trophy wife on his arm.
I like that. I really value that. He’s treating me like an equal.
I can’t believe I get to spend my days – and, especially, my nights – with this man.
There is, however, one person I don’t need to be introduced to as we near the end of the red carpet. And her name is Ashley Williams. The actress is a co-star with Victor in the new movie, and she is one of the most famous celebrities in Hollywood. Even I have heard of her – and how can anyone not? She’s won her best actress award a few years ago. She’s graced the covers of magazines. She’s a critic’s darling. She’s literally the female version of Victor in her wealth and fame and pure star power. She stands with her own team around her, looking as graceful as anything with a flowing red dress and bright red lipstick to match. Her blonde hair cascades around her shoulders like a golden angelic aura. She’s truly like Victor – too much of a star for this world full of normal people. She’s laughing as she gets interviewed by a whole gaggle of cameras and journalists. It’s like there’s a giant invisible spotlight on her, and no one can take their eyes off her.
And now Victor wants to introduce her to me.
And I am intimidated out of my mind.
“You want to meet her?” Victor asks me, his hand gripping mine for support.
“Who? Ashley Williams?”
“Yes.”
“She’s so famous, Victor,” I object. “She doesn’t want to meet me. She doesn’t even know me. She won’t know what to say to me.”
“She’s a human being, like me. Come on, Josie.”
“She’s practically a living goddess, Victor,” I protest. “She’s a star.”
“Really, it’s not too bad,” he says confidently. “She’ll love to meet my girlfriend. You are my girl, so let me show you off. Let me introduce you to her.”
“Okay...”
“Ashley,” Victor says to her when the two blockbuster stars finally meet on the red carpet.
She spins around from the interview she’s giving and gives the Penmayne a big kiss on the cheek. She’s so fancy. A red lipstick stain stays on his cheek.
“Oh, Victor,” she says dreamily. “It’s been months.”
“It has, Ashley. And now we’re finally here on the red carpet...”
The actress’ eyes flicker from my fake boyfriend straight to me.
“And who is this?” she asks enthusiastically when she spots me.
I can tell her tone is fake. It’s so very trained.
Underneath her charm she’s direct. I can tell she’s harder than she makes out.
She’s not some dumb starlet trying to impress a load of male producers – she is a professional who has worked tough and harsh in this cutthroat industry and has risen to her position because of her skills and talent.
And I can already tell she doesn’t like the look of me...
“This is my girlfriend, Ashley. This is Josie.”
She offers out her hand for me to shake.
“Lovely to meet you, Jodie.”
“Sorry, it’s Josie.”
I don’t want to correct her, but when I do, I see a sliver of something flash across her eyes. Violence. Hidden aggression.
“Yes, my mistake. Josie. So, you’re Victor’s new squeeze. You’re an actress too?”
“No,” I blush. “I’m just a barista. Making coffees.”
Ashley’s eyes flicker back from me to Victor.
“Oh.”
She’s processing what I’ve just told her. She’s figuring it all out. Her mind is reacting very fast to this new information. She’s smart. She’s thinking things through like a coiled snake.
And she clearly holds some sort of disdain for me.
She’s probably wondering why this famous actor is going out with some dumb barista and not a big-shot celebrity. To be fair, I would ask myself the same question in her position.
“I’ll see you inside,” Victor tells her, oblivious to the interaction the actress and I are having. “Interviews to do and important people to meet. You know the drill.”
“Of course.”
His hand is still around mine. He starts to make a move, and I am carried along the carpet.
Once again, Ashley’s eyes trace down my body before I go. I have the suffocating feeling of being intensely judged by this famous woman. I quickly step away, following my fake boyfriend.
What was that?
I don’t even want to reflect on that. It seems like Ashley has it out for me.
But there is still so much to do – so many people to meet and the whirlwind of being dragged through the rest of the red carpet – that I totally forget about the actress and her strange reaction toward me.
Finally, we get to sit down in the movie theatre and actually watch the movie we’ve come all this way for.
There are speeches from the director and screenwriter before the screening starts, and that takes a long time, but then it finally begins. The giant cinema screen lights up...
And when the movie starts to play, I am taken out of the room. Out of the city. Out of this world.
And I am transported into Victor’s own world. A fantasy land. A movie that takes my breath away.
I spend the whole time practically glued to my seat. I love the story and the characters. I forget about everything that’s going on – the premiere and the weird interaction with Ashley and the whole doubts around the fake relationship.
I have to say that Victor looks stunning in the movie, as he always does. Dashing and charming and with reams of charisma pouring out of his ears.
Ashley is also amazing and mesmerizing. She is most definitely a star to equal the man sitting next to me.
And, in the end, there is the big climax we’re all begging for - the scene where Victor, as the hero, finally apologizes to the heroine played by Ashley. He gets down on his knees in front of her and begs for forgiveness in such a vulnerable way that it has me crying.
Oh, I like that scene the most.
It’s good to see Victor on his knees, even in a fictional setting.
And, sitting next to me, I know the actor is watching me watch the movie. I can feel his eyes never leaving me as I engross myself in the world of the screen.
And then it’s over, and I am suddenly brought down to the real world in a movie theatre in LA.
“What did you think? Victor asks me in a whisper as the credits roll.
“It’s... amazing, Victor,” I reply, breathless. “You were incredible. Truly.”
“You think?” he asks, a slight tinge of doubt crossing his pretty mind.
“Yes,” I reply, unable to comprehend how I might think otherwise.
“Good. Well, I have to do a few more interviews, unfortunately. The night isn’t over just yet.”
“That’s okay,” I say. “I understand.”
“Sorry,” he apologizes. “I’ll try to make them as short as possible and then we can get away back to mine...”
“No, it’s okay,” I reply. “That’s why we’re here at this premiere. This is the job you have to do. Let’s show you off to all these fancy people. Let’s go and win this award for you, yeah?”
“Thank you, Josie.”
“Take the time you need. I’ll be right here beside you.”
I smile at him. He smiles back.
He rises from his seat, and I follow. We squeeze to the end of the row, but we are suddenly stopped by some woman who swoops in and takes her place at our exit.
Oh?
I don’t need to look twice to realize who this woman is.
It’s Alda Penmayne.
Victor’s mother.