Chapter 25
Jesse
The city bus tour had promised many things, but a kiss from a movie star was certainly not one of the items listed in the pamphlet.
Even after viewing the impressive finished exhibits and listening closely as the observatory director explained what was yet to come, Jesse was sure that he was the local expert on all things astronomy as they made the walk back to Cal’s car.
The magic in his feet couldn’t compare to the weightlessness he’d experienced being with his co-star all day.
It was a wonder his shoes were touching the ground at all.
He felt as though he could float a million miles up into the sky and be in good company with the stars, expending so much happy energy that he shone for all the world to see, too.
Cal only let go of Jesse’s hand to open and shut the car door for him.
In the quiet moment it took for him to walk around to the driver’s side, Jesse turned his hands over on his lap and inspected them in the moonlight.
During all his years of making deliveries, they’d never served him so well as they did now that someone special wanted to hold them.
When Cal’s door opened, Jesse slid his palms down to his knees and gripped them tight.
He was being silly. Of course he knew that his hands were worth more than holding.
But as Cal sat beside him looking especially dapper with that handsome smile on his mouth, it was hard to imagine being worthy of anything better.
“So how did this tour compare to the other one you’d signed up for?” Cal asked, sounding sure of himself.
“Oh, I think this one was far better.” Jesse gazed out the window at the carpet of city lights as they started down the road toward reality. “I never thought so much about planets in my whole life. You’ll have to give Fred my thanks.”
“You can give them yourself in just a little while. I’m sure he’s going to be at Edie’s, too.”
Jesse’s high faltered. He’d all but forgotten about the party. As much as he wanted to sample more interesting foods, the thought of their day together ending with a crowd of vaguely familiar faces surrounding them seemed downright criminal.
He bunched his lips to one side and made a soft, uncertain noise in his throat. “There is one thing that I’m a little disappointed about, though.”
That caught Cal’s attention.
“What is it?” he asked, his focus still on the curvy mountain road ahead of them.
“Well, I know I joked that I’ve seen all of the celebrity houses already. But there is one that I was really hoping to see again…” Jesse trailed off.
In truth, he’d only seen a handful of them, and they were all beginning to look the same.
Hilliard’s place at the edge of town was the only exception.
But after seeing it briefly from the back seat of a car, much of the mystery still remained about the house that belonged to the man sitting beside him.
Cal’s answering silence was, thankfully, short lived. Instead, his reply was just clever enough that Jesse knew he understood.
“We could skip the party and drive by it, if you’d like,” he offered. “I’ve heard that some stars are even known to give private tours on occasion, if you catch them at the right time.”
Jesse bit his lip with a smile.
“I wouldn’t want to impose,” he hedged.
“Not at all,” Cal reassured him. “I happen to know the owner of the house in question. He’s quite willing.”
Jesse agreed, and soon he found himself getting closer and closer to the part of Cal’s life he’d become endlessly curious about.
What did his mornings look like when they didn’t have to be on set at seven o’clock sharp?
Did he eat dinner in the dining room every night?
Was his furniture the kind to look at or the kind to sit on?
From the street, the only indication of a private residence was the driveway that disappeared into a stand of trees.
Jesse leaned forward ever so slightly in his seat as Cal turned onto it, eager to see what emerged on the other side again.
He’d been too distracted by the anticipation of seeing Cal on his previous visit to truly appreciate it.
When the house finally came into view, he sat back with a silent exhale.
Cal’s home was large, but not extravagant.
A manicured lawn stretched from the pull-through driveway to the front door.
It was too dark to see many details, but from what he could make out, Jesse thought it suited Cal just fine.
“Mr. Campbell has a subdued taste in real estate,” Jesse commented as he followed Cal up the flagstone paver walkway. “Compared to the others I’ve seen, at least.”
“Mr. Campbell prefers to have a quiet place to escape his celebrity status at the end of the day.” He unlocked the door and let Jesse go first. There was a lamp illuminating a small table just inside, but Cal began flipping switches, brightening the entry hall for them even more.
The quiet place in question turned out to be full of white walls, dark but muted colors, and low furniture made in equal parts curved wood accents and patterned fabrics.
Down two steps to the left was a shockingly modern den, from the light fixtures to the rugs.
Jesse realized immediately that each upgraded piece spoke of Cal’s success on the silver screen.
It seemed that the oldest thing in the room was the cabinet humidor situated beside the most prominent seat near the fireplace. The dark-stained wood featured intricate details carved into every flat surface and spindly legs that ended in claw feet.
“You smoke?” Jesse asked over his shoulder.
“Almost never.” Cal was watching him from the doorway with an open expression.
He tilted his chin up at the cabinet. “It belonged to someone important once, or so I was told. The price tag certainly seemed to think so, anyhow.” He slid his hands into his pockets as he wandered a step closer.
“Edie thought the room was incomplete without one. I keep it stocked for guests.”
Jesse thought privately that it still belonged to someone important.
Cal cleared his throat and said, “Speaking of guests, can I fix you a drink?”
There was a well-stocked bar cart along the far wall.
“I don’t drink,” Jesse reminded him.
Cal gave a soft smile. “I know. Let me show you the kitchen.”
The space was nothing like Hilliard’s tiny green-and-yellow one with lace curtains and checkerboard tile floors. Instead, the countertops were bare and almost too clean. Cal pulled two glasses down from a cabinet, then collected a glass jar full of dark liquid from the refrigerator.
“Don’t worry,” he said as he began pouring. “It’s only grape juice.”
Jesse grinned appreciatively as Cal handed the first glass over to him. “So Mr. Campbell keeps cigars and whiskey for company,” he mused, “but only has juice on hand for himself?”
Cal finished pouring his own glass and set the carafe on the countertop with a clink. He turned to mirror Jesse, hip resting against the lip of the counter. He took a sip before he replied.
“Mr. Campbell is in his thirties now, and prefers to wake up for call time without his temples pounding.”
Jesse hummed his understanding.
“It’s hard to believe we’re going to wrap filming next week.” He sounded a little more vulnerable than he’d intended, but Jesse couldn’t deny that he was having mixed feelings about the whole thing. “It seems impossible that I only met you a month ago.”
“It’s common for co-stars to form close bonds during filming,” Cal said. “Shared traumatic experiences or some such.”
“Traumatic?” Jesse asked with an incredulous laugh. “I’d hardly call it that. A little stressful at times, maybe.”
“Mentally taxing, physically draining,” Cal listed off. “Emotionally, too, if you consider how many times King made us shoot some of those scenes over again.”
“It was fun to see which takes they really liked, though.” Jesse knocked back the rest of his juice and set the glass into the empty sink. “Sometimes I thought for sure it was the best one yet, but then I’d be completely surprised at the feedback for why it wasn’t.”
Cal raised his glass like he was making a toast.
“And that’s showbiz, kid.”
Jesse’s brow furrowed into what he hoped was a convincing stare.
“Now listen, if I’m not allowed to call you sir anymore, then you’re not allowed to call me kid. I know I’m small, but I’m not—”
“Jesse,” Cal amended, silencing him with two syllables and an apologetic smirk. “I apologize. I won’t say it again.” He glanced out the window over the sink. “Would you like to see the pool?”
The tour continued outside, where Cal showed off more space that he admitted he hadn’t used as much as he thought he would when he purchased the house. Jesse recalled the swimsuit Cal had worn to the beach and decided that was rather unfortunate, indeed.
The rest of the first floor consisted of a dining room, a guest bedroom, and a larger, more formal living room complete with an entire wall made of shelves.
They displayed row after row of books interspersed with various trinkets.
Jesse stepped closer to inspect them as Cal turned on another lamp.
The light revealed postcards and seashells, delicate perfume bottles, a bronze dog figurine, a plate with a windmill surrounded by flowers painted on it.
Everywhere Jesse looked, he found something new.
“Most of this was given to me,” Cal explained. “Souvenirs from friends’ travels; gifts from visiting fans. Every time I look at it all, I’m reminded of how big the world is compared to the parts of it I see every day. It’s humbling.”
Cal showed Jesse upstairs next, which turned out to be an entire loft area dedicated as the main suite.
There was a smaller room through a set of double doors that served as the study, which smelled so much like Cal’s cologne that it made Jesse shiver a little.
Across an open walkway that stretched over the living room, there was a bathroom larger than Jesse’s old apartment and a closet just as big beyond that.