I sit down on my bed and pick up my phone, the second phone Dex has given me. I promised to take better care of this one and not break it, like the last one, but he waved his hand and told me it wasn’t a big deal. I’m not sure that I would ever get used to this kind of life… where something like a phone that costs hundreds of dollars is practically disposable, but I’m going to miss all of this.
There’s a text from Jess waiting for me.
Hey, just got your text. That’s so exciting! How’s New York? Is your room nice?
I look around the hotel room. Nice is one way of describing it. I think breathtaking is more appropriate... but I would describe it as inspiring. I stand up and walk over to the window and look at Central Park. A view that I would never tire of.
It’s amazing. I’m looking out a floor-to-ceiling window at Central Park. It’s jaw dropping. I never imagined that a city could look this beautiful. I don’t ever want to leave. And the room… it’s something else. It’s not huge, not a suite or anything, but everything is really nice and I’m sure it was really expensive.
I hit send and turn the desk chair to face the window and sit down. The sun is going down and starting to hit the glass of the buildings that cover the skyline. It’s beautiful. People can make such magnificent things… impressive in a completely different way than nature. Maybe that’s why this view is so divine… there’s the buildings and the park… a perfect balance of the creations of nature and man.
Ugh. I’m so jelly. Take some pictures for me! I wish I were there with you… we could find some trouble in that city.
I laugh at her text. There’s no doubt in my mind that Jess would manage to get us both into trouble if she were here.
Already did… I’ll send them to you right now.
I go to my pictures, but phone starts to ring and Spencer’s number shows up. I take a deep breath and answer it.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” he says, “what are you doing?”
“Nothing… just sitting here, looking at the park.”
“It’s something else, isn’t it?”
It’s weird… Spencer’s voice seems shaky, almost like he’s nervous or something.
“Yeah, it is. Did you need something?” I say.
He’s quiet, which for some odd reasons is making me nervous.
“Spencer?”
“Sorry… I… can you come up to my room for a minute? I have something I need to talk to you about.”
I pull my phone away from my ear to check the time. We have to leave in twenty minutes.
“Yeah, but you’ve gotta make it quick… we have to leave soon.”
“I know, it’ll just take a few minutes,” he says.
“I’ll be right there.”
When we checked in yesterday I went to see both Dex and Spencer’s suites, which are much nicer than my regular room. I have a feeling they paid some exorbitant amount of money for them without even thinking about it. It was nice of Dex to pay for my room, though… I guess it makes sense since we are here to promote the movie.
I stand up, put my phone in my purse and check to make sure I have my room key before heading to meet Spencer. I get in the elevator and ride the three flights up to their floor and get out.
Spencer’s door is propped open with a shoe, so I push it away and close the door behind me.
“Spencer?”
I walk deeper into his room and see him standing at the window. His view faces the same way as mine, but being higher up makes it even more impressive. He turns around and smiles.
“Can I get you anything to drink?”
He has a glass in his hand filled with a brown liquid.
“No, thanks.”
I still haven’t had anything to drink since the night at the club. I don’t want to make a fool of myself again and especially not around Spencer. He shrugs and turns back to the window.
“What did you need to talk about? We have like fifteen minutes before we need to leave,” I say.
“There’s something on the table for you.”
I wrinkle my brow as I look at the table and see two boxes. One is flat and the other looks like a shoe box. I walk over and take the lid off the smaller box. Inside is a pair of shoes, black and beautiful. I run my hand over the soft material, which feels like suede. They are crisscross platform sandals with a fairly significant heel, maybe five inches or so.
“What do you think?” Spencer says.
I turn to him with one of the shoes in my hand. He’s still at the window, but he’s facing me and smiling. I’m sure he can tell what I think by the look on my face.
“I love them. You really shouldn’t have… they must have been expensive.”
He waves his hand dismissively and walks over to me.
“Whatever… it’s an investment in your future. Don’t forget, we’re going to be on TV… if people like what they see they will go to our movie and then we make more money.”
It’s a valid point, but I don’t think it would make that much of a difference. I’m wearing an outfit I borrowed from the movie set, so it’s something my character might wear, but it’s certainly not designer like the shoes.
“They’re Alexander McQueen,” he says, “to match the dress.”
The dress? I feel my heart skip a beat. I may be from a small town, but I’ve heard of Alexander McQueen and I know enough to know that it’s a name that means expensive.
I put the shoe down on the table and yank the lid off the box. I gasp and reach for the dress. I spin around, stand in front of the floor length mirror and hold the dress up. It’s stunning… I can’t even believe that Spencer did this for me. It’s a sleeveless flared skirt dress, with a low neckline and it ends a few inches above my knees. I’m speechless.
“What do you think?”
Spencer is standing behind me, to get a good look. His warm breath sweeps my hair off my neck and I shudder. I close my eyes as I feel his breath warming me. If only this moment could never end. I really haven’t thought about Spencer, not seriously, since our one and only kiss, but now… now I wish he would spin me around and smash his lips onto mine. I know it would never happen though, which makes me sad… but a girl can dream.
“I guess you’re speechless.”
That’s one way to put it.
I turn around and look into his gorgeous eyes and nearly lose myself.
“It’s… too much, Spencer. You really shouldn’t have.”
He turns and walks over to the couch and sits down. Spencer takes his phone out of his pocket and looks at it while I turn back to the mirror and hold the dress up again. It really is stunning. I’m a little worried about how low the neckline is, but I trust Spencer’s judgment when it comes to clothing.
“You should change… we need to be downstairs in five minutes. We can’t be late for Late with Lucas, ironically enough,” he says.
“I don’t get it… why do we have to be there soon? I mean, I know the sun is going down, but doesn’t it air at like ten, or something?”
“Yep, but it’s not live.”
I guess that makes sense, if they filmed it live the audience might be tired and the guests could appear fatigued or something. I look at myself one last time and dash to the bathroom to get changed.
I take my clothes off and toss them on the counter in the bathroom and slip into the dress. It fits perfectly… well nearly, but I can’t seem to get the zipper up and I don’t want to break it. I’m surprised Spencer remembered my size because it’s like this dress was made for me. I head back into the room, with my hand behind my back to hold it up.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing… it’s amazing, but I can’t zip it up. Could you help me?”
He raises his eyebrow and hops up. I hope he doesn’t think I’m just saying that I can’t get it. I realize that it’s super cliché, the girl can’t get her dress up or down and has to ask the handsome guy to help her and it always leads to something. This isn’t the movies, and I wouldn’t ask for help, but I’m scared of ruining the dress.
He stands behind me and I feel his fingers brush against my back as he grabs the zipper. I feel like time slows as he zips it up. It must be my mind wishing for the moment to last because as soon as he’s done he steps back in front of me and looks me up and down.
“Perfect.”
I look at the floor. I know he’s just looking to make sure it fits me, but having his eyes roam my body makes me feel embarrassed. I know I don’t compare physically to pretty much every woman in Hollywood, but I like the way I look in the dress.
“Hurry, get your shoes on… Dex is probably already waiting for us.”
I nod and walk over to the table. I put my left hand on the back of the chair as I put my right shoe on and then switch. As I put my weight on the back of the chair with my right hand I feel it falling backward.
“Ahhh!”
I close my eyes and brace for the impact I know is coming. Instead, I feel a hand under my back and an arm wrap around my waist and by the time I open my eyes Spencer is already putting me back on my feet. I blink a few times to make sure what I think just happened really did.
“Thank you… that was… amazing.”
He laughs and kneels on the floor to help me with my shoe. That’s the second time I’ve fallen and he’s been there to catch me. Crazy.
“No problem.”
He stands up and smiles at me. Spencer knows he’s a superhero and I’m not about to build up his ego any more. Not that I wouldn’t, under normal circumstances… I’m just afraid that he might get the wrong idea and I don’t want that right before we go on a talk show together to promote the film.
“Ready?”
“I am.”
He winks at me and we leave his hotel room. Spencer pats his pocket to check for his key and closes the door. I press the elevator button and focus on keeping equal weight on each foot. I haven’t worn heels since the party with Jess and I’ve forgotten how much of a challenge it is. I definitely don’t want to take a spill while walking… Spencer would probably laugh at me.
“What are you thinking about?” he says.
“Nothing… why?”
“Oh, no reason… you just had a determined kind of look on your face.”
The elevator dings and the doors open. We step in and Spencer hits the lobby button.
“So,” he says, “do you ever watch Late with Lucas?”
“Nope, never seen it.”
The elevator slows and the doors open after only going down two floors. A couple decked to the nines gets in. It’s obvious by their demeanor they’ve already been pre-gaming in their room and are ready to hit the town.
“Are you guys going to the club?” the man says, turning around and looking at us.
The woman turns around, too, and her eyes go wide when she recognizes Spencer. It’s starting to just be funny when people realize who he is. I’m glad that it’ll never happen to me, I don’t think I would be as nice as Spencer… he’s always grateful that people enjoy his movies and always willing to sign an autograph.
“Oh… my… god! Spencer Thomas! Eeeeeeeeeee!” she says.
I think I might be deaf. I look over at Spencer and he’s just smiling.
“Hey,” he says.
“What are you doing here?”
“We,” Spencer says, nodding to me, “are going on Late with Lucas… we’ve got a new movie coming out, so we are going to do some promotion.”
The couple turns to me and stares. They seem like they are trying their best to place my face. I guess they think if I’m with Spencer that I must be famous, too.
“I’m... nobody,” I say.
They seem disappointed, as if I’m lying to them, and turn their attention back to Spencer.
“Can we buy you a drink or something? The bar here is great.”
“Thanks,” Spencer says, “but we are actually running late. Maybe some other time.”
The couple smiles and nods. Spencer is so gracious. I know it’s true that we are running late, but it was more than that… I know him well enough that he’s not going to hang out with some random drunk people he meets in a hotel elevator, but he doesn’t come across that way.
We reach the lobby and the doors open. The couple gets out and we follow. I can see Dex standing by the door, looking at his phone and probably wondering where we are. His eyes grow wide as he looks up and sees us. Spencer and I walk up to him and he looks me up and down.
“Nice… nice outfit.”
“Thanks.”
I can feel myself blushing and I look down at my feet.
“Should we go?” Spencer says.
“Yeah,” Dex says, “there’s a car waiting out front.”
He looks at me again and shakes his head. Not in a disapproving way… no, it’s more of a surprised look that flashes across his face. Do I really look that different? I like the dress and shoes, but I don’t think I ever look that great… I guess it’s just how I see myself, so it’s a new experience for anyone to see me as a woman instead of just a girl from a small town.
We head for the door and the doorman smiles as we walk outside. It’s weird, but I suddenly feel like people are noticing me. I don’t really mind, I’m more surprised than anything. There’s a black limo out front and the driver opens the door as he sees us walking toward him. I get in first and slide across the seat to the window. Dex gets in, followed by Spencer and they both sit across from me.
I stare out the window as they start talking to each other. It’s not that I would mind being a part of the conversation, I just feel like I want to be alone with my thoughts right now.
A strange sadness has filled me. I’m not really sure why either. I thought I’d be happy to be here, doing the promo for the movie, because it means we are done and I get to go back to Salem… but I’m not. Instead, I’m profoundly sad and it doesn’t make sense. I feel like now I’m realizing that leaving L.A. doesn’t just mean that I get to go back to Salem—it also means that I have to leave L.A. and the semblance of a life I’ve built there in a short time. I haven’t been there for very long, but I also wasn’t in Salem for any amount of time. It’s weird, I almost feel like… like I don’t know where I’m supposed to be. I guess school is the most important thing right now.