AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Hey, if you want to wait until later, that’s cool. I didn’t realize you were a couple. But I get it.”
I shake my head. “No, there’s no later. You seem like a nice girl and I want to save you from getting cursed out.” She jerks back as if I spat in her face. “I’m not interested. At all. I need you to stop disrespecting my woman by coming on to me.”
Her face takes on a stony expression; I can see the flush on her cheeks. Her jaw clenches and she swallows a few times before she speaks without looking at me. “I really had no clue about you two and this week has been . . . rough. I’m sorry.” She cuts herself off and gathers her composure and says, “Let’s get your face done so you two can meet with production.”
She’s done with me in ten minutes. I hate the makeup they cake on your face for television. I sit through most of it, but stop her when she tries to put gloss on my lips. Thank God I’m not wearing a tie and my collar is open, or I’m sure I’d be worried about smudging my shirt with it. My hair feels like a helmet.
I thank Mila who mumbles a barely audible, “You’re welcome,” and hop out of the chair. Lucía’s in the bathroom changing so I go back to the seating area and pull my phone out to check email.
A couple minutes later, a pair of black leather stilettos appear in my line of sight. I let my eyes travel up her legs. They’re encased in skin tight black leather pants that show of her incredible figure. Her blouse, emerald green, silk button down, fits her like it was tailored for her.
She’s gotten the camera-ready makeup, and her eyes are kohl lined and look huge in contrast to the rest of her face, and she’s wearing a coral-colored lip gloss, completely different from her trademark red. The only thing about her that looks like she normally does is her hair. Free, flowing down in dark chocolate waves, and pinned up on the sides.
“Well, what do you think?” she asks me. She sounds apprehensive, but I don’t understand why. I stand up and lay my hands lightly on her shoulders. In her heels, her mouth is much closer to mine than it normally is when we stand face-to-face.
“You look amazing.” I try to reassure her and then lean forward to kiss her. Her eyes widen in alarm and she pulls back. I stop and look around. “What’s wrong? We’re alone.”
“You’ll ruin my lipstick.” She walks back to the mirror on the vanity and looks at herself and muses, “I like this color. I’m going to find one when we get home.”
I walk to stand behind her and try to hold her close, she steps away. “Stop! You’ll wrinkle my shirt, that poor girl just pressed it.”
I groan. “Oh, my God, I’ve created a monster. I can’t kiss you or touch you now that you’re TV-ready,” I quip.
She whirls on me, and even though she’s clearly pissed, I just marvel over how beautiful she is. “Leave me alone. You’ve done this plenty of times. It’s my first time. You’re lucky I’m not throwing up right now. Stop making it worse. When we’re done, and I haven’t made a fool of myself, you can smudge, tear, wrinkle, rip…whatever, but please, I’m just trying to hold it together.” And then her scowl deepens. “And that puta who was doing our makeup and hitting on you is really lucky that I’m not trying to get arrested.” I grin at her and she sneers back. She turns back to the mirror. “It’s not funny. I know you set her straight. She couldn’t even look at me when they walked out of here.”
“Fifty-five, it’s normal to be nervous. Don’t worry. You’re ready. I’ll be right beside you. You got this. You’ve been prepped and you’re well rested. It’s going to go by so quickly it’ll feel like a blur. We’ve given them a list of topics that are off limit. Nothing about where you come from. We’re focusing on the book, the film and the issues.”
She smiles, a reluctant tilt of her lips, but I can see her posture relax.
“Can I get a fist bump at least?”
She taps my fist with hers and says, “Fuck, yeah.”
34
Lucía
There are moments in my life that, as they happen, I know will leave me changed forever. This trip is one of them. I’d never left California. I never thought I would. And I’d told myself I was content with that. Now, I know I’ll never be again. I just want to see more of the world.
California is a huge state and in lots of ways, the world has come to me. LA is the ultimate melting pot, where people have carved big chunks of their culture onto the city’s psyche. But I know, without a doubt, after visiting New York City, that I’m missing out. No movie, television show, book, postcard, can do this city justice. The buildings are gargantuan. You feel your insignificance when you stand next to one. They are majestic and soar into the clouds. And there are so many of them. The streets teem with people who are living their lives without caring what the person next to them thinks of what they’re wearing.
I mean, this is the world’s style capital, but there is not a single trend that dominates. Standing on the balcony of our suite at the Four Seasons, located in mid-town right between the world famous Park and Madison Avenues, I feel like I can see forever. And the cherry on top of this spectacular ice cream sundae of an experience is that I’m here with the most incredible man in the world. I love him so much that I’m terrified to explore it.
I glance at my watch.
It’s late, after ten. I should be tired, but my mind is still on California time, so sleep will elude me for a few more hours. Reece is inside on the phone with his publicist. At ten in the evening the streets look even more crowded than they did during the day. Yellow taxis play kamikaze, bobbing and weaving through traffic as they snake up East 57th Street.
Our interviews were all amazingly fast. Not having a studio audience helped me relax and answer the questions. Having Reece by my side made me feel like I belonged there. It was awe inspiring; sitting down with reporters I’ve seen on television every morning for years.
I can hear his raised voice from inside and I know he and Lacy, his publicist, are going at it.
I hope she’s tearing him a new one. Reece went off script today. Majorly. He answered every question about us with complete candor. By the time we’d made it to the recording for the evening show, pictures of us were everywhere. All the coverage of the movie is intermingled with stories about us. His phone has been ringing nonstop. The only people who’ve called me are Jess, Sol and my mother. Sol sounded very worried. Jessica sounded happy. And, my mother only said, “We’ll talk more when I see you on Sunday.” When I asked her what she thought.
When I’d been online earlier, I checked Facebook—my account doesn’t even have a picture—to see if I saw any mention of us. That was a mistake. Our names had been combined, Reecia, they called us, and we were a trending topic. Most of the articles focused on Reece. They didn’t really know much about me, yet anyway. And suddenly I was glad my Facebook page was sparsely populated. Without any information, they started making it up. They were calling me a rebound for Reece. That was fine. The less they knew about us, the better.
The last two months with him have been an experience. One that created a bond unlike any other I’ve ever had. He’s my favorite person. My mind is unfettered, my heart joyous when we’re together.
I’d never had a relationship like this. We’re each other’s safe place. His heart is so beautiful. His graciousness is totally unexpected. He isn’t perfect, but when he sees room for improvement in himself, he’s not afraid to admit it. He feels a real calling to try and use his platform for good.
