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“Hey, Trevor. Relax. Maddie will be here in less than ten minutes and give you some ideas. Jesus Christ, don’t get so worked up.”
Before long there was a knock at the door of the conference room. As it swung open, Maddie walked through it and I stood to greet her.
“Hey baby,” I said, as I walked over to her. Kissing her on the cheek, I gestured towards the conference table. “Maddie, you know Trevor Billings, right?"
“Yes,” she replied, as she tugged a strand of hair behind her ears. “Nice to see you again.”
He nodded as a meek smile spread to his lips.
“Sit down, Maddie,” I said as I gestured towards the table. “I hate to pull you away from the set like this, but having a couple of guys like Trevor and me trying to plan our engagement party is about as useful as a pecker on the Pope. Am I right, Trevor?”
“Uh, Grey!” Maddie said as she shook her head. “That’s terrible."
I chuckled as I pulled out her chair for her. Before she sat, Maddie turned towards me and whispered, “Did you tell him about…?”
I nodded. “I did. Someone has to plan the goddamn party, Maddie. Why not him? Don’t worry, he understands it’s to be kept a secret.”
“Okay,” she said with a whisper as she sat.
Once she had, I snapped my sleeve at the wrist and checked the time.
“All right,” I began, as I leaned down towards Maddie and kissed her on the cheek. “I need to be going.”
“Oh!” she groaned. “You’re not going to stay? Well, that’s no fun.”
“You’re in good hands here,” I said, as I nodded across the table. “Right Trevor?”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Sinclair.”
As he replied, I happened to glance down at Maddie. I noticed a smile come to her lips the likes of which I’d never seen before.
MADDIE
A couple of weeks after filming ended, the evening of the wrap party arrived. We’d decided to hold it at the same hotel Grey stayed at when he first came to LA. Grey spared no expense, booking every room they had so the entire cast and crew could stay there. He hired Chef Claude to cater the entire event as well, ensuring the very best food imaginable.
I decided to get ready in Katy’s room and spend a bit of quiet time with her, before things got too hectic later. We hadn’t been able to spend much time together as I finished filming, so it was nice to have an hour or two alone. Once we’d gotten ready, we made our way down to the grand ballroom where the festivities were well underway.
The interior of the ballroom looked like something straight out of a fairy tale. Awe inspiring in its beauty, it boasted thirty-foot high ceilings, more than two dozen teardrop chandeliers, fawn-colored hardwood floors and golden neoclassical wall coverings.
Katy and I made our way across the splendor between groups of people, stopping along the way for an informal chat here and there. As we meandered along, crisply dressed servers carried trays of hors d'oeuvres and fanciful cocktails.
We continued to the far side of the ballroom where it opened to an immense horseshoe-shaped balcony. Just beyond the balcony lay the hotel’s gardens. Perched at the property’s highest vantage point, the gardens offered a dazzling view of Beverly Hills below. We stepped to the furthest point of the balcony where the scent of night-blooming jasmine delighted my sense of smell. Katy and I stopped for a moment and looked out at the twinkling city lights below and then to starlit skies above.
“Maddie, this evening, it’s beautiful,” she began. “I still can’t believe Trevor planned the whole thing.”
I turned my head towards her as she finished speaking. “Oh I forgot to tell you, didn’t I?”
She looked back at me with a frown. “Tell me what?”
“Trevor didn’t do it. Carmen organized it.”
“Carmen?” Katy replied. “But you told me Trevor was in charge of putting it together.”
“Well, he was. For a couple of days anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“So you remember I told you Grey brought me into the conference room that day to discuss it with Trevor?”
“Yes.”
“Well, obviously Grey had no idea about the history between me and Trevor. And until that instant, Trevor of course didn’t know about Grey and me.”
“Yeah,” Katy said, as she chuckled. “I still wish I could have been there to see the look on Trevor’s face.”
I smiled and nodded. “Oh yes. It was priceless.”
“Sorry,” Katy replied, as I finished speaking. “You were saying… about the meeting in the conference room…”
“Yeah. Um so, Grey didn’t stick around for the discussion, but later on that night he confronted me. He said he’d never seen a look on my face like that before. At first I tried to dismiss it but you know Grey, he’s relentless. So finally, I just gave in and told him all about me and Trevor.”
“Oh dear.” Katy gasped. “What happened?”
“Well, Grey wasn’t happy, to say the least. But after he calmed down, I explained my side and my reasons for keeping it from him. I’ll say he accepted it, but… grudgingly.”
“What about Trevor?” Katy asked. “Did Grey go nuclear on him?”
“To my surprise, no, he didn’t. But, Grey told him he’d make sure he would never work in the industry again. So Grey gave him a choice. Resign or get transferred."
“What did Trevor do?”
“Uh, what do you think a weasel like Trevor would do?”
“Transfer. Definitely the transfer.”
“Yep.”
“Well, but you just said Grey threatened to blackball him from the industry so I don’t get it.”
“Yeah, he did.”
“Well what was the transfer for then? I mean, where did Trevor wind up?”
A wicked smile same to my lips.
“What?” Katy said as she leaned in towards me. “Maddie, where is he?”
I stifled a laugh as I sputtered my reply. “The Brew Ha Ha.”
Katy burst out laughing. “Hah hah! That coffee shop Grey bought? The one back in Indiana?”
“Yes.” I giggled. Katy’s hysteria was too contagious and I began to cackle right along with her. “H-He q-quit in less than a w-week. Hah hah hah!”
By now, we laughed so hard, we’d started to cry.
“Ohh, man…” Katy said, as she wiped tears from her eyes. “Well, couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Good riddance.”
After a few more moments of laughter over Trevor’s demise, our attention returned to the evening’s events.
“Are you nervous, Maddie? You know. About telling everyone?”
“No, not really. Excited more than anything else.”
“Oh my God,” she began. “I would be a total wreck right now if I were you.”
“Uh, Katy!” I groaned. “That’s not really helping."
Katy flashed a remorseful grin as she leaned in towards me and swallowed me with an embrace.
“I love you, Maddie,” she said as she fought through a sniffle. “And I’m proud to be your friend.”
I leaned into her embrace. “I love you too, Katy. And thank you. I don’t know what I would have done without you. You saved my life, literally. I’ll never forget it.”
Katy exhaled as she waved her hand back and forth in front of her eyes. “Please don’t start. I’ll never make it through tonight if you do.”
“You?” I replied as I leaned away from her. “I’m the one getting engaged.”
“I know. I’m just a little emotional, is all.”
“Well, knock it off, wouldya?”
Katy smiled as I finished chastising her. As she did, she looked past me, in the direction of the ballroom.
“Looks to be filling up. Where is Grey anyway? I haven’t seen him anywhere.”
“Well,” I began. “When I talked to him yesterday, he told me he might be running a little behind.”
Katy wrinkled her brow in confusion. “Yesterday? What’s going on? You guys aren’t fighting are you?"
“Oh, it’s nothing, really.” I said, waving her comment off with a casual gesture. “We’ve just been bickering a bit about setting a date for the wedding.”
“Oh dear,” Katy said. “Is he putting you off? He’s not getting cold feet is he?”
“Hmm?” I replied. “What? No, it’s nothing like that. You know how Grey is, Katy. Work comes first no matter what. If you try to get him to commit to anything too far in advance, he hates it.”
As I finished speaking, Katy’s eyes widened.
“What do I hate?”
Drowned out by the din of the party, I hadn’t heard Grey approach. Winking at Katy first, I turned back around to face him.
“Picking a wedding date?” I said, as I crossed my arms over my chest. Pursing my lips, I continued to chastise him. “Remember our discussion the other day? You weren’t exactly in a hurry to commit to it.”
Grey smirked as he closed the distance between us.
“Are you mad?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yes,” I lied.
Sensing my sarcasm, Grey edged closer, at last slipping his arms around my waist and hooking his hands low around my back, just above my ass.
