"There they are!" The director beams as we walk through the door. He wraps his arms around Leonardo in a warm hug and greets me the same with more excitement. "Stephanie, it's great to see you again, and thank you for joining us."
"Thank you for having me," I reply in awe that he remembered my name. My guess is that he remembers me from the party when Leo introduced me to him. I was hoping he had forgotten, considering I stormed away after the paparazzi took an unsolicited photo of me, awakening a nightmare response. We haven't interacted since then, which I don't know if is better or worse.
With his other hand, he gives us our security badges to enter the set, a copy of the schedule for the week, and our current room arrangements. I scan the documents over to get a general idea of what to expect. The schedule outlined the date, time, and location of the set. It had everything from a list of the cast to special instructions for pickups and stunt work. At the very top, in bold, it holds disclaimers such as "No visitors allowed on set without prior approval from producers", "Absolutely no cameras", and "All crew must wear their photo ID tags." This alone made me realize how very real this was. Obviously, I knew what I was signing up for, but having a picture of myself on the badge staring back at me was more than enough of a wake-up call to keep me on my toes.
"Please be ready at the lobby by 6 am to be picked up by the shuttle. If anyone has any questions about room arrangements or the schedule, do not hesitate to contact me." Director Jimenez states. "I'll see you tomorrow morning. Feel free to order as much as you like for room service, but don't go crazy either. Have a good night!"
We all laugh and bid our goodnight to the director. Once he was out of sight, Georgia and Celise sprang right into action to bother Leo while Delaware and I went to get our keycards at the front desk. We were close enough to where Leo should ask me to rescue him from their clutches, he could.
"Let's see where everyone else is," I say, pulling out the room arrangements on the counter.
As predicted, on the fifth floor, Delaware and I share a room, and not to my surprise, Georgia is a floor higher, in a private suite with Celise. Below us on the fourth floor are Leo and Omar in one room, and in the same hallway are Mitchell Sithe and Noah Branko.
"Trying to find me," Mitchell says over my shoulder. Delaware and I jump away from him, thinking he was a stranger, but we were relieved he wasn't. The last time I was scared like that was when I was in the middle of teaching an English lesson
"We really need to put a bell on you." Delaware frowns and crosses her arms. "Where's Noah?"
"Sent him to the gift shop. He should be here any minute." Mitchell says, inching closer to me, covering my field of vision to Leonardo and Georgia.
"Mitchell, I told you this a million times. You can't send the poor guy out because he won't be recognized. He's part of the cast and not your personal assistant." Delaware fumes, pointing directly at his chest, backing him off from me.
"Alright, Delaware," Mitchell admits defeat with his raised hands in the air. "I won't send the boy next time, even if he offers."
The lobby door opens, and in comes running Noah with a cup of coffee in one hand and a bouquet in the other. "Hey, guys!" he brightly chirps, handing the bouquet and coffee to Mitchell with great pride.
"Thank you, Noah," he loudly says to Noah for Delaware to hear. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
"Oh, it's no bother. I'm always here to help." Noah reassures Mitchell. Mitchell pats his back and glances at the narrow-eyed Delaware. I can tell she heavily disapproves of this behavior, but keeps the peace for the sake of not creating any disruptions in the middle of the lobby.
Mitchell takes a sip of the coffee and gestures to the bouquet of wild flowers in my direction. "I got these for you as a welcome gift."
"Technically, Noah did," Delaware coughs under her breath in an apparent attempt to bash Mitchell. Mitchell gives her a disapproving side eye and resumes talking to me with the flowers still in his hand.
"Oh," was all I could say. I mean, what do you say to that? Knowing that he used Noah to get my flowers was an overall turn-off. To think he was my favorite member of The Menace Seven. No wonder people say don't meet your heroes.
"I hope they're your favorite. It's the thought that counts, right?" he flashes a poster boy grin and inches closer to me.
Sure buddy. If the shoe fits.
As I'm about to take the flowers to wrap this up, a shoulder of a taller man brushes mine and snatches the flowers from Mitchell. He throws them directly into the trash.
"Hey!" Mitchell protests and stops himself short when he realizes it's the one and only Leonardo Vazquez.
"My bad, Mitch. I just didn't want Stephanie to get an allergic reaction from your flowers," he protectively emphasizes. "Pollen makes her sneeze."
Leo then turns to me and winks, catching me completely off guard. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to get you orchids to make up for this. They're still you're favorite, right?"
How the fuck does Leonardo know I like orchids?
I was aware he knew about my pollen allergy, as during the same field trip at science camp, my nose became itchy and I sneezed like crazy due to reading by the flower fields. I had to go to the nurse's office and call my mom so they could give me allergy meds. It was humiliating. Not to mention, after our competitions, we would get awarded flowers, which I had to toss; otherwise, I would sneeze the whole ride home. But for him to know that I like orchids is a whole other level of surprise. That is, unless Beth told him. Only she knew what my flowers were.
"Right," I say, nonchalantly, as I internally scream. Beside me, the scowl on Delaware's face transfers over to Mitchell's and is replaced with straight-up amusement. I could tell she was itching for a moment like this, where Mitchell had been humbled.
Noah breaks the tension by loudly yawning and stretching his arm between Leo and Mitchell's staring contest. He says he will be heading to bed and asks if Mitchell will be coming.
"I think I'll stay here and chat with Stephanie for a while," Mitchell replies, ignoring the 6'2" man who is supposed to be my boyfriend. My fake boyfriend, to be exact.
"Actually, Delaware and I are pretty beat. We're about head up. But by all means, have fun down here."
Like Noah, Delaware exaggeratedly yawns and outwardly stretches in front of Mitchell to keep up the facade. "Yeah. Have fun down here, Mitch. Enjoy the free wifi. Leo? You coming?"
Leo nods and offers to help me as he takes off my backpack and puts it on. Noah does the same for Delaware, and the two hold the elevator doors when they open.
"Have a good night, Mitchell." Delaware teases from the elevator. He doesn't reply, and the elevators shut to a close.
When we get to our floor, Georgia enters our room, and I stand outside with Leo in the hallway to chat.
"What happened to Georgia and Celise?" I not-so-casually ask Leo.
"Probably in their rooms. I told Georgia I would stay up and wait for you. She was about to kick out Celise as her plus one if I agreed to share a room with her, but I shut that down faster than when Mitchell tried giving you flowers."
If I had a drink, I would spit it out. "I do have to admit. One of the best things about fake dating you is watching you humble him, which, thank you for that by the way. I was going to throw away the flowers after he gave them to me."
A slight prick of an honest smirk dares to lift on the side of Leo's mouth. "That's good. To hear."
The alarm on Leo's wrist brightens with an alarm he had set for himself. "Go to bed, Leonardo," I tell him.
"I should really mute this thing," he says, turning it off.
"No, you shouldn't. It's doing its job." I scolded and lightly tugged him by the sleeve of his shirt. "I'll walk you to the elevator."
"How about you tuck me in?" He jokingly says.
Classic Tortuga and his flirtatious lines. There is no doubt in my mind that he hasn't said it before, considering all the people I've seen him with since middle school, including the head cheerleader, Heather. The delivery felt too rehearsed.
"Sure." I shrug, loosening my grip on his shirt.
"Wait, really?" He does a double-take, slightly slowing his steps.
"No. I cheekily simper, unable to contain my enjoyment of tricking him. It's a mediocre win, but it's a win nevertheless. "But I sure can text Omar to do that for you."
His frown returns. "How about reading to me?"
"Good night, Tortuga." I press the elevator doors, avoiding answering the question. I would be lying if I said I wasn't considering it.
"Good night, Estrella. I'll meet you at the lobby in the morning."
"With breakfast?" I jokingly inquire since it wasn't on the schedule, but knowing the foodie I am, Leo took it literally.
"It will be right at the foot of your door by 5:30 am. Text me whatever you and Delaware want. Unlike Mitch, I'll send it over with someone that isn't Noah."
"Let me guess, Omar?" I presume.
"Yes," he surely admits. "But I'll make sure to pay him extra."
"You better." I threaten, being someone who knows the pain of waking up early for work. Without coffee, I have no clue how I would have the energy to jump-start my classroom.
The elevator doors open, and he steps inside.
As lame as it is, I waved to him until he was out of sight and silently went back to my hotel room. Delaware had already showered and, with great excitement, held two face masks out to me. One for me and one for her.