Page 15 of Hollywood Crush

“And do you think it’ll be the last?”

“I…think so. I don’t know, Mam.” We hadn’t ever really had boundaries but still, talking about sex so directly with her was a bit embarrassing. “He’s a nice man. And kind. And I don’t want to say it’ll never happen again because it could. I just have to ask him where he stands on all this.”

“If you’re after a bit of fun, and you think it won’t hurt you or us, go for it. But I’m begging you not to fall for him.” Mam pulled me up into a standing position. “I’m not saying love doesn’t happen, or can’t. But you saw what happened to me. How it broke me. Don’t make my mistakes, cariad.”

???

My mother’s words were still echoing in my mind at midday, when I stood behind the reception desk waiting for Daniel to arrive. It had been a quiet day since most of the crew had left early morning and myself and Mam had split up our allocated room to clean. I had been tasked with walking down to pick up the hotel’s van from its service down at the mechanic on the other side of town. I figured it was as good a time as any to get Daniel to talk.

I heard his footsteps on the stairs before I saw him. He was dressed, as usual, like a star. He wore tight-fitting jeans, Chelsea boots, t-shirt and jacket that all fitted him exceedingly well. “Where we off?” he asked with a grin.

“You’ll see,” I replied. I tapped at the keyboard to lock the reception computer and gestured for him to follow me.

It was a lovely day outside — sunshine and very little wind. As we walked down the steep hill from the hotel in silence I rolled up my shirtsleeves to catch a bit more of the sunlight on my skin.

“Have you been into the town much?” I asked Daniel. He seemed to be having a bit of difficulty with the hill in his fancy boots.

“Nope, mostly just stuck to the hotel and wherever we’ve been shooting,” he said. “I don’t like going into towns or villages. Always people asking for pictures and autographs.”

‘Well look at you, Mr Famous,” I said. “Can’t you just tell them to piss off?”

“I couldn’t possibly…” Daniel said.

“Well in that case, let me be your ‘piss-off-er’ today. Anyone cause you any trouble, I’ll tell them where to go.”

“I really don’t want to cause trouble.”

“Good, I will.”

We were coming to the bottom of the hill. The village really did look lovely in the summer sunshine. The river sparkled as it meandered bythe high street and the flowers were blooming in their planters, diligently watered daily by an ageing parish council. The high street consisted of one long row of shops on one side of the road. The other side of the road offered picnic benches and views over the river.

The high street had been revitalised a little bit in recent months. James’ cafe was doing a booming business and a new family had moved into one of the shops in the row and opened a florist. The bakery, and charity shop had been staples for years but the new additions were starting to take the high street from shabby to chic.

“Those are beautiful,” said Daniel, pointing at a bouquet of flowers in window of the florist as we passed. He crossed over the pavement, almost tripping me up, and entered the shop.

“Hello, can I help you?” asked Samara, the florist. She wore a hijab that matched the colourful floral displays in the shop perfectly.

“Hi, Samara.” I reached over the counter to give her a quick hug. “Just showing him around.”

“Oh my god, is that…”

“Yes, yes it is. Don’t make a scene.” I tried to keep my voice low but obviously Daniel heard, as he froze for a second with his back to us before he continued to browse. After another minute, he looked up.

“Can you save these for me? They’re beautiful, but I forgot my wallet.” He patted his pockets as ifit might magically reappear, then gave Samara that Hollywood smile.

“Of course. When will you be back for them? Did you want delivery?” Samara practically threw herself over the counter to help him.

“I’ll be back in a few hours, I’ll arrange delivery then.” He turned to face me. “Sorry, Tudor. Were we on a schedule?”

“Just a little bit,” I replied with a small smile. I’d made sure Mam knew we might not be back for an hour or so, just in case we had any people stopping Daniel in the street. I hadn’t realised that it would be him holding us up.

“Come on then,” he said, immediately exiting the shop and turning right back towards the hotel.

“Wrong way,” I grabbed his arm and pulled him to face the right way. Without much subtlety, he pulled his arm away from mine.

“Sorry,” he muttered, all trace of Hollywood smile gone. “Just…cameras.” And his eyes darted around as if there might be paparazzi hiding in bushes somewhere.

“That famous?” I asked. I tried to keep the smile on my face, but it hurt a little bit. It hadn’t even been like we were holding hands. Was it that bad just to be seen with me?

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