Page 4 of Hollywood Crush

“Whenever you like, Mr Ellison. It’s just you tonight, I’ll set up the dining room for you and you can just pop your head in and let me know when you’re hungry.”

“Sure thing, thanks,” he replied. I turned to leave but he coughed gently. “Please call me Daniel.”

???

I walked through the foyer into the dining room, behind the bar and into the kitchen. My mother was sat in there with a cup of tea and scrolling her phone as usual. All the chrome cooking surfaces and utensils had been polished til they gleamed. “And where have you been? I told you we needed to get this place cleaned before they move the caterers in.” She hadn’t lost her Scottish accent despite living here for a number of years.

“A guest arrived early, Mam.”

Her eyes widened in horror. “Early? Well why didn’t you say? I need to set up a room for them, they can’t be left out on the street! You don’t know how important this is!”

“I’m well aware of how important it is. He’s the main star, I know that. So let me handle things, as I do own this hotel.” Somehow, despite her having passed ownership of the hotel to me some years ago, my mother still liked to think I was some kind of incompetent. “I’ve put him in themaster suite as reserved.”

“Does he have towels?”

“Yes.”

“Clean bedding?”

“Yes.”

“A dressing gown?”

“Mam, we haven’t offered dressing gowns since the 90s.” I patted her shoulder. “I have things covered.”

“Well what are you going to give him to eat this evening, huh?”

“I…I have that covered too.” I felt a bit less confident with that statement, but knew we had a fresh supply of burgers from the butchers’ and buns from Glyn’s Bakery in the village. “Grab the sourdough for me, will you?”

My mum obliged and I got to work on the griddle. I had some fancy cheeses in the fridge that I’d been keeping back for a cheeseboard and enough potatoes to sink a small ship.

I cooked three burgers on the griddle, topped them with a spicy cheese and chopped and fried the chips in oil. After taking the burgers off and letting them rest to the side, I sliced and toasted the sourdough bread over the fat from the burgers. Much as I loved running the hotel, cooking was what really brought me alive. I was good at it and it brought me joy even when the timings stressed me out.

“So,” said Mum as I fiddled with the presentation. “Which of the actors is it?”

“Daniel Ellison,” I replied.

“Oh, the handsome one? The one they say goes for boys and girls?”

“Yes Mam, that one.”

“Well you better not go trying anything on. There are plenty of men here in the village.”

“Yes, I understand that.”

“Look at Llywelyn! With that boy from London. Won’t last.”

“Not everyone is like you and Dad, Mam,” I said. I regretted it instantly, but I hadn’t liked what she was insinuating about my best friend and his partner. “Sorry. What I mean to say is…not all men from out of town are arseholes.”

“I know,cariad,” she said, adopting the Welsh I wasn’t sure she had even noticed had become entwined with her strong Scottish roots. After all Dad had done, leaving us with this place, I didn’t blame her for being at least a little bit wary of strange men with big ambitions.

“Though…” Mam pulled out her phone again, shoving it in front of my face. I tried to focus on it as I cooked but it wasn’t until I was finished with my cooking and had sat everything aside to rest that I could take her phone myself to have a look.

“Jesus Christ,” I said. It was an Instagram with over 200,000 followers. Specifically, Daniel Ellison’s. The picture she was trying to show me was him in some kind of magazine shoot, allhairless muscle and charisma stood underneath a shower. He was in white Calvin Kleins which were soaked through just enough to tempt me to zoom in. He had abs that looked like steel and broad shoulders and big forearms that looked like they could crush boulders.

His boxers looked like they were packing some serious weight too. I went to zoom in on them, then remembered Mam was still looking over my shoulder. Running a hotel, even an empty one, had its downsides. With the amount of time it had been since I had chance to get out of town and to the clubs…I was thirsty. But still, no use in signposting that.

“Nice enough,” I said as nonchalantly as possible before passing the phone back to Mam.

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