I don’t wanna take advice from fools
I’ll just figure everything is cool
Until I hear it from you
Til I Hear It From You,
Gin Blossoms
******************************
“You got everything?”
It was already a week after the Viggo party, a week after the paparazzi practical joke, a week after the Internet lesson. Orli was waiting for Hero in the living room as she made a last minute check of the whole house, their stuff already loaded up in the spy-taxi (as Hero called it), which Ben would be driving. They were on their way to the airport, and Orli decided to leave the Mustang at Sam’s.
In a couple of hours, the Fellowship would be leaving for Tokyo for the premiere of The Two Towers on Tuesday. Well, some of them at least. Liv Tyler, American Sean and John Rhys-Davies weren’t going with them, and Billy had to go home for an emergency. Ian, on the other hand, had a funeral to attend to, and would try to catch up. They were meeting Viggo, British Sean, Lij and Dom at the airport.
Hero checked all outlets and faucets and proceeded to the where Orli was waiting.
“Yeah, everything’s ok. Let’s go.”
As soon as they got in the cab, Hero started grinning from ear to ear.
“What’s with you?” Orli asked, amused.
“As if you have to ask. I’ve been like this for the whole week! Imagine everyone’s reaction at the office every time I giggle to myself,” she said.
Then she looked at him straight in the eye and said seriously, “Did I say thank you for bringing me to Japan yet?”
Orli got that familiar kick in his stomach that has been plaguing him since Viggo’s party, but he was used to it already. Now it was just a pleasant ache every time she looked at him with those chocolate brown eyes, or every time she laughed or spoke, or plain existed beside him. He looked back at her with his similarly dark brown eyes and replied, “Ten times already.”
Then Hero smiled that slow smile of hers and kissed him impulsively on the forehead.
“This is the eleventh time for the day. Thanks.”
And she stared out of the window like nothing happened, while Orli was left alone with his own riotous thoughts, with Ben looking at them smilingly from the rearview mirror.
They were taking a late afternoon Cathay Pacific flight from London to Malaysia, and from there, onwards to Tokyo International Airport in Narita. At the moment, everyone was seated in the first class area, preparing for take-off. As fate would have it (and in this case, fate had the name of Elijah Wood, who got their seat numbers with Viggo), Ms. Guevarra and Mr. Bloom ended up sitting together, with Hero in the window seat. Their seatbelts already buckled, Orli was dozing off in his seat, preparing for the long flight ahead, while Hero was constantly peering through the window as the plane slowly rolled out of the runway.
She started experiencing that familiar twinge in the pit of her stomach, which was a constant irritation to her every time she traveled. She started getting the painful twinges after a particularly nerve-wracking ride at an amusement park when she was in college, and since then she’d been paranoid about flying. The announcements made over the PA system didn’t register; she was busy muttering a prayer to herself and gripping the arms of her seat. She didn’t notice Orli opening his eyes as she was too busy trying to control her panic.
“Please, please keep us safe for this flight,” she mumbled. Then she closed her eyes; it seemed to work before, but not now.
Shit.
Now when she desperately needed to be calm and collected.
Goddamn it all to hell.
“Hey,” a voice whispered in her right ear. It was Orli, looking concernedly at her.
“What’s wrong?”
With her eyes still closed, she whispered back, “Nothing. Just a little scared.”
“You’ve flown before, right?”
She nodded, not daring to answer anymore as the plane gained speed.
Any moment now and I’ll be leaving the comfort of knowing that there’s something solid below.
And the idea scared the hell out of her, as always.
You’re Supergirl. You’re flying, that’s simply what you’re doing. With your cape fluttering behind you.
That was the mantra she’s memorized through the years to keep her sane during flights, most especially in moments of turbulence. But it wasn’t working today. Now.
She started leaning forward against the back of the seat in front of her, but Orli held her back.
“Hey, hey, its okay,” he murmured. “Nothing’s going to happen to us.”
He already gripped her right hand with his left one, but it still wasn’t helping. Hero looked pale. And scared. And it was the first time he’d ever seen her scared like this.
“How would you know?!?” was her panicky reply.
“What if the machines just mess up or something coz some idiot didn’t turn off his cellphone?!?”
Dom and Lij, who were seated right across the aisle, peered concernedly at Hero, and Orli shook his head imperceptibly.
“It’s alright,” he murmured, this time putting an arm around her and cradling her head on his shoulder. Ever since that eventful day when they surfed the Net together, they’ve been more comfortable around each other, and gestures such as this, which usually did not sit well with Hero, gave her the utmost comfort now. She sighed, but after a moment tried to disengage herself from him.
“I’m okay, I’m okay. I can handle this.”
He let her go and she went back to lean her head against the window. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah.”
She could hear the engine whine as the plane gained speed. Almost there. The pain in the pit of her stomach became worse, and she could actually feel herself gagging.
Shit. This is so not good. Why the hell is this happening to me now? I’ve flown this way a lot of times, and this has never happened!
She groaned.
He heard her.
“I thought you said you were fine,” Orli whispered furiously.
She waved her hand at him, not saying anything but giving him a very fierce frown. She closed her eyes tightly.
Not waiting for an answer, he pulled her back to him, and she didn’t protest this time. Without thinking, he kissed her eyelids, which were tightly closed, and started humming. He couldn’t remember what tune it was, but what the hell. He had utterly no idea how to handle people who were scared of flying; he had no idea how to handle a scared Hero, plain and simple.
He’s humming. He’s humming the Michelle Branch song.
The thought vaguely flitted through Hero’s brain, but it didn’t register till ten seconds after. She smiled, all fears forgotten and sneaked a peek at him. He was staring right ahead, but he still had his arms around her, his cheek resting on her head, which was on his shoulder. Then she saw Lij and Dom right across the aisle, who had goofy grins on their faces.
Oh lord.
“Pssst.”
He looked down at her. By this time they were already well over London, cruising among the clouds lit by the afternoon sunlight.
“Hmm?” he asked.
She looked pointedly at Lij and Dom and immediately sat up. At the same time, Orli glared at them and the two hobbits laughed uproariously. Hero heard Sean ask them what was going on, and she felt a blush coming so she turned back to the window, but Orli took hold of her hand and held it. They remained like that for a long time till Hero fell asleep.
“Ma’am?”
Hero woke up with a start. The stewardess was leaning towards her. Orli was asleep, his hand still holding hers. She noticed that he had on a silver ring same as hers, on the same finger where she wore hers. She got the crazy urge to dance, but the next “Ma’am?” of the stewardess shook her out of her reverie.
“I’m sorry?”
“Would you care to watch a movie?” The stewardess was holding out a pair of earphones. Hero disengaged her hand from Orli’s grip, took some money from her bag and handed it to the stewardess with a smile and thanks. After smiling back at her, the stewardess went to the occupants of the seats in front of them.
Before putting on her earphones, she looked at the slumbering man beside her.
Damn, he’s such a deep sleeper, she thought with a smile. His dark hair, which was slightly longer and curlier now, was lit by the overhead light. His whole face was relaxed in slumber, his mouth slightly open. She decided to play a trick on him. She sneaked a peek at Lij and Dom.
Good. They’re asleep.
Then she brought her face very near his, her nose touching his slightly, and stared at his closed eyes. A few seconds later, his eyelids twitched.
And here it comes, she thought impishly.
The moment he felt something brush against his nose, he woke up. And that smell which was only Hero’s hit him. It was her. His eyes remained closed as he thought of this new development.
You’re lucky today Bloom, my chap. I actually think she’s getting ready to kiss you.
It took all of his will to not smile, and he waited. And waited. And waited.
What the hell is taking her so long?
He started to open his eyes…and was met by her own. Which were twinkling with laughter at the moment. He was mesmerized by the merging shades of brown and black in her iris. And didn’t notice that she wasn’t smiling anymore.
Where the heck is the shout of fright I was expecting?
She used to play this trick on her brother when they were kids, and on other people when she was older, learning that it always gave people a fright. Imagine: the first thing you see when you wake up was a pair of magnified eyes directly in front of you. But clearly, Orli wasn’t one of those people. He didn’t even give her the benefit of a slight ‘eep’, not even a widening of the eyes. She pinched him in the arm to get back at him for spoiling her fun.
“OW!” he shouted, then fell silent as someone sitting behind them shushed him.
“What the hell was that for?” he whispered furiously as she started putting on her earphones. He quickly snatched them away.
“Hey!” she exclaimed.
Another “shh!”.
“Gimme that!” she whispered.
“Not until you tell me why you pinched me!”
“You didn’t scream!” she continued in hushed tones.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, completely baffled.
She frowned at him. The movie was starting, and it was Pretty Woman. She tried snatching back the earphones but he held it away from her, right in the middle of the aisle.
“Give me that!”
“Answer me first. What do you mean, I didn’t scream?”
“You were supposed to! Everyone does!”
He looked at her as if she grew horns on her head. “Huh?”
“You were supposed to scream with fright the minute you opened your eyes!” she replied as she grabbed hold of his shirt to get to his outstretched hand.
“You lost me,” he said, shaking his head. “That was the point of that whole ‘look-into-my-eyes’ endeavor?”
She threw a withering glance at him. “What? You thought I was going to kiss you?”
At that moment, someone snatched the earphones from Orli’s grasp. It was Viggo, on his way to the comfort room. He grinned at their weird position, with Hero practically on Orli’s lap and Orli practically hanging on his side trying to keep her from the earphones. Orli looked at him, startled, and Viggo threw the earphones to Hero, saying, “Catch.”
She grinned at him.
“Thanks, Vigg,” and quickly put it on, shooting Orli a dirty look, and was immediately lost in the banter of Vivian and her friend Kit Deluca. Orli glared at Viggo, who was slowly walking away, shrugging sheepishly at him.
“Spoilsport,” he muttered.
The minute they stepped into the lobby of the Palace Hotel in Chiyoda-ku at the heart of Tokyo, Hero gave a small jump, which made Lij laugh. It was ten in the springtime Nippon morning and everyone looked particularly rumpled and jetlagged except for Hero and Lij. They were met by reporters at Narita, and Hero made a beeline for their luggage as the others had their pictures taken. Then they got into limos and were driven to their hotel, which was mere steps away from the business districts of Tokyo, as well as the world famous Ginza shopping area. At the moment, Sean, Orli and Viggo were talking to the manager, while Dom was in the comfort room. Lij and Hero were looking around the impressive lobby, as Hero was saying excitedly, “Lij, you could see the groves and moats of the Imperial Palace from here!”
Lij grinned. “Yeah, I know! We stayed here the last time too.”
Hero smiled, a bit embarrassed. “Sorry.”
“Hey, it’s all good.”
Just then, a bunch of Japanese girls who were walking down the lobby started whispering among themselves, and started to ask for his autograph. As he was signing post-its and business cards, the girls were giggling among themselves. Hero shook her head smilingly, and dialed her parents’ number. A few minutes after a particularly nice conversation with her mother, she dialed Iris’, slowly walking to a corner of the lobby.
“Yeah?”
“Hey, you. I’m in the Palace Hotel right now. What time are you guys leaving?”
“A little after one. We’ll be there sometime around seven.”
“And I have a surprise for you,” Hero said smilingly.
She’s gonna freak.
“Tell!”
“We’re gonna be staying in a suite!”
“What the fuck? HOW?”
Hero laughed at Iris’ reaction. “Orli arranged for it. Lij helped too,” she added. “They wanted us to have separate rooms, but I told them all of us being in the same one was waaaay better.”
“I am so gonna kiss them the minute I get there!” Just then, “Hey, Mushu wants to talk to you.”
A few seconds later, “Hey you mean, mean person!”
“What are you saying? Moi? Mean? I just got us a suite!”
Mushu screeched, “What?!? A suite? At the Palace Hotel?”
Hero smiled. “Yeah. Orli and Lij got it for us actually. I mean, heck, they get to stay in suite rooms too.”
“They’re stars! They’re supposed to be staying in the suite rooms,” Mushu replied, giggling. Then, “Bree’s gonna kill us.”
“She has no reason to. She’s staying at The Imperial, which is as good as this place, and that’s like a few blocks from here. Well, except for the fact that Viggo’s staying here,” she amended.
A few minutes later, she was talking to Bree.
“What?!?” was also her reaction upon learning that her friends would be staying in a suite at The Palace Hotel. She wailed, “Why are you soooo lucky?!? I wanna stay there too!”
“So stay here.”
“I can’t! This damn conference is keeping me in this hellhole.”
“Whaddya mean hellhole? That’s The Imperial Hotel you’re talking about!”
“I don’t care! I want to be a few meters away from Viggo sleeping in his hotel bed!!!”
Hero laughed. “Goodbye, Brianna, I’ll see you…?”
“Not lunch. Crappy conference needs me to have lunch here. After five?”
“Wonderful! Come over here as soon as you’re done and I’ll introduce you to some of the Fellowship.”
After a few seconds of giggling, Bree finally hung up. Hero was smiling to herself when Orli strode back to her.
“Hey,” he greeted her. “What are you smiling about?”
She shook her head. “Just talked to the girls. Iris and Mushu’ll be here around dinner. Bree’s gonna come over after her conference sked for the day.”
He already met Hero’s mötley crüe of friends, well, over the phone at least, excepting Iris. He knew Mushu was another fan to contend with.
At least Bree’s hung up over Viggo, he thought.
“You want to see your room?” he asked.
“Sure, sure.”
“Where the hell is Lij?”
Just then, he noticed the gaggle of Japanese girls talking to the person in question, where Dom joined him as soon as he came out of the men’s room.
“Never mind.”
Just then, Lij pointed to him and all of the girls turned their heads.
“Uh-oh,” Orli muttered. Then, grabbing Hero’s arm, he dashed to the elevators, with Hero laughingly trying to keep up, her backpack dangling from her other hand. They jumped into one and got off the penthouse still laughing, where their rooms were. Hero whistled as they walked into Suite no. 4 where she was going to be staying.
“Impressive,” she commented. She walked to the double doors to the terrace and peered through.
“Look at this! Wow.”
Orli smiled. “Yeah, the perks of being a star,” he teased.
“And I have no intention of letting you go, prize catch that you are,” she teased back. She turned back to examine the room further, not noticing the serious look that pervaded his eyes after her statement.
“You’re sure the three of you are going to be okay sleeping here together?” he asked, looking at the carpet.
“Yeah!” she called out from the bedroom. “It’ll be like an extended sleepover!”
He walked to the bedroom, and there she was, sprawled over the king-sized bed. He ran towards it and jumped as Hero screamed, “No!!!” which regressed to hysterical laughter as he bounced off the bed.
“Fuck,” he muttered from below. She peered at him.
“Are you okay? Did you hurt anything?”
“Only my ego,” he said, rubbing his bottom as he stood up.
“I landed on a soft spot.”
She was still smiling. “You sure? You tell me if your back hurts.”
“No, not the back. The butt.”
Then he teased, “You want to kiss it and make it all better?”
She gave him a disgusted look. “I can only go so far for you, Bloom. Kiss my ass first.”
He grinned. “Gladly,” then started for her. She exclaimed, “No! I was only kidding!”
He finally rested beside her, their legs hanging from the edge of the bed.
“Hey,” Hero said, turning her head sideways to look at him, who was seriously scrutinizing the ceiling.
“Huh?” he asked, startled from his thoughts.
“Did I say thank you for bringing me to Japan yet?”
He laughed. “For the ninth time already.”
She smiled at him and said, “This is the ninth to the squared time today. Thanks.”
Then she yawned.
He smiled back.
“You’re welcome. And Hero?”
She already had her eyes closed as she said, “Hmm?”
“Thanks for coming to Japan with me.” And this time, it was he who kissed her on the forehead. Before she could get over the feel of his lips on her skin, he stood up.
“You should get some rest. You were hyper the whole time,” he kidded.
She replied drowsily, “It was the damn M&Ms, I’m telling you. I’m addicted to them.”
“That makes two of us. I think I have to smoke again to get over my M&M addiction.”
Then, “I’ll just go to my room.”
“Which one is it?” she asked as she took off her sneakers with her feet and burrowed under the covers, not even throwing them down properly.
“Right across this one. Lij’s is beside yours while Dom’s is beside mine. Sean and Viggo’s just down the hall,” he replied. She was almost asleep.
“Wake me up in an hour or so. I wanna go walk the streets of Tokyo,” she murmured. He went over and tucked the covers around her. She smiled without opening her eyes.
“You’re tucking me in.”
“Obviously.”
“You’re spoiling me. Not good.”
Then she dozed off.
Exactly an hour later, the phone beside the bed rang.
“H’lo?” she replied sleepily.
“Madam, I have called to comply with your request to wake you up after an hour,” a male voice with a clippy British accent announced.
“Huh?” Then the voice registered. It was Orli.
“Oh. S’ry.”
She yawned. “Yeah, I’m up, I’m up.”
“You better get your ass out here in fifteen minutes. There’s going to be this luncheon interview at the Crown Restaurant downstairs.”
She yawned again. “C…Can I just go out and eat somewhere else? I don’t wanna hang around with the reporters.”
“Hey, come on. You don’t want to listen to what I have to say about The Two Towers?”
“What does that have to do with me?” she whined.
“Fine. If you don’t want to, it’s okay. Where will you be off to?”
“I’ll find some soba-ya in Ginza. Practice my Japanese while I’m at it.”
Twenty-five minutes later, Hero was freshly showered and on her way to the Crown Restaurant, deciding at the last minute to listen to the interview. She had no intention of letting Orli know she was around though, so she made sure the interview had already started. Sure enough, the door to the restaurant was closed, and some hotel employees were seated in a table right outside.
“Konnichiwa,” she greeted them, bowing as manners dictated in Japan. The employees smiled and bowed back, and one woman spoke in English, “May we help you, ma’am?”
“Can I come in? I’m with Mr. Mortensen and company.”
The woman smiled and consulted a list. “Name, please?”
“Guevarra. Hero Guevarra.”
Please let my name be there.
“Gue…Guevarra. Guevarra. Yes, yes.” She motioned for one of her companions to open the door.
And Hero stepped into a zoo. Well, a relatively organized zoo, but a zoo nonetheless, with cameras clicking all over the place, cables strewn about, and reporters of different shapes and sizes littering the room. Hero inwardly cringed and stood at a corner. At the moment, Dom was answering a question about the reshoots. Hero looked around and found some of the reporters looking at her strangely. And she finally understood why after a few minutes.
The minute she entered the restaurant, he felt it. A buzz in the room. Just that. And he looked up to see Hero herself walk through the door. She was slinking around, taking care not to be noticed. She finally settled in a corner. He grinned and watched her while Dom was speaking. She still hadn’t looked at him though. A sharp jab from the left startled him, as well as the following whisper, “Wipe your drool, you’re looking like a lovesick puppy again.”
What was especially unfortunate was the fact that Lij’s voice carried over the microphones, and was heard by most of the reporters near the speakers, who immediately followed Orli’s line of vision.
Shit.
Orli was looking at her with a smile on his face. She smiled back, and glared at the reporters nearest her who were whispering to themselves. She started to slink out of the restaurant but then a reporter asked Orli a question.
“Orlando, we need to hear it from you. Are you and Hero Guevarra engaged?”
Her jaw dropped. She’d read the tabloids, and they were worse than this, but the minute she heard the question, it just blew her away. Orli was the epitome of politeness though.
“No,” he answered laughingly. The other actors also laughed.
The persistent reporter continued, as the other journalists did not really shut him up. This was too good an opportunity to pass.
“Is she your girlfriend?”
He shook his head.
“No, Hero’s a very good friend of mine, she’s one of my best friends.”
Hero smiled at the reply.
Well done.
But a feeling of disappointment filled her, and she tried to shake it off. She slipped past the door and walked swiftly to the Ginza district, deep in thought.
What if someone asked me? What am I going to say? Yeah, he’s one of my best friends too.
But then various images flashed through her head: him washing his teacup, him sleeping beside her on his bed, him shaving in her bathroom…She groaned.
No. NO way. Stop this foolishness Guevarra. You cannot be attracted him.
Then the Iris-voice, which she hasn’t heard in a relatively long time, said, And why the hell not? He’s a perfect specimen of a man! He’s a perfect specimen of your man! He’s good-looking, witty, taller than you are definitely, and most importantly, he has a great sense of humor!
Her own inner voice replied, He’s dangerous. He’s an actor. He can break you if you let him. And he will never fall in love with you.
All thoughts in her head ended with that last ominous statement.
“He will never fall in love with me,” she whispered, which caught the attention of some Japanese walking beside her. Then the Iris-voice came back.
Who said anything about falling in love? That’s the problem with you, you complicate matters! Just let it happen.
She shook her head mentally.
No. Don’t let it happen. You’re gonna end up hurt, one way or the other. Just be his friend. That’s it. No thoughts of kissing, no thoughts of…don’t even go there!
She walked faster and lost herself in the bustle of Ginza.
Around nine that evening, Bree, Iris, Mushu and Hero were sitting cross-legged in the living room of the suite, talking excitedly. Bree was saying, “Oh my God! I thought I was going to faint then and there! I mean, imagine! Hero was dragging me to where Viggo was and just like that, she introduced me! Out of the blue!”
Hero grinned. “You’re lucky they didn’t go someplace else.”
The Fellowship decided to stay in the hotel for the rest of the day, getting over their jet lag. Viggo was in the coffee shop with Sean when Bree arrived, and Hero immediately took the opportunity to introduce her to them. The minute Mushu and Iris arrived, they all ran up to the room. While the others freshened up, Hero called Orli.
“Hey hey,” she said.
“Hey yourself. Where are you?”
“I’m here in my room. The girls are here. Where are you?”
“I’m in my room too.”
“Were you asleep?”
“No. I was just…thinking.”
She laughed. “Better be good thoughts.” Then, “You know where the others are?”
“I think Dom, Viggo and Sean went to get a massage. Lij is in his room.”
Then, sounds of him getting up from wherever he was streamed through the receiver.
“I’ll ring Lij. We’ll be there in a few minutes,” he said. And they were. Thank god Bree and Mushu didn’t do anything stupid, like giggle like schoolgirls. Orli and Hero were privately grinning though. Lij latched on to Iris the minute he came in, and both were talking like they have been friends forever. Then they had dinner downstairs and were now back to their respective rooms, and Bree and Mushu’s giggles came down full force.
“I’m gonna ask Orli to marry me. Seriously,” Mushu said.
“Get in line sister,” Iris retorted.
Hero laughed. “Just let me be the bridesmaid, alright?”
Mushu raised an eyebrow. “What? You’re not gonna ask him too?”
Iris replied shrewdly, “Ms. Hero over here has decided that she is not anymore obsessed with Orlando Bloom.”
“How can you not be?!?”
Hero replied, “When you’ve seen the man drooling in his sleep, it kinda erases all traces of obsession.”
Their eyes goggled. She laughed. “I was just kidding. He doesn’t drool. But you get the point.”
Mushu exclaimed, “Yeah! The point being you got so close to him you actually saw him sleep!”
She mock-strangled Hero and the others laughed. A few minutes later, Bree got up to go back to her hotel, with the others wailing for her to stay the night.
“I can’t. I have curfew,” she kidded. “No, seriously, I have to go back. The conference sked for tomorrow starts early and I have a meeting with my colleagues.”
“What?!? Tomorrow’s a Sunday!” Iris exclaimed.
“I know! But we’ll be done around two so I can meet you then.”
After see-you-laters, Mushu and Iris went to unpack their stuff while Hero walked Bree to the hotel door. The minute she said her goodbye, she noticed Orli in his distinctive buttermilk yellow polo, sitting in the coffee shop. She started to go to him, when she noticed a blonde woman in front of him. They were laughing at something Orli said, and the woman was trailing her fingers down his arm. They had their heads close to each other.
God, look at that body language, the thought ran through head.
Then, who is she?
She couldn’t help it. She went to the coffee shop, pretending she didn’t notice them, and ordered two lattés. The woman had her back to Hero, but Orli couldn’t miss her. And he didn’t.
“Hero?”
She turned to look at him. He had this look on his face, like he could not believe she was there.
“Orli? What the hell are you doing here?” she asked, supposedly as surprised to see him as he was to see her.
“I could say the same for you.” The woman turned to look at Hero as well.
She’s gorgeous. Model perfect.
The minute she realized that, she decided to get out of there.
“Finally got over your coffee aversion?” he asked teasingly, but she was not in the mood for teasing.
“No. I just got some for Iris and Mushu.”
She was handed the lattés, and after paying for them, said hurriedly, “I have to get back before these get cold.”
Orli started to get up. “Wait…” but she was already to the door.
“Bye.”
She knew it was rude of her to just fly out of there, but she didn’t want to hang around and find out more about the situation she ran into.
Moron. Thought that was the reason you wanted to go there in the first place.
“Shut up,” she muttered to the Iris-voice.
Oh Lord. I’m talking to myself.
“I need help,” she groaned as she got on the elevator.
Probably couldn’t even pick up a girl even if he danced naked in front of one, huh?
The next morning, Hero was still in bed while Iris and Mushu were bouncing all over the place, freshly showered.
“Hey, come on, dude. We want the whole tour!”
Mushu was saying as she tied up her shoelaces. It would seem that the lattés she brought last night just kicked in. Hero replied, “Can’t you just go on without me?”
Iris glared at her. “What is wrong with you? Every time I wanna go exploring you pull this ‘can’t-you-just-go-without-me’ crap!”
Then, after laying her palm against Hero’s forehead, she continued smugly, “But you’re not sick this time so you have no excuse.”
Before she had to think of one, she was saved by the telephone. Or so she thought.
“Yeah?”
“Ro? Is that you?”
Damn. Shit. The last person I wanna talk to.
She sighed.
“Orlando.”
Back at his room, he raised his eyebrows.
Orlando?
“Do you have plans for today? Coz the guys and I were thinking of going to the International Aquarium.”
She glared at Iris and Mushu, who had their ears glued to the receiver.
“Sean and Viggo too?”
“No. Viggo’s going to this art convention at the Big Sight. Sean’s visiting an old friend somewhere.”
“Oh.”
Then she finally said, “Wait, I have to go to the bathroom. You talk to Iris,” and she handed her the phone without saying goodbye. She got up and strode to the bathroom as she heard Iris saying, “I don’t know. I guess she has her monthly thing.”
Hero had to smile at that.
Trust Iris to make the best excuses.
They didn’t know what happened last night though. Which was for the best or else Iris would be psychoanalyzing her or some shit like that again.
A few minutes later, there was a knock on the bathroom door. Hero was brushing her teeth.
“Wait,” she called out with toothpaste in her mouth. “I’m not yet done!”
Whoever it was didn’t answer, so she proceeded to take a long shower, International Aquarium plans be damned.
When she emerged wearing her bathrobe half an hour later, a towel wrapped on her hair, she almost tripped at the body which was sitting on the floor beside the bathroom door with its legs stretched out.
“What the-”
It was Orli, grinning sheepishly at her. She sniffed and walked to the closet, as if he was not there. He did not stand up nor say a word neither, just kept looking at her, and she was feeling disconcerted.
“What are you doing here? Where’s Mushu and Iris?” she asked as she took off the towel from her wet hair.
“They’re waiting with Lij and Dom downstairs.”
Traitors.
“What are you doing here?”
“I was just making sure you wouldn’t get lost on the way down. We wouldn’t want our translator going another way now, would we?”
What a load of crap, she thought, irritated. His voice was beginning to grate on her nerves now. She pointed to the living room.
“Scram. I have to change.”
He made no motion to stand. “Do I have to?” he teased.
She gave him a look. “I am not in the mood for games today, Orlando Bloom.”
He noticed the tone of her voice and he hurriedly stood up.
“What is wrong with you today?”
“Nothing,” she replied as she brushed her hair.
“Are you having PMS?” he asked curiously.
That irritated her even more.
How stupid can you get?
“If you haven’t noticed, I have perpetual PMS.”
Then she continued, “And what’s this? When I ask you what’s wrong with you and you tell me nothing, I shut up, but when I do the same thing to you, I have PMS?”
Then she pointed to the direction of the living room again. He got the hint and strode silently out of the room, closing the door behind him. And she didn’t regret her callousness.
Well, not until they were in front of the dolphin aquarium at least. By this time, Orli got her drift and was steering out of her way. The only one she seemed to get along with today was Dom, which was more than fine for Mushu and Iris. At least they got to spend some quality time with Lij and Orli. At the moment though, Hero was entranced by the beautiful graceful creatures; two dolphins were playing in front of her, and she laid her hand against the glass.
A voice from her right said, “Well, at least we found something you like.”
She was mainly silent the whole time, as the others oohed and ahhed over the piranhas, the sea horses and the electric eels.
She didn’t answer him, just smiled a bit and went on to look at the dolphins. He sighed.
“What?” she asked without looking at him. The rest of the company went on to the other aquarium where the sharks were, and they were alone. No answer. She had to look at him.
“What?”
He was looking at her seriously. “What is wrong with you?”
She shook her head.
“Nothing. Don’t mind me.”
“I can’t not mind you. You know that. Tell me, was it something I did?”
She looked back at him with a similarly serious expression.
“I don’t know,” she replied honestly. They were leaning their heads against the glass now, a foot away from each other.
“Is it because of Jemma?”
Who?
“Jemma?”
“The girl who was with me last night.”
What a pompous ass. Immediately assumes it was about that woman.
But he was oh so right. It was about the woman. She gave up pretending it wasn’t, for her sanity’s sake.
“Who was she anyway?”
“You truly don’t know her?”
She shook her head.
“Jemma Kidd?” he asked again.
“Doesn’t ring any bells. Sorry.”
“We were engaged once. A long time ago.”
“Oh.”
She got that horrid sensation of jealousy in the pit of her stomach again. Outwardly, one wouldn’t have noticed that the fact registered, but Orli did, judging from the hardening of her jaw.
She’s jealous.
The thought popped to his head. Then, what if she’s attracted to me too?
He got the crazy urge to jump, and he got a goofy smile on his face. She noticed though, and she wasn’t too pleased about it. To say it plainly, she was furious he was laughing at her again.
And you fancy yourself attracted to this egotistical actor?
She didn’t know with whom she was more disgusted at, him for being egotistical or herself for finally realizing the fact that she was attracted to him. She started to walk away but he grabbed her by the arm.
“Wait…”
She raised an eyebrow at him.
You better be feeling like the vilest scum on earth right now, coz you are.
She knew she wasn’t rational anymore, but what the hell. Knowing that hussy was once engaged to him erased all rational thoughts inside her head. She kept seeing the way that Jemma-creature trailed her fingers on his arm. And he was definitely not protesting.
Didn’t look like it was over from where I was standing, she thought vindictively.
“Are we friends?” he asked her, out of the blue.
What kind of a question is that? He better not be asking me to be his best man to their wedding or something.
She nodded, trying to keep her temper in check but she knew was slowly losing it.
“Friends don’t keep secrets from each other, you know.”
She snorted.
“Yes they do.”
“Well, at least best friends don’t.”
“Really?” she challenged him.
“And I suppose you consider me ‘one of your best friends’ huh?” She said, quoting his line on yesterday’s interview.
“And where was this best-friends-tell-each-other-everything bit when you had your own silent episodes a week ago, huh?”
“Fine. What do you want to know about me?”
“Nothing. I don’t want to know anything more about you. You, or that Jemma-person, or whatever!” she whispered fiercely.
“Jemma was in town for a modeling stint. She called me when she heard I was in town for the premiere. She left early this morning; she just came by last night to have coffee.”
“I know. I saw. You don’t have to tell me.”
“I have to tell you. For my peace of mind as well as yours.”
She noticed the desperate tone in his voice as the words tumbled out of his mouth. “Please don’t be angry with me, Ro.”
She turned her head to look at the dolphins again. “It doesn’t matter if I’m angry at you or not. It’s a stupid reason to be, I know. Just…just leave me alone,” she muttered.
He took hold of her chin and nudged it to make her face him. He looked into her shadowed eyes. He was sure she was as attracted to him as he was to her, and he was determined to make her see that.
“I don’t know how the hell you did it, but you caught me,” he murmured.
Huh?
Her forehead wrinkled. “What are you talking about?”
He took a deep breath. “You’ve got me, lock, stock and barrel. I don’t know exactly what that means yet, or what it implies, but I just want you to know.”
You just want me to know?!?
She stared at him and whispered. “What are you saying? That you’re attracted to me or some such crap like that?”
She winced at her words, but she didn’t want to sound like a fool, hoping against hope that he was as attracted to her as she was to him.
Please let her feel the same way.
“I thought that was what I just said,” he kidded nervously.
She shook her head, not believing what she just heard.
“This better not be one of your stupid acting games, Bloom, or I’m gonna kick your ass so hard you have to walk all the way to Antarctica naked to get it back.”
He laughed.
Yup. She feels the same way.
He felt so giddy he didn’t hesitate. He kissed her. Just like that. In front of all the tourists milling around, with Dom, Lij, Iris and Mushu a few meters away or wherever they were. He took her by the waist and pressed his body and his mouth against hers, feeling the soft lips give way, and she sighed against him. He bent down further and took the kiss deeper. Now that he started it, he couldn’t seem to stop. She tasted like her cherry lip balm and chocolate. He felt her hands slowly creep from his arms to his elbows to the nape of his neck. They left trails of fire on his skin. There was a slight ringing in his ears, which ended abruptly the minute someone who is going to be dead soon tapped his shoulder from behind.
Fuck.
He regretfully let go of her lips, which were at the moment swollen from his kiss. She had a dazed look in her eyes and he grinned. Then, without taking his hands off her waist, he prepared to shout at whoever interrupted the moment. And swallowed the insult at the tip of his tongue. It was one of the guards of the aquarium, smiling sheepishly at them.
“Ez-kyuz,” the guard said with a strong accent. “So sorry to interrupt but…” he gestured vaguely at the people milling around. Some of the children were goggling at Hero and Orli, and she turned beet red. She disengaged herself from Orli and spoke in rapid Japanese to the guard. From what Orli gathered, she was apologizing profusely for their indecent behavior. As the crowd dispersed, Hero covered her face with her hands and laughed.
“Oh god, I cannot believe I did that!”
She was so red her face could have cooked eggs.
“What? Kiss me or talk in Japanese?” Orli was delighted to see her so flustered. And it was just one kiss. Hell, he wasn’t faring any better either.
She glared at him.
“It’s indecent! It’s one of the weirdest things to do in Japan!”
“So they never kiss? Pity.”
Then he grinned naughtily at her and she shook her head. “Don’t get any more ideas, Bloom. That should tide you over for the day.”
He whined. “Aww, come on! We were interrupted!”
“Tough luck,” she replied, still blushing, and started to walk to the next aquarium. He decided to stop teasing her, took her hand and walked beside her.
“So you believe me now?” he asked.
She smiled to herself.
“You were very persuasive,” she replied. And then she continued, “So, you were saying?”
“What?”
“The best friend bit? The lock, stock and barrel? That whole hullabaloo?”
“Hey!” he protested as they approached the rest of their company who pretended not to notice they were back.
“I meant that!”
“Do best friends kiss each other like that?” she teased.
“I’d be worried if Atti did that to me.”
“So I guess we’re not best friends anymore huh?” she whispered.
“I guess not,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye. He had no idea where they were going with this, but what the hell. She kissed him back.
Chapter Eight
Fanfiction Main Page
Dreaming of You
