Chapter Two
Three hours later, there was a thunderous applause. The lights came back on, and the credits had finished rolling.
Aleca cought herself turning to Rob, then turned to Elaine.
"That was amazing! You guys should be up for awards for this."
"Thanks, Elaine," she watched her friends expression fall. "What?"
"Rob looked at you like- like you'd stabbed him, then left."
Aleca's eyebrows came together, then turned around. He was nowhere to be seen. "That's fine. I'll more than make it up to him tomorrow."
The room started to mingle again, everyone surrounding Aleca. She started to feel slightly claustrophobic. She spotted Taylor moving towards the door, so she excused herself and went after him. She glanced around and saw another mob of people, and in the center she saw Rob's famous hair. At least he was distracted for a minute.
"Hey, Taylor," she said, reaching for his arm to stop him.
"Aleca! I didn't expect to talk to you again," he said.
"Not even later tonight? You're wern't going to come?" She was honestly hurt, and she let her expression show it.
"I- no, I wasn't planning on it," he said.
"But why? Did I come on too strongly for you? Or is there someone else..." she paused, waiting for his response. "Throw me a line here," she said, becoming frustrated.
"It- it's not any of those," he told her quietly. "I just didn't think you were serious," he admitted with a shrug of his left shoulder. "I mean, with what's his name and all, why would you be interested in me?" He looked at her, searching her eyes.
"I'm not with him, I can be with whomever I choose. You're hot. So will you come tonight?"
A big grin stretched across his face. "You think I'm hot?"
Aleca nodded with a wicked smile. "So?"
"Okay. Are you going to an after party or something?"
"You're my after party," she told him.
"Wow. Okay. I'll see you in a little while, then," he said, as his bandmates waved him over.
"Good." She watched him walk away, and then waved when he looked over his shoulder for the last time and smile at her. He joined up with his band mates, and they all gave him big smiles and punches in the arm after pointing her out. She'd smiled and waved at them too, knowing exactly what they were talking about. They showed themselves out, only looking back once more with big grins on their faces.
Suddenly the room seemed to full. She wanted to get out, but she wanted to give Taylor a chance to get away before she went out, so she went to the ladies room. Opening the door, it was a little more quiet, but not much. Four ladies were leaning in towards the oval mirrors over each of the five sinks placed in white and grey marble, underneath the arched flower lights, applying different polishes and colors. She went to the deep red velvet loveseat on the other side of the room and sat for a minute, and dug through her black clutch for her phone. Pulling it out, she pretended to be doing something important, and not listening to the gossip from the girls in front of the mirrors. They wern't talking about anything in particular, just how many people were outside, who looked good in what dress, minor details. She knew they wouldn't say anything about her, they knew who she was. She saw it in their eyes when they all looked at her coming in. After a couple of minutes, their constant chatter was giving her a head ache. She needed air. She closed her phone, stood up, went to the last mirror, fixed her makeup, then left the bathroom. Press was outside the door, waiting to pounce.
"I'm going outside for autographs if you want to follow. I'll talk to you out there," she told them as she pushed her way through. She knew they were following her in a huge pack, and more joining in as she went through the doors. She paused, the doors closing between her and the press, and took in the swell of applause and screams. Turning to her right, she pulled out a black sharpie and autographed the first picutre held out to her as the press poured out of the building and swarmed her back, shouting questions. She answered, her back to them while she signed various objects. She gave hugs and took the occasional picture. The fans were loving it. See, she could be more popular than Rob.
Her security guards started freaking out when she crossed the street, to visit the fans that hardly ever got attention. After two hours straight, she guessed she'd signed at least two hundred autographs. Her hand was feeling it for sure, beginning to cramp even at the thought of holding a writing utensil. She excused herself when she'd made it back to the main doors of the theater, and climbed directly into her waiting limo. Resting her head on the back of the seat, she closed her eyes as they drove to her hotel. She hadn't seen Rob again. It was probably better that way. He could get over his anger, have his fit, and tomorrow when it was all over, everything would be fine in his world again when she jumped on him in his bed about brunch time, ready to make up. In the meantime, she was going out in the world of single life with a bang.
They slid to the curb of her hotel and came to a stop. Aleca opened her eyes as the driver rounded the car and came to open her door. She got out, to the unsurprising flash bulbs of more cameras, and disappeared into the hotel. She boarded the elevator, grateful for the silence, and the aloneness, leaning against the back wall. Sometimes there were just too many people. The elevator stopped at her floor and dinged open. She pushed off the wall and walked slowly to her room, then unlocked the door. Opening it slowly, she half expected someone to be there already, but amazingly, no one was there. She shrugged to herself and closed the door behind her. She threw her clutch onto the table, watching it slide across. Willing it to stop and not fall off on the other side, she waited. When it finally stopped, she kicked off her shoes and went to the bed. She knew Taylor would be there soon, if not any minute. She thought about if she should change, or if he would like undressing her from her event dress. Maybe she should just appear to him in a corset, garters, thigh high stockings and her heels. She cringed slightly at the thought of heels, but it'd be so hot. That's what she'd do. And when he knocked, surprise! She sat up and went to the bathroom to change quickly. A couple minutes later, as expected, there was a knock on her door. She tip toed to the peep hole and looked out, excited, her hand already poised on the lock.
Shit! It was the wrong Taylor. Lautner. Ugh. As hot as he was, he was still jailbait. Pitty. How much she wanted to run her fingertips up and down his torso...she shook her head. What did he want? Was he on behalf of Rob? She looked around frantically for a robe. Dashing into the bathroom, she pulled on the hotel's plush white robe and ran back to the door. Fixing her hair, she unlocked the door, opened it a crack, and peeked around from behind it.
"Taylor," she said. He was still in his tux. The tie was untied and the top three buttons were undone. If only she could offer to undo the rest...
"Aleca. Sorry to bother you. I see you're already ready for the night. Sorry," he appologized again. "I'll ah, just talk to you tomorrow," he said quietly, looking over his left shoulder.
"What, Taylor?"
"It ah, seems you have company," he said. Aleca opened the door another inch and craned her neck around and saw the right Taylor, behind Taylor.
Double shit. If only tonight was double Taylor night...she laughed to herself. She looked past Taylor and spoke to Taylor. "I'll be just a minute," she told him. He nodded and strolled off down the hall. She looked at Taylor, who's eyebrows were drawing together, putting the pieces in order.
"Oh. Yeah, I'll be back tomorrow," he said quickly.
"Spit it out Taylor," she told him.
"It's nothing. I just wanted to know if you wanted to catch a pay per view or something. Rob's all moody and brooding again. Bad company," he told her. The innocence in his voice tortured her. He didn't have a clue it was because of her.
Triple shit. How could she work this out to her advantage? She wanted to be there for her friend, but she also needed to screw Taylor tonight. She didn't want to be completely obvious and tell him to come back in an hour. Business. Would he buy that? She could try.
"Hey. Well, I have to talk to him about some soundtrack music, it won't take very long. Networking, and stuff. Why don't you go back to your room, order a pay per view in another hour, order up some room service and I'll do this, then come by your room? Is that okay? Give you a chance to get comfortable and all too," she offered, hoping he'd take the "strictly business" line.
A smile broke out over his face. "Cool. Great. See you in about an hour, then," he grinned, and practically dashed off towards his room. She closed the door, put her back to it, and sighed. Crisis diverted. It was better Taylor didn't stay the night afterward, though, right? Right? She tried to convince herself that spending the night wrapped in Taylor's arms wasn't the right thing, and that Rob was the one who needed her the most. A minute later, another knock sounded on her door. She spun around, and this time it was the right Taylor. She grinned, shed her robe, tossed it into the nearest corner, slipped her heels back on, stood in front of the door and opened it, providing him with a full view. His jaw dropped, which made her smile.
"Hey. Glad you could make it," she smiled, looking him over, still in his dress clothes. She grabbed his tie and pulled him in, kicking the door closed behind them.
"Aleca," he gasped, "you- you look amazing."
"Thank you. Not so bad yourself. Let's take some of this off." She helped him out of his jacket, took a step forward so her body was pressing against his, then undid his tie. Her fingers loosened his buttons while her eyes remained on his, then flicked down to his mouth, then back up again. When she got it open enough, she ran his hands over his chest. "So, Taylor," she said quietly, almost whispering, "do you like it a little wild or more traditional?" she asked, nipping at his bottom lip.
"Ah, I'm good for either," he said, watching her, frozen. "I'm here for you," he said.
"Okay, then, hang on." He nodded quickly, eyes wide, as her mouth took his. A moan escaped him. Encouraged, she pulled his shirt out of his pants and finished unbuttoning it. She pushed that off of his shoulders, leaving his hands trapped inside out. She undid the buckle of his black belt, and used her body to push him towards the bed. Undoing his pants, she slid them down over his hips, revealing his boxer briefs. She smiled against his mouth in approval, and pushed him down so he was sitting on the edge of the bed. She lifted a leg and placed her heeled foot in between his legs. Reaching for the small remote on the table, she hit a couple of buttons, dimming the lights and turning music on. Dropping the remote to the floor, she began to sway her hips to the music. She lifted her foot to lay it flat against his chest, then slid it up to rest on his shoulder. She shimmied closer, so her leg was bent at the knee on his shoulder. She leaned down and kissed him hard. Letting him go, she began to undress, by undoing the wide purple ribbon criss crossing in the front, keeping it closed. She let it fall to the floor.
"Wow, Aleca, that was amazing," Taylor breathed, splayed out naked on the messy bed.
Aleca sat up, legs over the edge of the bed, thinking about her next event already. She looked over her right shoulder down at Taylor, and smiled.
"It was," she told him honestly. "It was. And as amazing as that was, I hate to bring this up, but I have to get back to work." Taylor sat up. "You can stay here as long as you want, so don't feel rushed," she told him. She still felt bad, when the disappointed expression crossed his face.
"Oh," he said quietly. "Okay."
"Thank you so much for coming over, I hope it was as much fun for you as it was for me," she said with a smile. She stood up and went to her suit case to pull out a pair of dark blue short shorts and a light blue baby doll t-shirt.
"I think it was a little better on my end, with the show and all," he said.
"Ha. I like putting on shows," she grinned at him, then went into the bathroom, but left the door open. She wet a towel and wiped off, reapplied lotion and body spray, washed off her make up to just mascara, tied her hair up in a high pony tail, brushed her teeth, and bounded out of the bathroom. Taylor was dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed. He looked her over and shook his head. "What?"
"I still can't believe I'm here, with you, and we..." he waved at the rumpled sheets.
She laughed. "And it was great. And now you can brag to everyone how you slept with Aleca Stallings," she told him. He nodded. "Okay. You're okay?" She looked him over. He looked a little depressed.
"Yeah, I'm good. Go ahead. I'll be behind you in a minute."
"Alright, then," she went to him, and tilted his chin up with a fingertip, looking into his eyes. "It was great. I had an awesome time. I don't know when I'll be able to get in touch with you again, with my schedule and all, but we'll keep in touch. You never know, I just might randomly appear at a show," she gave him a sly grin. He smiled in return.
"Sure, sure," he said. She leaned down and kissed him slowy, goodbye.
"Thanks," she said. She stood and turned, then went to the door, feeling his eyes on her. Leaving the room, she paused for a moment outside, feeling sad and guilty. Shaking it off, she took a deep breath and went down the couple of doors separating her from Taylor's room. Stopping in front of the door, she knocked quietly. A second later, the door swung open quickly, revealing Taylor in a pair of dark blue sweats sitting low on his hips, the waist band rolled down, revealing the indentations by his hips. Why? Why did he have to torture her like that? Well, at least she'd had some release just before, so hopefully it wouldn't be too bad. She smiled at him.
Chapter Three