Falling in Love with a King [Elvis]

Chapter 7 - Can't Help Falling In Love

 "Yes, Momma, I took it. I told you that I wanted to, and you said I should take it in the first place."

"Yes, I know, I just can't believe that my baby is going to be in a movie! This is what happens when you work with stars on a daily basis."

I smiled lovingly as I held Alice's and my black rotary telephone to my ear as I sat on a cushion chair in my small living room to my hole-in-the-wall apartment in inner Memphis, about a block away from my work. I stared at the flower-printed wallpaper. "I don't work with stars on a daily basis, I just sometimes have the opportunity to interview them and get to know them a little more."

"Yes, and one interview paid off. Well, it didn't start as an interview."

"No. Honestly, I wanted to go home after being pushed down, but I didn't. I stayed in the building and ended up getting that interview. I wasn't going to leave without getting something."

"You know, you have always been a tough girl, ever since you were young. It didn't matter that you were a little slip of a thing, you took no nonsense from anyone. That's what makes you good at your job. And that's what got you this part in the movie."

Sometimes my mother could be so sentimental. If she was with me in person, she would be holding me close and kissing my cheek. She was my hero, along with my father. "Daddy got me the job, Momma. He convinced Paul, and that's how I got in. Paul was over the moon with having a reporter in the movie and doing back stories on it."

"Backstories on the movie and the handsome Mr. Elvis Presley."

I smiled as I heard "Love Me Tender" playing on my record player softly as I spoke with my mother. "Yes, he's excited about me working with him, too. I'm excited about it, too. Elated actually. What girl can say that they are going to be working with their favorite star?"

"Probably none. Just be careful, sweetheart. Don't fall in love with him. You have to be professional."

I hated that rule, but I had to live by it. "I know, and I won't. I least, I'll try not to." I paused, thinking about my past encounters with Elvis. My heart started to beat faster at remembering those eyes, that smirk, that drawl and his kindness. "Momma... actually, I think it's too late for that."

"Uh-oh."

"Yes, I know. But... he's by-far the sweetest, most selfless, handsome and talented young man I have ever met. He has a lot going for him, aside from his fame. It's a shame that he's famous."

"Because you can't be in a relationship with him?"

Being in a relationship with a star had never crossed my mind until I met Elvis in person. Now, it was something that I had to deal with, that is, if he felt the same way. I doubted that he did. Maybe I wouldn't have to worry about it after all. But what about when we sat at that table for my second little interview with him? Was he trying to take my hand? And that look he gave me... just thinking about it made my bones want to melt.

"Yes," I said to Momma's question. "I have a rule that I need to abide by, and he probably has rules as well."

"You kids just be careful."

"I have a kissing scene with the guy, actually."

She gasped. "You do?!"

"Yes, but it's acting."

"A kiss is a kiss, sweetheart, no matter if it's acting or not."

She had a point. "Still... it's not going to mean anything."

"You don't know that. That young man wouldn't be a man if he didn't react to kissing a pretty and extraordinary young woman like you."

I smiled. "Thanks, Momma, but I'm just your average gal trying to make a living."