Closer to Love 💚

Chapter 3

****1 month later****

"Maggie! I have to go!"

'Do you know who is in the movie yet?'

Francesca sighed, "no! Goodbye!" She heard a laugh before she hung up the phone. She entered the office of the lead producer, Sandra.

"Fran. You're here. I need you to go meet an actor at the gate." She handed Francesca keys to a golf cart that was right outside the trailer. Sandra looked at her notes, "he'll be in trailer 2. You can take him there to drop off any personal items before driving him to the main studio for the read through."

"Sure thing." She accepted the keys and passes, exiting the trailer to take the golf cart to the gate. She looked down at the passes, groaning as the gate opened and she came face to face with him.

"My Franny!" He smirked as he watched her blush.

"Shh!" She shoved the passes at him, "you can use these to get on set from now on." She got into the driver's seat hyper aware of him watching her as he climbed in next to her.

"You lied to me, you said you lived in Seattle."

"No." She nudged his hand away as he placed it on her thigh, "you asked where home was. I'm from Seattle. I didn't say I lived in Seattle."

He laughed, "semantics. My Franny."

She groaned, "stop calling me that Mr. Madden. And you never called me."

"Mr. Madden? I like it." He sighed, "and I waited too long. I'm sorry Franny." He grabbed her hand as she parked in front of his trailer. "I wanted to, but I didn't know what to say. And then it came to being too long without saying anything and I felt stupid for taking so long."

She nodded, getting out of the cart, "so you just don't say anything?" She opened the door to the trailer, letting him enter ahead of her. She sighed, shaking her head, "it's really fine. I never leave my number for guys. I don't know why I even did it. Let's just forget it ever happened? Please?"

He brought his hand to the loose tendril that fell into her face, twirling it in his fingers, "and if I don't want to? Ms...."

She took a step back away from him, "Roberts. Francesca Roberts. And I just started here, I don't want to be seen as the girl that sleeps with all the actors. So I kindly ask that you back off."

"All the actors? I was hoping it would just be me. But hey, we aren't exclusive. Franny."

She watched him smirk as she shook her head, chuckling, "your confidence knows no bounds. Please don't make this any harder on me than it already will be. We have to get you to the studio for a read through."

He nodded, grabbing her waist as he placed his hand on her lower back, holding her body to his, "but you signed the note 'your Franny'. And you stole my shirt."

She laughed, pulling away from him, "I spilled beer on it. It's mine now. Do you want it back?"

He shook his head as he held open the door for her to exit ahead of him, "absolutely not. I would however love to see you in it."

She got into the driver's seat again as he sat next to her. She looked at him, leaning closer to him as her mouth hovered over his, "please stop Richard."

He leaned closer so his lips just grazed hers, "yes Ms. Roberts. I'll be on my best behavior from now on. Let me know if you change your mind." He smirked as he heard her breath hitch before she pulled away. "Please, call me Mr. Madden. I like it." He smiled as he heard her laugh beside them as she drove them through the lot.

*************************************************************************

Francesca sat off to the side as the actors went through their read through. She felt Sandra lean down next to her, whispering in her ear.

"Mr. Madden asked for you personally to be his PA for the duration of filming. So you'll be in charge of getting him where he needs to go. Okay?"

She sighed, but smiled and nodded as Sandra handed her his schedule, "yes ma'am." She looked up at Richard and saw him smirk and wink at her. She groaned, shaking her head before looking back down at her phone. She heard the director talking about the upcoming scene which was a love scene between Richard and the lead actress. She looked up as they read through the dialogue, feeling a twinge of jealousy as they did. The feeling was new for her as she watched him lean over to kiss the woman. She groaned quietly, looking away as she pretended to fiddle on her phone. Why was she jealous? She had no reason to be. She's the one that said she didn't want to be with him. She sighed, it had just been a few weeks since she had sex. That's all she needed. She nodded to herself, making silent plans to go out later.

Once they were done, Richard approached her, "you have my schedule? Ms. Roberts."

She shook her head, handing him a paper, "here. I'll see you here in the morning." She started to walk away but felt him grab her arm. She looked around as he let go, "what?"

"What are you doing tonight? Can I take you to dinner?"

She groaned, "please. Richard, I can't do this with you. I will not be the assistant that sleeps with the lead actor. I won't."

He shrugged, "but we already have. I want you Franny."

"No. And please, please stop calling me Franny."

He nodded, "okay. I'll see you in the morning Ms. Roberts."

*********************************************************************************

After hooking up with some random guy Francesca found at a local bar, she checked her phone to see messages from an unknown number. She sighed as she opened them to see they were from Richard.

Unknown Number:    
I know you said no. But I had to try once more.
Don't respond and I will pretend like Scotland never happened.
But I want you Franny.
My Franny

Franny:
. . .
. . .
. . .

Richard laid in bed, looking at his phone as he watched three dots appear and disappear a few times before completely disappearing. He sighed, setting his phone on the nightstand.