Take 2

Chapter 2

I watched as random people passed by the cute little coffee shop without a second glance. It was a shame, really. They had the most adorable cakes as well as awesome hot chocolate. Yum.

Ping

I stopped eating my muffin and pulled out my phone, seeing the words ‘New Message' flash across the screen.

‘Greenday Valley Hotel, Bar - Level 14, 7.30pm. Be there.’

I furrowed my eyebrows before realizing that it was the address to the party. I did a mental facepalm at that. How could I forget?

I went back to my muffin, turning it around so that I could reach the chocolate filling from the other side. It was a weird way of eating it but I didn’t care. It was too good to care.

“Hey, uh,” Someone said behind me. I didn’t bother turning around, more focused on making sure the chocolate didn’t spill out. Then, the person put their hand on my shoulder and tugged.

“Oh my god, let go of me!” I hissed as the chocolate began dripping onto the plate the muffin came with. The beautiful chocolate!

“I will, when you actually turn to face me!” The other person said. I could just feel their grin.

This isn’t a time to smile! The chocolate was wasted, that-that chocolate-waster! I thought as I sharply turned to face chocolate-waster only to find Parker Collins, the Parker Collins, big screen actor, award-winning, famously good-looking, and totally pegged over by women around the world Parker Collins, was staring right back at me.

“You waster!” I snapped before putting down the muffin gently, careful not to spill any more chocolate, then, standing up.

“Is that really the way to greet me, Saph?” Parker grinned. He caught me as I threw myself at him for a hug. “Woah, relax there, tiger. I don’t have an appointment until two, so chill.”

“Parker,” I exclaimed, grinning as I slightly pulled back. “I hate you!” I whacked his chest with my fists repeatedly. “You made me spill my chocolate you waster!”

“God, woman. I’ll buy you another if that helps,” He said, wide-eyed while trying to block my fists after suffering through my non-stop punching.

“Alright!” I chirped, skipping towards my seat and continued eating my muffin.

“What’s up?” He asked, sliding into the seat opposite of mine, waving a waitress to come over.

“Nothing really. I got a pretty big offer though for-” I began, putting down my muffin and picking up my hot chocolate.

“Yes, sir?” A waitress rudely interrupted me. I frowned and made the universal ‘crazy’ sign while pointing towards her. Parker grinned, then turned his charm, as he likes to call it, towards the waitress. Psh, like that boy had any.

“Ah, yes. I’d like a croissant, ham and cheese filling, and a stuffed muffin for the lovely lady,” Parker said. The waitress sort of choked a bit at his smile.

“O-of course, sir. Anything else?” She stuttered.

“Do you want anything else?” Collins asked, turning his full attention towards me.

“Not really. The stuffed muffin with chocolate filling, okay?” I said before looking out the window. I could feel the waitress’s stare at the side of my skull so naturally, I turned to face her. “Yes?”

She narrowed her eyes at me before turning back to Parker and cheerfully saying, “I’ll be right back with your orders, sir.”

I brought my hot chocolate to my lips as the table began shaking. Glancing over the rim of the cup, I saw Parker bent over the table, shoulders shaking as his fist pounded against the, well, table.

“Parker,” I narrowed my eyes.

“Sapphire,” He mocked. “You crack me up.”

I eyed him a bit before taking a sip of my hot chocolate. It was still pretty hot even though I got it about, give or take, ten minutes ago. “I have no idea why you're laughing. And I really don’t want to know but, please keep this in mind-”

“Here is your order!” The waitress from earlier cheerfully cut me off again, glancing towards Parker before setting down the food. “Holler for me if you need anything else!” Then, she left slowly, as if waiting for Parker to call her back. I almost snorted out my hot chocolate from the hilarious idea but thought otherwise. I wouldn’t want burnt nostrils now, would I?

“Yeah, I would like it if you could get some class.” Parker grinned before biting into his croissant. The waitress looked crestfallen as she briskly walked towards the ‘Staff Only’ room.

“Parker, you dog! Why would you do such a thing?” I questioned playfully.

“I guess you don’t know me that well if you don’t know about that.” He winked back. “Now, eat.”

“So, Parky, why were you late? Hot date?” I wiggled my eyebrows as I popped the last bit of my muffin into my mouth. I swallowed it with the help of my remaining hot chocolate.

“No, Saph." He sighed dramatically. "I had hoped that you would have guessed it, doll. I was caught in the midst of dozens of fangirls. After all, with big title comes great uh... Well, you get the idea." He grinned. "I had to fulfill my obligation to my fans 'cause big screens, girls crying out my name with gusto, and all that chiz, there’s bound to be autographs.” He winked while standing up after paying the bill.

“Don’t be too modest now!” I chided jokingly.

“I wouldn’t dare,” He said, straight-faced and all before cracking a grin once more.

“You’re a weird kid,” I giggled.

He raised an eyebrow but still kept grinning. “And you’re the lochness monster, oh wait, he’s waaay cooler than you, literally.”

“Funny,” I said monotonously.

Parker suddenly pulled me aside. “Are you going later?”

“Going where?” I replied, slightly unnerved from the fact that I nearly toppled over from his ‘gentle’ tug. That boy should learn how to control his strength.

“Cast party. ‘The Both of Us’. Ring a bell?” He said quickly.

“Yeah, I mean, I guess I’m going. To check out the cast and stuff...” I said. “How do you know about it?”

“I’m sort of... part of it,” Parker scratched the back of his neck, an old habit he never seemed to get rid of.

“Congrats! Anyway, how do you know I was invited?”

“Uh, Steve told me.” He grimaced.

“Steve told you.” I repeated unbelievingly.

“Just, forget about that. Are you going or not? Because you should.” Parker demanded with a mock glare.

“Okay, okay,” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll go to the cast party. It’ll give me a feel of how the movie’s vibe is gonna be.”

Parker shook his head. “Normally, actors would look at the script, storyline, whatever. And see if they like it, and if they can play it.”

“Well,” I began. “I’m not an actor. So, I’m trusting my instincts on this one”

He grinned. “You’re one crazy kid.”

We walked out of the shop and began going our separate ways. “Wait, hey!”

And you could hear Parker’s laugh resounding in the busy street as he slid into his car.