Sip of Assistance

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

 

I woke up outside tangled in a thin blanket, freezing cold. For a second I wondered how I got there, but quickly the night before came flooding back. I sat up and looked around for Holly, disappointed when I didn’t see her. I laid back down and looked up at the morning sky, remembering how hard it was not to kiss her… not just last night, but ever since the first kiss in my trailer.

Even after I decided to take Alessandra out, I quickly realized with her on my arm at the Emmy’s as she babbled -in what I used to call a sexy accent- about the other celebrities and her upcoming photo shoot, that I just wasn’t interested. Add to the fact that she was hammered all night at the after-party and I knew I was totally over it. Still, she was my date and I’d known her for a long time so I stayed with her and took her home, but the whole time I found myself scanning the room for Holls, watching her talk animatedly in her silver dress and tall heels.

I didn’t like seeing her with Jonathon. He looked at her in a way that irritated me, like she was his. There was something she wasn’t telling me. I only hoped she’d open up and trust me; let me in.

After that night I felt more protective over her, worried she was going to leave. I didn’t want to believe that guy, feel insecure about her disappearing because of some off-handed remark… but it was there in the back of my mind for weeks as she took me on interview after interview. I tried watching her more, so I could piece together everything when I found what I was missing. Unfortunately, all it did was make me more interested in her. Before I knew it, on top of wanting to kiss and touch her and make her yell my name, I also wanted to hear about her life before working with me and make her smile. Shit was getting real.

The drinking game sounded like a way to get her talking. I guess it backfired in that I didn’t learn anything about her past, but it was also really great. We sat around doing absolutely nothing all day and had a blast just joking and laughing. None of the women I’d dated in the past could do that; hence me with a new woman at each event.

There was a Halloween party to attend once I dealt with the b**ch of a hangover I had. It was still early, so I grabbed the blankets and pulled them around me for warmth going back to sleep, not prepared to deal with my feelings for Holly or the killer headache that was growing in my temples and too tired to care that I was still outside.

I woke much later, the sun directly above me in the sky, surprised that Holly hadn’t gotten me up earlier. I heard music coming from the guest house so I walked over and knocked. There was no answer -which I assumed was because the music so loud- so I tried the door; it was unlocked and I walked in, finding her in the kitchen. Classic rock -more specifically CCR- was blaring and she was still in her pajamas, dancing around singing completely off key while adding ingredients to a blender.

She belted out the chorus to ‘Down on the Corner’ before spinning around to see me leaning in the doorway. She jumped and yelped loudly, then placed her hand over her heart breathing heavily. I wasn’t sure if she was out of breath from all the singing or me scaring her, but I laughed anyway. She grabbed a towel off the counter and threw it at me. I caught it easily and strolled over to sit on a stool on the other side of the counter from her.

She walked out of the room and I heard the music turn down significantly. When she walked back in I asked what she was doing.

“My hangover cure, you need some?” She was focused on her task, not looking at me, cutting cucumbers.

“Hell yes! I slept in and I still feel like s**t.” I laid my cheek on the cold granite counter listening to the soft sound of knife into cucumber until it stopped. I looked up, curious about this amenity.