Lights, Cameras, Outsiders!

Chapter 48

LCO 48

"Cruise, Cruise, Cruise!" I hollered and ran up to him. He turned around and grabbed a hold of my arms.

"What?"

"Matt's letting me go! He's letting me go to LA with you!" I said.

"YES! I thought he wouldn't let you!"

"I didn't either," I said. Cruise slung his arm across my shoulder.

"It'll be great. We can go to this place down in Beverly Hills," he said.

"Beverly Hills?"

"Beverly fuckin Hills, the place where dreams come true and I will buy you your very own office down there."

"You're such a dreamer."

"Can I buy you the office you want to work in someday?"

"Yes."

"And it will be in Beverly Hills?"

"Yes."

"And if I don't-"

"You will."

**********

"And here we are!" Cruise opened the hotel room and smiled. A king bed stood in the middle with long windows facing the city. A little lounge area was to the left with couches and a coffee table and a bathroom was to the right.

"Oh my Gosh, Cruise, this is so nice," I said.

"Yeah, I know. Go in," he said. I dropped my luggage in the corner and sat on the bed.

"Wait, we only have one bed," I said.

"I know, I'm sorry. I can sleep on the couch," he said.

"No, you have an audition tomorrow. I can sleep on the couch," I said.

"Essie, I can sleep on the couch."

"No, I'm going to sl-"

"I swear to God, say it again, and you're sleeping on the floor," he said, dropping his luggage in the corner. He sat on the bed next to me and picked up the phone.

"Ya hungry?"

"Starving," I threw myself back on the bed.

"Hi, can I get a cheese pizza to room 1214? And some uh, Essie, do you want a beer?"

"Yes."

"And two beers please....okay... Thank you." He hung up the phone and laid back next to me.

"This is the luxury LA offers," he said.

"Where does your mom live?"

"About an hour away. I was gonna stay with her but we don't have enough room for the two of us and this is closer to the studios."

"Didn't you stay with Emilio when you auditioned for The Outsiders?"

"Yeah me him and Rob."

"You know Rob was telling me Francis wanted to bring his nephew on set because he's some sort of actor."

"Really? What's his name?"

"Nicolas Cage."

"Never heard of him."

"He auditioned for The Outsiders but I didn't think that much of him."

"What'd you think of me?"

"Talented little shit."

"You think I'm talented?"

"Yes!" I sat up.

"Do you not think you are?" I said.

"I think I just do my best, I don't think it's-"

"It's talent. You have a lot of talent," I said.

"Yeah, I guess. That's why I got the small role for The Outsiders and I've gotten small roles before."

"Tom, 95% of the people that auditioned didn't even get a role," I said, getting up when someone knocked on the door. I opened it to a boy pushing a cart in with a box of pizza on top and two frosted beer glasses. Cruise retrieved the things and paid him.

"That was fast," I said.

"Yep. Look, Essie, I've worked extremely hard. This is what I want to do and I'm happy acting and I want this to be my career," he said, opening the box of pizza and tossed me a beer from where he was standing.

"I know you work hard, and you're going to be a star. The God of Hollywood," I smiled and popped the lid off with the edge of the bedside table. Cruise came and sat down next to me with a slice of pizza on a paper plate.

"Here," he pushed it towards me.

"Shit, what time is it?" I said.

"Uh...ten oh five," he said looking at his watch.

"I'm gotta call Matt," I said, picking up the phone. I dialed the hotel room three times but he didn't pick up.

"It is midnight over there," Cruise said.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Why do you have to call him anyway?"

"Just to make sure I'm okay," I said. He raised his eyebrow.

"And to make sure we don't do anything to piss him off," I said. He smiled and took a bite of pizza.

"I've never been this paranoid with any of my girlfriends," he said.

"Oh, yeah, what have your girlfriends been like?"

"Obsessive and clingy. I treat them right."

"Oh you do?" I took a sip of beer.

"I grew up with women. I know how to treat a woman," he said, putting his beer on the bedside table.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"And how did you treat them?"

"I knew what they wanted and how they like to be treated. Except I ordered this girl dinner for her and she nearly killed me," I laughed and fell a little forward onto his shoulder. He grabbed my shoulders and chuckled a little before becoming dead serious. I don't know what it was, but it was really the first time I looked at him, saw what color his eyes were, how low his eyebrows were, the mole underneath his skin by his lip. He smiled and started to get closer, and I could really concentrate was the pounding I heard in my ears and the warmth in my face.

"Don't tell Matt what I'm about to do," he whispered before closing his eyes and touching the rim of his lips with mine. And he connected and intertwined our lips and laid his palms on my lower back. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck as he kept releasing our lips and going back in. He began to smile everytime we kissed and I started to run my fingers through the hair on the back of his neck. We began to run out of breath after while and he moved his hands from my back to my waist. I released.

"Tom..."

"Don't worry, we don't have to tell anyone," he whispered, nudging his nose against my cheek and kissing it before unbuttoning it.

"What about-"

"Shhh. He doesn't need to know."