Temptation

20 - Madden

I walked through that crowd easily. They had no interest in a small girl, they only wanted to see Hero Tomlin. Hero Tomlin, my now boyfriend who is also a very popular celebrity.

The drive back to the apartment has me very silent. In my head my conscious is telling me that dating this man is too risky. Did you not just see all those people? All those cameras? One photo together is all it takes for him to track you down. I can't lie that I'm terrified and I saw this coming, but I can't get my heart to follow my head, I'm really starting to like Hero and to just let him go would probably break me.

* * *

THE NEXT DAY

Hero has set up 3 phone call radio interviews with the most popular station in Canada, and two in the United States. I sit by him in the bed to listen to the first.

"Goooo-ood Morning Listeners. Do I ever have a surprise for you! Today, joining us on air is Hero Tomlin!" The producer presses a button to add some cheering after announcing his special guest. Hero introduces himself and thanks the host for having him. The host jumps quickly into his interview: "Hero, how are you feeling? Fans have been going crazy trying to get some information on you and what happened to you just two days ago." Hero explains that he had an accident on set and suffered a concussion but does not give them any more information. "Concussion eh? That blows. So, when will you be able to return to filming the movie?" Hero tells him that his health is important and would love to go to film right away but needs to wait a month. After a few questions about the new movie, the host moves onto some personal questions: "Every young girl out there who watches your movie just wants to know, are you seeing anyone?" Hero takes my hand in his and tells the host that he is not in a relationship but if he was, he'd ask for privacy because it is hard for him to have a life with people following him everywhere he goes with intention to share photos on the internet.

All three interviews are the same, during the second interview, I take a shower and during the third I lay in bed. I have fallen asleep while Hero remains on the phone for the remainder of the interview and then calls Mara. Even though Hero isn't allowed to be working on set, he still seems to be working; he has to figure out details of his leave with the executives of the movie because they were supposed to be done filming the Vancouver scenes in two weeks.

I am woken with cold lips kissing the tip of my nose and Hero stands above me. "How was your nap?" "Much needed," I say and give him a smile. He picks me up over his shoulder—which he shouldn't do but he does and drags me out to the living room where I see Mara and DJ sitting. Hero gently places me on the couch and sits closely beside me. Mara starts talking to us about the movie, "They are going to change the scenery for most of the scenes so that we can film back in LA. They still plan on leaving in two weeks and they will do your scenes in LA." Shock comes over Hero's face and he starts shouting at Mara asking why she didn't fight this and why he would have to leave in 2 weeks with them. Mara reminds him that they pay for the apartment and not that Hero needs them to, but that he shouldn't be wasting money on a place when he already has two. DJ is signaled by Mara to wait outside and she signals me to leave the room. Hero is offended that she doesn't want me here, but she doesn't care for his crude behaviour at the moment and ignores him.

I go back towards the bedroom, but only make it halfway in the hallway so they can't see me and so that I can hear their conversation. Hero wouldn't care if he caught me ease dropping, he wanted me to stay in the room anyway. All I can hear is Mara, "I want you to be happy, but you need to go home and be in your own bed for the month and you need to rest. You are also going to be very busy after the month to make sure that we can get the movie out in time too." "I don't want to leave and just keep her here." "I cannot tell you what to do Hero, but if you bail on this movie you will be owing them millions." Seconds later, I hear the door shut and know that Mara has left. Then I hear Hero, "FUCK!" he shouts. I take my time walking back to the living room from the hallway, giving him time to let some anger out. I'm biting my teeth and looking down at the floor watching each step I make until I run into Hero who has been walking to find me. He hugs me tight and says nothing at all, just holding me for minutes before letting go.

The rest of the evening is very quiet. Hero is clearly angry and he's trying to hide his anger so that I don't see it, but I do. I can tell by the movements of his lips that he is chewing the inside of his cheeks and his hands are clenched in fists while I flip through the TV channels only to land on an NHL hockey game. I'm choosing to ignore his anger; he obviously has a good reason to be angry and honestly I'm mad too. He just told me a few days ago that he was mine and that he would protect me but now he has to leave.

I don't give him a chance to tell me or even pretend that I don't know. My tone is stern but soft, "I don't want you to leave." I mean it, I really want him to stay with me. I want more time to get to know him, I want to kiss him, and I don't want to be without him. There's long distance but how can we get to know each other apart from each other; I need to be with him.