“He’s a music producer. The guy’s a pretty big deal, and Jack was his guest. I was there with the director for my next film, and I was introduced to them both. Turned out, Carlos had invited them to talk about working on a soundtrack for the movie.”
Jack used to be in a band that found some moderate fame back in the mid-nineties, but he gave up the rock star lifestyle when he got married and had kids. He still played some local bars just for fun nowadays, but how the heck did he wind up in a skybox in Jacksonville with Lutz Hamburg? I wondered just exactly what was going on there.
Dad shot me a smile as he announced it was time to go. Trip stood and shook his hand, but he gave Sylvia a kiss on her cheek. She actually blushed and was flustered and stammering just the slightest bit as she offered, “It was very nice to meet you.”
I realized that Sylvia had been sucked into the Trip charm, maybe even a little blown away by it. She didn’t have the advantage of knowing him as the goofy teenager he once was like my father and I did. I could barely handle him at full capacity, but at least I was able to ease into it over the years. Poor Sylvia was getting smacked with the overwhelming force of Movie Star Trip right out of the gate. And let me tell you, that guy’s presence was intense enough as it was, even when he wasn’t being him. He had that effect on people. It’s what made him so famous.
Chapter 10
WHERE THE TRUTH LIES
We said our goodbyes to Dad and Sylvia, and as the door closed behind them, Trip said, “She’s really great!”
I nodded my head in agreement. “She really is. I told you. And she makes my father happy. He deserves that.”
Trip winked and shot back, “Doesn’t everybody?”
I sure as heck hoped so.
I led him downstairs into the family room, where I’d lain out some snacks and sodas. Trip flopped onto his old spot on the couch and grabbed the bowl of Cool Ranch, munching away as I rattled off our movie choices for the evening.
We settled on Boogie Nights, and I snuggled into his side, that crook in his body that was always pre-destined for me and me alone. It was only slightly bizarre to be sitting in my house next to America’s Biggest Movie Star. It was actually stranger to have my ex-now-current boyfriend there with me.
It was a miracle that we were able to watch the movie and have him shut up through the thing. He only offered commentary at a few spots, but I guessed it was easier for him to watch a film in which he had no personal investment. It’s not like I would have suggested watching one of his anyway.
Trip must have been thinking along the same lines, because out of nowhere, he said, “I see you didn’t offer any of my movies as choices for the evening.”
He sounded almost hurt, and I didn’t really think that that situation was one that would need explaining. “I thought it might be awkward. Why? Did you actually want to watch one of yours?”
“Never. I guess I kinda just expected you to throw on Swayed or something. You know, finish what we started and all that.”
We never did get to see the end of his movie. At least I hadn’t. “I don’t have that one.” His face sort of fell at that, and I thought there was a chance he’d taken my statement as an insult. “I have all the others, though.”
I hoped he understood what I was getting at.
“Oh. Thanks,” he offered, before getting lost in thought for a minute. “But not Swayed?”
Guess not.
It was probably his greatest role to date. He’d been nominated for Academy Awards before and since, but actually took the statue home for that one. But for obvious reasons, I could never bring myself to watch that movie ever again.
I opened the TV cabinet and pulled out a stack of DVDs, showing him the pile of his movies that we owned. What I didn’t tell him is that my father was the one to buy them all. A couple even still had the plastic on them. After what had happened between us in New York, there was no way I could stomach seeing him onscreen. I hadn’t seen any of his movies since then.
“No. Not Swayed,” I answered.
An uncomfortable silence hung in the air between us. I grabbed the remote off the table and hit pause.
He massaged the back of his neck and said, “I guess we’re doing this now, huh?”
“Yeah. I think we need to.”
The past days had been a whirlwind. We were just so happy to be back in each other’s lives that we’d avoided having The Talk. But we couldn’t bury our problems forever. May as well get it over with so we could move on.
I settled my back against his chest again and his arm twined around my waist as he offered, “You’re right. We do. Okay. Let’s fill in the blanks.”
“I’m not going to hold back,” I said. “You should prepare yourself for the new and improved brain-vomit version of me.” I absently played with his hand around my middle. “I don’t even know where we should start.”
“Well, let’s start at the beginning. Why didn’t you come to the hotel?”