Chapter Text
“Let’s go.” Chris was barely even out of the building and she was already turning the other way, practically running towards the nearest empty room while I stood there unsure of what to do.
Was she even calling out to me? Or did she just want to get away?
It struck me how little it mattered to me. Either way, my feet followed her path as if connected to her intentions, and not my own. “Take off your clothes,” were the first words she told me once I was inside the studio where we were supposed to be filming for the day.
It was only once they were out of her mouth that she seemed to understand what she’d said.
“I’m being such an idiot.”
“You could never be an idiot.” My mouth also worked faster than my brain, somehow managing to snap hers shut in the middle of the explanation she was no doubt about to latch onto.
For a second, we just stood there, staring at one another. Trying to connect the dots of what was going on. And then we just both burst into laughter. “I’ll have to admit,” I offered to go first, still between holding in my chuckles, “It’s an awkward position to be in, I’ll give you that.”
Again, time seemed to stand still. I could feel her eyes on me, but I couldn’t speak. Avoiding her eyes, I looked at the floor as I waited for the inevitable question,
“What do you mean?”
The truth? I didn’t know. Ever since I met her, back in the casting process, something just seemed to click within me. I wanted to get to know her better, I wanted to become close to her.
But then her ex was hired and I forced myself not to think about it.
The first few weeks went by okay. The chemistry was still there - we laughed and we chatted and when we were alone after the filming crew had gone home, we talked - really talked: real conversations, like the ones I couldn’t remember having after this acting gig blew up.
The fight to become a respected filmmaker as a woman made her someone strong, but she’d always been interesting. The stories she told me about college, how she discovered her love for directing, it all spoke to me deeply… it felt as if her story was written for me, a rare book only I would get the pleasure to uncover.
I’d forgotten about the lives we had outside of each other’s company often. Hearing about Chris’ engagement to the movie resolved that. But if I initially thought it was going to hurt, seeing the former lovebirds reacquaint themselves, and having to witness their flame rekindle, I ended up hurt for a completely different reason.
Turns out she didn’t want anything to do with Chris. But in her efforts to shut him out, she did the same to me.
“Don’t worry about it,” I insisted, scared to overstep and diminish whatever was left of the bonds of friendship we’d carefully crafted earlier in the Summer. But if there was anything I’d learned about her in the time we spent together, it was that she never gave up.
“Tell me.” Tenacity should be her middle name, and just the thought of calling her Tenacious T had me smiling, which in turn made her smile too, as she approached me just to poke me. “C’mon!”
“You won’t believe me.” I managed to say despite the tickles attack she’d resorted to. It had me bending down to escape her, but my feet remained solid, in the same spot. I was right where I wanted to be.
“Try me.” I tried to consider it for a few seconds, but she didn’t seem to want me to think about it at all. “C’mon, Henry. Tell me!” The smile I sent her this time wasn’t nearly as happy. It had her defenses lowering, as she finally stopped moving and stood there staring at me, a question mark perfectly visible in her expression.
“How about instead of being selfish, I tell you something else?” I was the one who crossed the last of the distance between us, pulling her into my arms so I could feel her body against mine. “I’m here for you,” I whispered against her ear, hands rubbing her back in an effort to see her relax, at last.
“Do you want to talk?” I asked once I felt comfortable releasing her - although if it were up to me, I’d stay hugging her forever. She avoided my eyes but nodded in response, and so I reached out to take her hand, guiding us to a couch nearby. It was only ever used in the breaks between scenes, but today, I had a pretty strong feeling it’d be put to good use.
“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted the second we were both seated. She had one leg bent under her body, which was turned completely to me. “He’s just so infuriating.” And there it was - the moment it all changed; when she confided in me her feelings about another man, and I became the friendly figure I’d wanted to avoid as I fell hopelessly in love with her.
“I can see that.” I didn’t want to remain silent, so I opted to find encouraging words to keep her motivated to unpack everything Chris had brought onto her. She nodded at my words, but it seemed automatic, almost instinctive. “Why do you think he decided to join the movie?”
She didn’t need to tell me about his interference - her expression on his first-day filming was more than enough for me to figure out that she truly didn’t want him there. “Oh, he just enjoys messing up with me.”
But I knew it was more than that. “I don’t think that’s it,” I dared to interrupt her train of thought. “You know, love is always selfish. Always. And he loves you.” I didn’t say that I understood that from my own experience, and she didn’t question it.
“What a fucked up way to show it.” Her response made me laugh. I agreed with her, but didn’t find it necessary to parrot her sentiment. Here I was, trying to show her the same sentiment in a completely different way, and I was still being an egocentric son of a bitch.
What she needed was a friend. And I’d be anything for her, even if it hurt me in the process.
“You deserve someone who’ll take care of you.” It was all I allowed myself to say, in the height of my pain. But when she looked up at me from under her eyelashes, the butterflies that erupted in my lower belly were more than enough to keep the sweet sentiment of falling in love still alive.
“Like you?” She questioned, and there was no irony in the words. No innuendo, no judgment. The sentence came alive as hope itself, and the butterflies took flight inside of me, giving me the confidence not to answer with words of my own, but with a kiss.
I leaned down to connect our lips, and the butterflies broke free. This was always meant to be: her and me, together at last.
Who could blame a fallen man for allowing himself to get carried away? A kiss was all it took for my mind to lose its way. The simple meeting of lips became sensuous - and from then to something more, it was only the matter of having her over my lap, hips swerving in a rhythim only the two of us could hear.
It was the beating of our hearts, in unison at last.
//
I was so fucking horny.
Fighting with Chris all day, every day, was taking a toll on me - and I hadn’t even realized it until I saw the lust in Henry’s eyes.
I’d forgotten I could be an object of desire to someone other than the man who’d cheated on me.
Henry’s kisses were hungry - it felt like he couldn’t believe that this was happening, that I was really there, on his lap, biting his lower lip and pressing myself as close to him as possible. They were precisely the balm I needed to get over this - get over Chris and his stupid fucking smirk.
So I dove right into Henry, hoping to forget all about the hurt and anger that had taken over my life. With his hands rubbing my back, it was hard to remember anything else, much less the real reason why I was right there, making out with the main actor of my movie, instead of directing his scenes like I should be doing.
I didn’t even mind that there were people right outside of the room we were in - people who could walk in at any moment and see exactly what it was that we were doing. All I could focus was on Henry and how delicious it felt to rub myself on that hardness I felt underneath me…
“We should stop.” It all came to a screeching halt once he pulled away from me, hair messed up from when I’d run my nails over his scalp, his chest rising and falling from breathing pretty hard.
I wanted to stay. I wanted to keep kissing him, perhaps even in other places… But he was right. I was doing this for the wrong reasons, at the wrong time, and he deserved more than that.
“Okay,” I agreed and climbed down from his lap with as much dignity as I could muster at the moment. We both took a few seconds fixing up our appearances, and I tried not to look too smug as I caught him trying to hide his boner, but he still saw me.
And we both burst into laughter at the same time.
“This shouldn’t feel weird…” I trailed off, scratching the back of my neck. Unfortunately, it seemed to make Henry concerned, for he instantly jumped out of the couch and reached for my hands.
“I hope this won’t change our relationship…” He started, to which I immediately interrupted with, “I hope it does.” It took him a few seconds to get it, but once he did, the most gorgeous smile known to humankind appeared on his lips.
“Well, since you think that way… What about if we go on a date?” The question surprised me. Egoistically, I hadn’t thought about being with Henry on a romantic level - but now it was too late to back out.
“How about we go right now?” I shrugged, already looking for my bag. “I’m the boss, anyway. I’ll just say I’m feeling uninspired and in need of some one-on-one time with my muse.”
“And your muse is me?” He questioned, amusement clear in his tone and face. I simply nodded.
“Who else would it be? Let’s go!”
It was only later in the evening, once he’d walked me to my hotel, that I started to really think about what had happened, and the implications of what could transpire between us. I’d been involved with an actor before, and it hadn’t ended well for me.
But was Henry really anything like Chris? It didn’t seem that way…
“Where the fuck were you?” My ex’s voice surprised me right as I was opening the door to my hotel room, and I turned around to find him sitting on the hallway, apparently waiting for me.