Two months later…
Nervous energy percolated through Ella’s veins as she sat in the back of the limousine, trying not to wring her hands. This was it--the night she’d been waiting for ever since she’d returned to California. She may have snuck into the state in secret, but tonight, every eye would be
Ocean waves wetted the sand a bit more with each surge that rolled toward Ella’s bare feet as she sat in her favorite spot, laptop hugged against her chest, her eyes focused on the horizon in the distance. Above her, the circling gulls called to one another, their song haunting, yet beautiful and comforting in a way that anchored Ella to her new home in Abalone Cove and reminded her that this place had been special for hundreds of years before she and her husband Rome came to own the large beach house behind her. She had no doubt this place would offer solace to others looking for peace long after she was gone.
The sound stage was much quieter than Rome liked. Often, when a movie was being filmed, the down time between shoots was full of incidental noise. Workers in the background preparing the next set. The technicians moving their equipment. The chatter of other cast members as they discussed the upcoming scene or simply sat around carrying on a conversation. Today, since Rome was the only one on the set other than a robot, it was relatively quiet. Even the next set being constructed mimicked the soft pitter patter of rain rather than the torrential downpour he would’ve normally been listening to.
Ella stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror and smoothed her top out one more time. Now would’ve been a great time to have a girlfriend--a friend her age who could tell her how she looked. Unfortunately, the only person she had who came close to fitting that bill was Mary, and she’d stayed behind in paradise with Gus. Lenore wasn’t going to be any help, and Ella wasn’t about to call Rome and ask him what he thought of the outfit she’d be wearing to have dinner with Henry.She thought she looked okay. The clothes she was wearin
“Juliet,” Henry said, stepping forward and opening his arm as she arrived at his table. “You look stunning.”“Thank you,” she said, forcing a smile as she took his hands. Henry kissed her cheek, as was the custom in Hollywood, and she air kissed his, which she could get away with at the moment. The thought of her lips touching his body had her fighting bile again. He released her, offering for her to have a seat across from him, which she did. Her legs stuck to the red leather seat slightly, but she didn’t let it bother her. J
Waiting for his wife to get back from a date was the most unnerving experience of Rome’s life. Well, maybe not quite. Being locked in his parents’ house in Verona, and then in their apartment in Milan, had been pretty unnerving, especially when he’d been told Ella had killed herself. Also, witnessing Mark’s murder and Tim’s drowning had also been unnerving. But other than those tragic incidents… sitting on the sofa in the living room, waiting for Ella to come through the door, was more difficult than anything he’d ever done.
“It’s a shitty movie, Rome,” Jeannie Stokes, the director of Cop with a Side of Robot, declared standing next to the new set that was just completed, her hands on her hips. “It’s a shitty script, a shitty concept. Everything about it is shitty, shitty, shitty, Rome.”“Tell me how you really feel,” he muttered, looking at the robot in front of him as if it was a plate full of vegetables he had to eat before he could get up from the table.
“If you use an angled brush, like this,” Fae was saying as she showed Ella how to create a specific textured look in the sand on the painting they were creating together, “you’ll get those darker clumps of sand to really pop off of the canvas.”Ella watched carefully as Fae demonstrated the technique. When the mentor handed the brush over, the student did her best to mimic the same style. “Like this?” she asked.
For the first time in almost three months of filming, Rome walked onto the sound stage with a smile on his face. Granted, he was a good two hours late, but that was actually early compared to his recent schedule. He had been coming in anywhere from three to four hours late. He knew it was driving the director, Jeannie, insane, but for the most part, he hadn’t made them wait on him. Every day except for two or three they hadn’t been ready to start filming when he walked in because there was some sort of issue with that stupid ass robot, and he’d ended up waiting anyway.