Thanks, thedreamer!!

* * * * *

Valerie stood up and shook hands with her “unnamed" friend of a friend.  Already she could feel herself blushing with excitement.  He would probably feel her heart racing when they were acting out the scene, so there was no point in trying to hide or tone down her enthusiasm now.  In fact, he would probably regard it as a sign that he was doing a good job!

“So, are you hungry?" he asked sweetly.

“Sure!" she said, which was a total lie, of course.  Her stomach was already full of butterflies.

“Good, because I skipped lunch," he said, grinning.  “Audition," he shrugged.

“Oh, how’d it go?" she asked.

He chuckled and shook his head as if to imply it went poorly.

Already Valerie liked this guy.  She didn’t doubt his acting abilities for a minute because of her friend’s referral.  She saw this response as more of a sign that he was humble and down to earth.  He seemed like the sort who was able to laugh at himself and the world.

“Well, let’s get you fed, then!" she said, and gestured toward the restaurant.

During their dinner, Valerie got to know a bit about the man behind the fantasy-making.  He was enthusiastic, yet almost a bit on the shy side at times.  He explained that his goal was to be a movie star.  He absolutely loved the world of make-believe, whether that meant acting in a high budget movie or doing a puppet show for his nephews, which she thought was sweet.  He was not only an actor, but a writer as well, and from the way he spoke, she could tell he was very smart.  He admitted that he was currently unattached, which made Valerie’s heart start to beat faster.  He was seeming cuter by the minute and was such a nice guy that she could almost see herself going on a REAL date with him.  But, almost nervously, as if he sensed her suddenly undressing him with her eyes, he pulled out a form for her to sign. 

“I hate to do this, but I have to.  It just protects us both," he explained, looking a bit sheepish.

“Oh, of course.  You told me about this earlier," she said.  The form protected her as far as assuring her complete confidentiality of anything that took place within their scene, and also protected him in various ways, such as if he ever used any general ideas or concepts from their scene in a future script.  He did not want to risk being sued down the road!  She signed the form and would pay him the balance at the end of their session.

With that business out of the way, they both seemed a bit relieved, and things began to feel lighter and more spontaneous.  He told her that his schedule was open for a change and that he was free to go longer with the session if she decided she wanted extra time beyond the two hours she had booked.  She liked that.  If it was going extraordinarily well, there was the option to keep going.  Likewise, if she hadn’t felt it would work out between them, she would have been out the cost of the dinner, but nothing more, which was reasonable.  But looking at him, and feeling his energy and seeing the spark in his eyes when he talked about his passion for acting and make-believe, she knew he was perfect.

She excused herself to go to the bathroom before they headed upstairs to her hotel room, but forgot her purse on the table.  As she turned back around to get it, she caught him unmistakably checking her out.  He quickly averted his eyes, but it was too late.  Noticing he was caught, he smiled at the floor and shook his head.  “Julia warned me about you," he said laughing, without any further explanation.  She took this to mean that Julia had told him she was pretty.  She giggled at his compliment and quickly grabbing her purse, headed to the bathroom.  ‘Good,’ she thought to herself.  ‘We have chemistry AND he thinks I’m hot!!" Already her heart was melting a bit for this guy.  She hoped she could keep somewhat professional like he was.  As much as it seemed like he might be flirting with her, she also sensed a seriousness about him.  He seemed to take his job very seriously.  This was NOT a date.  This was a gig for him.  She repeated this to herself a few times so that her heart would not be broken by the end of their two hours.

When she got back to the table, he stood up, and said, “Shall we?"

She trembled at his words.  He was looking very confident now and was back in a relaxed, friendly mode.  It seemed he was most confident when he was in work mode and most shy when he was just casually talking about himself, like at dinner.

“OK," she said softly, and they headed up to her room.

In the elevator, he could tell she was getting nervous.  “I don’t make you nervous, do I?" he asked.

“Oh no," she said.  “I’m nervous in a good way... excited," she said.

“Just relax," he said, and squeezed her hand.  It had both a calming effect and revved her up even more at the same time.  “Everybody gets like this the first time.  You'll relax once you get into it."

As they got to the hotel room door, he pulled out his cell phone and explained that he was setting the alarm.  A short alarm would go off after one hour and then again 10 minutes before they were to finish the session.  She flicked the lights on as she entered the room and put her purse on one of the beds.  As the door slammed behind them, he slowly walked over to the table and plopped down on one of the chairs. He slumped over the table, gently laying his head down on it.  His energy - his presence - had suddenly changed.  He moaned, and with his head still pressed against the table, he said, “Could you grab me a glass from the bathroom, please?  I think I need a drink."

And just like that, it had started.

* * * * *

If you guys like this, I'll keep going (although it might be a little while before I can write the next part).

Last edited by woundedpuppy (January 23, 2012 2:53 am)

I think I'm probably done with this fic.  I really just wrote it to get some frustrations out of my system, and it worked even better than I could have imagined!  The point was that she got to live out her fantasy with an actor, so it doesn't really matter what he did or she did at this point -- just fill in your own fantasy in you mind of how the scene played out and you're set. 

I did have a tiny little twist for the end that I'll keep to myself just in case I ever do decide to finish it, but this is already the longest fic I've ever contributed to this group, lol.

This is awesome!  I think I might have an idea of what your twist was, just because I was thinking of something myself while I was reading it, but mum's the word in case you ever return to this.

At any rate, I'm incredibly jealous of the girl in your story.  I'd do a lot for an opportunity like that.  

Woundedpuppy, that sounds like a fantastic idea. Haha, it kind of reminds me of what I actually did when I was a kid...whenever I acted out scenarios and such, someone would always end up crying (probably two or three times).