Away From the Spotlight (32 page)

We both aw
akened
at about the same time mid-morning the next day.  We spooned for a while with only intermittent conversation.  Will seemed lost in thought.  I wanted to hear all the details of his last two weeks and never wanted to let go of him
. 
In s
pite
of
this
, I turned around to kiss him and get up out of bed.  I was going to have to
return
to my apartment and keep to my study schedule.  The Bar Exam was in
less than six weeks
.

As I tried to rise, Will held me so that I couldn’t leave.  He continued to look thoughtful for a second and then blurted out suddenly, “
Don’t leave.  Move in with me.”

“What?”  My eyes went wide.

His eyes were pleading.  “Move in
,
at least for the next few weeks.  I can’t stay at your place with
Carrie
there.  I want to be with you as much as I can
until
I leave again before
your
Bar Exam.  It’s ridiculous
to have you going back and forth.  I promise I’ll let y
ou study.”

My eyes
remained
wide, incredulous.  It took me a moment to respond. 
“Very tempting, but how
’
s that going to work?  With the crowd outside, how am I going to get back and forth to class?  What would I do with my car?  Aren’t you afraid we
’
ll
get caught?”

“I’ve had
a fortnight
to think this through.  I’ve got it all
planned
out
.”

He’
s
been thinking about this for two weeks?
Our relationship seemed to be going at lightning speed and it scared me.  It had only been less than three months since we had met and we had spent a chunk of that time apart.  The fear caused by these thoughts m
ust have registered on my face.

“Don’t you trust
me?  Or is it something else?”

“I trust you.  I’m just a li
ttle bit overwhelmed, I guess.”

“Don’t you want to be with me?” he said with a voic
e hopeful for the right answer.

“More than anything.”

Will smiled and relaxed.  “So
do you want to hear the plan?”

Colin took me back to my car in the early afternoon.  As usual, I hid in the backseat until we hit
the main road
and it appeared to be safe.

I went home to break the news to
Carrie
that I would be moving out.  She was a little upset with me, but understood.  My rent was paid up through the end of July so the only thing that she would lose was my constant company during that time, not that it had been that constant thus far between her social plans and mine.
 
Notwithstanding,
Carrie
and I would still stick to the plan of
sharing
a hotel room in Pasadena for the actual Bar Exam itself.  I would continue to see her every night at class and I promised that we would get together for dinner
and
after class from time-to-time.  I tried to sell her on the benefit of being able to have her boyfriend,
Jeff
,
stay at our place more often.  She smiled at that thought. 
More sleeping bag sex
.
  I
chuckled
under my breath
.

As I
packed my things,
I noticed one of
Carrie
’s tabloids with the caption on the front cover, “Love Triangle on the Set of
Midnight
,” along with pictures of Will, Katherine and a dark-haired beauty I assumed was Kayla.  I grimaced
, and successfully fought the urge to read the accompanying article, knowing that it would be full of lies. 
Carrie
and I grabbed my bags,
all of which fit in the trunk of my car
,
and then
we
headed off to cla
ss in separate cars.

After class, I met one of the
s
ecurity
g
uards at the ho
me
of a friend of Will’s north of Montana in Santa Monica.  Will had insisted that it was
okay
to leave my car in the driveway there as the friend was out of town for the next
several weeks
filming in Florida.  My car didn’t quite go with the neighborhood.  I wondered if the fr
iend would thank Will for that.

It appeared that the
s
ecurity
g
uards and I would become great friends as it was Will’s plan that they shuttle me back and forth to my car every evening.  Will planned on changing his appointment with his personal trainer to the evening so that he could try to get the photographers to follow him and
allow for
a clearer path for me t
o leave for class each night.

The
brawny
security guard
helped me p
lace
my things in the trunk of Stephen’s car and we
were quickly on our way
to Will’s house.  I didn’t peek again so I had no idea whether it was bad or not.  It must have been okay
because
no one
seemed to
g
e
t near the car as it entered the dri
veway and the garage.

Upon
entering
the house, I found Will waiting for me alone.  The
security
guard
returned
to the garage to
bring in
more of my things
from
the car.

“Welcome home,” he said beaming
and with emphasis on the word “home
.
”
  He
approached me with
green
eyes sparkling
and g
ave me a long, passionate kiss.

Home
.
  I
felt
like
I must have
be
en
dreaming. 
I
am
going to wake up sometime soon to find that this ha
s
all been a dream because there
is
no
possible
way
that
this cou
ld be my reality.

After p
lacing
my things in a corner of Will’s room, Will and I la
y
on the couch
in the family room
together
with
the TV
tuned
to some British comedy on BBC America that neither of us w
as
really watching.

“Are you sure this is
okay
with Stephen and Colin?  You guys have been roommates for a wh
ile.  I don’t want to intrude.”

“You’re
not
intruding.  Besides, Kate and Gemma have pra
ctically lived here for years.”

“Yes, but they don’t actually live here.  Now,
I
do.”

“I couldn’t be happier about
that
.  Stephen and Colin know that you make me happy so they’re fine with it.  More than
fine.  They like you.  A lot.”

“You’d tell me if there was a problem, right?”

“Yes.  There’s
no
problem.  So be happy, will you?  I am and I want you to be too.”
He smiled
brightly
.

“I am happy.”
I smiled
back at him
, but my voice was quiet.

“You don’t sound happy.”

“Well
, let me prove it to you then.”

The next morning
,
I
climbed
out of bed
and dug through one of my suitcases for clothes to wear.

“You know you don’t have to leave your things in those.  I have drawer
s
and c
loset space all ready for you.”

I reacted like I had been shocked.  Thankfully, Will didn’t notice.  Unpacking my things was going to make this seem real and like a more permanent situation.  I tried to concentrate on the fact that this was only for a few weeks until the Bar Exam.  That thought allowed me to calm down and set about unpacking.  There wasn’t a who
le lot to unpack in any event.

Will had cleared a large section of the walk-in closet and seve
ral drawers in one of the built-
in dressers that framed the entrance to the large closet.  I could see some fresh boxes in the corner that likely contained what had been cleared.  The space he gave me was far more than I was going to need.
Will had already cleared space in the bathroom for me in the past so I didn’t have to leave things all over the count
er.  The additional
toiletries and such
I
brought still fit into th
at
s
pace previously provided to me.

The next few weeks ran smoothly, better than smoothly actually.  The paparazzi never
got wind of my existence
.  As promised, Will allowed me
time and
space to study.

Will decided that it was his job to keep me from getting too stressed out over the Bar Exam.  What that meant in practice
wa
s that I was treated to relaxing lunches and dinners on the patio, candlelight baths, massages given by him as well as, from time-to-time, a professional at one of the nicer spas in Santa Monica, and alone time for us every night when I came home from class and with an earlier start on weekends.  I was c
ompletely and utterly spoiled.

I managed to see
Carrie
,
Rachael
, Pam and a few other close friends
socially.  The
security
guards
snuck
them in the house as they had me and we
hosted
a few summer barbeques/pool parties on the weekends that also included some of Will, Colin and Stephen’s friends.
I continued to duck requests from
Max
, Daniel and John to go out with good excuses.

On the Fourth of July, we had a particularly large party that started in the afternoon and
continued
fairly late that night
which
included
a number of the guys’ friends from the Rugby Club
. 
I invited some of my college friends
as well as
Carrie
, Pam
and
Rachael
.  I found it amusing that these Brits would throw a party to celebrate a holiday wherein the British were the bad guys.  The irony was
l
ost on them.

At this party, I finally met Katherine Sullivan and her boyfriend, Mark,
both of
who
m
stopped by briefly in the afternoon. 
When they arrived, I was out on the patio with Will, who was rarely more than a few feet away from me and was often holding my hand.  A
fter
Katherine and Mark walked
through the
patio
door
, they headed straight for us.
 
Katherine gave Will a kiss and a hug
,
and Mark shook his hand.

“Katherine, this is Shannon.”  Will was beaming as he introduced me.

If it was possible, Katherine was even more beautiful in person.  Photographs did not do justice to her green eyes and long lashes
,
and her complexion was flawless.  She also was very stylish in a trendy way.  I could see why she made celebrity best dressed lists.  In addition, Katherine was even tinier in person than she appeared on screen.  I felt intimidated and enormous.

Katherine gave me a kiss on the cheek and a hug,
while
saying, “It’s so nice to finally meet you.  I
’
ve heard so much about you.”

Mark gave me a kiss on the cheek and a hug as well.

“She’s even prettier than her picture
,
”
Katherine commented to Will.

Before I could ask, “What picture?” Will was offering to get them drinks.

I started to feel insecure
as
there
could be
no
way
Will
could possibly
prefer me
to
her.  Then I noticed the way Katherine and Mark looked at each other.  They were clearly in love.  Interestingly,
Mark was not particularly good-
looking if you took into account his appearance alone.  He was a little bland in appearance
:
medium height, brown hair, brown eyes, medium build and
a beige
complexion with nothing to make him stand out in a crowd. 
I
n talking to him,
however,
his personality and charisma made him very attractive.