Chapter Twenty-Eight
Alessandra
Well, I was never going to be able to look at bath bombs the same ever again.
Joel and I needed a shower after our bath, so we went straight from the tub to the bathroom and cleaned off all that bomb oil.
I was still a little nervous about how things were going to be at work in the morning, but I was in love with Joel, and he was in love with me. So beyond that, I wouldn’t care what others thought.
That was easier said than done.
That morning, I had some women that had never talked to me on set, asking about Joel in bed. Others kept giving me glares of jealousy. And I even saw some guys trying to give Joel a high-five for nailing his makeup artist.
I held my head up high, but I could see the tension in Joel’s eyes as some of the idiot men gave me the once-over.
He was going to end up fighting someone if I didn’t do something. When Leighton called a break and pulled him aside to talk to him, I knew it wasn’t just me seeing his anger starting to rise. It was affecting his job.
He walked over to his chair, and I wrapped my arms around him to give him comfort.
“‘The Man,’ by Aloe Blacc.”
He huffed, but I saw his face soften slightly at my attempt to calm him.
“I’m fine, Joel. Ignore them; they aren’t in a relationship with you. I am.” I grabbed his jaw and made him look me in the eye. It was just us right now.
He went back to the set, and everything was calmed down for now. We were presenting a solid front, and I had faith it wouldn’t get worse.
When our final week of shooting began, I was tired, but Joel and I had managed not to kill anyone. So I considered it a success.
A knock on the door in the morning woke me up, and Joel, who was already making us breakfast, went to open it.
“Right on time, bud.”
Not caring that I was wearing just my underwear and one of Joel’s shirts, I leaped out of the bed at the sound of Jenson’s voice.
He was standing there giving Joel a fist bump, and I almost tackled him to the ground. I missed him so much, and now he was here!
“Oh my God, how are you here? I’m so happy!” I couldn’t stop talking, hugging him, and kissing his face.
“Okay, Mom. Geez.” He pushed me off and tried to compose himself. He was a teenager, and teenagers didn’t hug their moms for that long.
“I brought him,” Joel piped up, looking very proud of himself.
“Yeah, I’m here for the week, then head back with you.” Jenson dropped his bag, and looked around, totally ignoring me, who was practically crying I was so happy to see him.
“Jenson Cole Rose, you get your butt back here and give your mom a hug and tell me you missed me.” I wasn’t having anything less. He rolled his eyes, but came over and did as he was told, with a little extra squeeze in his hug. He missed me, too.
We didn’t have too much time to sit down for breakfast, but it was still nice having Jenson here with me. He was excited to be on set with me as my assistant. He wore swim trunks and a normal black T-shirt. Sort of imitating Joel, but I didn’t say anything to him.
The rest of the day went pretty easily. Although we had gotten used to the people on set talking about us dating behind our backs, Jenson had noticed, and he wasn’t very happy about it.
“Want me to punch them?” He clenched his fists while looking at the men that were trying to goad me with lewd gestures. They all thought I was easy, since Joel had gotten me in the sack. Joel had barely held himself back the week before, and I sort of felt sorry for these guys once filming was over and Joel could let loose. Technically even then he shouldn’t go after them, but there was only so much he could take while keeping his mouth shut. They were pressing their luck. I pulled my kid in close and gave him a little hug.
“Maybe an accidental nut shot.” He smiled, and I didn’t really care if he took my joke seriously or not.
We both watched as Joel and Nineveh embraced each other tenderly and kissed. It was their final scene together, when she finally confessed her love to him, and he escaped the book that held him hostage.
“You really like him?” Jenson asked, while watching the two actors. I still didn’t like it that his lips were touching another’s right now, but it wasn’t real. He wasn’t kissing her like he kissed me, and he wasn’t holding her like he held me.
“Yeah, I do.”
Joel’s eyes caught mine briefly when they separated, just to make sure I hadn’t ran away.
It wasn’t easy, but I was still here. I just prayed I was allowed to work on set if they needed to do any retakes. Lisa had said something to me briefly about being professional, but since we had no incidents during work hours, she didn’t make a big deal out of it.
“You good with all the crazy that comes with him?” I needed to know that Jenson had an understanding about fame, and what it does to your life.
He nodded slowly, and I hoped he really got it. This was probably going to be one wild ride.
