Hot Cooking Spanker Wanted (20 page)

The
other actors were coming in and hugging Katherine. She had pulled
herself together now. No one was noticing that she was out of sorts.
I decided to be cocky and go stand right next to her. She jumped a
little and then settled down. She didn't like that but she wasn't
letting it show.

People
had seen us as a pair and that was what stuck. I could work with
something like that.

They
called us to come out. The crowd started cheering as we came out but
they were screaming for Katherine the most. She was trying to smile,
but I could tell how nervous she was. I wanted to hold her hand so
badly. She needed me, and I just couldn't understand why she wasn't
letting me help her.

We
all sat down on chairs. I sat next to Katherine and leaned in and
pointed out where my parents were. She smiled at me like I was crazy.
But cameras were flashing as she did that and it looked like
everything was okay with us.

My
parents looked pleased. They thought the same thing as the reporters
did.

The
talk show host introduced us and the crowds screamed when he said
Katherine's name.

“
Katherine
what feeling do you get when everyone is screaming out your name like
that?” the host asked.

“
Well,
I'm sincerely thankful that they aren't an angry mob,” she joked,
and everyone laughed. “As a writer you work alone and now, to see
what I took place in a quiet room, becoming something so huge and
loud, the contrast is just amazing.”

“
Why
do you think that your book will make the jump from bestseller to
what looks like a box office hit?”

“
It
really wasn't my doing. There are lots of people behind the scene who
do a lot moving and shaking. Namely my manager for one. She was the
one who arranged the meeting with Hollywood and did all the work. I
was just a guest on site while they were filming. My work was done
when the book was finished.”

“
You
wrote a second part that came out today. What to tell us about that?”

“
Sure,
the first part mostly took part in Germany. I was living there at the
time I wrote it, and I was living here when I wrote the second book,
so I built in lots of locations where the actors can film on site. I
think you will like that.” She looked at us actors and she was
smiling a genuine smile. “I had more fun writing this book. I got
to write in one piece, and not just after work, a few minutes here
and there. I knew what people liked from the first book so I was able
to incorporate that into this one.”

“
So
you met Ryan while you were filming and that changed your life too.”

“
Well,
we actually met beforehand. Ryan, you tell the story.”

I
had been listening to her so intently that it took me a second to
realize that I was supposed to say something. “Well, I was shopping
at the grocery store and she was studying two eggplants for a while
and I'm a cook and she is a beautiful woman so I offered my help and
one thing led to another and we started out seeing each other. She
would come over to my place and I would cook for her.”

“
I
cooked for you once too. And it was edible. I just want it said, that
I can cook, too. He just cooks better and he enjoys it.” She looked
at me and smiled. She was acting. Katherine wouldn't want to remember
that day. Was that why she was smiling, so I would feel like a heel?

“
Don't
you enjoy cooking?” the host asked her.

“
I
cook to live. Ryan lives to cook.”

“
Okay,
back to you two. Is it true that you two had no idea what the other
one did for a living.”

Katherine
was nodding. “I wasn't allowed to tell anyone what I was working
on. It was top secret.”

“
And
I didn't want to say anything until I was sure. So the day she showed
up on the set I thought that my girlfriend had just showed up to
visit me, and that I would get in a lot of trouble for being
unprofessional. Then she asked me what I was doing there. I told her
I was one of the actors, and she answered that she wrote the book. I
was in shock. But very pleased to have her there. I would have never
tried to hit on the author of the book. I would have been too
respectful.” I smiled at her.

“
That
is really nice. It's a small world. Let's look at a trailer.”

They
showed the trailer of the movie and I was getting excited about it. I
could hardly wait to see it tomorrow.

“
Wow,
Katherine, how were you able to think up something like that?”

“
I
have all kinds of ideas. I had to cut out so much. It is more a
question of me putting on the brakes so a story doesn't get too long
than me sitting there wondering what could happen next.”

I
smiled at her so proudly. She really was something else. I didn't
want her to slip out of my life. I didn't want her to be the one who
got away.

“
I
love you, Katherine. Marry me,” some guy called out. I scowled out
into the crowd looking for the idiot.

“
Wow,
I think the one person on the planet who doesn't know that you are
taken is here,” the host joked.

I
laid my hand over hers. She was shaking. I wasn't sure if it was
because of all of this, or if it was because of me.

“
My
guess is that as soon as the movie starts the actors are going to
become so popular, that me, as the writer, well that I will be able
to step back into the shadows and lead a normal life. Ryan will be
getting the proposals then.” If looks could kill.

“
Are
you the jealous type, Katherine?”

“
Me?
No, I'm the dumb naïve type. I would have to have everything spelled
out to me before I would believe it.”

“
Wow,
that sounds like you trust him blind. Ryan, are you the jealous
type?”

I
glanced over at Katherine. My hand was still over hers. “Katherine
has never given me reason to doubt her in any way.” I sounded very
strict and uncomfortable.

“
Back
to the movie. Tell us about filming.” He went on for a while about
the film, and Katherine was happily quiet. He asked the women what
they were going to wear. The women all talked about what designer
they were going to wear. Then he asked Katherine. My head turned to
look at her, too. She would have something special in the meantime
too.

“
I
went shopping with Ryan's mother. I was able to find something nice.
I can't remember what the label said, but I'm not as glamorous as the
others here. I'm just visiting this world whereas the rest of them
live here and feel comfortable here. I don't. I'll be glad when I get
to go home.”

“
When
you go home are you going to write a part three?” The host was
smiling at her a little too much for my taste.

“
I
don't know. Would anybody read a part three if I wrote it?”

The
crowd was clapping and whistling.

“
Okay,
if someone actually buys the second book, I'll write a third.”

“
Where
would that one take place?”

She
shrugged, “you choose.”

He
looked like he was in love.

“
I
don't know, maybe, in Africa.”

“
Okay.”
She shrugged her shoulders like that wouldn't be a problem. Was she
ever smart.

“
Seriously,
you are going to set part three in Africa? Just because I chose it
out of the air.”

“
Why
not? Besides you gave me a whole continent to work with.” She
wasn't even phased.

“
Wow,
people you heard it here first book three will take place in Africa
because I said so.”

The
show was over and I still held onto her hand. We walked backstage
with the other actors. She went to her manager who praised her like
she was a little kid. She whisked her away from me to her book
signing.

I
wished I could go with her and stay with her forever. What happened?
It still felt right to hold her hand and be with her. I went to my
parents who were looking at me with a 'well' look on their faces. I
shook my head.

In
the cab I told them that her manager had insisted she pretend. I told
them that she hadn't looked at all good. They had to plaster make-up
on her. My mom was worried about her. So was I, but should I be? She
had dumped me.

That
evening we had a press conference. This one was at the hotel. Her
parents were there too. I had seen her with them before everything
started. Just the press was allowed into this one. They asked pretty
much the same questions. But the main question was would part three
really be taking place in Africa.

Katherine
had laughed. “Yes, it certainly is. I'm going to send the two main
characters to Africa. I've done some googling in the meantime. I
think they deserve to go on vacation. I just can't promise that they
will get a lot of R&R in.”

The
journalists loved her but they were so like her. They were smart too.

Katherine
was getting good at this whole cat and mouse game. She was already
selling a book that she hadn't even started to write.

The
one that had come out today had sold millions of copies already. The
idea of having both the movie and the book come out at the same time
was a huge success. Katherine gave credit to her manager again,
naming her by name. She was making everyone happy again. She smiled
at everyone so nice and all the world loved her. I'd bet every man in
the room envied me. The truth was hurting me so much.

When
everything was over she went to her parents. Her dad said nothing and
her mom wouldn't shut up. They had done an interview today too.
Katherine patiently listen and told her mother that she was happy for
her.

Her
mother set eyes on me and she gave me a look that could freeze ice.
Her arm went around Katherine and they left.

That
was when it hit me. This could all be some misunderstanding. What she
had said today about being dumb and naïve. Had someone convinced her
that I had cheated?

I
was all polished up and ready to go. Katherine's manager had called
me saying that she wanted us to arrive in the same limousine. I was
more than happy to agree. She was thrilled. I bet Katherine wasn't.

I
waited in the back of the hotel in a special room. The limo would
pick us up at the back entrance and then bring us to the red carpet,
where we would be asked dozen of questions and sign autographs.

I
was just waiting for Katherine. I got to sit next to her in the
theater too. I was looking forward to that. Maybe if I reached over I
could hold her hand. She had admitted to not having seen the movie
yet. I had seen parts, most of it. There weren't going to be any
surprises in it for me but maybe for her. Maybe she would need me,
and, of course, I would be there.

The
doors opened and bodyguards came in with her in the middle. She
walked right through to the limousines. She was wearing a red dress.
My mother told me to be prepared because she had looked amazing in
the dress that they had picked out but this dress. This woman in this
dress. Her hair. I was gaping at her with my mouth hanging open.

“
Are
you coming or not?” Her legs were disappearing into the limo.

I
got in behind her. The bodyguards came along. Great.

She
didn't look at me or talk to me. The limo slowly moved ahead as
people and reporters were trying to figure out who was in this one.
If they only knew. The noise of the crowds was bothering her again.
She was pretending that it didn't but I knew her better. She was
practically a hermit. This wasn't her thing but in that dress she
sure looked like she knew what she was doing. The way it hugged her
body was turning me on and I was remembering things that had passed
between us.

The
limo stopped and she laid her hand over stomach. She took a deep
breath. The bodyguards got out and then she did. The crowds screamed
louder than anything I had ever heard in all my life. She took a step
back and she was leaning against my chest. My arms wrapped around
her.

“
Sorry,”
she said as she stepped away.

“
Not
a problem, darling.” I laid on the southern accent that I knew she
liked.

She
stepped forward into the roaring crowds and went to some fans to sign
autographs. She was moving ahead very slowly. I was glad that the
bodyguards were sticking close to her. I had an eye on her just in
case. I signed a couple of autographs too but mostly I talked to
reporters. They asked about her.

I
praised how beautiful she looked. I wasn't lying. She was the most
beautiful woman in the world. She was smiling at fans and I was
staring at her as she talked to them.

The
reporters didn't seem to interest her at all. She preferred the fans.
I waited for her to catch up to me. I went to her and whispered in
her ear that she should at least talk to a couple of them. She nodded
at went over to a group of them. They asked her stupid questions. She
smiled and answered nicely.