Falling for Her, page 7
She put the DVD in the player and leaned back. “Okay, Marisa. King of Thieves is your second chance. Wow me.” She hit play.
***
Benjamin Choate was a career criminal. He hadn’t worked an honest day in his life. In Choate’s philosophy, if someone was stupid enough to fall for one of his games, then they deserved to lose their money. And Choate deserved to get it from them. He was ready to retire at the age of fifty, after a few too many close calls. He planned one last big score, robbing the home belonging to a captain of industry who wouldn’t miss a couple million bucks. He assumed it would be enough to give him the good life until he “passed away in his sleep or, hopefully, in the middle of an all-night lovemaking session with a few beautiful models.”
Choate’s plan, beautifully executed, fell apart on the day it was supposed to go down. An unexpected security upgrade forced Choate to improvise. The alarms went off, and he was startled by the target appearing at the top of the stairs. Choate fired a flash grenade - he never physically hurt or killed anyone in his entire career. In the darkness, the flash looked like a gunshot. The man at the top of the stairs gasped, his heart seized, and he collapsed. Dead before he hit the ground.
Choate tried to save him, but it was too late. The police were arriving, and he had to make an escape or live out his retirement in a jail cell. As he was running from the grounds, he spotted a woman appear in the guest house doorway like a phantasm. She wore all white, her dark hair mussed from sleep. She looked toward the house, which was now lit up like New Years, and then turned her head to watch the man in black racing across the lawn.
The woman was Corrine Hobbs, as played by Marisa Larkin.
Kim found the movie riveting, despite herself. After the horribly botched job, Choate was racked with guilt. He returned to the scene of the crime impersonating a security consultant, and met Corrine, the lovely daughter he had seen as he fled. She gave him a tour of the house and he pinpointed the flaws in the system - all the flaws he had utilized for his own burglary. By the time the tour was finished, Choate was smitten, and he asked Corrine out for coffee. He offered a sympathetic ear and she agreed.
The tension grew as Corrine hired Choate to improve the mansion’s security system. Long days at the house, with only Corrine as company, led to his crush growing. Kim snorted as she watched him fall into Marisa’s clutches. “I know how you feel, bud. No use resisting it.”
Adding to the drama was the fact that Corrine was unwilling to rely on the police. She had seen the man running from the house that night. She had connections that her father didn’t know about. People who could ask the right questions and help her track down the “bastard who murdered her father.”
Things came to a head during a thunderstorm. The power went out at the Hobbs mansion, and Corrine called Choate to come be with her. She felt vulnerable, and he made her feel safe. He immediately went over, chiding himself for being the reason she felt vulnerable in the first place. She had Chinese takeout, and they split a carton of rice in the kitchen, surrounded by candles. Corrine was dressed for bed, a robe loosely tied over the nightgown Choate had seen that first night. He told her that he had something to tell her, fully intending to confess, but Corrine beat him to the punch with her own confession. She had fallen in love with him.
Kim didn’t hesitate this time. She watched, mouth dry and hand curled into a fist against her lips, as Choate undressed Corinne. He lifted her onto the counter and moved between her spread legs. He ran his hands over her thighs and the camera focused on Marisa’s face as he did things to her lower body that were left up to the viewers’ imaginations. They kissed, and Kim found herself unbelievably turned on. She squirmed on the couch and looked away, letting the music alert her when it was safe to watch again.
How can I want her so much? she thought. How could I possibly already be this far gone?
After Choate and Corrine made love, she put on his T-shirt and he spooned her from behind. And then, as apparently the master of bad timing, he confessed his part in her father’s death. Corrine was, as could be expected, completely livid. She tore away from him, running deeper into the house. The chase that followed was surprisingly tense. It ended with Choate at the top of the stairs and Corrine below, reversing the position Choate had been in with her father. She has retrieved an antique gun from her father’s study and Choate pleads with her to listen to him. He says he loves her, and explains her father’s death was an accident.
Corrine was torn, but ready to accept Choate’s apology and his explanation. He approached her, reached to take the gun, and thunder suddenly roared overhead. The sound frightened Corrine, and her finger tensed on the trigger. Choate was hit in the stomach, eyes wide, and collapsed. Corrine, horrified, held him and tried to stop the bleeding, but it was useless. Choate managed to smile, his body trembling, and he said, “Guess this place is just cursed.”
The movie ended on a shot of Marisa on the floor, cradling Choate’s lifeless body, sobbing in the darkness of her home.
Kim stared at the screen as the credits began to roll. She wanted to wonder where the past hundred and twenty minutes had gone, but she knew exactly what had happened. Marisa. She was blown away by Marisa’s performance. She was close to tears, her mind racing as she wondered how Corrine possibly dealt with what had just happened. Did she see it as justice for her father? Did the knowledge she killed a man eat away at her? God, how could the movie end that way?
She picked up the remote control and sent the movie back to the menu. Under bonus features, she found several deleted scenes, and a making-of featurette. She clicked on that. She usually ignored features like this; she knew enough about the making of movies that she just wasn’t interested. But if Marisa had something to say about the making of the movie...
Kim fast forwarded through the director and costars, and stopped when she saw Marisa. She was seated in a canvas chair, wearing the nightgown from the movie. Her robe was larger and fluffier than the one she’d worn in the film, and her hair was in the midst of being artfully tousled.
“Corrine is a force to be reckoned with, you know? She’s not just going to sit around and wait for someone to save her. That’s what really attracted me to the character. Corrine has the... cojones? Can I say cojones?” She smiled, winked at the person behind the camera, and continued, “...to go after the guy who killed her dad. She’s not a shrinking violet. I love that about her.”
Another quick interview with the man who played Choate, and then on-set footage of the director preparing a scene. It went back to Marisa, and Kim hit play.
“Nude scenes, yeah.” She laughed. “Well, you know, I’m comfortable with them. Obviously, by now, right?” She laughed again, and it cut to a clip of the scene in question. Marisa perched on the edge of the counter, lit by candlelight, eyes closed as Choate kissed her breast. Her perfect breast, with a hard nipple that... Kim’s fantasy snapped apart as the shot went back to Marisa in the canvas chair. “I felt it was important to the scene, and to the character. We had to see how vulnerable she had allowed herself to be with this man so we could understand, you know, her decision to forgive him at the end.”
Kim went back to the menu, clicked on the “scene selection” option, and went back to the love scene.
She avoided looking at Marisa’s body, sometimes lifting the remote to block certain areas so she could focus on her face. The expressions, the way her eyes slowly closed and then how she turned her head. Slowly, she lowered the remote control. Marisa’s body was perfect, beautiful. She was sure a portion of that was lighting and makeup and perfect conditions, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t falling anymore; she had hit rock bottom. She was completely smitten with Marisa Larkin.
She sank down on the couch, grabbed a cushion, and held it over her face to smother her scream of frustration.
Chapter Ten
The terrace of the Barrens Steakhouse stood at the crest of a hill, the added height allowing diners to overlook the street and focus on the harbor a few blocks to the west. The breeze was cool and smelled of the water, and Kim ate there as often as she could. The steaks were to die for, but people truly came to the Barrens for the view. There were about a half dozen other groups sitting with them out on the terrace, and the dining room’s doors stood open so the less fortunate people inside could still get a hint of the beautiful weather.
Kim ordered a beer with her dinner, earning her an ignored tongue cluck from her aunt. While they waited to be served, Mabel carefully draped her lap with a napkin. “So, I notice you’ve been watching a lot of movies by yourself lately.”
“The joy of living above a video store.” Maybe she should just sign up for one of those streaming services. Netflix wouldn’t judge her or comment on how many of Marisa’s movies she watched.
Mabel shook her finger. “It’s a shame. A shame, a pretty girl like you sitting at home all the time. And then poker with those ruffians every Friday. You should be out on dates. That nice fellow... what’s his name? The one you always work with? Brick?”
“Break?” Mabel pursed her lips until Kim said, “You mean James Ransom?”
“Him. He’s very attractive. Single, too.”
Kim arched an eyebrow. “Break is single because he’s certifiably insane. You really want me marrying someone like that?”
“Marry, what,” Mabel said. “No one said marry. I just think you need to get laid.”
Kim would never again mock the use of a spit take in movies. Her eyes widened and it was all she could do to swallow before she said, “What?”
“It has been a very long time since Joe.”
“It’s only been two years,” Kim said. She resisted the urge to sigh at the mention of Joseph Danner. He was very firmly closeted, and they provided cover for each other with their family. They would leave together, then go out on their separate dates with others. Then he fell in love and decided to move to Atlanta, leaving her in the lurch. “Look, all right, it’s been a while. But I’m fine with that. I’m just, you know... I’m being selective.”
Mabel exhaled sharply. “You’re thirty four years old, Kim Greer. Apples don’t stay on trees for three decades. They get picked early. And then, what, you’re left with rotten fruit.”
“Am I the apple or the apple picker in your scenario?”
“Both. Neither. Who cares, just find someone.” She grabbed the waiter’s shirt cuff as he delivered their food. “You look single.” She nodded at Kim. “Like the looks of this one?”
The waiter smiled apologetically at Kim and said, “She’s very attractive, ma’am. But I’m not single.”
Mabel squinted skeptically at him. “You’re not wearing a ring.”
“No, ma’am, not at work.” He winked at her and Mabel withdrew her hand. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Kim said, mouthing an apology to him as he retreated. She made a mental note to add a few bucks to whatever tip Mabel left. “God, Auntie Em.”
“Well, I’m sorry,” Mabel said. “At your age, you have to be a little aggressive. Besides, who takes off their wedding ring for work? Probably gay.” She whispered the last word and then glanced to her right, as if she thought he might have been lingering to eavesdrop.
Kim pressed her lips together and looked down at her food. “Yeah.”
“Honestly.”
“Can you pass the steak sauce, please?”
Mabel handed her the bottle and shook her head at the food on Kim’s plate. It was a porterhouse nestled next to a baked potato split open and loaded with sour cream and cheese. “Uck. Such a slab of meat. What kind of girl eats like that? That’s what’s scaring away all the men, you know.”
“Maybe we can just enjoy our dinner, huh?”
“What did I do?”
Kim sighed. “Please?”
Mabel held her hands up as if in surrender and then picked up her silverware.
Kim cut her steak into manageable pieces, a habit she picked up from childhood, moving the pieces until they were swimming like islands in a sea of sauce. She loved her aunt dearly, loved their relationship, but the homophobia was painful to her. It was the reason she was still in the closet, the reason she couldn’t reveal who she was really interested in. She was mostly out at work, Break and the majority of stunt people in the business knew she was gay, but her personal life was a different matter altogether. It was painful to stay quiet, but she knew it would hurt more to see that disgust in her aunt’s face every time they were in the same room.
Mabel seemed to sense Kim’s mood and tried to change the subject. “They do a good chicken here, too. Healthier.”
“Mm hmm,” Kim said. She popped a piece of steak into her mouth and chewed it carefully, looking out over the railing at the cars passing on the street. Even if she did manage to come to terms with her feelings for Marisa, even if by some miracle they ended up together, Mabel would never be happy for her. She would never be able to share her happiness with the most important person in her life.
“Is it too spicy?”
Kim looked at the woman who had raised her from the age of ten. “What?”
“Your eyes are watering. The steak is too spicy?”
“Oh. Yeah, a little.” She picked up her glass of water and took a drink, blinking rapidly to dispel the tears that had nothing to do with the temperature of her food.
***
Kim drove Mabel home to pick up her car. Mabel hesitated before getting out of the car and said, “You’re not parking?”
“No. I thought I’d go out. I have another day off tomorrow, so...”
Mabel chewed her bottom lip and said, “Look, I didn’t mean what I said, you know? The thing about apples and picking... you shouldn’t just grab the first apple you see. You want to be picky, you be picky. You’ll end up with a great apple, I just know it.”
Kim knew that Mabel had misinterpreted her mood, but she was willing to let it stand. “Thanks, Mabel. But what... what if the apple I pick is one you don’t like? What if you think I need a red delicious and I come home with a... a Granny Smith?”
“If you like him, then fine. Who am I to argue? Just find who you want, don’t worry about me. It’s your life.” She took Kim’s hand and kissed the knuckles. “Bye bye, Kim. Don’t stay out too late.”
“I won’t.”
Mabel unfolded from the passenger seat in a manner that reminded Kim of a marionette being manipulated by a twisted set of loose strings. She straightened her sweater, closed the door, and waved goodbye through the window. Kim watched Mabel unlock her car and get behind the wheel, waved, and pulled away from the curb. She wasn’t sure where she was going, she just knew that Mabel would have followed her into the store and talked her into having a conversation. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, she just wanted to get away and spend some time with her thoughts.
She parked by the harbor, watching the newly risen moon dance in the water. Boats were still out, lit from within. They reminded her of those candles that floated on lily pads she’d seen at parties. It was a little past eight, and the city seemed to be moving all around her. People going home, people going out, shifts changing and people throwing off their daily lives for their nighttime personalities.
Kim scanned the radio stations until she found something soft and low to fit her mood. All she could think about was Marisa. How had she spent the day? What scenes had they filmed? Was she still hard at work, or dragging herself home? She wondered how Marisa separated herself from the character, how she drew the line between Marisa Larkin and Simone Lethe.
Am I really falling for her?
She didn’t want to think about that. She wanted to go out to a bar, meet someone moderately attractive, take her home, and get nice and sweaty together. But the idea didn’t appeal to her. Her mind flashed on countless other nights, successful one night stands and some that were less than successful. It depressed her to think of going through the whole dance again just to get laid.
Besides, she didn’t want just anyone. She wanted Marisa.
So, yes. I’m in trouble.
She’d had crushes before, but usually they were just brief flashes of lust that went away after the initial meeting. Celebrities were normal people, just flashier and fancier with an army of hair and makeup people to hide the pesky human parts of being human. But Marisa struck her like no one else. She was impressed by Marisa’s talent, her humanity, the way she carried herself. The respect she showed to her fellow actors, and to the crew, was enough to earn Kim’s admiration. But it was more than that. This didn’t feel like some fleeting infatuation. This felt deeper, almost ingrained. It wasn’t love, definitely not, but it had the hallmarks of something that could become... Something.
She wanted to drive to the set, just to see what she was doing. To make sure she wasn’t bored. Hell, to sit in her trailer with her and talk.
But you just said you didn’t want to talk with anyone.
“Well, her,” Kim said. “I would talk with her.”
She rested her elbow against the glass and pinched the bridge of her nose.
The last time she had been in love did not work out well. Phone calls in the middle of the night, insane rambling voice mails on her cell phone, and the piece de resistance: both front tires of her Jeep slashed during the night. Love was barely tolerable when it was good, but when it went bad, it could kill you. Why would she want to put herself through that hell again? The whole thing was a moot point anyway; Marisa was straight. Or even if she was bi, she still had a boyfriend.
Neutral Ground had thirteen episodes to produce over the course of the first season. That could mean six months’ worth of working alongside Marisa every day. She couldn’t quit the job; it was what she had been working toward since she got into the business. But what if Marisa was what she had been looking for since she was fifteen years old?
