Chapter 84
Charisma peered out the window as the plane coasted to a stop and groaned. “Oh great, I hate it when this happens.”
“What’s wrong?” Lucky asked, unbuckling his seat belt in preparation to disembark.
“Someone must have leaked. You have a welcoming party out there,” she said dryly, rolling her eyes.
“It looks fine over here,” Liz noted, looking out the window next to her.
“That’s because they’re all standing on the side with the door,” he pointed out, motioning for her to look out Charisma’s window. She frowned and got out of her seat, then walked over and leaned down to look, gasping at the huge crowd of people that was out there.
“All those people are here to see you?” she asked sarcastically, forgetting for a moment that they were supposed to be pretending to be in love.
“Unfortunately,” he answered with a small laugh. “I don’t suppose you brought any sunglasses with you?”
She shrugged. “I might have, why? It’s almost dark!”
He pointed to the window. “When we get off this plane, there are going to be flashes going off all over the place. It can get pretty blinding.”
She rolled her eyes and grabbed her purse, digging through it for the sunglasses she kept in there. “Poor baby, fame just sucks, doesn’t it?”
Lucky sighed and threw his hands up in the air. “Elizabeth, don’t start this again, I’m not in the mood. It’s going to be like this all week, so you might as well just get used to it!”
“Um, guys?” Charisma asked, breaking into their argument. “Is everything okay?” She couldn’t help being amused at how quickly they forgot that they were supposed to be happily married. They had fallen right back into acting the way they had when she first saw them together.
Lucky cleared his throat and quickly wrapped his arms around Liz’s waist, pulling her over to him. “Sorry, lover’s quarrel. Nothing to worry about,” he said, smiling reassuringly.
“Okay, then I’m going to go see if the pilot knows what’s keeping that bus,” Charisma said, hurrying out of the cabin.
“That was close,” Liz sighed, pulling away from Lucky before she got too comfortable in his arms.
“Actually, that could work to our advantage later. Whenever this divorce comes through, it won’t seem so sudden if a few people have seen us fighting.”
She chuckled and turned to look out the window again, still shocked by how many fans were out there. “At least we don’t have to act to do that!”
“All right, the bus is here, let’s head out,” Charisma announced, coming out of the cockpit. Lucky sighed and turned to Liz.
“I guess it’s time you find out what it’s really like to be a celebrity’s wife. Just keep in mind that you might not be as well-received as I am.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“To be blunt, most of them probably won’t like you.” He saw the hurt look on her face and shook his head. “It’s nothing personal, trust me. Look, think of it this way: name your favorite male celebrity - besides me, of course,” he added, laughing as she rolled her eyes, “someone you find attractive.”
She shrugged, not sure what this was going to prove. “Brad Pitt.”
He paused for a second, surprised by how quickly she had answered, and by the wave of jealousy that washed over him. “Um, okay... what do you think of Jennifer Aniston?”
“Hate her,” she answered, without even thinking. “Wait, no I don’t! I mean, she’s a good actress, but...oooohhhh...” She nodded, finally getting his point. “You mean, that’s what they’re...”
“Pretty much. Don’t worry, they’re just jealous.” He grinned flirtatiously and put his arm around her waist, leading her to the door. “You might want to put on those shades now.”
“This is so silly,” she groaned, sliding them onto her face. “I can’t see anything now!”
“Trust me, you’ll thank me later,” he assured her as the door opened and they were instantly bombarded with camera flashes. The crowd erupted into a loud scream as they started to make their way down the steps. The tour bus was parked a few feet away, but as the crowd of reporters and fans closed in on them, it started to look like miles.
Lucky kept his arm around Liz tightly, rushing to the bus as the guards tried to keep the throng of people at bay. He slapped Rich on the back in greeting as they passed him and moved Liz in front of him so she could board the bus first. He quickly followed.
“Well,” Liz gasped, taking off the sunglasses and turning to face him. “That was... different!”
“Welcome to my life,” he said dramatically, falling onto a stuffed chair in exhaustion.
~*~
Once security had cleared the fans away, the bus pulled out of the airport, heading for one of the television stations he was supposed to interview with at 6:30. Liz was gazing around the bus in awe, so Lucky stood up and grabbed her hand.
“Come on, I’ll give you the tour. This is pretty much your home for the next week, might as well get familiar with it.” He walked her through it, pointing out the living area, the crew’s and band’s sleeping quarters, bathrooms, kitchen and finally, at the very back, his bedroom.
“You have your own room here?” she asked as he pushed open the door.
“Of course, it’s my bus after all. Unfortunately, for the next week, I have to share it with you.”
“Even better, there’s only one bed again,” she noted with a frustrated sigh. “I can’t wait until this week is over!”
“You and me both, baby,” he muttered, sitting down on the bed.
She stood over him and looked down at him strangely. “Baby?”
“It’s just an expression,” he explained quickly, not quite sure why he had said it in the first place. The bus slowed down and they could hear voices approaching.
Lucky reached for her and pulled her onto the bed next to him. He looked down at her startled face and winked. “Show time!”
Before she could respond, he lowered his head and began kissing her. She brought her arms up and buried her fingers in his hair as the door opened.
“Spence- oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” one of the crew members gasped, quickly ducking back out of the room in embarrassment.
They continued to kiss for a minute, too wrapped up in it to realize that the coast was clear. Finally, Lucky pulled back and cleared his throat nervously.
“Um, I guess we can stop now.”
“Yeah,” Liz whispered, having a hard time finding her voice. “Was that really necessary?”
He rolled off of her and sat up. “Okay, maybe it was a little drastic, but at least no one will barge in like that again!” He got off the bed and ran a hand through his hair, smoothing down what Liz had just messed up. “Since we’re stopped, I can only assume we’re at the station. I better get out there.”
Liz stood up and combed her fingers through her own hair, nodding. “I guess I should, too.”
“You’re going to the interview with me?” he asked, surprised. “I thought you were going to stay on the bus?”
“I am, but wouldn’t it look strange if I didn’t at least walk you to the front of the bus?”
“Oh, right. I guess we better go, then.” He took her hand and opened the door, leading her out of the small bedroom, past the rest of the crew, who was smiling at them. Obviously, whoever had walked in on them had already told everyone else what they saw, or thought they saw. When they got to the door, Lucky turned and took her face in his hands.
“I shouldn’t be too long. Both stations tape in this building, so I should be back in about an hour.”
“Okay, I’ll be here,” she replied softly, losing herself in his eyes.
He leaned down and kissed her gently, then backed off of the bus, quickly following Charisma to the studio. Liz cleared her throat and turned around, finding herself surrounded by his crew.
“Um, I need to go lay down,” she mumbled, pushing past them and hurrying back to Lucky’s room.
