Royce’s P.O.V.

Chapter 2:

“Now this is what I call a party!” I said to one of my good friends out here in Los Angeles, Logan Pierce. We had just walked into the after party that Dash Parker, also known as my best friend in the business, was having. Move over Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey McGuire, we were the new best friend heartthrobs in show business now. After watching his incredible performance as a struggling male prostitute in Meat, it was time to party. And no one throws a party quite like my best friend.

I was already itching to have an amazing night, and after entering the club where it was held, it just heightened my anticipation. Dash had gone with a Vegas theme for the party, and it definitely screamed “Vegas”. Throughout the club were numerous tables for card games such as Blackjack, Poker, and Texas Hold’em. There were also Roulette tables placed sporadically throughout the area. The black, white, and silver color scheme gave it just the hint of sophistication. But my favorite part had to have been the showgirls that were present. Oh yes, this party was definitely what I called a party.

“Remember man, don’t get to out of control tonight. You have prior commitments to stay true to. Important commitments,” Logan, ever the party pooper informed me, once again. I swear, that was what, the five-hundredth time he said something alone those lines? I believe I lost count after fifty. So I might have a commitment for tomorrow. Only problem, I can’t seem to pinpoint what that commitment was. It was okay though. After a few drinks, and I’d be sure to remember what it was I agreed to.

Don’t get me wrong, Logan’s one of the best people I have met out here. Hell, his mother is my manager! I don’t know who manages me more though, Logan or his mom. Eh, more like equally- his mom manages my career, and Logan is more like my personal manager. He’s gotten me out of sticky situations more times than I can count. Yet, despite his best efforts, I had gotten a taste of what life can be like when fame touches it. Dash was the one who relished this lifestyle with me. He had been in the acting business longer than I had, and although he had gotten a “bad-boy” type of wrap, he had shown me the ropes. I was also becoming one of those actors with a “bad-boy” aura. But it wasn’t so bad. Girls loved the bad-boy persona. And I loved the girls.

“Yeah, yeah. Commitment tomorrow. Gotcha,” I replied absently, searching the room for my best friend. Once I had located him near one of the Roulette tables, I muttered a goodbye to Logan, and made my way towards Dash, ready to party like no tomorrow.

“I’m serious Royce! Don’t drink too much! I’m not carrying your ass out of a party again!” he yelled back. The response he received was just the wave of my hand.

Wading through the sea of people was a feat in itself. With trying to avoid the showgirls’ elaborate costumes, stopping to acknowledge someone in that was also in show business, or some reporters asking for my opinion on everything from Dash’s performance (brilliant if I do say so my self) to my what my relationship with Veronica Holms was all about. Of course, my answer always was “we’re just friends”.

Except, that wasn’t entirely the truth. In fact, we were much more than friends. Although we had yet to publicly announce our relationship, I had a feeling I was falling in love.

I had never been in love before, so I wasn’t exactly sure how to go about this. Veronica and I had technically been together for about six months. How we had ever managed to keep it under wraps this long was beyond me. I suppose it helped that Ve and I never show any public displays of affection whenever we went out. I was very clear when we began this relationship, that I needed to come off as an unattached man to my fans. I knew that if I was ever to go “off the market”, hearts would be broken. I mean, come on, I am Royce Masters. I was the DiCaprio and Dash was the McGuire- although he thought differently. You can’t have two Leonardo DiCaprio types in a Leo/Tobey-like friendship, it just doesn’t work.

Anyways, while some actors could handle a high-profile relationship in the public eye, such as Dash and his beautiful girlfriend (and successful) actress Adrianna Cartwright, I can’t. As great of arm candy Veronica was, and the fact I have some deep feelings for her, something always stops me from wanting to acknowledge our association with each other to the press. I just couldn’t put my finger on what exactly that was.

Finally making it to Dash’s side, we did our usual man-hug and handshake. It didn’t take long for photographers to come up to us and start taking pictures. Obviously, as in demand as Dash and I were- and we enjoyed it to the fullest, we posed for as many as we possibly could until we deemed enough was enough. Once they were gone from our sights, I asked for Dash’s expert opinion on what lucky girl would defer the speculation about Veronica and me.

Shaking his blonde hair across his forehead, and holding his chin in a thoughtful gesture, he searched the crowd. After a long two minutes, his eyes landed on two showgirls just across the room by a Blackjack table. His faced lit up, and I knew he found the perfect source of entertainment for me.

“See those two auburn haired showgirls right over there?” he asked, nodding his head slightly in the direction of the girls in question. “Twins. Enough said.”

“You know just how to hook a man up, don’t you buddy?” I enthusiastically replied, a smirk appearing upon my face. Noticing that the twin showgirls’ attention were on him and his friend, he sent a wink their way. Not to be disappointed, he received coy smiles and small waves back.

“All right, I found you some amusement for the evening. Just hope Veronica doesn’t put you in the doghouse for too long this time.”

“We made a deal. Until I decide when we go public, I can have my cake and eat it too. No biggie.”

I left Dash alone by the bar and made my way to my two new, and very attractive, friends for the evening.

Tonight, I wasn’t going to worry about Veronica and my situation. I was going to let go and have some fun.

The Next Morning:

Buzz… Buzz… Buzz….

“What the fuck?“ I mumbled into my pillow, pissed at the buzzing that had awoken me. Groaning, I flopped my hand around my bedside table, searching for the object that was making that God-awful noise. I was most definitely not in the best mood right now. My head felt like it was full of bricks, weighing it down and not allowing me to lift it from my pillow. Finally locating my phone, and letting out a small cry of victory, I cracked open an eye, only to immediately regret the action. Though the drapes in my room were only allowing a sliver of sunlight into my otherwise dark room, it was enough for the jackhammers in my head to go off. Hangover. I shielded my eyes to take a glance at the caller ID on my Sidekick.

Veronica.

Hmm….this could either turn into a good phone call or a disastrous one. Dare I take the 50/50 risk of it going bad?

I didn’t have to make a decision as the phone stopped vibrating in my hand. Phew…that was a close one. I closed my eyes once more and laid my head back down onto my very comfortable pillow. My relief from avoiding a potentially hellish call was short lived, however. Not even five minutes later my phone was making that obnoxious buzzing noise again. Obviously knowing who was going to be at the other end once I answered, I positioned the phone far enough away from my ear to steer clear of causing any damage that could result as I pressed the talk button.

“ROYCE MASTERS! GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF BED! I DON’T CARE IF YOU ARE TOO HUNGOVER TO FUNCTION PROPERLY! WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A LITTLE DICSUSSION!” Veronica screamed from her end.

“Ve…can you please stop yelling? It isn’t exactly helping the situation any babe,” I muttered, once I knew she wasn’t yelling anymore and was safe to rest my phone against my ear. “I will more likely cooperate with you if you aren’t blasting my ear off.”

“Fine,” she replied, her voice softening. “But I will be at your place in ten minutes. You better be waiting for me.” Without another word she hung up, delaying any further conversation until she arrived at my Los Angeles penthouse.

Admitting defeat, I grudgingly made my way out bed. The task wasn’t made any easier by the spinning of my room. I had to learn not to sit up so fast after a night like last night. Last night. Shit. That was the reason for Veronica’s screeching phone call. I should have known that my actions last night would come back to haunt me. It always seemed to happen after Dash and I went partying together. It isn’t like we don’t have a good time doing it, it’s just the next morning that isn’t the greatest thing to deal with.

Yes, I have made some not so wise decisions, but hey, I am only human. So I go out, get a little drunk, make out with a few girls if I want, and usually end up getting carried home by Logan. No big deal. After all, Veronica knows we aren’t exclusive, and there is no telling when we will be, so she should be used to my making out with random girls.

But every morning after, she is telling me how much she wants us to go public. And every time, it is the same old story. We argue back and forth, I get my way, we kiss and makeup. Very predictable. But in these cases, I liked predictability. In other aspects of life, I preferred the unpredictable.

Veronica was a combination of both. I liked that about her. Maybe that was what was making me think I was falling for her.

Making my way out of my forest green walled bedroom, I headed for the kitchen. Coffee was a must whenever I had a hangover. However, just taking one step out of my dark room was a mistake. Seeing as my bedroom was the darkest room in my penthouse, the midday sunlight, that was shining through my floor to ceiling windows, delivered me more shooting pain to my already unbearable headache. I had to squint the entire way to my grand kitchen. My mother would kill for a kitchen like I had, not that the one back in North Dakota wasn’t good enough, this kitchen was just full of the newest and best appliances out there at the moment. My mom would be in heaven. God I miss her home cooking. I honestly think she went into the wrong profession. Instead of being a best-selling author, she should have gone into culinary. Hell she could open up her own restaurant or catering business.

Great, thinking of mom makes me think of home back in Fargo. Life out here was the complete opposite of life back home. Mom always brainstorming ideas for her next best-seller, dad hovering over his playbook for my former high school’s football team in addition to his students’ homework assignments he would grade. And man’s best friend, my German Shepherd Zuko. Never thought I would miss that bed hog.

But I wouldn’t give anything up now that I was living my dream. This was the life I was born to live. Nothing back in Fargo, North Dakota could ever change my mind. Nothing.

I had finished making my coffee and had found the aspirin in the cabinet next to the coffee maker. I specifically kept a bottle there for whenever I was hung-over. Made my life a little easier whenever I finally arose the next day. I mean, come on, why make pointless trips into multiple rooms when I could kill two birds with one stone? I amaze myself with my brilliantness sometimes.

Just as I sat myself on a barstool, taking a sip of my coffee, I heard my front door open. Figuring it was Veronica, seeing as I had given her a key, I had to let her know I was in the kitchen.

“In the kitchen babe,” I shouted, just soft enough to not aggravate the pounding in my head.

“Babe? Well, that’s a new one for me. Sorry to inform you I’m straight,” Logan joked, leaning against the counter opposite me, looking me over and surveying last night’s damage to me. “You look like shit. You’re lucky I hauled your ass out of there before you got any worse.”

“How bad did I fuck up last night?” I groaned. “Honestly how pissed do you thin Veronica is going to be? I need to prepare myself.”

“Pretty bad. I thought maybe you’d stick to the twin showgirls, but no….you went through half of them by the time I figured you’d had enough. And I honestly don’t care about your ‘girlfriend’. I really don’t think she’s good for you. Her dear old Daddy isn’t going to take her seriously in acting, so by sinking her talons, I mean nails, into you she might be able to change his mind. And she’s the least of your worries right now. Get dressed, you got to go, remember?”

“Go where? Whatever it is can wait until later. Ve’s on her way over for her ‘after-morning-talk’ and then I am going back to bed to sleep off the rest of the hangover. Though the headache may be more to the talk I’ll be receiving than the after-effects of last night,” I took another sip from my mug. Right now I felt as if I’d need the whole fucking bottle of aspirin by the end of the day.

“Are you serious? Royce, damn it, I told you last night! I specifically told you you had very important prior commitments! Please tell me you’re fucking joking,” he growled. Yes, growled. That was what perked up my curiosity.

“Do I look as if I am joking around? What the fuck are you trying to say?”

“Never mind. I’ll go. Lord knows she doesn’t deserve nor need to see you like this,” he snapped, shaking his head in disgust at me.

“She who?” came a cold voice out of nowhere. Both of us turned in the direction of the voice. There stood Veronica Holms, my nonpublic known girlfriend. And if looks could kill, the one she was sending now would make me a dead man. I was in for a morning-after-talk like none I had received before in the six months we had been together.

Deciding to head out and take care of whatever “commitment” I had, Logan pushed himself up from his leaning position on the counter. “None of your business skank. Talk to you later Royce. I’d probably keep tonight open if I were wise though.”

And with that, he left. Left me to deal with my doom. I could feel this wasn’t going to be going my way this time.

Veronica slowly made her way to the spot Logan just vacated, her 3-inch black colored heals, which brought her to an intimidating 5’11, clicking with every step she took on the tile floor. She was wearing white shorts (that were very short, just how I liked them), with her black and white zebra printed tank top, that just about reached the bottom of her shorts. Of course, they were designer, along with her jewelry of choice today- platinum hoop earrings, with platinum bracelets and rings. They stood put against her black hair, which today she had decided to style it in slight curls. Right now I had the biggest urge to run my fingers through it. Probably because I could use some brownie points at this moment. Perfectly shaped eyebrows drew attention to her unique eyes. Aside from her outrageous body, it was her eyes that sparked my interest in her. I had often heard many other people describe her eyes as cold, but I couldn’t understand where they could have gotten that. Her usually light gray eyes were now a dark steel color. They only became that shade when she was pissed. The Angelina Jolie like lips I greatly enjoyed kissing were currently set in a very, very thin line, only adding to the pissed off vibe she was emanating.

I was in deep, deep shit today.

All Veronica did was stare at me, with this menacing glare that caused me to shift uneasily on the bar stool. I swear we stayed like this for ten minutes straight, though I could be wrong. Frustrated with the unending silence I decided to break it.

“So….,” was my genius answer to starting a conversation.

“We are going public with our relationship Royce,” she said, crossing her arms over her very appealing chest.

“I’ve already explained-” I was cut off by printed pictures from last night being thrown at me. Upon further investigation of these photos, I noticed that they consisted of multiple girls from the party, not just the auburn haired twins Dash pointed out to me.

“I am fed up beyond my limit of having to see my boyfriend always having drunk make out sessions with other girls.”

“I’m not always drunk when I kiss them.”

Her eyes widened, yet took on an even harder edge, when I let out that little detail of past rendezvous with girls. And judging from her reaction, that information would have been better left unknown to her.

“That’s even worse. How do you think I feel when all my friends and family, who know the truth about us, when they see these all over the internet and the tabloids? Pretty God damn shitty. It has been six fucking months since we got together. Tell me why you are so adamant about not going public. And I don’t want to hear any more lame-ass excuses about your fans being heartbroken. They’ll get on with their lonely and pathetic lives. Dash seems to have no problem being open about his relationship with Adrianna. So if the almighty Dash Parker, you’re best friend can maintain a Hollywood relationship why can’t you? EXPLAIN!”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re going to have to come up with better answers than that.”

“I DON’T KNOW!” I roared at her, rising from my sitting position, not caring about the pounding sensations my head was receiving anymore. “Maybe I’m scared. I have never been in a Hollywood relationship before. This is high profile and it scares the fucking shit out of me alright.”

“Well, time to be a man and suck it up. I’m giving you an ultimatum Royce. We either go public by your next red carpet appearance or party invite, or you will never get any of this,” she motioned up and down her body, “ever again. We will be over. Fin. And to put the icing on the cake, I’d have a heart-to-heart conversation with my dear old Daddy. I expect an answer by tonight. If I don‘t, then that will be considered option two and Royce and Veronica will no longer exist.”

With that, she left. I was dumbfounded with her speech. Yes, I knew I was falling for her, and her father, William Holms, was one of the most influential and prominent directors in the acting world. If she spoke to him and told him not to give me any roles or recommendations, I could kiss my acting career goodbye. And she knew it.

It took me all of two minutes, to reach my decision. I was off my stool and racing to my front door, hoping to catch her before she made it to the parking garage. Imagine my surprise to find her casually leaning against the wall across from my door. No doubt she must have known I would succumb to her wish and make our relationship known to the world.

“I’ll do it.”

“Do what?”

“We can go public. I want people to know that we are more than just friends,” I said, closing the gap between us.

I lifted my hand to brush some hair away from her face, only to have her slap my hand away and put distance between us.

“Good. I knew you would make the smart decision. Now I need to go. I will call you later,” she replied, leaning her face towards me. Thinking she was leaning in for me to kiss her, I tried to do just that. Instead, she gave me an air kiss on both of my cheeks before walking down the hall to the elevators. No backwards glance from her at all, the only time our eyes met was when she turned in the elevator to face the front, before the doors slid closed.

Three hours later, I was sprawled out across my very, very comfortable couch in my living room. Currently engrossed in an Indiana Jones marathon. The fourth installment of the franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was already showing in theatres across the world. Although I had already had the delight of attending the premier, I had the urge to relive the previous adventures that Harrison Ford had brought to life. Shia LeBeouf was one lucky bastard for snagging the role of Mutt. I would kill for a role such as that. I had become so engrossed in the second movie that it took me a few seconds to realize that my phone was ringing. I mean, I highly doubt that Beat It, by the King of Pop Michael Jackson, would be in the movie. Digging into my front jean pocket I grabbed my phone and looked at the caller ID, wondering who the hell would interrupt my Indy Marathon.

Logan.

Rolling my eyes, I pressed the talk button to answer him.

“What you need bro, I’m in the middle of something very interesting and educational.”

“Ha, you must be watching Indiana Jones again. Am I right, or am I right? And how was the discussion with the skank earlier?” he chuckled.

“Bingo. You know me too well. And she made me choose between too options I didn’t want. Long story short, I surrendered and am going to make our relationship public. What do I owe the pleasure of this phone call for?”

“She threatened you with the Daddy card didn’t she? Don’t answer that, I know she did. Anyways, remember earlier today when I told you to keep tonight open?”

“Yeah, what about it?” I asked. “Oh wait, let me guess….you are finally giving into your secret desire to date me right?” I couldn’t help but laugh at my wit.

“As I told you this morning too, I am straight. But, no, you are going out to dinner tonight though. I’m calling to tell you that you better get ready. And dress somewhat nicely. Our dinner quest would probably like to see you in a presentable state, and we’ll be eating somewhere semi-formal.”

I was confused. I didn’t remember any dinner plans. “Huh? Who are we meeting?”

I could hear him sigh through the phone. “You’re commitment I’ve only been reminding you for repeatedly about this entire week. The one I covered your drunken ass for earlier. A certain blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty from a little town called Fargo in North Dakota is in town. Supposed to be visiting someone for a couple months out here.”

Julianne.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh SHIT!” I repeated, realization dawning on me.

“Ah…..I take it the light bulb in your thick head has finally gone off.”

“I’m such a bastard. She’s probably pissed as hell right about now.”

“I told her you had an event last night. You can tell Julianne a more detailed explanation as to why her best friend failed to pick her up from the airport after he promised time and time again. See you around seven. Later,” Logan said before I heard dead air.

I was screwed. If Veronica was bad today, Julianne will be ten times worse.

I did not want to die an early death, and that was a very great risk with the wrath of Julianne Isabella Sanders.

A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed: Vaudeville, jessnutsss, oxsarahxo, Sapphyre Nymphe, readingandwritingfreak. Your reviews made my day. And sorry for the delay in an update. You can thank computer problems, work schedules, and slight writer's block. I already have an rough idea of the third chapter planned out, so hopefully it won't take as long :)

THANKS TO JESSNUTSSS, who let me incorporate her Characters Dash Parker and Adrianna Cartwright! You can see them in her story When the Actor Can't Act. Check it out!!