Movie Star Girl - Chapter Four

Nicola filmed with Spielberg and got famous. Jason and his wife separated and his friendship with Nicola turned into something more. Tommy stayed in New York, finishing the movie. That’s how it went for a while. Tommy began dating some big-breasted French girl who was all excited about meeting a film director, but he soon dumped her because he could never remember her name.

Tommy liked things the way they were. He missed Nicola, but he knew it was impossible. She was a beautiful movie star girl, and he was a small independent film director in New York. They were in different worlds now. He didn’t begrudge Jason either. He understood it. They were friends, they were staying together in L.A, and things developed. That’s just the way it goes. He’d learned to deal with it and handle it, just as long as they stayed in L.A.

But the Premiere of "Two People Lost" was in New York at the Angelika. Jason couldn’t make it, because he was filming with Polanski in Europe. Nicola was scheduled to be working with Jason Reitman, but had managed to find space in the schedule to make the trip down. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be there; things hadn’t been left on great terms with Tommy. But she wanted to support the film – it meant the world to her and she got her big-break because of it.

Tommy’s phone rang four hours before the Premiere. It was Nicola. “What are your plans tonight?”

“I’m going to a Premiere,” said Tommy.

“I know that. What are you doing before?”

“Getting ready for the Premiere.”

“Let’s meet up. We should talk.”

“Okay.”

“Meet me at six, outside the place on Mulberry Street.”

They met up outside the place on Mulberry Street and went to the tiny Italian restaurant. Nicola took off her coat, which revealed her dress and the fact that she was, at that moment, quite possibly the most beautiful woman in the world. Tommy mentioned this fact, which made her smile. It was a strange kind of smile, because she realized she could never figure out what Tommy meant by anything he said. And now, with all that had happened, she couldn’t figure out how she felt about him. “I just wanted to meet up, because things got so weird between us and I wanted to make sure that we’re still friends.”

“What’s this Spielberg guy like?” asked Tommy.

“He’s okay. I had to keep telling him how to take the lens cap off the camera.”

“Yeah I’ve heard that about him.”

“So – are we okay?”

“Yeah. I mean, you’re okay with me – you never did anything wrong. I just liked you and got jealous of Jason.”

“You liked me?”

The question confused him. “Well, obviously.”

“I never knew that.”

“I liked you like crazy.”

“You ignored me for the whole shoot.”

“I was trying my best to kill it.”

“Why?”

“I like seeing my fears come true.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had this big fear that you would end up with Jason Hurl; and if we had got together, I’d have spent the rest of our relationship worrying that you’d get with him. So instead, I figured I’d just worry about you getting with him.”

“..And then I got with him.”

“Precisely.”

“It’s not like it was destined to happen.”

“It was destined to happen. He’s Jason Hurl, look at the guy; and you were in a movie with him and you moved in with him.”

“You could have just kissed me.”

“I did.”

“And then what happened?”

“You announced you were moving to L.A. with Jason Hurl.”

“As friends!”

“But you got with him!”

“Because I didn’t get with you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I didn’t think you liked me.”

“This is like high school.”

“Tommo.”

“What?”

“I just realized something.”

“What?”

“It’s important.”

“What is it?”

“The Premiere starts in fourteen minutes.”

Tommy looked at his watch. Shit. He looked up at Nicola and her beautiful dress. “Nicola,” said Tommy.

“What?” said Nicola.

“You have Bolognese sauce on your dress.”

Nicola looked down at her dress. Shit. “I can’t go to my first premiere dressed in Bolognese sauce."

“You don’t have a choice,” said Tommy.

They burst out into the New York City night and planned on sprinting to the Angelika until they realized Nicola’s heels were not made for running. “Let’s get a cab,” said Nicola.

“It’s one street away, we can walk.”

“Mulberry Street is a long street.”

“We’re right near West Houston & Lafayette.”

“I don’t think you know New York very well,” said Nicola.

“I don’t think we have time to be talking,” said Tommy.

They walked and walked, thinking they were about to hit East Houston Street but instead they hit Spring Street. “Yeah, this isn’t where I thought we were,” said Tommy.

“You have no idea how to treat a Hollywood movie star do you,” said Nicola.

“I’m sorry, we should have got Jason’s limo,” said Tommy.

Nicola smiled, and took a step closer to Tommy. “I don’t want a limo,” she said, “I just want a cupcake.”

Tommy looked into her eyes. He played the cupcake line back in his head. “I just want a cupcake.” That sounds like a romantic line, he thought. Could it be? How would he know? How did any human being in the history of the world ever know if a line was romantic or not?

“I’ll get you a cupcake,” he said.

“I don’t want an actual cupcake,” she replied.

Tommy’s soul sunk. He didn’t understand this girl. “You said you want a cupcake, so what am I meant to think it means if you don’t actually want a cupcake?”

“I don’t want a cupcake right now. What I’m saying is, I want cupcakes. I want to be running around New York, chasing after cupcakes. That’s our thing.”

“What’s our thing?”

“You really need to get a clue before old age creeps up on you,” said Nicola.

“We’re missing the Premiere,” said Tommy.

“Don’t worry. The only thing worth seeing is happening right here on Mulberry Street,” said Nicola, as she wrapped her arms around Tommy and kissed him under the New York City skyline.


The End

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