A Star is Born

“George?” Eric spotted his friend at the bar. “Jeez man, we’re 20 minutes early. How long ago did you get here?”

“Hey Eric,” George grabbed his drink and waved a waitress over. “I got here shortly after I called Ireland. I figured I’d give her some time to get ready.” He turned to the waitress. “Could we get a table?” The three of them followed the waitress to an empty table towards the back and ordered some drinks and dinner. “So how’s your first day in Vegas going so far?”

“Great. I can’t believe they only scheduled the one scene for today, but hey I’m glad we got done so early. That means I can hang out tonight before we get really busy the rest of the week.” Ireland sat back as the waitress brought back their drinks. “Eric and I have kind of been hanging out, shopping at the Canal Shops.” She scooted a tiny bit closer to Eric in the booth, and set her hand on his knee.

Eric jumped a little at the contact and put his arm around her shoulders. “Yeah, it’s been fun now that we’re not trying to kill eachother.”

“Well you two try to stay friends long enough for me to go to the men’s room, ok? George walked towards the little sign in the back of Tao.

Ireland sipped her drink and then yawned. Eric squeezed her a little closer. “Tired?”

“I’m too hungry to be tired at this point.” Almost as if it was scripted, their waitress arrived with the food they’d ordered. “Let’s wait for George to get back, shall we?”

“Wait no more. Wow, this stuff smells delicious.” George sat down at the table and they ate.

After they finished eating, Ireland excused herself to go back to her room. She was exhausted after the flight and working, even if it was a short day. Eric offered to walk her back to her room. “I have to get my keys out of the safe anyway.”

“Right. Good thing you remembered.” Ireland opened the door to her hotel room and unlocked the safe to retrieve his keys.

Eric wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her to him. “I don’t need them right this second. I was hoping to spend a few more minutes with you.”

Ireland set his keys on the desk and faked a bad southern accent. “Why, Mr. Szmanda, I do believe you’re flirting with me.” She fanned at her neck with her hand.

Eric leaned down and touched his lips to hers. His left hand cradled her neck, his right arm wrapped around her back protectively. They sank together onto the couch and she snuggled into his arms. He ran his fingers through the hair at the nape of her neck and she shivered. Gently, he pulled away from her lips and kissed at her jaw. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met.” He bent down and brushed his lips against hers.

“Stop complimenting me. I might start expecting it on a regular basis,” she turned and laid her head on Eric’s shoulder.

“Why would that be so bad?” He ran his fingers through Ireland’s hair.

“I might have to raise my standards for the men I date,” she yawned sleepily. “I should get ready for bed.” She pulled herself up off the couch and dug through a drawer full of clothes.

Eric grabbed his keys and kissed Ireland on the forehead. “Do you want me to pick you up in the morning? I’ll have to drive this way anyway.”
“You’re a bad liar. You stay on the other side of town from the strip.” She walked into his arms. “Besides, I never said you had to leave. I just said I was going to get into my PJ’s. Why don’t you hang around for a while? We can watch the news or a movie or something. I’ll be right back.” Ireland disappeared into the bathroom to change into her sweats and came out moments later with her hair in a ponytail and her make-up washed off. She crawled under the covers on the bed and propped her pillows up so she could watch the television.

Eric crawled up on the bed next to her and she laid her head on his chest. He stroked her hair as they watched the news and flipped through a few channels. Half an hour later he heard Ireland snoring softly into his chest. He rolled her to her pillows and she stirred.

“You’re not leaving, are you?” She rubbed her eyes gently with her hands.

“I don’t have to. I’ve got clothes in my car. I figured you’d want to sleep.” He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her back.

Ireland rolled to look at him. “Stay. I like you here.” She rolled back over and snuggled under the covers.

Eric shed his jacket, shirt and shoes and crawled under the covers of Ireland’s bed. He wrapped his arms around her and she melted into his chest. Ireland fell back asleep in his arms and a few minutes later Eric was out like a light as well.