Hollywood Beginnings (A Novella) Read Online Free Page B

again.
    As I stood in the still steamy bathroom, I tried not to be nervous about Brian Keller picking me up for dinner. I wasn't changing my mind about men. I wasn't even going on a date. Of course, I was wearing date underwear. You know the kind. It shouldn't even go by the name underwear since most of my lower anatomy wasn't wearing it.
    And I had an amazing dress waiting to be slipped on, slip-less. No slip had been a major infraction when I was growing up. It was still kind of a shocker that my mother had not only okayed the dress, but been the one to find it. She said I wasn't in Minnesota anymore, but I'd always thought good girls, just like the end of that Tiny Tim Christmas story, should keep Minnesota in their hearts year round. Mother had apparently given me a pass for the night.
    Eyeing the dress, minutes away from being picked up in the lobby for dinner, I wasn't sure I had the courage to wear it even once. It was hard to avoid the irony of defending my mother's virtue in unvirtuous clothing.
    The phone rang, and I picked it up to Brian's voice. Instantly I looked down and damned if the girls weren't responding. I cleared my throat, tried for nonchalant. "Oh, hello."
    "I'm in the lobby."
    "Well, I'm, uh..."
    "Not dressed? I'll be right up."
    "You're a funny guy, Brian Keller. I'll be down in 5."
    "I'll enjoy my thoughts while I wait."
    I hung up. That would show him. What it showed me was I was already in trouble and 10 hotel floors still separated us. What would happen when we were in his car, inches away from each other?
    I hadn't attacked a guy in a vehicle since Billy Conroy refused to go all the way with me, and we found ourselves in a sexual stand-off. In his defense, my dad was his pastor, but I really didn't want to go to college with my virginity. I lifted my t-shirt, and Billy's hormones prevailed.
    My new dress beat my old t-shirt, and Brian Keller had way more potential than Billy Conroy.
     

Take Four: Hotel Lobby and a Take Down
     
    I tried to relax during the elevator ride, but my heart was racing. While it's true I wasn't raised in California, I did grow up watching Hollywood movies. I dreamed, like every woman I know, of the grand entrance . You'd think we'd all outgrow it after junior high, but the fantasy lodges somewhere in a ventricle of our hearts.
    For me, it's sometimes the fantasy of a long staircase I descend in a flowing golden gown. Sometimes, I rise slowly out of the pool while water sluices down the sleekness of my tanned body. That one, believe me, is real fantasy. I tend to get beige with sun exposure, and bathing suits that cover all my assets, and I mean assets , are not in the sleek size range.
    So when the elevator doors opened, I tried to fight it, but I really wanted to see Brian Keller standing there in awe of my female presence.
    Just in case he was looking, I swooshed out, swinging my purse onto my shoulder. As my elbow rose, I cracked a Japanese business man right in the forehead. In horror I watched him stagger, drop to his knees, then lay flat out on the floor.
    My Hollywood entrance would have to wait for another day.
    I leaned down to help the poor, crumpled man. "I'm so sorry."
    His briefcase lay several feet away, popped open and spilling pens and files like an executive yard sale, and he looked up at me, shaking his head a couple of times. His eyes focused more, and I could tell his vision was clearing up, but he didn't respond.
    I couldn't decide if didn't speak English, or I'd knocked the power of speech right out of him. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Ready to stand up?"
    He shook his head no , and I have to say I expected more of the guy. He might conduct international business but some street action and he was down for the count? I realized I'd have to full-out lift him to his feet. Yeah, that would be delicate of me.
    And then I felt another presence and looked into the green eyes of Brian Keller, crouched down but looking at me. His eyes scanned to my mouth