Read Online Hollywood Ass. by Jonas Eriksson - Free Book Online

towel.
    “You look less dead now,” I replied and smiled.
    “You’re such a sweetie, Darryl.”
    Breakfast came on a large rolling tray pushed by a guy in a bright red uniform, curly black hair and a thin mustache. He smelled of cheap spray deodorant and stared at B like all starstruck people do. I gave him a look that said “ yeah, it’s her ” and handed him a ten euro bill in tip.
    I picked up a croissant and looked at it like it was a bitter enemy. In one way it was, I have never been good at saying no to pastries and being in a country that prided itself on food wasn’t going to be easy.
    B put her fork through a fried egg and snatched it between her teeth like some kind of jungle cat. She could eat like a pig if she wanted to, so I was lucky the breakfast was large enough to feed four starving body-builders.
    We were both quiet for a while, going at the food like it was an Olympic event. After my second cup of coffee I decided it was time, since my belly rumbled and I could be running to the bathroom soon. Big breakfasts and coffee did this to me.
    “So the guy’s just a friend?” I said, it coming out a bit more tense than I expected. I didn’t want a fight, I just had some annoying curiosity to kill.
    “Yes, he is. We met at that film-shoot two years ago where he managed the wardrobe. I think you were in the hospital then?”
    “Yeah,” I said and thought back to when I was hit from behind at a red light by a senile lady with blue hair. I ended up getting a bad whiplash injury and couldn’t go to Rome with B . She never told me about this guy though, which concerned me.
    “I know you might think he’s gay because he’s in fashion or whatever, but he looked very into you from the 30 seconds I saw of him.”
    B gave me a deadpan look. She thought I was clueless about these things. In a way I was.
    “Believe me, he’s gay. A woman knows. You feel it.”
    “How do you feel that? He didn’t get a boner when he hugged you or what?”
    “You’re such a lovely conversational partner, Darryl. Do I ever tell you that?” She said, and at first she looked really angry with me, for which I wouldn’t blame her, but then she started laughing and I started laughing too.
    It was the best moment we’ve had in a while and I felt a glimmer of hope that the real B could come back.
    If she wanted to.
     
    ***
     
    After breakfast we decided to take a long walk. With the six-hour time difference, it was still too early to call A and tell him the good news, so we had some hours together to just enjoy the city and do what we did best, which was talk.
    “Imagine if I could walk the streets this unnoticed back in LA? How different my life would be.” B said from behind her big sunglasses.
    I noticed many people give her an extra look-over so I was pretty sure she was exaggerating her escape from the public light, but at the same I understood how good it must feel for her to walk around for a while without a group of camera-carrying buzzards circling around her.
    “You would like to be less famous? I thought a big part of you loved it?”
    “I don’t know, it’s up and down. I guess part of me really likes being seen and analyzed constantly, it’s something I’ve wanted ever since I was a little kid. Maybe it’s some kind of residue from being an only child or maybe it’s just what everybody wants.”
    “I’m also an only child, but I don’t think I ever wanted the spotlight or fame.”
    “And that’s why you’re in Hollywood, working with me?” B gave me a smirk like you must be kidding .
    “Good point,” I said and smiled back.
    We walked until our feet hurt and went for a late lunch at a restaurant Matteo had recommended, located in a suitably anonymous location, off a side-street from the large Piazza Navona. We sat on an elevated terrace, shielded by trees and enjoyed a bottle of white wine, when I remembered I had promised to call A . It was early morning in New York, but I knew he was bound to