Chapter 23
"Come on Lexa. It was fun last time too, wasn't it? Think of our hip swing."
The woman addressed rolled her eyes.
"That was once, and I'd had too much to drink. Apparently a lot more than I had realized."
Ilian now looked to Clarke.
"You're going to be there, aren't you? We're going to one of the most exclusive clubs around. Stars and starlets only. There's even a no photography rule. I'm sure it'll be great! Besides, it will be one of our last opportunities to celebrate together. The shoot is only two weeks away. Come on." Hopefully, he looked them in the eye.
"I'll only come if Lex is there, too." She looked at the brunette and she nodded defeatedly.
"Okay."
"Titus?"
"Yeah. What can I do for you?"
"We're going to a club today and I'd like to make some arrangements with the owner beforehand. Could you also get our lawyer to do it directly? And give Indra the night off."
He nodded and after getting some information, he set off to fulfill his mission.
In their respective rooms, they got ready for the night. Clarke put on more noticeable makeup for the first time in a long time, opting for a black top that showed some cleavage and accentuated her figure, as well as short shorts.
When Clarke was ready, she knocked at the actress' room, she did this so she wouldn't disturb her while she was getting dressed. She opened the door and the blonde had to swallow. Lexa had put on a tight-fitting, slightly shorter, also black, dress and she was left breathless. She had never seen the brunette like this before.
"Clarke? Are you all right?" Green eyes scrutinized her and the addressed came out of her stupor.
"Yes. You look stunning."
Lexa smiled and they made their way to the club.
There were already many people standing in front of "The Dropship" who were eager to get in. Confidently, the two stepped forward and when the bodyguard caught sight of Lexa, he opened the barrier and let them both pass after taking their cell phones.
Inside they were already greeted by Ilian and the others from the cast. Instantly, the actor grabbed Lexa`s favorite doctor and pulled her onto the dance floor. They moved rhythmically and as the songs quieted down, the two got closer. Every time Ilian touched Clarke, the brunette`s jealousy increased. The actress watched them and her mood worsened by the minute. She watched them angrily, clenching her hands into fists. When she noticed how she was acting, she admonished herself. She wasn't allowed to make it so obvious, the crew was here and many guests. Photo ban or not, but rumors always made the rounds quickly. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. In front of her stood a black-haired woman with piercing green eyes. The woman leaned down to her and whispered something in her ear. For a moment she pondered. Should she accept the offer? She took another look at Clarke and her dance partner and decided to accept it. She nodded and they headed to the dance floor. As she walked with the woman onto the dance floor, she thought defiantly, what Clarke could do, so could she. Lexa kept looking around at the blonde, but she didn't seem to be paying any attention to her, so she looked more closely at her dance partner. She looked good and when she searched her gaze, those eyes fascinated the actress. Green like hers, only piercing and not blue, that was the disturbing thing about them. They were not blue and no blonde hair framed her face. No tentative, sometimes shy smile got her. Still, she danced on. Danced away her anger and frustration. She tried to block it all out until she realized she was being watched. She looked around and spotted Clarke, who was eyeing her closely. How was she to interpret that expression in her gaze? Why had she stopped dancing? If she had known how much it bothered the blonde to give her attention to someone else, especially a woman, Lexa would hardly have believed it. At that moment, all the doctor saw was the actress with her arms around a woman she didn't know, looking incredibly familiar. And that disturbed her enormously. Why, she could not explain herself, but she went over to Lexa and pulled her away from the protesting stranger. Briefly, the brunette hesitated. Should she dare and take the risk? It was a gamble. But Clarke did not give in. The beat demanded dancing bodies, ecstasy until no one could anymore. Demanded more and more. Finally they danced, wild, untamed, completely free, until a calmer song came. Lexa wanted to leave but the blonde held her back and pulled her into her arms. Slowly they moved to the beat, no one existed anymore, just the two of them and the brunette didn't want to be anywhere else but right here, at this moment.
Out of breath, they walked into their VIP lounge.
"Girls, that was hot." Ilian came up to them, grinning.
He put his arm around them and pulled out his smartphone.
"I thought that was forbidden here? Because of privacy issues? We had to turn ours in earlier." Clarke wanted to know.
"It is, don't worry, it's only allowed in the screened areas like here. You just have to say something." He waved one of the security men over, he nodded and went off to get the cell phones.
"Now let's take a picture." He still had his arm around the two women and after they laughingly surrendered to their fate, he snapped one.
When the man returned and gave them their cell phones, Lexa put her arm around Clarke.
"Let's take a picture, too. We don't have one together yet."
She nodded and put her hand around Lexa's hips, pulling her a little closer, which surprised the brunette, promptly resulting in a somewhat blurry picture. The blonde laughed, took the phone from her hand and they posed again, but before pulling the trigger, she gave the actress a kiss on the cheek and pulled the trigger the moment she reacted, widening her eyes in surprise while her cheeks turned slightly red.
"You certainly didn't want a normal photo, did you?" Smiling self-consciously, Clarke wasn't sure if she was actually flirting. But perhaps there was more to it than she wanted to admit to herself.
A few days later, Lexa had an interview on a talk show and she was visibly nervous. She had sat in on countless ones, but never had anyone else been there except her manager and bodyguard. Knowing Clarke was watching was like watching her perform for the first time.
"My name is Charles Pike. I'm the host of the Good Night Show and my guest tonight is Lexa Woods. She's been doing movie after movie, starred in popular shows before that and has been a guest on quite a few. Now let's give her a warm welcome."
Clarke sat in the audience, watching everything closely. The host grinned and Lexa appeared smiling and charming as always. They shook hands and greeted each other.
"Hey Lexa, good to see you here. I hope you are well?"
"Thanks Charles, I'm very happy to be here." Another toothpaste smile. "I can't complain, I'm fine."
"I'll take your word for that because, I understand your current film project is coming to an end and your next one is starting soon. Is that right?"
The brunette smiled.
"Yes that's so, I rarely take a break."
Without knowing it, she had just played into the hands of the presenter.
"So what's your next movie about?"
"As charming as you ask... but you know I can't reveal any information about it yet, it's all top secret. Only one thing I can confirm."
Tensely, the presenter looked at her and leaned over a bit.
"I'll play along." Heartily, she laughed.
The audience laughed along, only the host didn't seem particularly taken with her joke. He didn't like being made fun of.
"Then let's talk about something else, maybe you can tell more about that."
Pike nodded her head and a photo appeared on the screen behind them. It showed her and Clarke dancing, and they looked very familiar. Someone had taken it when they were dancing to a slow song, close together. Clarke had her head on her shoulder and her arms as well, she herself had her arms around her waist.
Charles' smile turned dirty.
"This all seems very intimate. What exactly is going on? And especially, what have we missed? You've been rumored several times to be flirting with your co-star from the last movie. Or is this all false and you're a lesbian?"
The surprise didn't show on her face, rather she looked confident and completely in her element.
"This is a good friend of mine."
"One or yours?" The emcee's smile looked celebratory.
"Charles, you just want to make this a gossip story, even if there isn't one. That's your specialty and I think we all know that. There's nothing there, we're friends. Besides, I already have someone."
That sat and not with the presenter, because he did not let himself be upset, but with a certain blonde doctor.
"I'm a little doubtful about your statement... Because, wasn't she with you on your last vacation then too? And now she's also with you on your shoot. You said yourself you almost never need a break and then you take one and all of a sudden there's a blonde woman who almost won't leave your side. That's a bit too much of a coincidence."
An approving murmur went through the crowd, but Lexa remained calm.
"In fact, I met her during that vacation, and we've been friends ever since."
She kept close to the truth and tried not to give him any offense.
"Then what was with that year of radio silence? The only time you weren't seen together, by the way."
"I was shooting and she was busy, that's what happens when you work right." She winked at him and the sideswipe did not escape the moderator and the audience jeered.
After that, Charles changed tactics, but she doubted that had been it and she was right.
"Then what was it with Costia? For a while you were almost as familiar as you and the woman in the photo and suddenly she's no longer part of your life, how do you explain that?"
"Oh Charles, are things so bad that you want to make a story out of everything? Not everything has more behind it right away. Yes, Costia and I used to be friends, but as it happens in life, sometimes you part ways. You move on or in different directions, it's human and perfectly normal or are you still friends with everyone from your childhood?"
She had taken all the wind out of his sails and all the assets he thought he had just taken away and so he had no choice but to go back to innocuous topics.
Clarke still had to process everything she'd heard there. Lexa had someone? And who? Had she got it all wrong? After that interview, at least, it seemed that way.
But they didn't have time to talk in peace, the actress had to go directly to the make-up to remove her make-up, because she had to return to the set as soon as possible to continue shooting.