“Okay, we’ve got some time before we start shooting this epic scene…” Alina said, peering at her watch. “Want to go explore the town?”
A few minutes later, we were walking through the beautiful ancient town next to the seaside. Snippets of Italian floated by us as people walked down the street, taking care of their business for the day.
I fantasized for a moment about living in a town like this — what it would be like to not have to worry about a big, dirty city and all of its problems. Unlike L.A., there were no homeless to be seen. The sky was clear and without haze, and the air smelled clean. The gentle roar of the ocean underscored everything in the background, adding a serene backdrop to the already picturesque landscape. Beautiful bright flowers and vines dotted the face of ever storefront, and an ancient charm was present in everything we passed.
It was like we were in a fairytale. It was like we were actually in The Black Castle.
We passed a patio outside of a restaurant, and a bunch of beautiful people were seated dressed in ancient clothing like we’d come across a bunch of gods and goddesses hanging out.
“Ah, here’s where everyone went!” Alina said loudly.
“Eyyy!” the rest of the cast greeted her.
I surveyed the crowd quickly, my eyes lingering on all of their beautiful celebrity faces. My stomach was starting to jump around with the feeling of being starstruck. Not even ten feet away from me sat Mason Vayne, my celeb crush.
It felt like my lips were knitted together and I couldn’t bring myself to speak. Mason Vayne had been a star since he was born — he was from a family that was old Hollywood royalty. When I was a teenager, I watched him on my T.V. as he hunted vampires with those bright blue eyes. When I was a young adult, I watched him save New York City from destruction over and over in a few superhero movies. More recently, he was getting into historical dramas, and he’d starred in the one I’d just finished: He played an arrogant, sexy king.
I nudged Alina as we went inside the restaurant.
“What?” she asked with a knowing smile.
“Was… was that Mason Vayne?” I asked in disbelief.
She nodded. “They decided to bring him on for season two as well. He plays a bastard of the king who doesn’t know he’s royalty.”
I thought of the character in the book: Chronis. That character was key to the major betrayal that happened at the end of this season.
“Wow, big part,” I said with a low whistle.
“Yeah, the casting crew pretty much had to beg him to join the show,” she rolled her eyes as she leaned on the bar counter. “He’s a big name, and I guess his performance in that recent show… what’s the name of it…?”
“The Last Kingdom,” I finished for her.
“Right! That one,” she said. “He played some king or something, and it’s like he’s still in character for that,” she said grumpily.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less from a movie star,” I joked, giving her a sly grin.
“Hey now, you’re in the presence of one!” she said in a false offended voice. “I am Lady Bryn, and I’m going to steal the heart of a prince, thank you very much!”
I laughed and shook my head. “Just when I thought you couldn’t get any more extra.”
The bartender passed us the two beers Alina ordered and muttered something about our food being brought out to the table.
Alina picked up the number and started to walk out to the patio.
“Wh-wait, we’re not going out there, are we?” I stammered.
“Well yes, of course we are.”
“But they’re movie stars!” I exclaimed with my mouth agape. “And I’m just—”
“You’re with me,” she smiled brightly. “And don’t worry — remember that they’re just people that are very very good at faking things.”
Alina sat down at a table right across from Mason Vayne and I took the seat next to her. There were a few more stars at the table, but all of them were eclipsed by this unspeakable charisma that seemed to glow from Mason’s skin.
I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. He was simply too good-looking; bright blue eyes peeked out underneath long black eyelashes. Sculpted, rugged eyebrows hung low over his eyes, and dark, wavy hair hung in a styled swoop that coiled at the side of his face.
He took a sip of his half-empty beer, greeted Alina, then fixed his bright blue eyes on me.
I felt like an icy arrow lodged itself in my heart.
“And your friend is…?” he asked.
“Oh yeah, how rude of me. This is my friend and stylist, Charlie.”
I dared to look up into his eyes again, then raised my hand meekly in greeting.
“Stylist?” he asked, his voice dripping like honey. He was nothing less than captivating in person, shimmering with this magical star quality.
Alina nodded good-naturedly.
I was watching her face carefully, searching for any signs of a crush she might be harboring on him. If she was like any other woman on the planet, she would surely have the hots for Mason Vayne.
But there wasn’t a sign of anything there, only a friendly professionalism.
Then again, I had to remind myself that she was a good enough actress to get one of the lead parts in this show.
They ignored me for a few moments — which I was fine with. I used the time to continue sneaking looks at Mason and carry on with the conversation with some of the other stars at the table.
Once our food was brought out, I used the momentary distraction to check out the other tables around me filled with the cast. It only took me a few seconds to see the guy from the Netflix advertisement, Leo Knight, over in the corner at a small table by himself. He had his nose buried in book 2 of The
