Chapter 2 - Alex

Bzzz! Bzzz! Bzzz! Still under the covers, Alex felt around the night table's top for her phone. Squinting, she could make out that the caller was non-other than her mother and manager, Pamila Montgomery.

"Hello?" Alex croaked into her cell.

"Alexandra Montgomery, have you seen the blogs, yet?"

"No mother...it's not even 7 am, yet. I don't have to get to set until 9, this morning." Alex groggily sat up in her bed and put her mom on speaker, so she could see her phone's screen. "Ok. What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"Access, Entertainment, People, you name it, you're the Monday main story!" her momager gushed.

Alex's eyes widened when she saw hit after hit on Google featuring pictures of her and Jordan from Friday's party. Her smokey eyes seared into the camera as she rested one hand against Jordan's chest and the other behind his back. Jordan's hand rested firmly on her waist and his gaze was fixed dreamily on her.

Scrolling down the page, she saw a meme of the picture which read 'Get you a man who looks at you like Jordan looks at Alex.'

"Oh my God," Alex groaned, rolling her eyes. There were dozens of articles asking, "Are they young Hollywood's new 'it' couple?"

"Alexandra, are you actually upset about this?" her mom sounded completely baffled.

"I mean, I'm not exactly thrilled. I literally met him for two seconds--two very rude seconds--and now I'm supposed to be his girlfriend? We're starting promo for the series soon, and I'm trying to be taken seriously for my work, not for getting caught up in Jordan W.'s little thirst trap!"

Alex was concerned, having seen so many young women in Hollywood get tossed by the wayside because they were considered nothing but party girls who bounced from one fling to another. "Honey, I wouldn't worry about that," her mother soothed. "These stories come and go, but your work will speak for itself."

"Besides," Pamila continued, "from the business perspective, even if half of Jordan's fans tune in regularly, you should clear a second season in no time."

"Wow, mom...seriously?" Season one had yet to premiere and her mother was already trying to get season two locked down.

"Alexandra, you know I love you and care about you. Part of that means I have to be focused on the business and branding side of things. Just pretend you didn't even know this was news, if anyone asks, and that you were just congratulating him on getting the cover at the party."

Sighing, Alex felt slightly less anxious. "You're right. I'm getting this attention anyway, so I might as well make the best of it. Besides, it's Monday. TMZ will be on to the next by Wednesday."

"There's my girl!" Pamila said, "Now get out of bed and hustle up because you won't make it in time if you leave after 7:30."

-------------------------------------------

"Hey girl, can I come in?" Zee said, stepping into Alex's trailer, and flopping onto the small couch.

"You're supposed to come in after you ask, not while you're asking." Alex smiled.

"Naw, I'm good. When people are cool, like we are, you don't even really have to ask" Zee said, turning to lay on her side.

"Cool, huh? Were we cool when you brushed off Jordan telling me to get up? Or how about when you straight dipped on your girl and left me in the VIP section alone, at Young Hollywood?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Zee laughed sitting up and motioning her hands as if she were reigning in a horse. "First of all, most folks who have heard of Jordan know he's got jokes, and he's always messing with people. Just because you were so busy stomping away, that you didn't hear us scream it was a joke, doesn't mean I don't have your back. And second of all," Zee smacked her lips to emphasize the phrase, "I told you from the jump, if I see anyone from the cast of Black Panther in the building, I was making a bee line for them, before they could slip out. I told you from the jump, and I'm a woman of my word."

"Yeah, ok." Alex rolled her eyes and reached for her makeup removal wipes.

"Don't take off your makeup because we're going out." Zee said, now thumbing through a magazine.

Alex looked up from tying her sneakers, "It's 9:15 at night, on a Monday. We've been working since 9 this morning. I'm tryin' to get ALL the sleep." Alex responded, thinking about her mother waking her up before 7 am, earlier.

"Naw, we're going out. Don't waste a good face beat. We're not on the call sheet for tomorrow and you don't even have to change out of your jeans. The guys want to check out that new 24-hour mini-golf spot, 'The Golf Club'."

The 'guys' Zee was referring to were Derrick and Rubin who were members of the cast. Rubin had a baby face, and was on the shorter side, at 5' 9". Although he was Latino, his look was racially ambiguous and he played the role of Zee's younger brother on the show.  Zee was biracial, having a black father and a white mother. She too shared Rubin's racially ambiguous look, which made them believable siblings on the show.  Derrick had chocolate brown skin, a low box haircut, and stood at 6 feet tall. He played the role of Zee's love interest on the show. Alex played Zee's best friend and her character filmed the most scenes, after Zee's, the series' lead.

The four cast-mates had become close over the past few months and tried to hang outside of set as much as possible.  Derrick and Rubin were roommates, sharing an apartment in West L.A., while Zee owned a condo on the west side, so they got together often. Alex rented an apartment on the east side, so it was a little more work for her to get with the others, but she did so more often than not.

"Did you drive today?" Alex asked Zee, as they walked to Alex's sedan.

"No, I rode in with Derrick and  Rubin. I'll ride with you to 'The Golf Club' and then get a ride back home with the guys."

"Ok, cool." Alex said, getting in the car. When Alex turned the ignition, the car made a brief noise but didn't turn on. She tried again, with the same result. After the third time, she knew her battery had died. "Uhhgg! Seriously!" she slammed her hand on the steering wheel.

"Relax Alex, it's just a dead battery. The studio won't care if you leave your car here overnight. Plus, we don't even have to be back until Wednesday. Let's just get a ride with Derrick and Rubin." Zee suggested. Thankfully, Alex had subscribed to an emergency towing service, and they could either give her a jump-start or tow her car to the nearest repair shop, at no cost. That would have to be the plan. Until then, she might as well try and have a little fun with her friends.

It turned out 'The Golf Club' was literally an indoor club where people played mini-golf. There were five different levels, each with a unique mini-golf course and accompanying DJ. At the back of each level was a bar surrounded by a few small lounge areas. Alex almost felt under dressed in her charcoal Pumas, but this was just mini-golf, after all. Comfort was more important. Besides, she was cute enough wearing a modest black bralette under a cropped black jacket, with dark skinny jeans. Her long silk press was still fresh, as was her makeup.  Sneakers would be just fine.

"Hey! What's up man! Thanks for the invite." Alex watched in surprise as Jordan W. dapped  Derrick up. He looked picture perfect as usual, this time wearing a buttoned down shirt, jeans, and white KSwiss sneakers.  "I didn't know he was coming," she whispered to Zee, "did you know?" Zee shook her head. "No, I didn't. Derrick mentioned knowing him, but I didn't realize they were that cool." Zee whispered back.

"Jordan, you've met Zee, right?" Derrick asked ushering Jordan over towards Zee and Alex.

"Yeah, we've met a couple of times now." Jordan responded, pulling Zee in for a brief hug.

"And I know you already know Alex. Didn't yall hang out Friday at young Hollywood?" Derrick continued. As Jordan reached out to Alex for a hug, she stepped back slightly and put her hand out to shake his hand instead.

"Ohhhhh, snaappp!!" Rubin said covering his mouth with a fist.

"Alright, that's cool." Jordan said smiling and nodding his head. Satisfied, Alex felt it was appropriate payback for his rudeness on Friday. Derrick clapped his hands a few times to get everyone's attention. "Alright yall. Whoever loses buys everyone a midnight meal!" The group agreed and they began playing what would be a very intense game of mini-golf.

Throughout the game, Alex noticed Jordan watching her, and on more than one occasion, he tried to stand near her while someone else was taking a turn at the hole. Alex would swiftly change positions before Jordan had the opportunity to start a conversation. He's over here trying to get me back for earlier, but he's got the wrong one, Alex thought each time.

By the time the game was over, it was almost midnight, and Rubin was in last place. "I got yall...but not tonight!" Rubin stated as everyone rolled their eyes and laughed.

"Here we go!" Derrick exclaimed. "I should have known Rubin's cheap ass would try to back out. We stopping by In-and-Out on the way home, bruh! I'm getting a whole meal!"

As they all walked out to the parking lot, Jordan turned to Alex, "Come on, let's go."

Zee gave Alex a quick look raising her eyebrows, "Jordan's got you?"

"Yeah, I've got her." Jordan said taking Alex's hand.

"Makes sense, Jordan lives on the east side too." Derrick said, waving over his shoulder, then getting into his car. "Ok, bye hun," Zee said quickly hugging Alex and jogging to Derrick's car.

Everything transpired in a matter of seconds, and Alex was so stunned that she didn't have a chance to respond. "I guess I'm riding with you?" she finally stated as she and Jordan stood alone in the parking lot.

"Yup. Looks like you are." Jordan opened the passenger side door to his Jeep Wrangler, and Alex climbed in. As he made his way over to the driver's side, Alex began to feel nervous. She wasn't afraid. He had a fairly high profile and probably cared about his career too much to do anything stupid. But she didn't know him very well and there was no one else to help with conversation. Even in good traffic, they had a half hour drive ahead of them. What would they talk about, if they talked at all?

Jordan got in and started the car. "Are you buckled in?"

"Mmhm." She nodded. Alex watched as he synced his phone to the car, and opened his music app. New Edition's track "If It Isn't Love" started playing and Jordan backed out of the space. Smiling quietly to herself, Alex turned to the window.

"Are you hungry?" Jordan asked after a couple of minutes. Alex was starving. She was a little disappointed she wasn't in Derrick's car heading to In-and-Out. "No, I'm fine." Alex said, regretting every syllable.

"Are you sure?" Jordan insisted, "Because you look hungry."

"Well, you look thirsty." Alex snapped, immediately wishing she could take that back.

"Wow. So I'm thirsty now? Cause I'm trying to be nice?"

"I'm sorry, are you Mr.Nice Guy all of a sudden?" Alex retorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jordan scoffed.

"I mean, you weren't really thinking about being nice about your little VIP seating, last Friday."

"Wow, you're still on that? Is that why you been curbing me all night?" Even Jordan's look of astonishment was sexy. And as much as she hated it, it softened her up, a bit.

"Look, my bad, ok" Alex sighed, looking at Jordan. They were at a red light near a street lamp and she could see his freckles in the light. She didn't know what his deal was, but she didn't have to be rude. "I get a little cranky when I'm hungry."

Jordan smiled and looked over at her. She could have sworn she saw a small, twinkling 'bink' at the top corner of his crest white smile. "I told you, you looked hungry. " he said. The light turned green and they were off again.