Guillaume, Her French Husband

He nodded.

“All green. No erosion of the ozone from them,” he said when he climbed into the driver’s seat. He started the engine and began driving from the studio parking lot.

“I am looking forward to having this green wine,” she said in a soft voice.

“You and me both,” he said in a soft voice.

But even though they were simply having dinner, the paparazzi didn’t seem to think so because as soon as they sat down, a good number of their photos had been posted on every gossip site they could think of. And by the end of that night, Guillaume knew that he had less than a week to get back to the States and make sure everything was alright between him and Lara.

*****

Lara

Seeing the picture of her fiancé with another woman, and not just any woman, a sexy actress made Lara feel inadequate. She did not know how long she had been staring at the picture before she finally decided to get dressed and leave for her appointment. She didn’t even bother with make-up. Hell, after the last few weeks in France she didn’t think she would ever need make up ever again. She put on a strapless floral dress and pulled her curly hair back in a bun. She then grabbed her sunglasses and made her way downstairs. She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she didn’t even grab breakfast before she made her way out to Ashley’s SUV. She put on her sunglasses and pulled out of the driveway, her mind still a mess.

It did not take long before she got to the first house her realtor had set for viewing. But even as she walked around the house, she could not see the appeal although the house was everything she had asked for. By the time they got to the fourth property, she was tired but there was something about that particular place. It was everything she wanted. Big. Four bedrooms. Hardwood floors and large windows that allowed lots of natural lighting. Apart from that, there was a nice pool in the backyard. She could not wait to own it. It was quite homey, if she could say so. And right there, as she made the decision to buy the house, it dawned on her just how hungry she was.

“I’ll have my lawyers draw up the papers and get in touch with your people,” the realtor said and Lara smiled at her.

“That sounds great,” she said as she looked around. “My first house.”

The realtor nodded.

“Your first house,” she echoed.

“So, when can I expect to hear from you?” Lara asked and the realtor shrugged.

“I can have the paperwork delivered to you as soon as tomorrow,” she said and Lara nodded.

“Just what I like to hear.” She shook the realtor’s hand and walked out as she put on her sunglasses.

She had been trying as much as she could not to think about the whole situation with Guillaume but she could not really help it. She usually had problems when she noticed the paparazzi taking pictures of her but on this particular day, she didn’t seem to care. She didn’t even make an effort to outmaneuver them as she drove to a nearby restaurant for a quick bite. But she knew better than anyone that it would have to be something on the go. She had no choice. But even though she had planned on grabbing something on the go, the minute she had picked up something to eat, she could not help but just park and sit inside the car. It was still running but she didn’t care. Her heart was racing as she tried Guillaume’s phone one more time. But again, he didn’t pick up and she got the same message. The voice mailbox was full. She tossed her phone over to the passenger seat and unwrapped her burger. She was just about to take a bite of her burger when she heard someone knock on her window. She almost choked on her spit when she saw who was standing outside the car.

She rolled down the window and looked in amazement. Her mouth was dry and she lacked words as she looked at the one and only Zoe Matheson. And in a parking lot no less.

“If I am not mistaken, you are Lara King, right?” Zoe asked and Lara nodded.

“Zoe Matheson,” she said when she finally found her voice. “This is such an awesome coincidence and the fact that someone like you knows someone like me is the height of my day. I can tell you that much.”

Zoe smiled at her.

“Well, now that you are the hot new thing everyone is talking about you. And you are in every page of every tabloid,” she said. “Especially since I can see that the rumors of you sleeping with your director were not just rumors,” she added as she looked at her ring.

Lara looked at her ring and smiled.

“Yeah, I guess it did catch me by surprise,” she said.

“And you think you are the first one?” Zoe asked and Lara raised an eyebrow.

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“You think you are the first woman to get intimate with Guillaume Laurent during a production?” Zoe asked in a less than friendly tone. By this time, Lara was sure that Zoe’s intentions were less than honorable. “The last project he did with me, we were all over each other. Like rabbits…maybe even worse.”

Lara shook her head.

“Why are you telling me all this?” she asked and Zoe tossed a newspaper in her lap. It had a picture of Guillaume and Lucienne Moreau in a restaurant. The same picture that she had seen that morning.

“The film he worked on with you has barely released the first trailer and he is already on to the next one,” Zoe said. “Just because he gave you some piece of costume jewelry…”

“This is most definitely not costume jewelry,” Lara said angrily.

“Real or not, you are not the only fish in the sea. I just want you to know that and if you don’t realize that by now, then you know so much less about the industry than I gave you credit for honey.”

Zoe walked away leaving a worried Lara sitting there, her uneaten burger in hand wondering if this was just an attempt at getting to her or if she actually had a point. And at that moment, her eyes fixated on the picture of her man being fed by another woman, she realized that maybe just maybe she might have been too fast to open her heart up to a man she barely knew. And a celebrity no less. It was at that moment that she realized that there were tears slowly rolling down her cheek and she could not be bothered to even wipe it off.