Rise of the Billionaire actress

“Gran?!” Aaron put off his shoes at the door, Deloise did the same. “I’m here! And I brought a guest!”

“Keep your voice down, will you? Are you trying to make me deaf, boy?”

Mrs. Black came out of the hallway, clad in a Grey dress, white socks and supporting her steps with a walking stick.

“Ma!” Deloise watched his smile transform into a grin. He rushed towards her and enveloped her in a hug.

“Easy,” Mrs Black said between laughs, “Who do we have here?” her eyes narrowed at Deloise.

“Meet Deloise, My girlfriend.” His voice was smooth and succulent. “She got a deal so I brought her here to celebrate.”

“Good day ma’am,” she greeted politely, “It’s such a pleasure to meet you, I hope you are doing well.”

“Nonsense! We hug in this family, don’t be shy, bring it in.”

Deloise smiled at the warm welcome and joined what could best be described as a group hug. It got a bit too tight, but she wasn’t complaining.

The thrio disengaged, and went into the kitchen at Mrs Blacks’ instruction. Soon enough, they were whooping out meals and making jokes.

“The last time we made some macaroni, Aaron thought it wise to add some vinegar as his special touch.” Mrs. Black said and Deloise lost it.

“I was five!” He defended, but she wasn’t having it.

“Smart child! He always thought himself to be smarter than his peers.”

Deloise laughed, as she stirred the pot, “I can imagine little Aaron trying to be smart. Serves him right.”

“Now that’s just wrong, is this a coup against me?” he turned to Deloise, “Easy or I might think you are after my only surviving family.”

“Don’t mind him. He’s got a long trail of family he’s refused to care about.”

Aaron hollered as he headed to the living room, “I heard that! And she already knows!”

Deloise took the plates into the living room, Gran took a seat as she served lunch.

“I feel so terrible making you do this, you are supposed to be the celebrant.” she said to Aaron from across the table, “Go help her out.”

Aaron got up from his chair with a groan, and helped serve himself. A few minutes later they dug into the meal, sending jokes across themselves. After the meal, Deloise heads over to the sink to clear the plates.

Mrs Blackman pulls Aaron by the arm, “She’s a keeper.” she said, gesturing towards an unsuspecting Deloise.

Aaron didn’t know what to make of it. He opted for an understanding smile as he regarded the said person, did his ma see through his act or was she seeing ahead?

“She’s already my lady.” he said, and at that moment, Deloise turned around.

He sent a wink her way and she felt dizzy. “We need to get going.” he announced, looking at his watch. “I’ll come see you as quickly as I can, please take care of yourself.”

Mrs. Blackman huffed, “Don’t get all soft on me. I can hold my own, just remember what I said.”

Deloise picked up her bag and soon joined them in the living room. Mrs. Black regarded her with a smile, “Come here,”

They embraced one more time and Aaron held back a smile, his ma was smitten. His attention was called to them when he heard chuckles from the women.

“Gossiping again?” his perfectly arched brow demanded an answer.

“None of your business,” the old woman said with a sass, “get going already, you don’t want to be late.”

That settled it. They exchanged hugs and got on the road back to Royal Arts. While Aaron drove, he pondered on his gran’s words. He didn’t realize he was staring until she called him out on it.

“Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

“As much as I’d loved to, my hands are occupied.” he replied, unashamed of himself.

She felt his gaze on her yet another time, “It’s rude to stare; you know that right?” They slowed down as they approached the College gates. “Your grandma is amazing.”

Deloise didn’t know when she voiced the contents of her thoughts.

“I know right,” Aaron bit back a smile.

Apparently, they loved each other.

“She reminds me so much of my mom. You can’t separate them from the kitchen.” she laughed.

More than anything, at that moment, she terribly missed her mother.

“Maybe we should go see her.” Aaron offered, half joking, “I presume she’ll want to know the person rocking her daughter’s world.”

“Funny. She’ll chase you down with a spatula if she knew I was having anything to do with someone like you.”

Aaron struggled to keep his smile, “Well that’s a rather very specific reaction.”

“You don’t understand.” she saw through his words, “My mother seems to have a personal vendetta against anyone five feet from a camera. Talkless of an established actor.”

“Do you have an idea why?”

Deloise smiled, a bittersweet smile, “I wish I did, maybe I’d be able to fix it.”

The car stopped, and Aaron turned towards her, “Have you contemplated telling her? Do you plan to?”

A chill air graced the atmosphere from the open windows.

“I don’t know. One part of me wants to tell her right now, convince her that I can do them both.” her eyes connected to his and all he saw was her pain. “Convince her I can be both her daughter and an actress.”

*****

The set returned to work the next day.

Girded in a beautiful smile, Stella sought out Deloise as soon as she arrived. Upon seeing her, Deloise put up her walls.

“If you are here for any more games, I suggest you take it elsewhere. I’m scarcely in the mood for your games.”

Her hostility was received with a smile, “Contrary to popular belief, I do know where to stop.” she relaxed on the vanity, showing off her expensive string of bracelets, “Believe it or not, I have nothing against you. What happened at the party was a mere coincidence. Was I being petty? Yes. But I’m over it,” she shrugged, “The sky is big enough for us both.”

Stella couldn’t believe she said that. Talkless of Deloise.

“I appreciate that.” Deloise said, and turned away, willing her to leave in her mind.

“Now that’s out of the way,” Stella began, ” I’m curious, how did you guys hit it off? I know Aaron, I’ve known him for a while and even after your ‘relationship’ was announced, he doesn’t seem to have anything to say about you or how you connected,” she snickers, “I mean, you guys were enemies five minutes ago.”

Deloise couldn’t shake off the smugness of her tone when she said the word, relationship. She wondered if there was something she knew, or found out. Stella was way too bouncy and happy to be up to any good.

“I didn’t realize I needed to explain my relationship to you, Stella.” Aaron said from the doorway, far from pleased.

“Oh hey Aaron,” she greeted with a tight smile, “Didn’t see you there? What? You enter the ladies room without knocking now? She could have been naked.”

“I entered my girlfriend’s room.” he was swift to correct, “Why are you still here?”

“I’ll just talk to you later,” Stella headed out of the room with a gloomy face. She believed she was making a headway towards finding out the deal between them before he came in.

Stella stormed off to get prepared, while she plotted new ways to penetrate them. The shoot goes on beautifully and afterwards, Deloise gets taken for a photoshoot by Doris.

“I’m so sorry,” the photographer said to Doris, “Ellen suddenly showed up to get her photo taken. Her session will be over in no time.”

“It’s alright, it’s not like I have anything else doing.” Deloise said, “Besides, she’s a senior. Let it go.”

Doris was unwilling. “This wasn’t the plan. Everyone knew you were getting your shots taken today, is she trying to bully us?”

“Don’t you think you are being a little bit difficult?” she asked with a smile, “They’ll be done in no time.”

One hour later, and they were running out of patience. Doris approached the set, but was cut short by Ellen’s manager.

“You can’t disturb the shoot. Our beautiful Ellen will be distracted if you show up at this time.” she spoke with evident smugness.

“I’m afraid she needs to be reminded that she is running on borrowed time. My client has been patient long enough, our plans are ruined because of you.”

“Don’t be too proud. She’s merely an ant compared to our Ellen.” Ellen’s manager tsked, “She should learn to be patient when her seniors are involved. Ellen could squash her entire career in a flick of hand.”

Deloise noticed the grim expression on Doris’s face, and knew something was off. She proceeded to join her.

“Is everything alright?” she asked and Doris kept her lips pursed.

“What? Have you come to pick a fight? Don’t think because you are Evolve’s latest flavour, you can disrespect our Ellen!” the manager huffed. “Unlike others who climbed their way via dubious means, our Ellen got here with pure hard work and resilience!”

“What is going on here?” The fair actress asked with a soft voice, “Is there a problem, Doris?” her eyes fixed on Deloise.

“You made use of our time, Ellen. This slot was priorly booked for my client and you’ve used up our time.” Doris deadpanned, displeasure written all over her.

“Oh! Is that so?” she feigned surprise, and turned to Deloise, “I didn’t realize. I suppose you can tolerate me this once. I was sorely in need of some photographs, and you see, with my busy schedule, I finally had time to take some shots.” she smiled, “I didn’t realize you were waiting.”

That was a lie. A big fat lie, Doris swallowed it anyways, refusing to bow at her menace.

“Do well to ask questions next time.” She seethed, “Come on, Deloise, let’s get you started.”

The duo were ushered into the room, and she was prepared for her shots.

“Who was that lady?” Deloise finally asked,

“Ellen Parker. Top actress at Evolve, and famed for her interest in younger actors.” she answered, “Avoid her, with the look of things, she isn’t your biggest fan.”

Great. Another thing to watch out for. The list gets longer, doesn’t it?