Limelight (Hollywood Stardust) Read online

  Limelight

  A Hollywood Stardust Novel

  By

  Kim Carmichael

  Copyright

  © 2015 Kim Carmichael

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN-13: 978-0692528259

  ISBN-10: 0692528253

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of the publisher of this book.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of this author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Published by Rebel Romance, an imprint of Irksome Rebel Press

  About this Book

  Worth Waiting For…

  Twenty years ago, Drew Fulton was made famous in the genre-changing movie, Hollywood Stardust and fell in love with his costar, Erin Holland. Left heartbroken and fed up, he played his ultimate role and walked away from his life, taking on an entirely new persona. Now he wants everything back, from his place in the limelight to the love that made him leave. He only needs to make sure he can leave the past in the past.

  Known as the spoiled, has-been star of Hollywood, Erin Holland has spent the last two decades pining away for the one love she cannot have. Blindsided when Drew Fulton appears in her life as mysteriously as he disappeared, she is torn between acting on her heart and using Drew’s reappearance to relight her star.

  Together for the first time in twenty years, their true passion consumes them, but the sparks of old wounds still threaten to burn out of control before they can decide if their love was worth waiting for.

  Contents

  Copyright

  About this Book

  Contents

  Dedication

  Short Glossary of Film Terms

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Dear Reader,

  Acknowledgements

  Sneak Peeks!

  Typecast –

  A Hollywood Stardust Novel

  Hollywood Stardust Supporting Roles – Giselle & Wilson –

  Idolized

  A Hollywood Stardust Novel

  About the Author

  Dedication

  To all those who had to wait for something,

  not knowing if they would ever get it.

  Short Glossary of Film Terms

  Cut

  A change in either camera angle or placement, location, or time.

  Director

  The principal creative artist on a movie set. A director is usually (but not always) the driving artistic source behind the filming process, and communicates to actors the way that he/she would like a particular scene played. A director's duties might also include casting, script editing, shot selection, shot composition, and editing. Typically, a director has complete artistic control over all aspects of the movie, but it is not uncommon for the director to be bound by agreements with either a producer or a studio.

  Dissolve

  An editing technique whereby the images of one shot is gradually replaced by the images of another.

  Exterior

  AKA: EXT

  Used in a slug line, indicates that the scene occurs outdoors.

  Fade

  AKA: Fade To Black, Fade In, Fade Out

  A smooth, gradual transition from a normal image to complete blackness (fade out), or vice versa (fade in)

  Filtered

  Post production term to add a filtered sound effect as over the phone.

  Idolized

  To regard with blind adoration or devotion. To worship as a god.

  Interior

  AKA: INT

  Used in a slug line, indicates that the scene occurs indoors.

  Limelight

  The center of public attention, interest, observation, or notoriety.

  Off Screen

  AKA: O.S. Dialogue spoken off screen and is heard by the character.

  Producer

  The chief of staff of a movie production in all matters save the creative efforts of the director, who is head of the line. A producer is responsible for raising funding, hiring key personnel, and arranging for distributors.

  Slug Line

  A header appearing in a script before each scene or shot detailing the location, date, and time that the following action is intended to occur in.

  Stardust

  A naively romantic quality

  Typecast

  1. to cast (a performer) in a role that requires characteristics of physique, manner, personality, etc., similar to those possessed by the performer.

  2. to cast (a performer) repeatedly in a kind of role closely patterned after that of the actor's previous successes.

  HOLLYWOOD STARBURST

  FADE IN:

  INT. LOS ANGELES, CA – STUDIO STAGE - DAY

  ROXY – eighteen years old. Beautiful, but not a standout among the other beautiful girls auditioning for movie or television roles in California. ROXY opens her eyes and looks out at the director and producer and holds her breath.

  DIRECTOR – typical Hollywood type doesn’t even look up from the table.

  DIRECTOR

  (voice flat unemotional)

  Thank you Ms...

  DIRECTOR lifts a piece of paper and squints.

  DIRECTOR (CON’T)

  Ms..?

  ROXY licks her lips.

  ROXY

  Shore

  DIRECTOR

  Yes, Ms. Shore.

  (Tosses paper aside.)

  We will be in touch.

  ROXY shifts weight from one foot to the other.

  DIRECTOR

  Thank you Ms. Shore.

  ROXY pauses and finally exits into:

  INT. STUDIO HALL – DAY

  ROXY passes all the other people up for the part. She makes her way to

  INT. STUDIO LOBBY - DAY

  ROXY goes up to

  WILLIAM – typical eighteen-year-old caught between being a man and being an adolescent. Clean-cut and good looking, the type of man parents want their daughter to be with.

  WILLIAM waits by a window.

  ROXY

  Let’s go.

  WILLIAM continues to stare out the window and wipes his hand over his face.

  WILLIAM

  I agree it’s time to go.

  ROXY steps back.

  ROXY

  What do you mean?

  WILLIAM lifts a backpack and slings it over his shoulder.

  WILLIAM

  Exactly what I said. It’s time to go.

  WILLIAM pauses, looks down at the ground and kicks his foot.
/>   WILLIAM

  I’m getting out of here. I’m going home.

  ROXY

  (whispers)

  You’re leaving me?

  WILLIAM

  You can’t leave what you never had.

  ROXY looks up. She and WILLIAM stare at each other.

  ROXY

  I don’t know what to do. I want to be together.

  WILLIAM

  If that was what you wanted then we would be. I can’t compete with your thoughts of Steven, I can’t compete with this.

  WILLIAM swipes his hand around the room.

  ROXY

  This is my dream. I’m not going with you.

  WILLIAM

  I didn’t ask you to.

  WILLIAM reaches in his pocket and hands her some cash. When ROXY puts her hand in his, he holds on, pulls her in and kisses her cheek.

  WILLIAM

  I’ll always love you Rox. I think you need to figure out what your dream really is.

  WILLIAM lets go of her, hoists his backpack higher and walks away.

  ROXY watches WILLIAM leave.

  ROXY

  You left.

  Chapter One

  FLASHES FROM THE CAMERAS created lingering silver, glowing starbursts in Drew Fulton’s eyes. The media frenzy started almost instantly, derailing the 20th anniversary screening of the one and only movie he filmed, Hollywood Stardust. For someone who successfully remained hidden for two decades, he chose the ideal subtle moment to come out of his self-imposed exile, or maybe not.

  “Drew, where have you been all these years?” called out one of the reporters gathered for the gala.

  Once the studio executives realized what happened, they stopped the festivities and with a bit of movie magic, made the stage into a spot fit for a press conference in record time.

  Before showing up at the shindig, Drew promised himself to go for it. Now was the time for full disclosure, and he leaned down to the microphone. “To encapsulate two decades into one sentence—I changed my name, went to school, earned my doctorate, and opened up a small nutraceutical laboratory.” All right, it wasn’t the world’s best sentence, but it would suffice. In the next two days he would have to show up at his business and do a lot of explaining, something he sort of pushed aside when he made his snap decision to come here to find her.

  A woman waved her hand. “Why did you feel the need to change your name and disappear?”

  Drew wasn’t sure if she was part of the media or not, but if he didn’t answer her, someone else would force the issue.

  He searched for the only woman he wanted to see in the studio set converted to look like the inside of the Hollywood Stardust Theatre, the destination for the four characters in the movie. In the film, their quest took them across country. The road was a metaphor for the trip one takes to transition between adolescence and adulthood.

  In real life he, and the other actors, faced the same challenges.

  Once more, he looked for the reason he came tonight. With her knowledge of all things smoke and mirrors, no doubt she managed to squirrel away where she could watch everything, yet not be seen. For the first time since he met her, she shied away from the limelight.

  Drew swallowed and took hold of the microphone stand. While he wanted to offer the fans of the movie the truth they sought all these years, the answer as to why he disappeared was better left unspoken, at least in public.

  “Sometimes you need to just get away from everything and everyone and start over.” More lights flashed, leaving him blinking to see.

  “But how did you hide your identity?” The question came from a male in the crowd.

  An easy one. “During the movie I wore prosthetics to appear more like the producers wanted the character and they asked me to stay in costume for public appearances. It was very easy to fade away once the costume came off…and the weight came off.”

  Some chuckles went through the audience.

  Yes, he was the chubby kid. During filming he lost weight, causing a whole host of issues for the movie. They had to keep adding padding to his costume to retain continuity. He hid for a while, let the fanfare of the movie die down and then went abroad for college. By the time he returned with a different name, no one ever put it together. He still found it incredible that he pulled it off. Maybe he was a real actor after all.

  “Have you kept in touch with your cast mates?” Another question barreled toward him.

  Drew glanced off to the side of the stage. While he might not be able to find her, his best friend, Logan Alexander, was always there for him. Logan nodded, giving him the okay to answer. “Only Logan Alexander.” The quote unquote villain of both the movie and of real life was one of the best people he knew. One might even say a hero.

  Some mumbles went through the crowd.

  “Drew, why did you decide to come back now?”

  Again, he looked for her. Where did she hide herself? On the other side of the stage he located Ryder Scott, their leading man. The poster boy for a movie star, he always had everything. After the film, Ryder went on to a successful career and now also dabbled in directing and producing. Additionally, he was a complete and total ass. However, Drew couldn’t locate the last of their four. The reason he came out of hiding.

  “I have some unfinished business.” He needed to go find her. “I can take one more question before we should probably let you all get back to the movie.”

  “Can we get a picture of the four of you together?”

  Well, the promise of a picture that would be all over the world should bring her out. He turned left and right. Ryder joined him first, shaking his hand and taking center stage to thunderous applause. Logan, who only moments before proposed to his fiancée on this exact stage, came out next and the clapping grew to the point where it vibrated the building.

  Logan shook his hand and raised his eyebrows.

  “Where is she?” Drew attempted to ask the question without moving his lips.

  “She’ll be here.” Logan patted his back and took his place.

  The crowd stilled as if holding its collective breath, waiting for the one female of the group.

  Drew ground his teeth together. After everything he just did, would she not reveal herself?

  And then she appeared.

  Damn him to hell for his breath catching at the sight of her. Though he followed her career, watched her in her movies, her television appearances, and even clips of her in a stage play, nothing compared to her in person.

  She stepped to the edge of the stage and the applause began once more. Yes, even with his news of showing up after twenty years, Erin Holland would always steal the spotlight.

  The color that overtook her cheeks would be gorgeous in the pictures, but he knew better. He knew the blush came from her being flustered, unsure and taken off guard. If they were alone, away from the scrutiny of the public, she would be crying. Not that it mattered. Crying, flush, with or without makeup, and even with twenty years behind them, he had never seen a more beautiful woman.

  Instead of tears, she nodded toward the audience and made her way to her once co-stars. Her silver form-fitting dress moved like liquid metal, fluid and flowing. She wore her blonde hair down, smooth and cascading over one shoulder, but pulled back from her picture-perfect face. Her doe-like blue eyes and heart shaped lips were all natural and the envy of many a teenage girl way back when.

  She stared into his eyes, asking questions, shooting accusations. In short, being Erin through and through. The one woman he couldn’t stand, but couldn’t get out of his mind. He could never move forward if he only looked back, and the second she came within reach, he held his hand out to her.

  “Drew.” She licked her lips, put her hand in his and gave him a hug. Her trembling betrayed her cool outward demeanor.

  “I came here for you.” He inhaled. Her perfume might have changed, but the aroma enveloping him was the same. It was just Erin. “We need to talk.”

  Without a word, she pulled b
ack and took her position between Logan and Ryder. The three made up the love triangle of Hollywood Stardust while Drew’s character, Charles, was always left standing on the edge, just like him.

  Again, the lights flashed and he found himself posing with the rest of them. Old habits returned, subtle changes in his position to catch the light, show off a better angle, allow the photographers to get the ever-important shot.

  He needed to get to the person he came here for and raised his hand, the universal signal for stopping the show.

  “Drew, one more question before you leave,” a woman called over the mumbles, the claps and the oohs and ahhs.

  He waited.

  “What unfinished business brought you back? Is this a publicity stunt for the movie or was it something, or someone, else?”

  “It wasn’t a stunt. In fact, I didn’t even know I was going to do this until about an hour before I arrived.” He turned, wanting to catch Erin before she ran away licking her self-perceived wounds.

  As usual, he was too late. Erin had already vanished and he almost fought a laugh. Once more, he changed his life for her, and again she wasn’t around. “As for the rest, stay tuned.”