Some Love to Give

Big Changes

~~~~~Trinity~~~~~

“Trin and I are in an official relationship, and it’s something we wanted to share with our fans. There’s no point in hiding it, since I ended my status as Hollywood’s Womanizer for her.” Jeriah replied calmly, and she felt her heart rate speeding in her chest. “As much as I enjoyed my former ladies, they don’t compare to how much of a bright light Trinity is to me. She is such an amazing woman.”

Trinity turned the television off again, her cheeks flushed with her embarrassment. She wanted to go public with their relationship, seeing as he ended his womanizing ways to be with her. She wanted to, but hated this. Why were they in the news so much? Who exactly were the news stations reporting this to? Was the entire world bored? Trinity chewed on her lip, fearing the mess she knew was waiting for her at the publishing house. The biggest bright side to this was her fans did not know her address. That limited the amount of press her house would get. For now, at least.

“Hello?” she spoke into her phone while muting her television. “What’s going on, Thomas?”

“Loverboy created enough of a scene for the press to go wild with gossip.” Thomas, her manager, replied with a sigh. “We’re trying to clean the mess up, but they want an official statement. Can you come down to the office and field some questions for us?”

“I’m on my way. I’m not getting much done here, anyway.” Trinity sighed before standing to head towards her bedroom. “I’ll dress in one of my disguises. Last thing we need is someone to ask a question I’m not ready to answer and I get further embarrassed.”

Once she ended the call, she dressed in one of her disguises and walked out of her home to her garage. It had been a while since she drove herself somewhere, and she loved taking her Corvette out on the town from time to time. Trinity often worried she would forget how to drive because of how often she could depend on drivers. Though that would be the least of her concerns if what Thomas said was any sign. Normal gossip would fall off in a couple days, but this was relationship gossip. Fans and foes alike are likely going crazy over the news, both in negative and positive ways. And Trinity wanted to try answering all those.

The last thing she wanted was to have either of their names smeared all over the headlines because of something he said. Her fingers gripped tight to the steering wheel as she pulled her shiny blue Corvette out of her garage. Trinity nervously bit her lip, a movement which caught her attention in the rearview mirror. A short, platinum bob fell below her ears, and the tee shirt and jeans made her fit in with the average crowd, so she did not worry about being spotted. All she had to do was go through the back door at the office and no one would know she was there.

She drove around the corner down the street from the office, annoyed at the amount of traffic, when she had to come to a stop again because of it, and her eyes widened in shock. Around the front of the publishing house were so many people she could not see through them to the door. Some were even spilling out to the street as they tried to shove past each other to get closer to the door. The police were directing traffic around the flow of people and this made her freeze in her seat, knuckles gripping the wheel so tight her fingers turned white. What happened to a normal number of reporters? She wondered for a second before pulling around behind the building.

“It’s an absolute mess, and your boyfriend is the cause.” The CEO of the publishing house said with a hand to his forehead, his expression drawn up in frustration. “I knew announcing their relationship to the press was a terrible idea, especially with that man being so frivolous. What does Miss Faith even see in such a… bastard? She’s even been behind on her submissions, and I’m sure he’s the cause.”

Trinity ground her teeth before clenching her fingers into fists. While he embarrassed her when he said what he did, she knew he was earnest about his words. She could tell, and refused to listen to someone put down the man she finally allowed herself to fall for. Especially after he worked so hard to break down her walls. Before she could say anything, Thomas appeared in her sight with his head shaking no. Trinity chewed on her lip, but looked straight into his eyes with determination. No. She would not let someone get away with it this time. She wanted to set the record straight.

“Miss Faith, break up with that man. This is just too much!” the Elder spoke, looking up with her with tired eyes, his hand falling to stroke along his chin. “There is no way we can allow this many people to stand outside the office every day. We’re a place of business, not your personal secretaries!”

“Then I will have to pull my series’ from your service and go with another company.” She replied while crossing her arms over her chest, not flinching when everyone’s mouths dropped open in shock. “Because I refuse to end the relationship I just started with him. Not when I’m finally facing my past and becoming a better woman for it. And I told you before, Mister Glen. I will not let you, or anyone, dictate what I do with my life. If you don’t like them crowding here, get with Jeri’s manager to determine the best way to field this. Surely Miss Emory has ways of dealing with this.”

“Fine. For now. If this continues to be a problem, though, I won’t hesitate to pull your series’ myself, Miss Faith.” Glen replied with a stubborn head turn. “You’ve been such a pleasure to work with. We’d really like to continue that work relationship.”

He continued with a glance at Thomas, who was shaking his head in dismay. Trinity listened as Glen’s footsteps disappeared before looking up at her friend’s green eyes with a tired smile. Though Jeriah embarrassed her, she did not know what was making the news stations go haywire over their relationship. They have already been dating publicly for a month now. Thomas shook his head again before beckoning her to follow him and leading her to the television. The reporter was reading off some news about a young man saving a dog until Jeriah’s statement from that morning appeared on the screen. Trinity bit her lip as she waited through the video, and the screen flipped back to the reporter.

“Many of us are wondering. Why? He was Hollywood’s playboy, but now he seems more like a lovesick fool. We heard reports of him ignoring his lovers to work on her movie, though this seems more like an obsession than two people in love.” She continued, zooming into his face. “And we still haven’t received an official statement from Miss Faith about this, only news through her publishing office, which confirmed the relationship. Of course, this was after the two announced the relationship themselves, since no one seemed to believe them.”

“They’re just saying…” she started, but Thomas waved his hand, annoyed, so she finished in a mumble. “Whatever the hell they want to…”

“This could be a publicity stunt to draw more viewers into their next collaboration project. Rumor has it the two are possibly working on a sequel to Tantalizing Love, but we have not confirmed this by asking anyone working near the two. The only answers we have are what they gave us at the press conference a few weeks ago, and the statements from Miss Faith’s company and Mister Coster.” The reporter continued with a giggle. “Maybe Miss Faith should come forward and answer a few of these questions. She is the only person we can turn to for more information and her thoughts on the budding relationship with Hollywood’s Womanizer.”

Thomas muted the television before turning to look at her with a frustrated expression on his face. She could now understand his annoyance with this, especially since she had not gone on record with anything other than what she said at the press conference. Now that Jeriah made an official statement, it was obvious they would want one from her as well. The pair already told them what they needed to know, so why did she need to add more to it? She sighed before nodding to Thomas, agreeing to go on public television to answer a few questions about her relationship with Jeriah. Trinity knew she would face some backlash from dating him, but did not expect it to happen this fast or be this much.

~~~~~Jeriah~~~~~

“No, it should burn hot, not slow. Viewers should feel that on the screen.” He said with an annoyed expression. “Think like that time Trinity showed everyone what lovers were to look like on screen.”

The actress nodded, having been one of the side characters from Trinity’s Tantalizing Love movies. As the couple said their lines again, this time with more passion, he thought back to when that happened. He could almost feel her body under his palms and a soft sigh parted his lips as he thought about the amorous look in her hazel eyes as she spoke to him, her voice sounding full of love. Back then, he never thought she would look at him like that with genuine emotion. Now, here they were, and he even broke his rule to go official with her. He stood there observing the two, zoning out until the actress cleared her throat with a raised eyebrow.

“Mister Coster, how was our run that time?” She asked, startling him from his thoughts. “Did I miss a line?”

“No, no, you did well. Both of you.” He replied, walking over to the computer to watch the run again. “Yes, the emotions read well on screen. It feels like you two are in an actual relationship.”

“Speaking of, how are things going with Miss Faith?” One of the film crew wondered with a knowing grin. “She must be something else in bed for her to lock you down.”

“Oh, she’s fantastic. Trin is an amazing cook, talented author, wonderful woman, kindhearted lover, and a timeless beauty.” Jeriah gushed before dialing it back a little. “I hope I’m able to collaborate with her on set again. I want to read more of her stories first, though. It’s hard to find the time when all I want to do is spend that time with her.”

Awkward silence fell over the set, and he turned back to the screen to review the run one more time, not realizing the cause of that awkwardness. No one there ever saw him speak that much or give someone that many compliments who was not even present. But when he did not focus on working, all he thought of was her. He continued to stare at the screen, his mind focused on it until sound returned to the set. Instead of adding fuel to the rumors, he could already hear circulating around him. Jeriah did not care if people knew he was happy. It was the best thing in the world to him, anyway.

‘It’s just like the news said. He really has changed from the man he used to be.’ One crew member whispered, just barely in a tone Jeriah could hear. ‘Has he really never had a normal relationship before?’

The whispers got louder until he clapped his hands, signaling everyone to get back to work. They had a lot to get done before his next movie could release and not a lot of time to do it. He let his mind focus on work instead of her, and did not notice the passage of time. Soon, some of his crew and actors began packing up their items to leave for the day, making him startle from his thoughts and glance around. He had been so drawn into his work; he did not realize the time. With a spring in his step, he said goodbye to his crew before leaving.