Something More Hollywood Heights

Jealous are we? Chapter 18

Phil stands up. "Relax Eddie, no need to raise your voice."

Loren looks at him. "Phil wants me to look at the ring his giving his girlfriend." She wonders why he raised his voice.

He blushes. "Sorry, you two looked very serious, making sure, I guess."

Loren opens the box. "This is beautiful; she's going to love it."

Eddie's embarrassed; he walks back to where he was sitting. Loren hugs Phil. "When is the big day?"

Phil lets out a huge sigh. "Tonight; anyway, I'll let you know, got to get ready for tonight's dinner, I have to get flowers."

Loren smiles. "I'm excited for you; let me know what she says!"

"You think she'll say no?"

Loren rolls her eyes. "She's got to be crazy to turn you down." She blows him a kiss, he leaves. Loren looks at Eddie. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

Loren tries not to laugh. "What was that about?"

"I don't know, for some reason I thought…never mind."

"Please finish."

He doesn't want to explain. "I'm tired, for some reason I thought he was proposing."

Loren giggles. "What? Why would you think that?"

"Like I said, I'm tired."

She stops. "Whoa wait, what if he was proposing? What's wrong with that?"

He stops and looks at her. "Nothing, I'm sure any guy would love to marry you."

She sighs. "Thanks." They get into Loren's car and drive away; it isn't a long drive. Eddie's quiet; he seems far in thought. It takes Loren several seconds to let him know they're by his car. "Earth to Eddie."

He finally realizes she's calling him. "Oh sorry, just tired."

"Do you need me to take you home?"

"Of course not."

He opens the door and steps out. "See you tomorrow?"

"Definitely, good night." She drives away. He walks to his car, gets inside and sits for a while. He's still processing the reaction he had when he thought Phil was proposing to Loren, he doesn't know what came over him, he takes off.

The following day, they back at Jakes' working on the video for "If there was no Music. " Loren's getting very good, she doesn't miss a beat to the song or the lyrics, she remembers every step to the dance, Eddie's on a roll too. Kelly and Jake are impressed.

After they're done. "Hey that was amazing work, I've never seen you do this great, what's your secret?" Jake wonders.

"Nothing at all Jake, the Grammy's will be here soon, I want this video out of the way, I'm sure it'll help Loren." Jake narrows his eyes. "You sure that's it Eduardo."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not saying a word; you figure it out."

Loren returns from the dressing room. She's wearing a black short dress, a leather jacket and long black boots, her hair is loose. "Where are you going? You look beautiful."

"Thanks Kelly, I'm meeting Mel, Ian and Danny for dinner."

Eddie looks at her. "I thought you were going straight home?"

"I was; Mel wants to try this new sushi place." She grabs her bag and leaves. Eddie tries to remain calm, he's upset, he has to pretend he's fine. "See you later guys."

Kelly hugs Jake from behind. "What's going on?"

Jake smiles, he places several papers on his desk. "I have a feeling Eddie Duran is in love again."

Kelly laughs. "What? With whom?"

Jake glances at his wife, he flashes a crooked smile. "Try and guess!"

Kelly's eyes widen. "No!"

"Yes, he's fallen hard, this time it's the real thing."

Kelly tries to understand the whole thing. "He's in love with Loren?"

"I know he is, but, I am sure he won't admit it anytime soon, did you see his reaction when Loren said she was meeting Mel, Ian and Danny?"

"No I didn't, I have to pay more attention around here." Kelly adds.

Jake laughs, he holds her hand. "Let's head upstairs, we have two boys who need our attention."

Meanwhile Loren, Danny, Mel and Ian arrive at the Sushi Palace, a very cozy restaurant with live music.

"I have to learn to make sushi." Loren says.

"It must be very easy." Danny says.

The waiter takes their order and returns with 4 glasses of water. Ian looks at the menu.

"There's so much to choose from."

Within the hour, they order and enjoy their meal. Music's playing in the background, some couples are dancing. Mel gets up. "Come on Ian, let's dance."

"Here? It's a small dance floor." She pulls him by the arm. "Come on, it's more romantic." Ian shrugs his shoulders and follows her.

Danny looks at Loren. "I hope you like to dance?"

"Of course, I love it."

He extends his hand "Shall we?"

She takes his hand and follows him to the dance floor. "I need to talk to you."

"Sure, what's up?"

"I've been rehearsing this all week." Danny adds.

She looks at him. "What is it?"

"The moment we met I knew you're special, I can't stop thinking of you, the moment I saw you open for Eddie, I knew I wanted to meet you, Loren, what I'm trying to tell you is that I'm in love with you."

She stops and looks at him. "That's very sweet but.."

"But what? Give yourself time to get to know me Loren, don't turn me down, give me a chance."

"You're a sweet friend, I don't want to hurt you, I really don't."

"Then give me a chance, I'm not going to give up on you."

Loren doesn't say anything, he feels uncomfortable. "Is it Eddie?"

"Why bring him up?"

"Man he's lucky, you're in love with him, I know it, I can feel it."

"I can't control my feelings Danny, I'm sorry."

He walks back to the table. Loren follows him, she's sad, she doesn't want to hurt him.

"I'm not giving up, I can wait, I'm really good at it."

"Thanks Danny, I hope we can be friends?"

"I hope so." He gets up and walks towards the restroom area. Mel and Ian return to the table. "Why the sad face?"

Loren sighs sadness. "I feel awkward."

"Why? Where's Danny?"

"He's in the men's room."

Mel looks at Ian and back to Loren. "What's wrong? Why are you sad?"

"Danny told me he's in love with me."

Mel's eyes widen. "Oh wow, just now?"

"Yes, while we were dancing, I don't want to hurt him."

Ian takes a sip of his water. "That's the worst thing a guy can hear."

"I know Ian, what can I tell him? not going to lie to him, I can't, I think he's sweet."

"Don't worry; he needs time to deal with the heart break." Ian says.

Loren leans on her hands. "I don't want to hurt him."

Mel tries to cheer Loren. "It must be cool to have a country star tell you he loves you."

"It's not fun Mel, he's hurt, I could see it in his eyes."

"We could leave when he returns."

Ian gets up, Danny returns to the table. "Listen we're leaving; I have an early shoot."

Mel looks at Loren. "Are you coming or staying?"

She looks at Danny. "I'm really tired Danny, can we go?"

"Sure, can I take you home?"

"That would be great." Loren turns towards Mel. "I'll see you home in a bit."

"We're heading that way too, dinner was great Danny." Mel adds.

He smiles. "That's great."

Mel holds Ian's arm, she snuggles close to him and they leave the restaurant. Loren gets her bag; they head out the door. The ride home is quiet. Loren looks out the window; Danny's quiet; 20 minutes later, he stops at Loren's condo. She looks at him. "Thank you, I had a nice time." He gets off to open the door, she steps out.

He looks her in the eyes. "I'm willing to wait Loren, I don't mind."

"Thanks, sorry, I don't want to hurt you."

"Like I said, I'm going to wait, Eddie isn't your type, I know you'll eventually see it."

"Good night Danny." He places a kiss on her lips. Loren doesn't move, he walks away. "Love you." She sighs. "Good night Danny."

Loren walks inside; she takes the elevator to her floor, she exits, and walks into her place. She drops her bag and sits on the couch, tears stream down her cheeks.

Meanwhile, Ian and Mel go on a nice drive, they head back to her place. He stops in front of Mel's; she gets off and leans on the door. "Are you coming in?"

"No, I'll head home, I have an early shoot remember? Plus, I have to stop and see Eddie for a bit."

Mel leans in and kisses him. "Ok love, I had a great time."

"See you tomorrow after I'm done." Ian says.

She smiles and walks to the Condo. Ian drives away. Mel finds Loren wiping tears from her eyes. "What's wrong?" she sits next to her. "Please don't cry, did Danny say something?"

"The same thing he said earlier, he loves me, he's willing to wait, do you know how much I want to hear those words from Eddie?"

Mel sits on the floor next to her. "I know, you're on a great road right now, don't let what Danny upset you, there will be many more like him."

"I don't want anybody else, I want Eddie."

"Enjoy your career right now, you're meeting with the designers this week, that will be fun."

"Yes, looking forward to that, I'll be trying 5 of my favorite dresses."

"yay! I got you smiling, let's get cookies and milk, the best dessert to eat when we're feeling down."

Loren follows Mel into the kitchen. Loren's phone buzzes, she smiles when she sees the message. "Phil's engaged, she said yes."

"Ugh, Adriana will be family."

Loren pours a glass of milk. "Come on, be happy for your brother."

Ian arrives at Eddie's; he lets himself in with his spare key. "Hey Mate, you home?"

Eddie yells out. "Yeah, hold on, I'm upstairs."

Ian walks to the fridge and gets a bottle of cold water. Eddie comes down. "It's not even midnight, where's Mel?"

"She's home."

"I thought you were on a double date with Loren and Danny?"

"We were." Ian takes a sip of water.

"Why are you here?"

"Can't I stop to see my mate?"

"Yeah, I was getting ready to shower."

"Go shower, I'll watch some TV."

"What happened?"

Ian smiles. "I know you're dying to know, ask me, where's Loren?"

Eddie rolls his eyes. "What, you're usually out til 1 in the morning; it's kind of early for you."

"We had dinner, Mel and I went for a ride, Danny took Loren home."

Eddie's quiet; he leans on the kitchen fridge. Ian laughs. "I know you want to know."

"What do you mean?"

"We were at the Sushi Place, we danced for a while, it was nice."

Eddie glares at Ian. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Ok ok, Danny danced with Loren, she seemed nervous if you ask me."

"Really, he has the effect on her, she's uneasy around him."

Ian drops the bottle of water on the sink and grabs his keys. "Ok mate, I bid you good night."

Eddie furrows his eyes; Ian walks past him. "Yeah ok… anything else?"

He turns towards Eddie. "Danny told Loren he's in love with her."

He leaves, Eddie waits for more, Ian closes the door behind him.

What will our jealous Eddie do? Kindly review!