Author's Note: It's been a minute, but I am determined to finish this story. I spent the summer doing research and I started school again last month so I've spent these past few months feeling overwhelmed and tired. I'm starting to get back into the groove of school and am trying to carve out time to work on this story. These two chapters have taken me so long to finish writing, but I'm glad I can return with two chapters instead of a measly one. As always favorite, follow, and review.

Also, I watched the Netflix series Hollywood a few months ago and the actor who plays Jack Costello, David Corenswet, is exactly who I picture when I think of Charlie.

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Chapter 12: Janet

"This scene took forever to film because I kept forgetting my lines," Charlie whispers to me. I quickly turn and give him a smile even though I doubt he sees it under the dim lighting of the viewing room. We are the only occupants of the intimate theatre. Charlie's first production as a lead actor is currently playing out on screen. Movie Charlie is brandishing a gun as he faces his rival in an intense standoff. I try to relax and enjoy the film, but I am still reeling from how Charlie literally swept me off my feet and whisked me away today.

After the school day ended, I was shocked to see Charlie leaning against a baby blue Cadillac near the steps of the school where I teach. A few of the students were gathered near him whispering to each other. I was mortified when he called out to me, "Janet! I've been waiting for you."

The gaggle of students looked up at me awaiting my response. Feeling cornered, I gave Charlie a smile and walked down to meet him.

"Charlie, what are you doing here? I thought we weren't meeting until 7 o'clock."

Charlie gave me a look. "I knew you'd be done now, and I wanted to see you. Aren't you happy to see me?"

Not wanting to seem ungrateful, I quickly apologized and affirmed that I was quite happy to see him.

"Great! My schedule's been pretty free these past few days as they work on what to do about the lead actress situation. They still haven't found anyone who can deliver the lines quite like you did." Charlie gave me another look, and I blushed under his gaze unsure of how to respond. After a few beats of silence, he continued, "So, I thought I would pick you up. Maybe we can catch a flick before dinner. Pemberley Studios has a superb in-house theatre. What do you say?"

I thought about all of the errands I wanted to get done before dinner this evening, but under Charlie's disarming smile, I was powerless to say no.

So that is why I am currently in a leather chair, surrounded by darkness – screen Charlie high above me and real Charlie to my left. I feel something warm on my shoulder and I jump slightly, startled by the touch.

"We got this scene all in one take."

"Oh, is that unusual?" I ask.

"For our action scenes, it is. We usually do multiple takes to get all of the angles, but they managed to capture the essence of the scene all in one go," He turns to look at me. "Romance scenes also usually take a few shots to get right too. You could spend hours embracing someone just to get the perfect shot… which doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing."

I look away quickly, unsure of how to respond. A few beats pass before I ask, "How do you all make sure that the horses and other animals follow instructions?"

Charlie explains the process of on-set animal wrangling and I do my best not to give too much thought to his previous statement.

The end credits roll, and Charlie stretches out before standing and offering me a hand up. "Thank you for indulging me in this trip down memory lane. Now, I believe you were promised a dinner."

"Yes, I believe that I was," I smile as I place my hand in his.

"There's this place about a mile from here that I know you'll love. It's definitely in my top ten of restaurants."

"I'm happy to go wherever," I smile again.

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A short car ride later, we are both standing outside the doors of a restaurant in the swanky part of town. Charlie pulls open the door for us, and I step inside. He helps me out of my jacket and then hands it to an attendant standing nearby. I thank both of them before taking in the scene before me. Dimly lit bulbs hang from the ceiling casting the entire space in an intimate glow. Dozens of patrons sit at small round tables covered in plates of scrumptious smelling food. I inhale the heavenly aroma realizing that I have not eaten since noon.

A hand is placed on my lower back as Charlie confidently guides me to a table in the far corner. Most of the diners look up and give me odd stares. Most likely puzzled at the relative nobody being led to dinner by mega movie star Charles Martin. I try to smile and seem friendly as Charlie guides me to our table. Ever the gentleman, he pulls the chair out for me before taking a seat in the chair across from mine.

"Charles Martin? The Charles Martin?"

I look up to see a young girl with curly brown hair and red lips looking down at Charlie with shock.

"Call me Charlie." He gives her his signature grin and asks if she would like an autograph to which she enthusiastically agrees.

"You're my all-time favorite actor. I've seen all of your movies. I'm always first in line to see them. Make it out to Aubrey Dillard. A-U-B-R-E-Y." Aubrey glances down to make sure that Charlie has gotten the spelling correct and nods in affirmation when she sees what he's written. "Stop me if I'm being too nosy, but I heard rumors that you'll be filming a new picture soon."

Charlie hands her back the signed sheet of paper and then looks up at her with a grin. "The rumors are correct. And she –" He turns and points to me, "will be my leading lady."

I am too embarrassed to do anything but blush.

The waitress looks at me with a confused expression. "And who are you?"

Before I can answer, Charlie cuts in, "She is the greatest actress of this generation. Janet Bennet. Remember the name so you can say you knew her before she was famous. Heck, you'll probably want her autograph too. It'll be worth millions in the future."

"Charlie, let's just order," I whisper as I give him a look that hopefully conveys the fullness of my discomfort.

"Of course. Aubrey, we'll have the arugula and brie salads to start and the Chef's special. And then for dessert, the cheesecake to share, strawberry please."

"Of course, Charlie." she gives him a coy smile and he winks at her before she turns to leave.

Despite this not being a date and the two of us being nothing more than friends, I can't help but feel a little jealous as I witness this exchange.

"What is arugula and brie?"

"Oh, arugula is a type of green, like spinach and brie is a cheese. Their arugula and brie salad is amazing. And I usually like to be surprised when I come here, so I always get the Chef's special. You never know what it's going to be, but it's always delicious."

"Okay. You're the expert. I trust your superior food judgement."

We make eye contact as Charlie smiles over at me. For a moment we just look at each other and it feels as if we are the only two people in this moment. As my pulse begins to race, I remind myself again that we are just friends and that this is nothing more than a casual dinner between two strictly platonic people. I bring my water glass to my mouth to break the connection and give myself something to do.

"So… have you thought anymore about being my leading lady?"

I stop mid gulp as my eyes grow wide. "Excuse me?"

Charlie gives me a slow grin before clarifying, "In the movie. The one you accidentally auditioned for."

Before I can answer, Aubrey returns with our salads and places them in front of us. She puts my plate down first and then lingers next to Charlie after placing his plate down. She asks if he would like anything to go with his salad and when he replies in the negative she proceeds to pepper him with questions about his time as an actor in one of his more recent films. I try to follow along for a while – nodding and trying to stay engaged, but I am unfamiliar with the movie title and names they so easily toss around. I decide to leave them to their conversation and focus on my food.

The arugula is bitter, and the brie cheese has a peculiar texture. Not wanting to appear picky and ungrateful, I do my best to eat most of the salad. I focus on chewing quickly enough that the food doesn't sit in my mouth for too long, but not so fast that I come across as unmannered.

I am so focused on watching how I eat, I am startled when Charlie reaches out to touch my arm.

"Wow, you're really jumpy today. Is everything okay?"

Aubrey is no longer by his side. I notice that his salad remains untouched, so she must have left recently. An object next to his plate catches my eye. It seems to be a napkin with black ink etched on it. I can clearly make out a few numbers in a line – a phone number. I quickly avert my eyes not wanting Charlie to know that I noticed. Not that it should matter since we are just friends, and he is free to date whoever he wants.

I look back up at Charlie, and he is expectantly awaiting my reply. I want to tell him the truth. That all of this feels fast and sudden. That I don't know how to respond to the movie role offer. That I'm not sure if I'm imagining his affection towards me or if he's just this nice to every girl he meets. But not wanting to cause any trouble, I instead settle for…

"I'm just really tired. Class today was a little rough."

He applies pressure to my hand and rubs a thumb across my wrist. "I'm sorry. We can get all of this to go and go somewhere quieter.

I shake my head. "No, this is such a fancy place and you took the effort to show me your favorite restaurant. I just need to… drink some more water and I'll be fine." I give my cheeriest smile before bringing the water glass to my lips to take a big gulp. "So, let's talk movie! You said that there's a part for Amanda."

"Well… there's a part for her if you agree to be the lead actress. Kind of like a package deal." Charlie pauses for a moment. "Is there a reason in particular that you are hesitant?"

"Well, yes. I'm not too comfortable with the idea of being a… star. I don't think I'm ready to have my name plastered on billboards and my face on covers of magazines. I wouldn't know the first thing to say to someone in the industry."

Charlie grins, "Well, now that's not true. I'm in the industry and you managed to completely bewitch me, and even though he won't admit it, Darcy was stunned by your performance as well."

"Oh Darcy! I forgot to mention earlier. I think he's working with my sister Elizabeth on his documentary project. She's acting as his tour guide I believe."

Charlie breaks out into an even bigger grin. "Ha! I knew I'd find out! She must be the secret girl he refuses to introduce me to. Interesting."

Confused I ask, "What's so interesting about that? Besides the coincidence of it being my sister."

"I think my dear friend Darcy has a crush."

"A crush? On Lizzy? No way. Not from the way she talks about him… sorry I forgot he's your friend."

Charlie gives me a knowing look. "No harm no foul. As Darcy's closest and oldest friend, I know that he takes some getting used to. He's very particular and a little closed off, but once you get his trust, he's an amazing friend."

"But wait, why do you think that he has a crush on my sister?"

"Oh just for the simple fact that he's trying to keep her existence hidden from me. He wants her all to himself."

"Charlie, I think it's just because they're working together. It's not like Lizzy has introduced him to me either."

Charlie strokes his chin pensively. "Maybe she has a crush as well."

"Like I said, from the way she talks about him, I highly doubt that."

"Well, one can hope. Darcy really is a great guy. He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders and to manage everything he has to adopt a cold demeanor at times. He's been there for me through some rough times." Charlie trails off, stuck in a distant memory.

"If anything changes on Lizzy's end, I'll be sure to let you know."

He smiles. "Thank you."

I take a deep breath, "And for the movie role, I can get back to you before the end of next week. I need to think about some things and figure out how I will juggle everything."

"No problem. And just so you know, you'll get a weekly salary with overtime for days that we stay over. We can discuss all of the logistic stuff like average time commitment, press commitments, etcetera with Sophia sometime next week, so you can make a fully informed decision. How does that sound?"

"Perfect. Thank you."

Charlie grabs my hand. "Of course I would love for you to be my co-star, but more than that I want you to be happy with whatever decision you make."

"Hi, Charlie. Here is the cheesecake you order."

We both look up as Aubrey sets one cheesecake with a single knife and fork in front of Charlie.

"Thank you Aubrey, but we're going to need another set of silverware. Janet and I are sharing." He pushes the plate towards me. "You get the honor of first bite."

Aubrey appears flustered as she rushes off to find another fork and knife. I am pleasantly surprised by the dessert and its ability to be so many different flavors at once. Once Aubrey returns with the silverware, Charlie joins me in cleaning up the plate. Soon, the food is finished and the bill is paid and Charlie is escorting me back to his car. He alludes to extending the meeting, but I tell him that I will be sorely missed at home if I do not return soon.

The drive to my home is filled with stories of Charlie's acting days. He is an amazing storyteller, and I love listening to him weave his tales of near-death experiences and daring feats even if most of his stories are fictional. When we finally arrive outside of my house, I turn to Charlie to wish him a goodnight. I put a hand on his shoulder as he reaches for his door handle.

"I think it's best if you don't walk me to my door. My family can be a little nosy. I already see them peeking out from behind the family room blinds." I nod in the direction of the fluttering curtains.

"Oh, haha. I guess one of the side effects of having a large family. Well, I'll respect your wishes, but I prefer to wait out here until I see you go into your house with my own two eyes… if that's alright with you."

I smile at Charlie, "I'd appreciate that."

"Good. I wasn't going to take no for an answer."

We make eye contact and again it feels like we are the only two people in this moment. Except this time we really are the only two people. Charlie looks at me with questioning eyes that I simply cannot decipher. The moment stretches on and I scramble to think of how to appropriately end the night and retreat inside to safety.

"What are you sticking your hand out for?"

"For you to shake it goodbye."

Charlie gives me a half smile and shakes his head. "I guess this was a pretty awful first date if you want to end it with a handshake."

My heart begins to hammer in my chest as the feelings I buried away all night threaten to burst out of their confines. I school my face and do my best to calmly ask, "This was a date?"

"Of course. What did you think dinner and a movie was?"

"I thought that it would be a working dinner to talk more about the script and the part for my sister Amanda. And I didn't expect the movie." My words come out in a flustered panic as I analyze all of my actions throughout the night. I had told myself all night that this had not been a date! I look down at my old, weathered blue dress. My hair is in its usual braids and I'm wearing very minimal makeup today. I can't believe that this is the image Charlie will imagine whenever he thinks of his first date with me.

"I guess that's on me for assuming. Point taken, never assume anything. Well, I'd love to take you out on a real date in the near future. Say, next Friday? I'll pick you up from your place – no surprises this time."

I push back my hair and smile. "Yes I'd like that. Anytime after 7pm."

"Seven o' clock Friday it is then." Charlie reaches down and pulls my hand up to his lips to give it a kiss. "Until then Ms. Janet Bennet. It's been my pleasure to be with you tonight on this not-really-a-date date."

The butterflies in my stomach take flight as my smile grows wider. At a loss for words I simply nod before pushing open my door. I float into the house completely ignoring the questions from various family members trying to figure out why I was sitting in a strange car for so long and why I didn't have the decency to introduce my new friend to the family.