February 2018.
This is the furthest back I've gone so far, and it's ALMOST the beginning of the whole story, but not quite. Sorry, but telling the full story of how Anya and I met and first got together will have to wait just a bit longer. But, for this story, we go back almost to that same point in time. We just have to jump ahead from there the tiniest bit.
What I will say now, is that Anya and I had not known each other very long at this point. We had gotten together, and our first encounters were passionate and all encompassing for that brief period as things began. But, we were still getting to know each other. The Lodge was not yet something that had formed, and more importantly, Anya was the only woman I had ever been with that could be considered a celebrity.
Until what happened this night.
At this point, Anya and I were in something of a 'honeymoon' phase. She'd been in LA for some time doing a few things and attending a few events, but basically every free moment she had we'd been spending together. She came up to my house (before it was called the Lodge) when she could, or if we didn't have time to make the trip, we would just go to her hotel room. It was, to keep my description brief, fun. For the first time in a long time, she made me feel alive. And so I was all but at her beck and call for those first few weeks. Which brings us to the story itself.
That evening, I actually didn't expect to see Anya at all. This was finally the premiere night for Thoroughbreds, which she had filmed almost 2 years prior, and had already done a premiere for in London. But now, there was an actual Hollywood premiere. Anya and I had parted earlier in the day so she could go through the full process of being glammed up for the premiere. I assumed she'd be busy with the premiere and the after party, so I amused myself around town, biding my time until she texted me to let me know she was finished and where I could pick her up. I was picturing another 'agonizing' drive from LA back to the Lodge, where Anya couldn't keep her hands off me the entire way.
But later that night, much to my surprise, I didn't receive a text from Anya. Instead, she called me. This was back before secrecy at the Lodge was such a priority, so when she called, my phone flashed with the picture I had taken of her at the Lodge.
"Hello?" I asked as I picked up, my phone already suggestive.
"Heeey," Anya answered, the smirk in her voice apparent.
"What's up? Are you all done for the night?"
"Yes, but, Liv and I are going to hang out for a while, reconnect. It's been a while so we wanted to catch up," Anya explained sweetly, even though I was the tiniest bit disappointed.
"Ohh, ok. I understand. In that case, maybe we'll see each other tomorrow?" I asked.
"I was actually hoping you could do us a favor?" Anya asked, again her voice being too appealing for me to say no.
"Anything," I said without hesitation.
"We're just going to hang out in Liv's room upstairs at the hotel, but rather than deal with room service, I was hoping you could get us something?"
"Of course, what would you like?" I asked.
"What do we want?" I heard Anya say to someone else in the room.
"We just want to do champagne, right?" I heard another woman's voice. A quiet, slightly husky voice that I could guess was Olivia Cooke.
"Yeah. Champagne would be good. Maybe something else I like if you don't mind," Anya said, giggling a little. I already knew how she liked whiskey.
"You got it. Do you want me to leave it at the front desk, or?" I trailed off.
"No, just bring it here," Anya said.
I heard her ask Olivia the room number, and then Anya relayed it to me.
"I'll be right there," I said happily.
"Thaaanks, I owe you one," Anya answered, sounding completely relieved.
"I'm sure I'll think of something," I said, knowing that she'd take my hint.
If the giggle Anya let out before hanging up was any indication, she did.
I drove towards the hotel that the premiere was at, which is where Anya had been staying (although she spent most of her recent nights at the Lodge). Olivia was staying as well, so when Anya said they were hanging out there I knew just where to go, and was able to stop at a nearby liquor store with ease. I picked up three bottles of champagne, and ensured they were pre-chilled so they'd be ready to drink right away. Recalling that the hotel rooms didn't actually have glassware, I also picked up some picnic-style plastic champagne glasses, as well as a small bottle of whiskey that Anya had expressed her like of. Then I was on my way.
Even though I wasn't actually staying there, I walked through the hotel like I was. Based on the shopping bag I was carrying, I'm betting that the lobby staff thought I was some kind of delivery boy, so no one stopped to ask me any questions. I took the elevator up to the floor of Olivia's room, and then wound through the halls until I found it.
Immediately after I knocked, I heard a clamor from within, and what I'm almost certain was Anya giving a quiet squeal before she yelled 'HE'S HERE!'. I waited a moment, and then began to hear the clicking of the hotel door's locks, which was becoming something of a Pavlov's bell for me. I could practically see through the door with X-ray vision the way my head was anticipating seeing Anya again. But, like always, when the door swung open, I was taken aback. I had to stop for a moment just to appreciate her as my eyes scanned up and down.
Anya always looked amazing, but at this moment she was clearly still done up for the premiere. She was wearing a black dress with a pattern of red kissing lips, long sleeves, white trim around the neckline to show off the tiniest hint of cleavage, and was only long enough to cover half of her thighs. Her feet, no doubt the victim of having to wear heels all night, were bare, her toes painted the same shade of dark red as her fingernails. Anya slid both hands up the door frame seductively, her fingers still covered in silver rings. As my eyes slowly moved upward, I saw that her smirking mouth was still painted a delicious-looking ruby red, while her dark hair was pulled back out of her face except for a few strands hanging in it.
"Hey there," I said to Anya, already grinning like a fool. That was the effect she had on me.
I held up my arm holding the bag, assuming Anya just wanted me to hand it off. Instead, she clutched me by the wrist and began to pull me into the room.
"He's heeere," Anya called with excitement as I entered the room.
Once inside the room fully, I realized how similar it was to Anya's room. Same layout, same furniture, the only difference was the odds and ends on the nightstand, and the fact that it was mirrored by way or being on the other side of the building. Hotels are so fun, aren't they?
"Finally," Olivia said as I came into view.
She was sitting on the bed cross-legged. In stark contrast to Anya, she was dressed down, now wearing a pair of black jeans and a plain white t-shirt. She had likely changed when they returned. Her dress must not have been as comfortable as Anya's. She gave a quick wave as Anya introduced me, and introduced herself as merely "Liv."
As I crossed in front of the bed where she was sitting, I had that odd feeling I got back in those days when I met someone famous. Before the Lodge became a thing, I would meet celebrities as part of my job, and it always prompted the same reaction. A certain level of disbelief, a certain level of nervousness. The idea that you have to remind yourself that they're just a person like anyone else. That feeling had plagued me the entire time I was with Anya the first night we spent together, but eventually disappeared. Or rather, Anya sucked it out of me.
Story for another day. Anyway...
I began to unpack the bag onto the dresser at the front of the room. First the glasses, then the bottle of whiskey which I showed to Anya with a wink, and then the champagne. Two of the bottles went into the tiny fridge underneath the TV, and one I set down next to everything else.
"Yesss," Anya said excitedly as she turned and walked back toward the bed.
"Lovely," Olivia said.
I folded up the bag and tucked it under my arm before turning back to them.
"Well, there you go," I said, again assuming that was the end of my role here.
Anya flopped back onto the bed next to Olivia, bouncing into place and then leaning against the headboard. Then she pointed at the bottle I had set out.
"Open for us?" Anya asked.
I set the bag down, and instead grabbed the bottle off the dresser. After peeling away the foil, and spinning the wires holding the cork in place, I twisted and finally yanked it off with stereotypical *POP* that came with opening champagne. Avoiding shaking the bottle so it wouldn't foam over, I filled one glass, then another, and turned to walk them over to the bed. Anya and Olivia took them, and then had a muted cheers as the plastic cups failed to make a traditional *ding*. Nevertheless, they still drank. Olivia rolled her eyes with exaggerated pleasure as she let out an 'mm', while Anya simply giggled and then looked at me.
"Do you want to pour one for yourself?" Anya asked, eyebrows raised expectantly.
"I don't want to intrude on your girl's night," I quickly shook my head.
"Noo. Stay and have one with us. That's cool, right?" Anya asked as she turned to Olivia.
"Yeah, totally. Your fuckbuddy can hang out for a while," Olivia smirked before she drank again.
If I had been drinking at that moment, I likely would've done a spit take. Recall that this was long before the Lodge had started, so the idea that Olivia specifically knew that Anya and I had been together was very surprising. I hadn't expected Anya to tell anybody that she even knew me, let alone that we were having sex. I also didn't expect Anya to be so casual about Olivia revealing that she knew about this. I thought perhaps Anya had told her that in confidence. But instead, Anya just laughed, and then gave a very subtle, but overly "innocent" shrug with her eyes as I looked at her.
While I filled a glass of my own, the two began talking again. Both were completely uncaring about the revelation of who I was, even though I was now wondering what the hell was going on. Anya and I had never had any kind of conversation about our 'status', and we'd never directly been out in public together. My mind was racing as the two talked amongst themselves, until I joined them on the bed after Anya patted the space next to herself. As I sat, Anya gave me a kiss on the cheek, which both snapped me back to the moment and reassured me that things were cool.
After that, I joined in the conversation. Surprisingly, Olivia was quite chill, and asked me a lot about myself. What I did in LA, where I'm originally from, how Anya and I met, all that. She was nice, and personable, and much less stoic than I expected from the clips of her I had seen. The conversation continued casually through the first bottle of champagne, and it was when I was opening the second and refilling our glances once again that the conversation shifted.
"I wonder how those pictures on that little set will turn out," Anya said to Olivia.
"Ugh, don't remind me. Not looking forward to seeing those," Olivia answered.
"What? Why not?" Anya said, mildly shocked.
"I just hate posing for those kinds of things. And on red carpets, but those kinds of things are worse. I just didn't feel like forcing a smile, you know?"
"Even so, I bet the pictures will look really good. They'd have to, with you in *that* dress and all," Anya raised her eyebrows with exaggerated suggestiveness.
"Hated that dress. Glad I brought the coat," Olivia said flatly and sarcastically, causing Anya to laugh.
"Trust me, she looked good," Anya said as she turned to me.
"I believe you," I said with a nod.
There was a momentary quiet as Olivia looked at me and drank again, then Anya continued.
"I was surprised they brought a real couch out for it. It was nice. I'm surprised they didn't just bring out some kind of cheap prop couch."
"Like a wicker one?" I asked Anya, giving her a knowing glance because we had once fooled around on a couch just like that on the deck at my house.
"Yeah, just like that," Anya said as she flashed me a tiny smirk.
"I broke one of those one time," Olivia suddenly said.
"What?!" Anya said as we both laughed.
"Yeah I was on it, and it kinda got...pushed to the side. One of the legs caught on a brick on the patio it was on, and the whole leg snapped. Sent me falling backwards," Olivia laughed.
Anya and I looked at each other, and then back at Olivia.
