Codes- MF, romance.
Intro- This story contains graphic language and discussion of adult situations. Please do not read it if you are in an unsafe environment or lack a mature open mind. This story uses a real life celebrity couple as central characters, with other celebrities mentioned in reference. All such characters are not meant to represent the real people they mirror, only fictional parallel universe depictions at best. The differences between these characters and their real life models are the product of my fanfic author's imagination and should be recognized as such. The same goes for any real life situation that is used fictitiously herein.
The real life people in this story are people for whom I have great respect, but I only know them through my fandom and limited Internet research. The way I depict fictional characters based on them should be judged accordingly. This story was written for entertainment, not financial profit. It is connected to my other celebrity stories, the 'Passion of Erika Christensen' series in particular, but it should not be necessary to read those stories to enjoy this one. Readers of my 'Passion' series may consider this the true ending to that series, more so than 'Loose Ends' was. This story is also more about the characters than any adult situation they get into, though I do depict a few of those.
Constructive feedback for this and all my stories is appreciated.
***
Los Feliz, California. Autumn 2023.
Cole Maness stared down at the lights of L.A., wondering if he could ever go home.
Then he laughed as he often did, remembering he was home. He had lived in the Los Angeles area over a decade. And now, as happened more frequently than he could believe sometimes, he was thinking about his circumstances and comparing them to an old Bob Seger song called 'Hollywood Nights'.
A long time ago, Cole mused, I was like the young man in that song. From the Midwest, on my own. I moved west to see old friends and enjoy a change in life. I ended up meeting an insanely beautiful woman and building a great life with her. It's gone mostly right, so much so that sometimes it gives me chills.
His wife, the actress Erika Christensen, greatly resembled the woman in the Bob Seger song. She was born with a face that would let her get her way in Hollywood, with a mind and body to match. She had blue eyes that could look soft and innocent at times, when the role she was playing didn't demand other emotions. And she looked great in diamonds and frills.
She's definitely the best thing that could ever happen to a bum like me, Cole reminded himself as he stood on the balcony of their home, looking down at the city below the hill on which the mansion stood. She makes way more money as a professional actress than I ever have as a professional cyclist. And why a voluptuous blonde icon like her picked a bald everyday guy like me to marry... that I still have trouble understanding. Even though we've been together more than ten years. Even though we have two beautiful daughters, who are asleep now while I stand out here on this balcony and she's off night-shooting an independent film.
The majority of Hollywood's thespians are on strike with the big name studios right now, he remembered. Erika's no exception to that. But she's always done a lot of work in independent films too, and those productions more often cut better deals with their artists. Their productions are exempt from the strike procedures, for the most part. Same for the local theater groups of which Erika's a member. Nevertheless, not every artist in the industry has the same career she does. We both hope the strike ends soon and the studios cut the proper deals with all the artists, my wife included. Then she can get back to her recurring role on the police procedural "Will Trent" or maybe make another appearance in a big film if Steve Soderbergh or some other director wants to cast her again. Same for every other artist who wants to write or act such a role for a big name studio. Like all the fans, I hope a better deal between the big studios and the artists is soon reached.
Until then, Cole added to his interior monologue, I just hope our savings and other sources of income cover our expenses. Yeah, we're both active in the Friendship society, and they give us great social networking and investment advice, but that doesn't cover everything. We've had to put a lot of our charity work on hold because of the labor dispute. I'm worried about some other bills too- the upkeep of our lives isn't cheap. Still, the rewards of this life... they're worth it, he reminded himself. They're worth the price.
Cole and Erika had a challenging relationship sometimes. They came from different backgrounds, and their mutual love of fitness activities like cycling and swimming could only do so much to bridge the gap. Their mutual admiration of each other somewhat helped. Yet it could only do so much to handle other issues. Our clashing religions, for example, Cole grimaced- I'm Christian and she's Scientologist. Yeah, we're both pretty liberated and there are a lot of similar things in the teachings. Still, though... we're in love, he told himself again. And what we have is worth every challenge. Love brings us together, conquers all.
He took out his phone and glanced at the collection of pictures of Erika he had on it. Some were public photos of her from various movie premieres and other big ticket events. Others were photos of a more private nature, showcasing certain costumes and attitudes Erika didn't display to everyone. Her love scenes on film could get pretty racy, and her similar activities with her offscreen lovers were no exception. And not just me, Cole chuckled, looking at a few photos of Erika and other women. My wife is a swinging bisexual, after all. Yeah, she keeps that side of herself hidden from the public- unlike some people, she doesn't want to go nuts hyping herself- but she is what she is. And I'm happy to let her indulge that side of herself, when our other life challenges allow it, Heck, I've enjoyed a few threesomes and other activities with her and certain other people at times.
Those sorts of activities weren't as big a part of Erika's life now as they had been in the past, of course. In her twenties, Erika had been a highly selective unicorn for certain couples. Sometimes she had enjoyed time with both husband and wife. With a few couples where the wife was into certain things more than the husband, or when Erika was not attracted to the husband, she had indulged only with the wife. Never only the husband, as far as Cole knew- unless you count me. He laughed. The swinging was less now, but the potential for more remained. It always would. And he had no problem with that. He would be Erika's rock, her firm place to land, and her adept fellow climber when needed.
Cole thought back on how they had got together. She was working on the family drama 'Parenthood'. Erika and the other cast members of that show were too busy filming the first two seasons to get into sexual side activities with each other at first- never mind that Erika had done such things with her film and TV co-stars in the past. She'd also just broken up with her steady boyfriend at the time, the entertainment mogul Doug Ramsay. They had been trying to maintain a long distance relationship, and it hadn't worked. 'Parenthood' and other issues in their lives played a role in that. They couldn't be together, he met someone else, she was adrift.
Things changed once the second season of 'Parenthood' debuted. Erika met a stagehand she dated for a while named Joe Avery, they were together for four months until conflicting work schedules and a lack of shared hobbies other than sex got in the way. Then she got into swinging with two of her co-stars- Dax Shephard and Joy Bryant- along with their spouses, plus the single Mae Whitman, the dating but unmarried Peter Krause and Lauren Graham, and a few other lucky people, and things were fine for her again. Her on-set husband Sam Jaegar wasn't her partner offscreen, he was too committed to his own wife, but he and Erika still had enough chemistry between them to portray their characters' relationship's ups and downs well. The same was true regarding the other men Erika's character had become intimate with in the show's last two seasons. She had left both of them for Sam's character and their family over time. 'Parenthood' had wrapped with Sam and Erika's characters together. Then, of course, outside the show, Cole thought with a smile, Erika met and fell for me.
