September 2020
Summer was winding down at the Lodge. Of course I had yet to really notice that what with the weather rarely changing and me rarely leaving the house because of the pandemic. My highlights were of course the previous entries I've put in for this summer. Not all of which have been told yet, but in due time they will be, I assure you. For now, I need to detail a very pleasant surprise that happened just recently.
For context one of the most frustrating things about the pandemic was the lack of contact with a certain group who would normally visit the Lodge frequently. Specifically, those that lived far enough away that driving wouldn't work. Flying was of course all but off-limits earlier this year. Which meant that those that lived in the UK for example, had basically no hope of getting to the Lodge. Just to name a few, that meant no Emma Watson, no Emilia Clarke, and no Anya Taylor-Joy (who I missed like crazy). Which is why what happened here was so surprising.
For context, my routine over the summer had been to wake up, do my usual daily prep (breakfast, workout, shower, etc), and then work in the basement on the rooms I was remodeling. Unfortunately, being able to work full-time on them without interruption for a solid three months made it so that...I was finished. I'll get into what I actually did in another story, but suffice it to say for now that what was an elaborate project was now complete. I could no longer sink entire chunks of a day into the work. Now I was back to having to entertain myself.
I fell into bad habits because of this. Namely, sleeping too late, and wandering around the house in boredom which made it far too easy to lament the fact that no one was around. Too many days did I do nothing but work out until I was too tired in order to justify sitting on the couch the rest of the day. And too many nights I flipped through the box of polaroids of the Lodge members and myself in flagrante delicto, wondering what we would be doing right now if there wasn't a pandemic.
It was after one of these kinds of nights that our story begins. It was a Friday morning following a particularly lonely Thursday night. I had allowed myself to sleep in, for no reason other than to make the Friday feel more like a weekend. I then went about my business the same way I always would, just a few hours behind. It was past noon when I was finally ready to just sit and relax, and right when I sat down was when my phone rang. It was a video call, from Brie Larson. Wonderful.
"Hey! Hello! Hi!" Brie was quite chipper today. That big bright smile seemed to draw my eyes' focus on the screen of my phone. Her dirty-blonde hair was casually hanging down, and she had on some sort of white tank top from what I saw of her shoulders.
"Well hello," I said. "To what do I owe this very welcome surprise?"
Brie furrowed her brow like she was both confused and a little insulted.
"What? I can't just call to say hi? Friendly check-in to make sure everything's cool with you in these troubled times?"
"Sure. I mean, everything is cool here," I answered.
"Cooool," Brie said, trailing off. Then she began to walk out of whatever room she was in into another. "Cool cool cool cool cool."
"How about you?" I asked.
"Oh everything is cool here," Brie paused as she crossed into another room.
The selfie-view of Brie stayed, but the background changed. Brie was quiet for a moment as she walked into the room. Then the camera blurred behind her as she turned around. She was in a bedroom, and as she turned around, she adjusted her front-facing camera to ensure that I could see something. Despite Brie's gorgeous face in full view, my eye was drawn to something else. There was something blue in the corner of the shot. Then I realized that it was the ass of someone bent over while wearing jeans that were tightly form-fitting. Someone with a truly amazing, spectacular ass. I knew that ass.
"Everything is VERY cool here," Brie said.
The bent-over shape then straightened up and spun around. My suspicions were proven correct, because Lily James came into full view of the camera. Lily hurried toward Brie, giggling and flashing that massive grin she always had. She was wearing a black t-shirt along with the capri jeans that ended at her calves, and to my surprise, her hair was now brunette instead of blonde.
"Ohhh my god Brie has figured out how to project a hologram of Lily," I said with exaggerated surprise.
Lily guffawed another heavy laugh. I loved her laugh. It put her perfect teeth on display. Brie narrowed her eyes at the camera and then shook her finger back and forth.
"No no," Brie took her finger and slowly moved it to Lily's cheek. As Lily giggled again and playfully tried to bat her hand away, Brie pressed the tip of her finger into her cheek.
"Lily is really here," Brie announced.
"That is amazing," I said, not lying. Lodge members crossing the pond at this point was always a very pleasant surprise.
"I finished filming a thing, and I had to come to LA to do another thing, sooooo I came early and here I am?" Lily's posh accent made everything she said sound so adorable.
Brie leaned in while Lily was talking, and began to peck her on the cheek with quick kisses. Then she quickly turned back to me and spoke with all the tone of serious business in her voice.
"So, yes, Lily is going to be staying here, BUT, we need you to bring us some things that I don't have, and we don't want to go shopping for at the moment."
"Alright, I'm game," I answered without hesitation. The way Brie was talking, this sounded a lot like I was being invited over, too.
Brie walked me through exactly what they wanted me to bring, to the point of me holding up each thing until I received confirmation it was what she was looking for. That part was easy enough, as all of these items were in a drawer in my bedroom. Brie describing them was a source of fun in itself, as was Lily's blushing and giggling at each one's revelation. After that, I quickly packed my own overnight bag, locked down the Lodge, and practically flew out the door.
The trip to LA was as long as it had ever been, but damn it if the idea that Brie and Lily were waiting for me didn't force me to drive faster. I sped down the highway, followed the navigation to Brie's neighborhood, and then pulled my car towards her house. From there it was what I had dubbed "the usual" when it came to visiting homes of the more famous girls like this. Pull through gate, park car in garage or out of sight, walk around to back of house. With Brie's house I did all of these things, with the added bonus of seeing the massive view of the Hollywood Hills that Brie's house provided. Upon reaching the back door of her house past the garden I had seen on YouTube so many times, it unlocked at my approach. Likely it was Brie watching me through whatever security she had.
I stepped in through the back door, carrying my stuff with me. It was a wonderful reversal of the usual roles. Instead of me greeting a girl at the door and taking her things, I just carried my own things into her space. I looked around, expecting to see Brie and Lily, but there was no one. Then I heard a voice from the other room.
"Over here, this way," Brie called.
