June 2011
I should have known it would end this way. Things here in Sydney, Australia were just too perfect.
First I go out and close the major deal my company sent me out here for. Then one of my Australian counterparts offers me a spare pass for a movie premiere held here tonight. What's more, it's for a movie I already saw in the States a month ago - but I didn't need to tell him that.
So of course, my luck has to end with me walking on the road at just the wrong time. The right time for me to get knocked on my ass by a limo.
It couldn't have been going that fast, which is how I survived - and how only my hip and right side really hurts. If my head wasn't in the clouds, I would have avoided this easily. But here we are. And here I was trying to roll myself off the road.
"Jesus Christ!" I heard. But the voice was too feminine, too Australian and too lovely to be mine. And I certainly wasn't the one helping myself to my feet.
"Come on, let's get you inside," the voice told me. I was being led towards the limo, and somehow I moved my legs enough to keep up, before being put onto the backseat.
"Do you have enough room to lie down?" the voice asked, as I laid down to find an answer.
"I'm fine," I muttered, now comfortable enough to look at my surroundings. But looking at the nice limo interior wouldn't be enough.
I saw the owner of the voice sitting at the far left besides me. It belonged to a very beautiful, albeit very concerned, woman with long brown hair and a somewhat familiar face.
"We should get you to the hospital, right?" the woman asked.
"No, no..." I shrugged off. "I've got plans..."
"So do I, but I've got some time. I've been on good behavior all this time, so they can sod off if I'm late for one premiere," the woman said rather suspiciously.
"Premiere? I'm going to one of those," I frowned. "Do you know about a movie called Bridesmaids?"
"Are you joking?" the woman suddenly turned deadpan.
"Not as much as those women do," I actually did try to joke, but not enough to make myself laugh. "Do you know them? Kristin Wiig, Melissa McCarthy...oh, Jon Hamm's there too! Or is that a spoiler?" I then remembered, "Wait, there's an Aussie there too! She's playing American, but she's still one of you!"
"Oh yeah, her," the woman said with suspicious distain.
"Right...her name's Rose..." I started to say. Then I started thinking of the actress in question, compared it to the woman in front of me - and felt run over all over again.
"Are you fucking joking?" I echoed with more color.
"I don't have to be on for the crowds quite yet," Rose Byrne told me. Fucking Rose Byrne told me...
"Okay, now I need to go to the hospital," I conceded as the limo took off. "Just drop me off and I'll find a wheelchair."
"Are you mad? I'm at least making sure you get in the building," she replied. "After that...oh, hell. So much for a brief nap before show time. At least in my own room."
"It's all right, really," I tried to sound nicer. "I just feel sore. Don't know if they'll check long enough for me to miss your premiere. So maybe the hospital isn't the way to go."
"Are you seriously going there?" Rose double checked, so I took out my new pass for confirmation.
"Just found out an hour ago," I told her, explaining the rest - including my name - after that.
"God...even Kristin and Annie couldn't write this up," Rose exclaimed. "All right, okay...I'll take you there and stay as long as I can. If you're still planning on going, I'll make sure they let you in. Even if you're late."
"Sounds fair," I conceded, lying down to try and get my head back on straight - from the pain and the company.
"You just got knocked on your ass by a limo. Are you really going to hope they rush you along? Just to see a movie?" Rose asked.
"Well, I liked it enough the first time," I admitted. "I can promise not to spoil it for the whole country, though." Rose seemed to bite back a laugh, so I continued, "I haven't seen X-Men yet, though. American, Australia and me still have that in common, don't worry."
"Good, that's one problem down," Rose said.
"They've seen a lot more big premieres than me, though," I went on. "I didn't think I'd see my first one till today. It'd suck if I was right after all."
"Well, we're on the same page there," Rose gave her support. I smiled, the pain more manageable for the moment.
When we got to the hospital, Rose stayed by my side as I got myself inside. It was fairly crowded, and I doubted she could play the celebrity card too much to move me up the list - even the hometown celebrity card. Nevertheless, she sat by my side and talked to me as long as she could, before she really had to go and get ready for the premiere - again promising that I could get in at any time.
They made room to see me about 10 minutes later. For all the waiting and star company, all I could get was an x-ray and some pills. I'd have to get a more thorough examination from my stateside doctors when I got home, but I was okay to go on my own.
I just had to take it easy - which didn't help me hurry up, get back to my hotel, get dressed up and find my way to the premiere. As I expected by then, the red carpet was empty, Rose and all the stars were inside, and the movie had already started. If I hadn't seen it before, I would be much more upset.
At least I remembered all the funny parts in the second half, so I could keep myself from laughing too hard. But I got more of a jolt when it was over and Rose managed to find me.
"You made it!" she said in relief as we left the theater. I smiled at her concern, the fact I did make it - and at the gorgeous red dress, with a v-neck at the top and bottom, that she was in now.
"Making it at the halfway point does count," I stated. Rose took a while to find an appropriate response.
"The halfway point of the movie, maybe. The whole night's still got an act or two left." And that's how I got into my first movie premiere after party.
Rose helped me make my way around, introduced me to the likes of Kristin Wiig, and stated that the lengths I took to see the movie - one I'd already seen - was damn good publicity. It obviously didn't need much more of that in America by now, though. Still, letting other countries laugh at me might not be so bad.
As far as I could tell, Rose wasn't laughing at me, although she was laughing. If I had a clearer head, I could take that as a very good sign. I could even start to wonder if there might be better signs before long.
Unfortunately, I wasn't in peak physical condition for 'signs.' Once this caught up to me tomorrow, I'd probably be in bed all day. Luckily I had already arranged to stay an extra day for sightseeing - which seemed useless now.
But even this bad luck turned good again.
Rose told me she was staying an extra day too, to enjoy herself at home again and get some down time before the X-Men premieres hit full swing. She also told me she was staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in the meantime. She also suggested that I might be able to have a more full night out tomorrow.
When I got myself to my hotel, slept in for hours and took my pills on the hour, I attempted to do just that.
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I was able to move around much better by the time I arrived at Rose's hotel that night. I got myself to the dining area, as Rose instructed, without much of a limp.
I almost had a...different physical problem when Rose came down, wearing a stunning black dress that was more worthy for the red carpet than dinner with me. But in my condition, I couldn't complain much.
When we were halfway full, I dared to ask, "How was your day off back home? Better than my extra day here, I'll bet. At least so far."
"Necessary," Rose answered. "I already needed it to get my head on straight. Using it to forget about running someone over helped too." Thankfully, she was clearly joking about the second part.
"Yet here I am, ruining all your progress," I shot back.
"Here you are," she repeated. "Could be worse. You could not be here. What a way to ruin my break out summer, eh?"
"I get that," I said. I wanted to carry on with another joke, but I slipped into saying, "I would have liked to see more sights today, though. See more of the country that made you who you are."
"It did a fair job, all things considered," Rose credited. "It's nice to take a step back and remember that. Hopefully it'll keep me grounded in a post Bridesmaids/X-Men world."
"I don't have a world that big waiting for me back home," I admitted. "But it's bigger than any I've had so far. Even the downsides have an upside. Case in point," I gestured to Rose. "Even getting hit by a limo works out for me. Like I...hope it's working out for you. At least now."