Star Struck Ch. 02

"Better close your mouth before you swallow a fly." I said. She quickly closed her mouth shut, her cheeks turning ever so slightly pink.

"Yeah right, like you can find a fly in this place." She quipped, returning to her usual composed self. "So anyway, what do you want to have boss?" She still looked slightly shell shocked but managed to hide it pretty well.

"Hmm how about a couple herb crusted fillet mignons? Medium?" I said, looking at Chris for confirmation. He nodded and I smiled at Sam. "Okay then. That will be all Sam." She nodded and quickly retreated to the kitchen.

"Boss?" Chris asked, looking at me.

"Oh didn't I mention. This is my restaurant." I said, nonchalantly walking over and fetching us two glasses of water.

"You seemed to have missed that part out earlier." He said.

"Well now you know." I said, setting the glasses onto our table. "I'll go get us some appetizers." I walked to the kitchen, seeing Sam at the grill. I heard the sizzle of meat as it touched the hot surface, the smell invading my nose.

"Never seen you lose your composure like that before." I said, walking over the fridge and taking out a small bowl of smoked salmon, but not before washing my hands.

"Well how was I supposed to know you were bringing Chris McCray here." She said, walking over to me while the beef cooked on the grill. She took one look at what I took out and immediately started chopping some onions while I sliced a baguette into thin diagonal slices, before popping them into the oven to toast. I had hired Sam because we just clicked in the kitchen. She knew what I liked to do and I knew what she liked. Our tastes were similar in terms of food and we could somehow read each other's mind when it came to cooking.

"It was funny though. Will I ever see it again?" I asked, taking the cheese out of the fridge.

"Not in this life time Justin. Not in this lifetime." She said, going back over to the grill. I laughed, taking the slightly toasted bread out of the oven. I placed the salmon, cheese and onions onto little mounds on top each slice, sprinkling it with a little black pepper, before placing them back in the oven. I walked over and got two bowls of soup.

"I just put the bruschetta in the oven. Can you take them out in 5 minutes?" I asked, heading for the dining area with the two bowls.

"No problem." She said, flipping the filets of meat over. I walked out the kitchen, heading back to the booth where Chris was sitting. He was looking out the window, staring off into the distance. I placed the bowl in front of him, which knocked him out of his stupor.

"Thanks." He muttered, sticking his spoon into his soup. I sat down, following his lead and slowly sipping my soup.

"How is it?" I asked.

"Really good." He replied, taking another sip of soup. "So is this why you're so good at cooking?"

"Whoa, Chris McCray thinks my cooking is good." I said, feigning shock.

"Oh I don't think it. I know it." He said. I smiled and blushed a little. Like most people, my biggest critic was myself. By doing so, it made me want to always strive to improve my cooking. So his statement was flattering to say the least.

"Thanks. I guess you could say that. This place used to be my dad's. He was the one who got me into cooking. This place wasn't very big back then though and when he passed away, many of the staff resigned, saying that it wasn't the same anymore. The few that stayed kept the place running with the help from my mom. So after high school, I went to culinary school so I could take over the business in the future." I said.

"I'm sorry to hear about your dad, but look on the bright side, look what you managed to do now. I'm sure your dad would have been proud." I smiled. I was happy with what I managed to accomplish and I liked to think my dad would have been proud too.

"Thanks. So yeah I took over ownership of the restaurant and hired new workers. Ryan had just graduated college too so I asked if he wanted to be a partner and he gladly accepted. Sam back there was one of the first few we hired."

Sam came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with our food on it. She stopped at our booth and placed a plate in front of each of us. On the plate was a fillet of beef, surrounded by vinaigrette, and a side salad. The top of the beef had a layer of crusted herbs that gave the dish a very delightful aroma as well as adding to the taste. She placed the salmon bruschetta in between us and headed back for the kitchen.

"Thanks Sam. You can head off if you want. I'll lock up here." I said. She nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.

"This looks great." Chris said, examining the food in front of him.

"I would recommend a nice wine to go with that but I don't serve alcohol here." I said, picking up my utensils and cutting a chunk of meat off, before putting it into my mouth.

"Why not?" Chris asked, taking his first bite. I knew it was a little weird for a restaurant to not serve wine but I had personal reasons for not doing so.

"Long story."

"I've got time." He said, taking another bite of his food. "This is really good by the way." He said, which made me smile.

"Well um I guess it had something to do with my dad. You see he was killed in an accident with a drunk driver." I said. Chris's expression fell.

"Oh...I'm sorry for asking. You don't have to continue." He said.

"No it's fine. So anyway, my father was involved in an accident. The driver, Luke Waver, collided with the driver side of my dad's car. According to the paramedics, my dad died on impact, but there was always the idea in my head that he hadn't and he had suffered for a few minutes before he died. After the incident, I remember being so angry with Luke. He had been sentence to prison because he had killed someone under the influence, but I felt it wasn't enough. No amount of punishment was enough to bring my father back." I felt my eyes water at the memory I hadn't revisited in so long.

"So that's why you don't drink? Because drinking has brought you pain?" he asked.

I wiped my eyes before continuing. "Not exactly. You see a couple of weeks after the incident, Luke had requested to see my mom and I. At first I didn't want to go because I didn't think I could look at him. But I did go. I wanted to go there and yell at him, tell him how much he had hurt me by taking my father away with his recklessness. I had imagined him to be a drunk, someone who was unkempt and had no regard for anyone but himself, but when we got there, he wasn't like that at all.

"The first thing I remember was the look in his eyes. I could see the guilt and regret in them. The black bags under his eyes told me that the guilt had been clawing at him for some time. I kept quiet while my mom talked to him. As I sat there and listened, I found out that he wasn't some jerk or alcoholic. He was in a lot of ways like me. I saw myself in him; his personality was almost a reflection of mine.

"After ten minutes, he finally looked at me. It wanted to scream at him, make him never forget the hurt he caused me, but I couldn't. He apologized to me, a genuine one but I kept quiet. I couldn't shout at him but I couldn't find it in me to forgive him either. We left that day, but somehow I felt emptier than I did going in. I felt that if a person like Luke, that was so much like me, could have done something like that, anyone could. It was that day I vowed I would never drink.

"It was two years later that I went back down to see Luke. He was still the same man, a little older but he still had that same guilt with him, although he did manage to hide it better. He hadn't expected me to visit him, resigning himself to the fact that I would have never forgiven him. But that was the thing. I was ready to forgive him. So that day was the day that I let it go. It was an accident and I knew my father wouldn't have wanted me to hold a grudge over someone. So I told him he was forgiven. He thanked me with tears in his eyes, before I left."

I looked up from my hands and saw Chris staring intently at me. His food had been barely touched since the beginning of the story and so was mine. "I guess we better eat before it gets cold." I said, going back to my food. Chris did so too but he remained silent, not saying anything. After we finished our food, I brought the dishes to the back and quickly washed them up.

I made sure the back door was locked before I re-entered the dinning area to find Chris staring out the window again. "Hey I didn't mean to get you down with the story." I said, sitting down across him.

"No it's just...I admire you. If I was put in your position, I don't think would have been as forgiving as you." He said, not peeling his eyes from the window.

"C'mon, it's nothing to admire about. I guess if I heard it from a different perspective I may have felt that forgiving him was something I couldn't do as well. But I did and I'm glad I could." I said.

"You really are something Justin Brigs." Chris said, looking at me and cracking a small smile.

"C'mon let's get out of here." I said, standing up and walking to the front door. Chris followed me out as I locked up the restaurant. It was a quiet night, the streets emptier than usual. I headed for the car but was stopped by Chris.

"Hey you wanna go to the beach, have a walk or something?" he asked. It was a cool night with a small breeze coming in from the sea. I thought about it and a walk on the beach would have been nice. I nodded my response and headed across the road towards the beach.

When we got there, there were a couple people sitting on the sand to our right, looking out to sea. We, thinking not to disturb anyone or have Chris get recognized, headed down the coast in the opposite direction. We strolled along the beach at a leisurely pace. I stuck my hands in my pockets, occasionally kicking the sand in front of me. "Wow this is like one of those romance movies huh. Walking down the beach, the full moon shining brightly in the night sky." I said, in an attempt to break the silence.

Chris smiled but kept his eyes ahead of him. He was still not saying much and I couldn't help thinking that it was my story that made him so quiet.

"C'mon say something. Talk about something that isn't sad." I said. He chuckled and stuck his hands in his pockets too. "Okay let me start...um...who is your acting role model?" I asked.

"Martin Furor." He said. Martin Furor was an acting veteran so to speak, winning multiple awards and staring in some of the biggest films of all time. "Um...what's your favourite movie?" He asked.

"Definitely not 'Tainted Heart'." I said. Tainted heart was one of the films Chris had acted in, during his early days. The acting was fine but the storyline was horrible.

"Ouch." He said, smiling.

"So let's see...what was your favourite movie you acted in?"

"Oh 'Picture Perfect' hands down. I mean working with your best friend? Nothing beats that." He said. Picture Perfect was the show that he and Amy Reaver had acted together in. It was also the movie where they started dating after it was filmed, although they did eventually break up.

"Shenanigans on set I presume?" I asked, the smile on my face growing bigger as the conversation went on.

"Oh you know it. We were the ultimate pranksters on set." He said, smiling at the memory.

"So the whole dating thing didn't make it awkward or anything after that?" I asked, curious.

"Well about that...not many people know about this but...we weren't actually dating." He said. I raised an eyebrow. "You see, it was just somewhat of a publicity thing. You know it always made fans go gaga when the actors actually start dating after a movie. So yeah we both agreed to it and that was that."

"Seriously? So are many of the dating celebs actually not really dating?" I asked.

"Well not all of them. Some. It's not too common these days as it was in the past." He said. "What about you? Anyone special in your life, maybe a nice girl somewhere?" he asked.

"Nope. Just little old me." I said. I didn't know if I should have told him I was gay or not.

"Really? I would have expected someone to snatch you up. I mean girls love a guy who can cook." He said, flashing me his megawatt smile. I decided that I had nothing to gain from lying nor did I have anything to lose by telling the truth.

"I guess so, but it kinda doesn't work when you play for the same team." I said.

"Oh...I see." He said, his expression changing right then. The smile he had disappeared and he looked at me very intently. For a second I thought that he was homophobic or something. He looked away and kept walking down the shore. "I guess the girls are at a loss then." He said.

"So you're okay with it?" I asked.

"Yeah of course. Why wouldn't I be?" he said, looking at me, an incredulous smile on his lips.

"I don't know, your expression changed just now so I thought you were...you know." I said, making him laugh.

"Nah. I'm more than fine with it." He said. At those words I felt my heart flutter. I could feel my hopes increase with just that sentence. I knew it was not something I should have been doing but I was falling for Chris. Slowly but surely I was falling for straight Chris McCray.