Star Studded Pt. 01

Star Studded Part 1

This is part one of three. All parts are written. Life's whirlwind has intensified lately. I'm still way behind in getting back to those who left comments. In fact, I'm not even sure i'm doing it right. But for now here's some lighthearted drama.

Star Studded Part 1

Gwen counted her blessings, walking hand in hand with her knight in shining armor, Lee. Gwen and her hubby were headed to the neighborhood party. She knew she'd struck gold with her neighborhood and friends. She also knew after several years of courtship then marriage that she'd be even happier to spend the night at home alone with her husband. She blushed romanticizing she had to hold his hand lest she sail away so buoyant from proximity to the man who saved her from a life of disconsolate loneliness.

The group of young married couples made a point of getting together once a month. All about the same age they bonded having the same basic circumstances and problems. In the summer their get togethers took the guise of a neighborhood block party since all of them lived on three neighboring streets.

All were nice normal people, making an amiable group quite to each other's advantage. When someone needed a hand painting a room, or help with babies, or what have you, there were always several eager volunteers. They genuinely liked each other's company.

Now that the couples were beginning to have children, it became especially important to be a resource and comfort to each other in their brave new child orbiting worlds. Everyone made sure their formerly free-wheeling and fancy-free friends were not left behind or left out of the social activities when pregnant or at home with newborns.

If any of their number could not attend a social event, typically due to a new family addition, someone made sure to connect electronically so they could join in from their home too.

They were gathered for one such summer event. Gwen hid her disappointment when Lee left her side as the guys broke off to aid in one's garage project, then to the all-important barbeque duties. While the ladies stayed behind to trade stories and build relationships; an exercise sometimes called gossiping. There was a key difference: no one talked behind anyone's back. They playfully brought matters up directly, normally having a hoot in the process. While they already got along like life-long friends there were lots of things they still didn't know about each other serving as fodder for their impromptu discussions.

Susan, one of the neighborhood wives with a knack for organizing the group, spoke kicking things into gear, "Okay girls, while the guys are off telling their war stories and putting the final touches on the cooking, let's play a quick condensed game of Truth or Dare."

Gwen shook her head laughing while stating, "That can be a very dangerous game, folks end up regretting that one a lot."

Smiling with a mischievous glee Susan answered, "Oh, I don't want anyone getting in trouble, believe me, but I want to know you all better." She was giving Gwen a particularly strange look.

Despite the look, Gwen believed her relenting, "Okay, what do you have in mind?"

"Well, we all know how happy we are in our present relationships, so we know we all have happy endings. Sooo, what brought us to our current happy state?"

Except for Gwen the gals laughed as Susan continued, "And for the record I think we actually ARE happy, right?"

She received nothing but nods and laughs, Gwen's head nodding more than the others.

"Great. So how about it? Before you met your hubbies was there ever a guy that just made you swoon, a guy who made you do something you knew was so gloriously stupid that it made a major impact on you?"

"What?!" Gwen heard herself say.

Susan had a peculiar gleam in her eye as she cut a quick glance at Gwen. "Don't give us specifics, keep it general; maybe a torrid one-nighter, an exciting spur of the moment trip, or a wild experience, something you still look back at the sheer wonderful stupidity of and smile. You know, some pre-hubby grand adventure that eventually propelled you into the arms of your wonderful spouse; or something that you can be glad for the lesson, if not the experience itself."

Several heads turned towards Gwen, who shut her eyes trying not to freak out; it couldn't be happening again, it just couldn't. She gathered herself hoping she could pour water on this without making her friends more curious.

"Look ladies, if we don't answer very carefully, keeping our precious husbands in mind, we can create another stupid act; one that won't end happily or with fond memories," Gwen warned. Her audience was not scared off.

The guys had finished their duties and had started back towards the women when one of them held up a hand signaling the others to stop. It was like a signal to commandos in the jungle to stop and be aware of your surroundings. They'd come upon their wives while still concealed by greenery. The ladies' conversation could be overheard now, and the hunter-gatherers instinctively homed in, knowing their wives were unaware of their presence.

Gwen waded in, "I may have memories, but I can tell you hands down my dreams are of my husband. Before Lee found me, I'd begun to despair. That so called "happy memory" story you're fishing for left scars on my entire life until I met him. My husband saved me, cared for me, released me from a painful past without even knowing he was doing it. Lee is the part of ME that I simply cannot live without."

Susan was confused, the smile plastered on her face faltered. Gwen's reaction was not at all what she had expected.

Gwen made deliberate eye contact with each of her friends as she spoke, "For me to go back and tell any of those stories that sound so meaty would take them out of context, making them sound more important than they are, as well as making what I have now seem less important by comparison. That would be the biggest lie and mistake of my life as my husband is part of my soul!"

Her smile toned down, Susan looked at Gwen with strong admiration, though Gwen surmised for the wrong things.

Susan now made eye contact with several ladies and smiled pointedly before continuing, "But Gwen it turns out there are stories and pictures of you on the internet." Susan was beaming now, hardly able to wait until Gwen shared what had recently been discovered about her.

Some of the girls gasped in anticipation.

Susan was quick to hush them, "No, not bad pictures, not at all! But what would you girls say to pictures of our own miss Gwen here, tagged as herself, literally under the arm of a well know A-list movie star! A gorgeous man that several of us might have had dreams or outright fantasies about. Why don't you fill us in, Gwen? How have you been so quiet about this all this time, when you're a virtual celebrity in our midst, Miss Gwen!"

The girls were shocked and very excited. Yet when they turned to Gwen breathlessly wanting to hear the obviously fabulous story, Gwen was in tears, her chin trembling.

"Pleeease no! Y-You don't understand. I-It destroyed my life. I moved more than once to escape it. I even changed colleges. Lee found me; Lee saved me. My life is Lee!"

Susan's expression changed thinking she understood, "Oh my Gosh. And Lee doesn't know, does he?"

"No." Gwen's brow wore a growing panic, "You don't know what being linked to someone... like that, does. It changes everything. No one wants me for me, they all want stories of... him. The whole thing only lasted a few weeks. We... he and I, had discussions about sports and news, normal stuff normal people do, but not all that many of those. I don't have any insider information. I-I only saw him a handful of times. There was nothing Hollywood, or even Walt Disney, about it."

They stared at Gwen now mesmerized by the emotion she was failing to contain.

"I was a stupid freshman, but I said I was older, we all did. I learned what was truly important in the aftermath. That led to Lee eventually, but I wish it never happened. There's a truly terrible reality to it."

Gwen surveyed a small sea of bewildered faces. She shook her head as she pressed on, "Can't you understand what it would do to a person, to a man, who loves you? People who supposedly cared about me changed their behavior towards me after they found out, trampling my feelings to get stories about... that man. If they treated me so callously, how do you think they'd treat my husband?

"If I stop being me and am only... that actor's girlfriend, then Lee will never be treated, or even seen, as my husband. People who know only want to see me as that guy's girlfriend, so they can claim to be friends with one of "his" girlfriends. What I am doesn't matter anymore, I'm forced to be one of "his" girlfriends and would never be seen as my dear Lee's wife! People won't even want to acknowledge I've moved on and am happily married. If they can delude themselves into seeing me as still hanging out with "Mr. Hollywood" it gets them that much closer to stardom themselves: a friend of a friend sort of thing. My husband becomes a barrier to the status they want.

"What happened to me is the dark price of fame. I didn't understand there was a cost when everything happened. How can you tell your mate that it was nothing but a youthful misadventure, when that's ALL anyone wants to talk or think about when his wife's around? Wouldn't that be wonderful for a man: constant tales of your wife and her boyfriend. They don't even bother to add the word 'old' before 'boyfriend'. At best Lee would be reduced to taking out that guy's discarded trash, instead of finding his own woman to love. And that's only if our friends even acknowledge Lee and I are together, and I'm not still with that... other guy. Most folks who know, we're talking some close old family friends here, don't want to admit I got married, they want to ignore the fact of Lee, erase him from history. That's not exactly the sort of joy a wife wants to bestow upon her husband. That's a hell of a reward for being the man of my dreams.

"Worse, there seems to be no shelf life on this thing; I'm no longer in California, I haven't seen... that guy... in years, and it still comes up. The whole shebang lasted less than three weeks." Gwen hesitated, "That was an unfortunate choice of words. Yet there are people who continue to think of me as that guy's girlfriend: present tense - in perpetuity!

"Please understand, Lee would see himself in constant competition with a media generated image of a Hollywood movie star, not even a real man. Stars seem bigger than life because a huge PR machine makes sure they seem that way. What would that do to Lee?"

Several of the women giggled at the exciting prospect of a movie star boyfriend.

Gwen's arm shot out, an accusing finger pointing at the end, "That's exactly what I mean! That image isn't real. It's a competition that no man, or woman, can win. I love Lee with my whole heart and he loves me unconditionally. If this came out that would change."

She saw the ladies stiffen and look past her to something behind her.

It was too late, she could tell. Gwen was filled with a dread she had known before, but now it joined with an almost incomprehensible sadness. She'd lived this nightmare before, but not Lee. She thought her heart would burst at what this could do to her precious Lee!

Crying hard now, Gwen found herself getting up from the table. Maybe there was still a chance if she could just keep Lee from seeing her this way; how could she explain her condition?

Gwen turned to the women in desperation, "Please don't. Please don't follow up on this. Let it be dead. It wasn't that great, despite what you want to hear. People are so disappointed when they find out the mediocre truth. The facts of it actually paint me in a terrible light. People never treat me the same after they know. I love how Lee loves me, please don't discuss it anymore; even among yourselves. Please don't look it up on the internet, please let it be dead. PLEASE!"

Gwen made to run like a cornered animal.

"But we won't treat you differently," a voice said.

Gwen spun to face the voice, "You already are! If anyone else had asked you, begged you to let something go, you would have!" She'd always been amazed by the power of fame to corrupt.

"But it's such good news."

Gwen's face screwed up into a ball of incredulous anger, "No, it's not to me, and it won't be to Lee! It's my only secret from him. It would twist any husband; it will change how we relate. I love us how we are. I don't want to cause him pain and I can't bear to lose his love; he's perfect to me as is."

"But you were the girlfriend of a movie star!"

Sneering Gwen shot daggers at the woman who said it. Seeing Gwen's reaction, the girl almost shrieked.

"Which to a wonderful faithful husband has to be almost the same as finding out his wife used to be a porn queen!"

They noticed Gwen's tense face and stare. They saw that Gwen thought they were beasts, she was crying, she'd begged them, and they still hadn't let it go! They'd lost her as a friend. It was over. Gwen was scared to death, almost hyperventilating, and they had brought her to this.

One of the ladies gasped. They turned in unison to see what had upset her; Lee now stood behind his wife, Gwen. He had to have heard the secret revealed, exactly what Gwen didn't want. The women realized they truly had betrayed her.

Lee had come forward from the back of the line of guys when he heard his wife's anguish. What had been said didn't register. He shot a withering gaze at the women, most hadn't known he was nearby, they all felt guilty about not letting it go, now that it was too late. What had they done?

One of the guys behind him said "sorry" as Lee reached his trembling wife. She was saying quietly, "Nooo, nooo, nooo." Lee answered to the men behind him, "No contact until I contact you, alright." It was not a request.

"Yeah, yes, sure, Lee," came the muffled replies.

He took his wife in his arms. He held her tight, she felt ready to drop.

"Ladies, and I use the term loosely, I expect you to honor everything my wife asked of you. I know you're curious, but just stop. You were supposed to be her friend, instead you were shameless." Lee had no idea what Gwen didn't want the ladies to do, he'd simply heard her tell them not to do it and supported his wife. What the hell had happened here?

Gwen was rigid except for her uncontrollable shaking; a petrified redwood in an earthquake. Walking was not an option so Lee simply scooped her up in his arms. He pulled her in close whispering, "It's okay Gwennie, we're going home. And that's it, babe, nothing else exists. Everything's good. I'm just going to hold you. That's all, nothing bad." He continued to soothe her as he carried her home, just as he would an injured child.

Gwen couldn't speak, burying her head in the side of his face and wrapping her arms around his neck. She was terrified of what she knew was coming.

* * * * *

Lee felt a hard tug on his heart. It was impossible, except somehow true: Gwen was frightened of him! She watched him like he was a hungry leopard circling in for the kill. He'd tried to talk to her, he'd tried to make her something to eat, she shook when he handed her water. He could tell she was exhausted. She was shedding energy in waves! He let out a breath of relief when she let him touch her as he slowly reached for her. Strange she was scared to death of him yet found his touch reassuring. What the heck happened? Unfortunately asking her brought on waves of new panic.

Lee gently pulled Gwen into his arms and walked them slowly to the couch where he sat down, pulling her onto his lap. He shushed her, rocking them both, noting it seemed to help. When she calmed he lifted her in his arms and transferred them to the large rocker they had from his family. The rocking motion was easier and more soothing. Gwen fell asleep, thoroughly whipped emotionally. Who fell asleep in the predator's arms? Lee had no idea what was going on.

That night in bed, Lee knew better than to let his wife go. They'd undressed inside their clench. It would've been highly erotic if his wife wasn't a basket case. He shushed her as she tried to form the word 'please', for what he did not know. He shushed her and rocked her, stroking her hair until she finally fell off to sleep again.

Lee knew Gwen was straight forward and a straight shooter, but when flustered had an amazing ability to co-join mixed metaphors and double entendre into sort of a double metaphor/entendre. He was often amused by her linguistic antics when she was flustered. This was different; this was the first time she'd simply clammed up. As he hadn't done anything to his lovely Gwen, and she wasn't talking, he didn't know where to start looking for a way to heal her. He already hated the silent treatment, whether it was intended or not.

The next morning Gwen was largely the same; constant tears and seemingly scared to death of him. Her faint clues to what was bothering her only begged more questions without answering any. Trying to address her concerns without knowing what caused them, was proving a failed enterprise.

Lee reminded her, "Baby, I haven't done anything wrong. I'm trying like heck to protect you. Surely you see I've no intention of leaving. It's all alright." His plea seemed to make her more miserable.

An hour later when the situation was still the same, he took another crack at it.

"Gwen, you said you're scared I'm going to change. I haven't, have I? But Gwen baby, you're pulling your love away from me! Please don't, I can't live like that. I hate that you're scared of me. It would be better if you just killed me."

That got a reaction. Gwen's eyes grew huge. She fell to her knees. She gripped one hand in the other and held them up to him in a fervent supplication. Lee couldn't help but think how darned dramatic that looked.

"Lee baby, baby, please... please, I know it must be killing you, but please I'm being as honest as possible; I know how it will go, please don't ask me to give details. Please."

Details? That would mean he already had some information to work with. Lee tried to reassure Gwen as fervently as he could while simultaneously being as gentle as possible. Too tired himself he fleetingly wondered if "gentle ferventation" was a thing or even a word. He tried to remember the declensions of fervent. Deciding 'no' to both questions he sallied forth.

"Gwen, I believe that you and I are going to have a long life together." He frowned, "No, that doesn't do my feelings justice, it feels more reverential to me than that. It's more than an expectation, it's a hope. No, still not right; it's more a fervent prayer." Lee felt happy using the word 'fervent' correctly in a sentence. "I'll be honest with you; at some point you'll have to tell me..." He stopped as Gwen started to shake. Her shaking continued to grow worse. He altered his words on the fly, "... something."

Looking a little fractured Lee told her, "Don't fret over it, Love. No rush, just tell me one day when I've proven myself to you."

Gwen's mouth fell open. She couldn't breathe. Lee thought he had to prove himself to... her?

"I hope you'll trust me enough to tell me something. You don't have to tell me all of it, nor details, but if it's this important to you, if it has this much impact on my wife, who I adore more than any other person, then it seems fitting that I should know something of it. I mean at least the nature of it."

Gwen was shaking her head 'no' back and forth, for several different reasons now. She didn't want Lee hurt by her past. She didn't want them to change as a couple. But now she was hurting him anyway, changing them anyway. Poor Lee mustn't think he hadn't proven himself to her, he couldn't think she had reservations about him!