Chapter 2: Moving Forward Part 2

Ever since she’d ran into Henry Caron at the Montage show, she’d known she could accomplish her second goal, though it wouldn’t be easy. But she’d seen that look in his eyes when he looked at her, that longing and interest no man could easily conceal. Since then, Henry had sent her several texts, and they’d had a few conversations over the phone, but she had yet to meet him for drinks, something they’d briefly discussed. Ella told herself she hadn’t gone there yet because she was still trying to be aloof, but she knew that wasn’t true. She was scared.

It was perfectly fine for Ella Sinders Verona to be scared, but not for Juliet Montague. So until she figured out how to keep that fear from interfering with the role she’d be playing should she ever find herself sitting across a table from Henry Caron again, she’d have to put it off.

Juliet Montague was a strong, confident woman. She couldn’t be afraid. And… as far as Henry knew, Juliet was interested in him. The fact that Ella wanted to punch him in the face or puke on his expensive shoes every time she thought of him, let alone saw him, would have to be hidden from her reaction in every single way.

Unfortunately, Rome was no longer in a situation where he could simply avoid Henry. Now that he had finished filming the movie he was making with his friend Wynnie, a film Rome was supposed to be filming alongside Ella’s cousin Tim Bolt and Rome’s friend Mark Hutio, who had both died last year, the catalyst that launched Ella’s world into free-fall and resulted in her apparent, though fake, suicide, and Rome’s kidnapping by his parents, he had moved onto the next project. While Tim and Mark hadn’t been able to make the film, when Rome had returned to California months ago, Wynnie had wanted him to take the role she’d initially thought he’d be perfect for. Now, that film was in the books, and Rome had been forced to move onto another project--a project put together by Henry Caron’s newly acquired production company, Paris Productions, named for Henry’s beloved hometown he’d had to leave behind when he left France to come to California and seek revenge on Rome, whom he held responsible for ruining his life.

It was ironic in a way that made Ella’s stomach churn. The fact that Henry Caron held Rome responsible for the fact that she had apparently killed herself, when in reality, Henry was far more to blame than Rome ever could be. If only Henry had spoken up against Ella’s father’s plan for the two of them to marry, perhaps Ella wouldn’t have had to go to such a drastic degree to escape the clutches of Lloyd Sinders and his sinister plans. When Henry had pulled her aside and said he was glad that her father had processed an annulment of her marriage to Rome, Ella had wanted to strike him in the face. Instead, she’d faked her own death to escape him, ran away to Italy with her friends Bart and Mary, found Rome, and spent weeks running from his father who wanted to chase his son down and lock him up again in the off chance he might be prosecuted for Tim’s death.

It all seemed so surreal, sitting on the quiet beach looking out at the horizon. But it was real. And after months of living in paradise, Rome had decided all of the running was for naught. He wanted to come back. Not to face his parents, but to make movies again. He’d arranged for them to sneak back into California, and to Ella’s knowledge, no one was aware that she was really Lloyd Sinders’s daughter, save a few people who worked for them, two of her aunts, a handful of friends, and Fae. It wasn’t until they’d come back to California that Rome found out his parents had sold the production company, on the condition he would make ten films under the new ownership. By the time Rome had discovered Henry was the new owner, it was too late for him to refuse.

Which placed Ella in her current position. In order to prevent her husband from being tortured daily for up to five years, making movies for a miserable man, she needed to earn Henry’s trust, perhaps even his love, and then take back what should’ve never been his to begin with.

It all sounded so sinister when she went over it in her head, but Ella knew her mission wasn’t evil. On the contrary, it would set right many wrongs.

It wouldn’t bring Tim and Mark back, though. It wouldn’t bring her back either, for that matter. She was the only one who could do that. Every day, she contemplated calling her father and telling him the truth. She didn’t though. Knowing that he was struggling with the part he’d played in her apparent suicide both saddened her and made her feel slightly avenged. If he had taken her side against her stepmother…. If he’d taken her side and allowed her to continue with her marriage to Rome instead or driving them apart and trying to force her to marry Henry…. If he’d done one thing differently, maybe the feeling she had that her father deserved to continue thinking that he was at least partially responsible for her actions would fade. So far, in all of the months since her world had been turned upside down, she hadn’t gotten over the idea that he needed to feel the same pain she’d felt when she’d been torn away from Rome.

The worry that he might recognize her had faded, despite her popularity. Rome had convinced her not to have any sort of permanent work done on her face, but that hadn’t stopped Ella from transforming the way she looked. Her skin was darker than it had ever been. Her hair was shorter and red. Thanks to colored contacts, her eyes were a different color. She’d put on a large quantity of muscle. But perhaps most of all, she carried herself differently. Juliet was so much more confident than Ella had ever been. Her father could’ve been standing in the same room with her and not recognized her.

Not that he traveled in the circles she was popular with now. He was in Europe at the moment and had been for much of the time she’d been in LA. In fact, the amount of minutes Ella had spent in the same room with her father since her mom died were likely less than two hours in total. Maybe if he’d paid more attention to his daughter when he had the chance, a good look at Juliet Montague would make him realize he needed to question who she truly was.

Ella had also been concerned that one of her two stepsisters might recognize her. But neither one of them was the brightest bulb in the bunch, and even though they both wanted to be famous actresses, they didn’t know much about the LA art scene. She hadn’t seen either of them in person since she’d faked her own death and didn’t expect to. Likewise, their mother, Teresa, wasn’t one to attend art shows either. She did read tabloids, though, and it was possible she might see a photo of Ella. The chances of her figuring out who she was truly looking at were slim, though. Teresa’s tree was fairly close to where her apples had fallen.

Her phone chirped, causing her to pick it up again. It was almost as if Henry Caron was reading her mind. He’d sent her a text that read, “What are your plans this evening?”

For weeks, she’d been putting him off. He’d asked similar questions more times than she could count, and she’d dodged him every time because she couldn’t even picture herself sitting across a table from him. But it was time to face the music, and she knew it. The longer she put it off, the harder it would be for her to actually go through with the task when the time came. Besides, she’d been mysterious and alluring for long enough. Now, it was time to start reeling him in.

She didn’t want to look too accessible, though. “Tonight is booked. But I have time for a drink tomorrow around 7:00 if you’re free.” She typed it in quickly, already having decided that was a good response, should Henry ask. She’d cleared it with Rome that morning who knew far more about how to flirt than she did. He also understood exactly what a man needed to hear in order to feel strung along.