Born to Run Free

The following day, Celia had made plans for her and Cooper to hang out. She and Sean only had one short commercial to shoot, and then they were free to do whatever they wanted for the day. “So, what are your plans for today?” Sean asked Celia, trying to make conversation, as they had a break between shots of the commercial.

“I think Coop and I are going to go sightseeing or something,” she said, and Sean could tell she was excited about the plans.

“You and Coop have been friends for a while, eh?” Sean asked.

Celia looked over at Sean, wondering where he was going with the question. “Yeah,” she said slowly. “We’ve been friends for a long time. He’s probably the only one that gets me,” she admitted. “Why?” she asked curiously.

“Just trying to make conversation,” he said dismissively as Cooper walked onto the set.

“Celia, I need to talk to you,” Cooper told her, and she walked over to where he was standing.

“What’s up?” she asked with a smile on her face. She saw his facial expression, and her smile dropped. “What’s wrong?” she asked him.

“I have to go,” he said. “I have to go back to New York. There are some execs there that I have to talk to. I know you had a whole bunch of stuff planned, and I’m sorry,” he apologized.

“It’s fine, Coop,” Celia assured him. “I get it. It’s your job, and I’m fine. I’m not a little girl that needs you by her side at all times,” she laughed.

“Remember what I told you yesterday,” he said, glancing at Sean who was staring at them intently, trying to figure out what was going on. “Be careful.”

“Shut up, Coop, and go!” she exclaimed, pushing lightly on his chest. “I’ll talk to you later,” she added, pulling him in for a hug.

“I’ll call you,” he promised. “Bye.”

As Cooper walked off, Sean walked over to where Celia stood, staring at the door. “You okay?” he asked her, and for a moment Celia thought he was actually concerned for her. But, then she remembered who she was talking to, and she immediately got defensive.

“Can we just get this commercial over with?” she snapped, moving away from Sean to go talk to the director. Sean followed her, wordlessly as they began shooting the commercial once again.

Two and a half hours later, they had finally shot the last scene, and everyone was free to go. Celia turned to walk out the door when her eye caught Sean, asking one of the workers out for lunch. She rolled her eyes, hurrying her way out the door.

***

Celia looked around at all of the clothes lying around her that she had thrown on the floor while trying to find something to wear. She had ran into one of her teammates from the U.S. National Team that was from Texas, who was having a party and had invited Celia to it. So, now she was trying to find the perfect thing to wear. After watching Sean flirt with some girl and her best friend go back to New York, she knew she was going to get drunk tonight and go home with some guy, so she wanted to look her best.

She finally found a mini skirt and a tank top that she liked, and she threw it on, walking down the hall to the bathroom to do her makeup. “Wow!” she heard Sean exclaim when she passed him in the hallway as she walked into the bathroom. He walked backwards until he was back at the bathroom, watching Celia grab her makeup bag, emptying it onto the counter. “Where are you off to looking like that?” he asked as he leaned against the doorway.

“A party,” she replied. “Why?”

“So, I shouldn’t expect you tonight?” he asked.

“Nope,” Celia said with a smirk, as she continued applying the eyeliner. “Why?”

“Well, I asked Darcy out tonight, and I didn’t know if we should go back to her place tonight or if I could bring her back here,” Sean responded.

“Who’s Darcy?” Celia asked, pulling the mascara out of her bag.

“The girl I went to lunch with today,” Sean answered. “Why? Are you jealous?” he asked with a smirk.

“Of some girl that you’re going out with tonight?” Celia questioned, turning her head to look at him. “Not a chance.”

Thirty minutes later, Celia was flagging down a taxi, which of course only took her a mere twenty seconds to do. After telling the driver the address, she glanced out the window, unable to get rid of the memories that were flooding her mind. She couldn’t help but remember what had happened the last time she was in a taxi.

She leaned her head back, shutting her eyes, only to have the rest of that night repeat in her head. She remembered the way Sean had put his hand on her leg before leaning over and kissing her. She shook her head, hoping to get the thoughts out of her head, but it was to no avail, as her mind then wandered to what had happened when they got back to the hotel room.

The taxi suddenly came to a halt, jarring Celia out of her thoughts. She opened her eyes to see the driver watching her through the rearview mirror. “We’re here,” he announced, and Celia opened her purse to grab some money, handing it to him before she got out of the car.

“Celia!” she heard someone exclaim, and she looked up to see her teammate, Natasha, running towards her. “You look absolutely amazing,” she told her, as Celia took in Natasha’s clothing, which consisted of a baby blue dress. “All the guys are going to be all over you tonight,” she added with a wink.

“Thanks,” Celia told her.

“Well, come on in. There are plenty of people already here, and there’s plenty of alcohol in there. Go have fun,” she told her, pushing her inside. As soon as she walked in, she could tell that this was exactly what she needed tonight: a bunch of hot guys and alcohol. She smiled to herself as she made her way to the makeshift bar, asking for whatever was the strongest alcohol they had.

The guy handed her a shot glass, and she looked at the clear liquid, trying to figure out what was in it. She shrugged her shoulders, tilting the glass back, and drinking every drop. She could feel her throat burn, as she realized it was Russian vodka. She knew that this was going to get her drunk fast, but that didn’t stop her from asking for another shot.

An hour later, she stumbled across the floor, trying to find a table to sit at. As she tried to make it to one of the empty tables that she saw, she felt a hand on her arm, trying to steady her. She turned her head to see an attractive man standing next to her with a smirk on his face.

“Thanks,” she told him as she sat down in a seat. The guy sat down next to her, and she smiled at him. “I’m Celia,” she told him.

“Derek,” he told her, returning her smile. “So, Celia, what do you say we get out of here?” he asked her suggestively a little while later.

Celia bit her lip, opening her mouth to answer when Cooper’s words rushed back into her mind. Don’t’ do anything stupid to try to prove your point. Be careful. Celia couldn’t believe that now was the time that Cooper’s words repeated in her mind. She turned to look at Derek who was still smiling at her, and then her mind went to Cooper again. “I can’t,” she told him, instantly regretting the words when they came out of her mouth.

“Whatever,” the guy said, immediately getting up from the table and attaching himself to the first blonde girl he found. Celia groaned to herself, standing up and trying to make her way outside to catch a cab.

She grabbed her cell phone, dialing Cooper’s number. “Celia?” Cooper picked up.

“I hate you,” Celia stated.

“I love you, too,” Cooper laughed. “How drunk are you right now?” he asked.

“Not as much as I wish,” Celia replied. “And, I still hate you,” she told him, sticking her hand out to flag down a cab. She got inside the first one that pulled up and told the driver the name of the hotel she was staying at.

“What did I do?” Cooper asked.

“You gave me a fucking conscience,” she told him.

“What?” Cooper asked, confused.

“I was at a party, and I was all ready to go home with this random guy, and your words kept repeating in my head about me being jealous and not doing something to prove you wrong,” she told him, staring out the window. Cooper started to laugh, and Celia got even angrier. “This is not funny!” she exclaimed.

“Celia, I’ve told you a thousand times not to go home with random guys, and you’ve never listened to me before. This isn’t because of me. This is because you have a thing for Sean, and you know that you’ll never get him if you keep sleeping around,” he told her.

“I do not have a thing for Sean Avery!” she yelled, causing the driver to look at her in the rearview mirror.

“Celia, think about it. You’ve never had a problem going home with random guys before, even though I’ve tried talking you out of it many, many times. You sleep with Sean once, and all of a sudden, you can’t go through with it anymore.”

“It’s not,” she began, just as the driver slammed on the brakes in front of the hotel, announcing that they had arrived at her destination. “Hang on a minute, Coop,” she told Cooper as she dug money out of her purse and handed it to the driver. “Okay, I’m back,” she told him as she walked into the hotel.

“Seriously, Celia, you have a thing for him. Just admit it. Why don’t you just go up to your hotel room and tell him?” he asked her.

“Because I’m not going to have him laugh in my face,” Celia said, waiting on the elevator to arrive.

“So, you admit that you like him?” Cooper asked.

“Yes,” Celia yelled, and everyone in the lobby all turned to look at her. “So, what do I do now?” Celia asked, lowering her voice as she stepped into the elevator.

“Tell him,” Cooper told her.

“There’s no other answer?” she asked.

“Tell him,” he repeated.

“Fine,” Celia sighed, getting out of the elevator. “I’ll call you tomorrow. I’m at the room now,” she told him.

“Tell him,” Cooper repeated with a laugh as Celia hung up on him.

“Tell him,” Celia repeated Cooper’s words to herself, and she realized he was right. She just needed to tell Sean that she was attracted to him. She nodded to herself, knowing that the small pep talk had just helped. She put her card key into the door, and opened it up.

She opened her mouth to yell for Sean when she heard moans. She walked back towards her bedroom and saw that Sean’s door was open. Going against her instincts, she glanced inside, and what she saw made her sick to her stomach. A naked Sean was lying on the bed with a naked girl on top of him, moaning his name.