I Bottle Up My Hollywood

"John?" my confusion vanished not long after it had come, a big smile taking its place, "What are you doing?" I asked, stepping aside to let him in. He sent me a lazy grin, stepping closer to me so he could wrap his lanky arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug.

"I missed you," I rolled my eyes, the smile never leaving my face as I nuzzled my nose into his boney shoulder.

"I heard," I chuckled, pulling away so I could look at his face.

"I felt like surprising you, is that so terrible?" he asked. He grabbed a hold of my arm, tugging on it in hopes I'd catch on and follow him out the front door. I didn't, mostly because I was confused by the whole situation.

"Where are we going?" I hesitantly stepped out, not really trusting the sly smile that was making its way onto his face.

"It's a surprise, remember?" I sighed dramatically and followed, trying to conceal the goofy grin that was slowing breaking out onto my face. John led me to his beat up car, opening the passenger door for me before getting into the drivers seat. After fishing around in his pockets for a few moments, he pulled out his ring of keys, picking out the correct one and putting it into the ignition. The car rumbled to life beneath us and soon enough, we were driving out and away from my neighborhood.

~

"Seriously, John, where are we going?" We'd been driving for a good half hour now and I was starting to get anxious.

"Seriously, Liz, it's a surprise," he mocked, looking out on the long road with a satisfied smile on his face. He knew I hated surprises.

"Ugh," I groaned, turning to stare out my window, my chin resting in my palm. I watched as trees and cars came and went, the sun starting to set on the horizon. The CD switched, a new one starting as we continued to drive down the highway. It had to have been an hour by now.

"We're here," John announced, pulling into a nearly full parking lot. I looked around the unfamiliar area, wondering why we were even here in the first place. I was about to ask where we were when John interrupted me.

"I thought maybe we'd get away for a bit? Y'know, actually be alone for once," he smiled and took my hand, leading me towards the small restaurant. The inside was filled with people, all of them laughing and having a good time while others watched the live band playing on the small stage they'd set up in the middle of the room. The lights were dimmed, but I could still see all the pictures and what not that cluttered the walls. It wasn't like all the fancy, overpriced restaurants that everyone would expect I would be in, it actually looked like an enjoyable place to eat.

"I know it's pretty crowded but I promise, it'll be fun," John said and pulled me over to the table a hostess had just led us to. I nodded and sat down, already enjoying the happy, carefree atmosphere. I'd grown so used to the uptight, tense and almost stuck-up feeling that seemed to float around in all those extravagant eateries that I almost forgot was it was like to be in a place like this.

John was right, it was fun. It was fun to be around normal people and actually be treated like a normal person. Everyone was making jokes with each other and dancing along to the band's music. It was nice to eat average food like cheeseburgers and hot dogs instead of calamari and caviar. Finally, I could just let loose and not have to worry about the whole world finding out about it. It felt good to be myself in front of someone other than just Kelsey or John, even if it was just for a few hours.

I glanced at my phone, checking the time. I cursed under my breath when I realized how late it was.

"John, I've got to get home," I said. He nodded, pulling his jacket over his arms and leading me to the entrance. As soon as we stepped outside, an army of paparazzi crowded around us, camera flashes snapping in my face. Questions were being thrown at us as we tried to push our way through the crowd and to the car. They blocked us, still trying to pry an answer out of one of us.

My patience was wearing thin as I forcefully pushed my way through, pulling John along with me. Once we were finally in the safety of the car I groaned, my head falling into my hands while John pulled out of the parking lot.