After Tonight

The first month of filming was tough, which was to be expected. I wasn’t able to get away for a visit due to the time of the year—Easter and weddings were really big money-makers for Delia’s. By the end of May, I couldn’t take it any longer. I decided to surprise Rob.
A week later I was sitting in Rob’s trailer in Portland, anxiously awaiting the look on his face when he saw me.
I’d been lying on the bed for an hour, reading. Rob’s agent wasn’t able to give me a good estimate as to when shooting would be done for the day so I had no idea how long Rob would be. But then the door opened. I jumped up in alarm when I saw Kristen Stewart step through the door, ahead of Rob.
I held no grudge against the girl, except that she spent months at a time with my boyfriend and she was gorgeous—oh yeah, she was an ex-girlfriend too. My stomach flopped in the few seconds before they noticed me; Kristen’s head was thrown back in laughter and Rob’s hearty chuckled echoed from outside the door. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply.
Kristen saw me first. I’d stood up and was smoothing out my shirt when she greeted me with a look of shock. I smiled, trying to be as friendly as possible. Had I interrupted something?
“Abbey!” Rob shouted when he saw me standing in the corner. A grin stretched to his sparkling eyes and he rushed past a bewildered Kristen to embrace me with a kiss.
“Hey!” I couldn’t help but return the grin—his was just so infectious.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” Rob’s warm gaze was enough to tell me that the rendezvous with Kristen was innocent. “How long have you been—how long are you staying?”
“I’ve been here for about an hour. But the latter is debatable.”
Suddenly remembering we weren’t alone, Rob cleared his throat uncomfortably and turned to introduce me to Kristen. I offered my hand and she shook it, something resembling a smile forming on her lips.
“I have to call Michael. Will I be seeing you at dinner?” This question was directed toward Rob. He shook his head, telling her he’d join her and the rest of the cast another night. Kristen shot me a disapproving look before excusing herself
“You can go to dinner Rob.” I didn’t want everyone to think that I was a controlling girlfriend.
He furrowed his brow. “Why?”
“Well you had plans. You shouldn’t cancel them because I showed up. Like I said, I could be here forever—I didn’t buy a round-trip ticket.” This only made him smile wider.
“What I meant was why should I go out when everything I want is right here?” I blushed slightly as he took me around the waist, drawing me into his chest. When I could only smile in response, Rob brought his lips to my ear and whispered, “I love it when you blush.”
“I bet you do.” I muttered sarcastically, pulling his face to mine and kissing him. He grinned, walking me toward the bed.
“Absolutely.” I shrugged out of my shirt as Rob worked on the button of my jeans. He began kissing my collarbone, making it extremely tricky for me to unbutton the white dress-shirt he had on.
I let my hands run across Rob’s bare chest before tangling my fingers in his shock of hair that had recently been dyed. A part of me couldn’t help but wonder how thin the walls of his trailer were.
…
I stayed in Portland for two weeks, much to Joplin’s dismay. Sometimes I watched the filming. A few of the lines they had Rob saying were so ridiculous I had to tease him quietly whenever they took breaks. He just rolled his eyes, trying to hide his smile.
We went hung out with the cast a lot and I came to find that Kristen wasn’t as bad as I thought she was going to be. It took her several days to warm up to me, but one night after coming back from a bar she pulled me to the side to talk. She explained that Rob almost felt like a brother to her—which I found a little odd considering I knew they hadn’t just held hands while dating—and she wasn’t sure what to think of me. In so many words, she apologized for treating me like an infectious disease for the first few days of my stay. Needless to say, the next time she was in New York we were going to meet up for lunch.
Any time Rob had to spare he spent with me. We talked most of the time, and took walks. Rob couldn’t wait to get home and chill for a while but with everything that was going on in the next few months, neither of us could see that happening anytime soon. He was dreading the months coming when he was going to be promoting Eclipse.
I shuddered when he talked about it, keeping my thoughts to myself—I was dreading that too. And before that, he was going to be traveling around for I Am the Messenger. It was one thing after another and it only made me hate his career choice even more. I felt awful, harboring such distaste for something he loved enough to pursue.
Loving Rob the way I wanted to was tough. I imagined a future with him at least twice a day, but knowing that it involved his busy schedule got me a little down. With past boyfriends I’d never wanted to be with them as much as I wanted to be with Rob—I was one of those people who relished in their alone-time. There’s that saying about absence making the heart grow fonder, and it could have been because those guys had always been within a ten-mile radius and Rob was away so often, but I really didn’t think that was the reason.
I was just crazy about him.
My mom called a few weeks ago to catch up, but one thing led to another and she had me talking about Rob. I told her I thought he was the one. Scratch that. I told her I knew he was the one. I’d pictured it all: the dress, the day, the flowers, Rob in a tux—I wanted it so badly I would’ve asked him myself.
…
When I left for New York, Rob insisted on taking me to the airport. I obliged, despite the break in tradition. He hauled my suitcase to the check-in line with one hand, and held my hand in the other. I watched as a group of teenage girls spotted him, chattering excitedly amongst themselves. Nudging his side as we took a spot in line, I gestured over to them. They were debating on whether or not to mob him.
“I’m sorry to bother you," The blonde one walked over, politely tapping Rob’s shoulder. “Could we get an autograph or a picture with you?”
“I don’t see why not.” Rob smiled at her, blush creeping into his cheeks. I chuckled, enjoying the moment that was unfolding. He looked around to make sure this wouldn’t be a scene.
The girl beckoned to her friends and the other three girls raced over to Rob’s side. As Rob signed something for each of them, I’d offered to take the picture. Blondie was showing me how to work her camera when the shorter girl took a sudden interest in me.
“So you’re Abbey right?” She stepped closer, scrutinizing everything on my person.
“Er, yeah.” I had never been addressed by a fan. This was new. Rob looked at me out of the corner of his eye, weakly attempting to fight back a smile.
“You’ve got great hair.”
And I thought I was hated by the entire population of women between the ages of fourteen to thirty-five.
“Thanks.” I looked back at Rob, who was enjoying this, and begged him with my eyes to hurry up and give them their autographs.
“Are you guys going to get married?” I froze. Was I wearing a sandwich board announcing to the world that I wanted to marry Rob that I didn’t know about? “Ya’ know, tie the knot?”
Rob cleared his throat. “I dunno she’ll stick around that long.” He flashed a joking grin, but his eyes were telling a different story. And it thrilled me to pieces.
By now, I was able to read Rob like a book. I could tell what was kind of a mood he was in by the way he stretched out on our couch—what he was thinking by the way he ran his fingers through his hair or bounced his legs when sitting. And now, I could tell from his eyes, the way they pierced through mine, that he wasn’t really telling his adoring fans the truth.
I shivered, clearing my own throat after that slight stop in the earth’s rotation. Stepping back, I ushered the girls and Rob into the frame of view for the camera. When I was finished, and Blondie checked it out to make sure she didn’t have a double chin or anything, Rob and I continued our wait in line.
You’d think celebrities would get Fast Passes or something like that.