The Magic of Hollywood // Charlie Gillespie

Chapter 43

"We have arrived." Charlie parks in front of a... I don't know how to describe it... not so nice looking building? He must see the confused look on my face. "Hey, don't judge a book by it's cover Vic! Come on you'll love it!" I shrug my shoulders and jump out of the car. Once we walk in through the door I can tell what he means. The place is adorable! It's quite dark inside, only a few dim lights at the ceiling and candles on each table. The tables are arranged as little booths so you have some privacy while sitting there. Charlie pulls me along towards a table at the side. Once we sit down a waiter appears, hands each of us a menu and lights the candle in the middle of our table. "Romantic move." Charlie just smirks but doesn't look up from the menu. Judging from the looks of it this seems to be a Mexican place. I need to admit, I never had Mexican food before.

"What can I bring you guys?" The waiter has returned. For the last few minutes I carefully studied the menu, figuring out what I should try but I have not yet come to a conclusion. "I'll have the beef quesadilla." Charlie says. Then he looks over to me. I shrug my shoulders. "She'll have the chicken one" he says to the waiter. "Any drinks?" - "Yeah, two of your homemade lime lemonades please." With that being said he walks away. "Thanks. I never had Mexican before so... I didn't know what's good." His eyes widen. "Seriously? Omg, you missed out! Don't worry, you'll love it." He did not promise too much. "It's so good!" I say, my mouth still half full. I throw my hand infront of my mouth and we both start to giggle. I basically inhale my food at once because it really is that good. "You want some of mine? You seem hungry." Charlie says laughing. He only finished half of his food yet. I shake my head slightly, a bit embarrassed about my manners. He takes his knife, cuts his quesadilla in half and places one half on my plate anyways.

We get back to the club way too fast. "I'll see you tonight darling." Charlie places a kiss on the back of my hand. My insides are celebrating yet another party. Did he just call me darling? I feel like I'm melting. Pulling myself together I jump out of the car and blow him a kiss. When I get inside I can only spot Valerie. "Where's Jenny?" - "In the back. On FaceTime with her boyfriend. Victoria, I got this covered pretty well. Why don't you take the rest of the day off and you and Jenny enjoy LA for a bit? After all, she did not come here only to work." I nod. "Thank you." As if she smelled it Jenny comes out from the back, a huge smile on her face. "Someone looks happy." She hits my arm softly. "Alright, what we up to?" - "We are gonna go sightseeing." Her eyes start to sparkle a little. She's always had a soft spot for the Walk of Fame. We grab our bags and that's where we are headed to first. Precociously I place my sunglasses on my nose and put the sunhat Carolynn gave me on.

Once we get back to Charlie's apartment we... well I... am exhausted. Walking around the city all day, stopping at every spot for a spontaneous photoshoot... that can really drain the energy out of you. "Charlie?" I call when we enter. No response. I walk over and let myself fall onto the couch. "Today was crazy." Jenny, still surprisingly full of energy, walks over to the kitchen. "Want some water too?" - "Yes please." She comes back over with the glasses and a piece of paper in her hand. "Here, I'm assuming it's for you." Grabbing some groceries for dinner. Gonna be back soon. PS: You'll have to help me make this if you want to be able to actually eat it. I laugh a little. "V, I'm starting to think this wasn't the worst idea." I look up from the note and raise an eyebrow. "You know, he seems to actually care for you. Plus, I have never seen you smile like that before. Your eyes even sparkle sometimes and you are so much happier when he's around. He seems like a genuinely good guy." - "I think he actually is."

"CHARLIE! You're meant to cut them not throw them in like that!" He shrugs his shoulders. "Sorry, I told you my cooking skills are unique." - "Unique? They are not existent." We both start laughing.  Jenny leaves her Netflix and chill position and comes walking over, placing herself across from us at the kitchen aisle. "This sounds very interesting." I grab the tomatoes from Charlie, place them on a cutting board and cut one. "See. Now you." He takes the knife and cuts up another tomato, then looks at me expectantly. "A for effort." I laugh again, placing a little kiss on his cheek. It's not that bad though, but honestly, how hard is it to cut a tomato. "Now you can put them in." He shoves the tomatoes into the pan and I mix them with the chicken, onion and the avocado mash. "Ok, can I let you grate the cheese or will I need to call an ambulance after?" He shakes his head. "Neither. Bought it grated already." I widen my eyes. "No you did not! Charlie! You're cheating." Jenny bursts into laughter. "Ok guys. This is better than any Netflix." We all start laughing. I point my finger at Charlie. "We will talk about this." I try to be serious but my laughter is betraying me. We throw in the cooked pasta, let it simmer for a little and then place the finished avocado pasta on the plates. "Woah this is actually good. Can't believe I made that!" I shoot Charlie a serious look. "You made it? I think you rather sabotaged it" I say laughing.