Page 34 of Game Changer

Chapter13

Zara

Sunday mornings are my absolute favourite time of the week. I like to sleep in until my body decides to wake up and I take it as a day off to recharge. I love a self-care Sunday. Today I’ll be taking extra special care of myself so that I look my absolute best for Buckie’s premiere.

Stretching out in my bed, I grab my phone from the bedside table. It’s after ten a.m. and my phone has obviously been lighting up the whole night. I’ve never seen so many Instagram notifications tagging Gemini.

I tap the first one and it takes me to a photo of Buckie throwing a bottle of vodka in the air behind the bar.Oh shit.

The text underneath reads,OMG!! Went to @gemini for lunch today with my girlsss and ended up getting my cocktail made by none other than @owenbuchananofficial. #moviestaringlasgow #hollywoodeatyourheartout #moonlightingactor

The next few I find have him and the bar tagged. And I can see from the number of notifications I have that this will be the same for the rest. He did say this would happen. A lot of people seem to be commenting that they’d never seen the place before and that they might now come and try it out. My staff group chat is very active this morning too. It appears that Buckie’s impromptu bar shift has led to two weeks of full bookings for the bistro at Gemini. The businesswoman in me thinks this is going to be a great piece of free advertising. But that ever-present voice of reason invades my mind telling me to be careful.

I tap out a text to him.

Have you seen IG yet? It’s gone nuts. X

He doesn’t reply right away, and it leaves me wondering what he’s up to. I know he had a very early flight to London this morning, but I would imagine he’ll be at his hotel by now. I don’t know everything that’s on his schedule while he’s there. I’m lonely without him and I can’t wait to get there tomorrow to be with him. I don’t tend to dwell on the fact that I’m alone because I’m always busy. But having been around Buckie a lot since he got here, I’m starting to wonder if we’ve rushed into this relationship. It’s taken me by surprise. I’ve tried not to think too much about what our future will be like. But sometimes I get a flash forward in my mind of still always being alone. It’s hard enough for two actors to make a relationship work, never mind people with very different careers. My businesses are not portable. I need to be in Glasgow. And, as much as Buckie says he wants to move back here, I wonder if the lure of L.A. will suck him in and have him running back.

I’m about to get up when my phone rings. It’s Buckie and I smile at the sight of his name on the screen.

“Hey,” I answer, trying to sound upbeat after my dismal thoughts.

“Morning beautiful.”

My cheeks redden at his term of endearment.

“I didn’t know what you’d be up to this morning, but my phone has been going nuts all night apparently. Thank God for the do not disturb function.”

“Hmm yeah I’ve been checking it out this morning. Shelly called me this morning before I got on the flight. She said she’d seen the early editions of the Sun and the Daily Record. I was going to call you after I got settled in at the hotel. I’m sorry. I should have known better.”

I laugh. “Please don’t apologise. You might have helped make me a shit ton of money after yesterday. I’m not complaining.”

“Well then you’re welcome. I miss you.”

“Hmm me too. I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.”

“I’m excited to see everything you’ve got to do, but I’m nervous about the premiere. What do I do while you’re away schmoozing the press?”

“Schmoozing? I don’t schmooze. I smile through gritted teeth for the press. I hate them. They’re scumbags. Always nice to your face and making up shit about you as soon as you turn your back. Mark my words Zara, they’ll try and spin some shit about me being at the bar. That’s why I apologised because I know you’re going to have fallout from this. I should never have done it.” He sounds angry and I wish I was there with him.

“Hey, don’t you worry about me. I can handle myself. I’m a big girl and I’m stronger than you think I am.”

“Sorry I didn’t mean it that way. I know you’re strong. It’s what I love about you.”

“Glad we’re on the same page. What are you doing today then?”

“Oh it’s a busy one. I have a breakfast news interview to do with Annalise this afternoon. They’ll be airing it on the day of the premiere. It’ll be the first time I’ve seen her since we wrapped up the filming six months ago. Then we both need to go and meet with the PR people from the studio to run through the order for the premiere. I’ve managed to bag us an amazing suite at The Shard. Wait till you see the view. What are your plans for today?”

“Absolutely nothing. Sunday is my lazy day. I’ll be beautifying myself today ready for seeing you tomorrow.”

“God you’ll have most of the day to yourself then, you’re already too beautiful.” He laughs to himself down the line.

“Oh give it a rest you numpty. Right I need to go. I have to check in at Gemini. I’ve got a stand in manager coming in for the rest of the week and I have an ad ready to go out tomorrow. I’m hoping to have someone in the position by the end of the week.”

“Alright sweetheart. I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ve organised a car to come and pick you up at the airport. I have a breakfast radio interview in the morning and then we do all the BBC stuff in the afternoon. Love you babe.”

“Love you too Buckie, can’t wait to see you. Bye.”

“Bye,” he says, and we hang up

I hold my phone to my chest and smile to myself. Everything with Buckie seems to be so new, yet we have a lot of history. It’s a strange feeling.

I mute my Instagram notifications. The incessant ping of a new notification every few minutes is getting on my nerves. I resist the urge to check out the newspapers. I need to focus on myself today and if I start with all this attention, I’ll be at it all day. And I also know that there will be negative comments, as there always is. So it’s a no to that. There’ll be someone else to gossip over tomorrow and I have better things to worry about.

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