Chapter Text
Why did they need to host this stupid party? Moira stood in her producer boyfriend’s kitchen, topping up the bowls of chips while popping olives in her mouth. A pretty young thing Moira didn’t recognise came over, grabbed one of the bowls and left, without even a smile of thanks. She probably had no idea it was her party. Her boyfriend’s party, but she had done all the preparation. A mistake Moira would not be making again.
They had attended the premiere of Bert’s latest movie the night before. Moira had thought that dating one of the producers of Sunrise Bay would open up a whole world of opportunities for her acting career, but she was still waiting for that to happen.
Moira had yet again spent the night as her boyfriend’s beautiful accessory, being completely ignored by him and everyone else. Although Moira had expected the evening to play out in such a manner, she had gone as the dutiful girlfriend she was. But Moira was starting to think that her dutiful girlfriend act was going too far. Bert’s house was full of people. When he asked Moira if they could host a party together, she was shocked. Hosting an event as a couple was a statement. Moira hoped that it meant he would be finally taking their relationship seriously. She had a niggling feeling that he was only with her for the sex, but then he didn’t seem to enjoy it that much. It felt more like a sense of obligation for him.
Moira thought that Bert wanted to host a small dinner party with some select friends. He would hire a chef and all she would have to do was check that everyone’s glasses were full from her seat. But Bert wanted an open house, he had the entirety of Hollywood to impress.
The morning after the premiere, Moira sleepily emerged from the spare bedroom and was surprised to find that Bert was up. He informed her that she would spend her afternoon making the canapés for the party. Moira asked him why he hadn’t hired someone, but apparently she looked like the type who could do it herself and she would have nothing better to do. Moira had smiled sweetly at him and agreed, not knowing how she would pull off such a task. Part of her wanted to scream at him, she had never made canapés before and would not be making them for him. But every time she did something he disapproved of, Bert would threaten her job on Sunrise Bay, telling her what a shame it would be if Vivian Blake were to mysteriously be written off the show. She knew that disagreeing was not an option for her.
Moira made a vast array of different canapés and arranged them beautifully across the table. Small plates, cutlery and serviettes were littered around the room. Moira had spent far too long lugging bottles around the place, making sure there were plenty of drinks and glasses everywhere to be seen. She was quite proud of her achievements.
Many hours later, Bert was nowhere to be seen. Moira hoped he was setting up for the party elsewhere, but thought it would have been nice if he could at least be around to compliment her efforts. Moira did not know how many guests to expect. Bert had only said there would be a lot of people. She wanted to make sure there would be plenty of food to go around. She had too often witnessed his rage at other events where food was not within grabbing distance. Moira did not want to be the cause of his wrath.
Happy with her efforts as she looked around the kitchen and living room, Moira made her way to the spare bedroom to change. She glanced in on Bert’s bedroom as she went past. He was adjusting his bow tie that perfectly matched his purple suit. Bert was looking at himself so intensely in the mirror that he didn’t hear his girlfriend come in.
‘Nice suit,’ Moira complimented as she stood in the doorway, hoping it would mean that he would have to compliment her later.
‘Thanks, it’s new. Is everything set up?’ He continued staring at his own reflection, fixing his hair.
‘Yes.’ Moira replied curtly before reminding herself that any negative behaviour could cause his anger.
Bert did not respond or look over at her, so Moira went to the spare bedroom. She was allowed to store a few of her belongings there, but not enough that it would look untidy.
Moira fell backwards onto the bed, sighing as she landed on the soft duvet. All she wanted was to snuggle up and fall asleep. She was exhausted from the preparation and being out the night before. Looking at the clock, Moira sighed to herself, knowing the guests would begin arriving soon.
Selecting a plain black dress in the closet, Moira stripped off to her underwear and stared at herself in the mirror. Her matching red lace underwear set filled her with confidence, but she doubted anyone would be getting to see it that evening.
Throwing the dress on, Moira sat down at her dresser. She lazily put on some powder, mascara and lipstick, selecting her usual shade of red. Moira stared at herself in the mirror, before deciding that she wanted to be unrecognisable, exactly how she had felt at the premiere. She looked through the few wigs that she had with her, surprised to find a dark grey one with bangs. Moira held it up and decided it was perfect, no one would bother her looking like that. Bert never seemed to care about her appearance, so she thought she would risk upsetting him by not looking as beautiful as she thought she could. Moira rubbed off her red lipstick and selected a more natural shade. Content with her toned down look, she braced herself for what the evening would bring.
Moira began the evening making polite conversation with familiar faces. She quickly tired of the small talk, fed up with hearing what a wonderful party Bert had put on. He hadn’t done anything. No one really seemed to know she was his girlfriend, which angered her, but also deemed well if she ever needed to make a quick exit from the relationship.
Frustrated with the evening, Moira made her way outside. She was normally the life and soul of the party, but was feeling strangely claustrophobic with all the strangers crowding the house.
Moira immediately regretted her decision. She found Bert laughing loudly in a crowd of people. She turned to go back inside but it was too late, a man in the crowd had seen her.
‘Isn’t she the one you were talking about?’ Moira heard being shouted at her.
‘Yeah, she’s the one. Come over here darling,’ Another man called out to her.
Moira smiled politely as she headed over, trying not to grimace as the men looked her up and down. She entertained them for a few minutes, before retreating to the kitchen, mumbling something about making sure there was enough food.
After refilling the bowls and getting annoyed at ungrateful guests, Moira decided to pour herself another drink. She was about to take a sip when Bert appeared.
‘I think you’ve had enough to drink, don’t you?’ He snatched the drink off her, clearly having had much more to drink than she had. ‘You didn’t have to be so rude to my friends.’
‘I wasn’t rude to them,’ Moira protested. She had been as polite as she possibly could in the moment. She swiped her drink back off him and took a sip, trying to calm herself down.
‘I know you’re jealous of not being as successful as them, but you don’t have to be rude to my friends.’ Bert shouted at her, unaware that he was ultimately repeating himself.
Moira clenched her teeth at his outburst. She bit the glass, cutting her lip slightly, taken aback by his words. She wondered if he knew she was only dating him to help further her career. She had never been able to work out what his interest was in her.
‘You should apologise to them.’ Bert demanded. Anger welled up inside of her, her lip stinging slightly as the blood trickled out. Moira dabbed it with her finger, hoping Bert had not noticed. ‘I will apologise to them,’ Moira replied quietly. She knew it was what he wanted to hear before he would leave her alone. Moira would not burst into tears in front of the entire party, but she was close to it.
Bert left, satisfied with her answer.
She watched him go, frozen with rage, as he made his way back outside. Once he was out of view, she headed to the bathroom, wanting to sort her lip out and needing to be alone for a minute. Walking as quickly as she could, Moira locked the door behind her. Sliding on to the floor, tears ran down her face as she leant her head against the wall.
Picking up the soap, the closest thing she could reach, Moira threw it across the room with rage. It landed with a crash, but didn’t satisfy her anger. She crawled up into a ball on the floor, resting her head on the bathmat. All she wanted to do was to curl up in the arms of someone who loved her, rest her head on their chest, have them stroke her hair. She just wanted to be taken care of for once.
Moira didn’t know what to do. She went through all the people she thought she could phone who would be sympathetic and get her out of there. The fury clouded her judgement. She needed a calm, steady voice to tell her what to do.
Moira’s mind wandered to the calm, steady businessman who piqued her interest every time she met him. Moira had last seen Johnny Rose a few weeks earlier. They had run into each other at a prestigious gala. Johnny had made some joke about how they should stop meeting like that and how it looked like he was following her. Normally Moira would have rolled her eyes and found another guest to talk to, but there was something about the mysterious businessman that fascinated her. He was different from the others. Men were interested in her looks or her career, never her. Johnny wanted to know where her favourite place to dine out was, what she liked for breakfast, where in the world she would most like to travel. He was a refreshing change from the gaggle of unsuitable bachelors who failed at earning her attention.
Sadly, Moira had recently learnt that the man of her dreams had a girlfriend. She had a rule about not dating or even flirting with men who were attached to other women. Moira knew too well what it was like to be cheated on, she would never inflict that one anyone. She was unsure whether Johnny was still in LA or not. His main offices were in New York, but he was often in LA for meetings. She hoped he would be the friendly face she needed to get her out of there and calm her down.
Composing herself, Moira managed to calm her whimpers as she made her way out the bathroom. Luckily, Johnny had written down his phone number on a napkin the last time they had met. She pleaded for him to pick up as she dialled his number.
‘Hello,’ Johnny answered curiously, not recognising the number.
‘Johnny Rose?’ Moira asked, his voice sounding different on the phone.
‘Moira,’ Johnny replied hopefully. He could recognise her voice anywhere. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Are you in LA? I need you.’ Moira managed to get out before bursting into tears again.
‘I am. What’s happened?’ Johnny asked as he was filled with concern.
‘Can you come and get me? Please.’ Moira pleaded in between cries. She never cried in front of people and was ashamed of herself, but she was unable to stop. ‘Where are you?’ Johnny asked urgently. From his few encounters with Moira, he had realised that she rarely let her guard down with people and was shocked and concerned that she was doing so with him.
‘At Bert’s house. There’s a party but I don’t want to be here anymore.’ Her cries got more intense as she thought about her situation.
Johnny had been told about her Sunrise Bay producer boyfriend Bert at their last encounter. Bert had also been at the gala. Johnny had witnessed first hand how he had ignored and been disrespectful to Moira. ‘Okay. What’s his address? I’m coming to get you.’
Moira stopped crying enough to tell him the address. Johnny stayed on the phone until she had calmed down properly, before signing off and jumping in his car.
Moira left the phone and went back to the bathroom to clean up her face, suddenly realising she didn’t want Johnny to see her in the state she was in. Moira took off her wig and ruched up her blonde locks. She sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror, she was a shell of the person she wanted to be.
Moving to the spare bedroom, Moira sat on the bed and waited for Johnny to arrive. She had instructed him to go through the house and find her, unable to face the crowds of people alone.
Moira almost couldn’t believe it when Johnny appeared in the doorway.
‘Thank you,’ Moira jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, before realising she was a little enthusiastic and moving back. She reminded herself that he had a girlfriend and she had a boyfriend, if she could even call him that.
‘Of course Moira. What’s been going on?’ Johnny asked earnestly. He saw her face drop as she thought about it.
‘I don’t want to talk about it. I’m sorry, I look a mess,’ she informed Johnny.
‘You look beautiful as always,’ Johnny smiled at her. Moira smiled back at him, though she didn’t agree. ‘Thank you.’
‘Come on, let’s get out of here,’ Johnny said as he extended his arm for her to take his hand. Johnny had fought through the crowds of people to arrive at her room and was not about to lose her on the way out. Gripping his hand tightly, Moira let Johnny lead her out of the house. Not making eye contact with any of the guests, she hoped that Bert wouldn’t see her.
Moira breathed a sigh of relief as they passed the front door. They dodged the smokers gathered outside and made it into Johnny’s black car.
‘Thank you,’ Moira smiled at him as he pulled away. ‘No worries. What was the party for?’
‘It was just a party. Where are we going?’ Moira enquired, confused at where they were headed.
‘I thought you might need a happy distraction, if that’s alright?’ Johnny asked her.
‘I will go anywhere but that house,’ Moira informed him.
Johnny pulled up on the edge of the road, an incredible view on his right but his eyes were focused only on Moira. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear with his hand, smiling at her beauty. ‘Want to get out?’
‘Yes,’ Moira replied excitedly, wondering where they were.
He grabbed her hand and led her to the bench overlooking the view. They could see all over Los Angeles. The dark sky lit up by a million lights.
Without thinking, Moira wrapped her arms round his waist as they sat side by side. She leant her head on his chest, breathing in the cool air. ‘Do you always take girls up here?’
‘Only the special ones,’ Johnny smiled at her. He rubbed his hand up and down her arm, pleased with how content she was compared to the state she had been in when she had called. Johnny watched as her eyes were fixed on the view, he took in her beautiful features.
‘What happened to your lip?’ Johnny asked with concern. He gently touched where the congealed blood had formed. His mind raced to visions of Bert throwing a glass at her face, everything within him wanted to protect her.
‘I bit my glass accidentally and it cut me,’ Moira admitted sheepishly, impressed that he had noticed.
‘Does it hurt?’ He asked, still frowning at the cut. Johnny hoped Moira was telling him the truth.
‘My lip or having a boyfriend who is incapable of loving me?’ Moira replied, looking into his eyes. She surprised Johnny with her honesty.
‘Both.’
‘My lip hurts less than it did earlier, and…’ Moira trailed off, tears filling her eyes again.
‘You don’t have to talk about it,’ Johnny comforted her. ‘I need to break up with him but I can’t,’ Moira sniffled, trying to stop the tears. She didn’t understand how easily she could open up to a man who she barely knew.
‘Why can’t you break up with him?’ Johnny questioned her.
‘He threatens to fire me if I unintentionally upset him, he will definitely fire me if I break up with him. And then I will have no job and no money.’ Moira stated unhappily.
‘Why did you get together in the first place?’ Johnny enquired curiously.
‘He was interested in me and I hoped it would help my career, or at least get me more scenes on the show. Though now I’m not sure he was ever interested in me.’ Moira huffed sadly.
‘From the few minutes I spent with him, it appeared to me that he is more interested in guys than girls,’ Johnny replied softly, unsure as to how she would react.
‘Really?’ Moira frowned at him before thinking about it. ‘That would explain the purple suit.’
Johnny laughed at her epiphany before apologizing, not wanting her to think badly of him.
‘Don’t apologize,’ Moira replied. ‘I’ve never had anyone listen to me and actually care about what I was saying. Thank you, Johnny Rose,’ Moira smiled up at him.
‘How’s Beatrice?’ She had been avoiding the question, but thought it was the right time to ask.
‘Becky, and that’s another touchy subject,’ Johnny grimaced into the distance. ‘We’ve had a few arguments recently. I’m not sure that we’re right for each other.’ He admitted out loud for the first time. Moira failed at hiding her happiness at his response.
‘How could anyone argue with you, Johnny Rose?’
‘I’m not perfect,’ Johnny chuckled at her.
‘You are to me.’ Moira fought the urge to kiss him, her stinging lip helped remind her it was not the best of ideas.
‘That’s very kind of you,’ Johnny smiled at her, sensing that she was holding back. He kissed her cheek instead, wanting her to know that he wanted it too.
‘Where’s Bella at the moment?’
‘Becky, you know her name is Becky,’ Johnny laughed as Moira shrugged innocently at him. ‘She’s in San Diego for work for a while. I was thinking of breaking up with her, but I’ll wait until I can do it in person.’
‘When will that be?’ Moira asked urgently. She realised that she had only started dating Bert after meeting Johnny, falling in love with him and finding out he had a new girlfriend. Moira had hoped that Bert would get her over him. Johnny did not seem to be the person who dated girls for short periods of time.
Johnny smiled to himself at her questioning. ‘Next week some time. Does that fit your schedule?’
‘It fits my schedule perfectly Johnny Rose,’ Moira chuckled at him. She hadn’t thought about what she was actually saying. Moira had no idea where she would find the courage to break up with Bert, but she hoped that a single Johnny would be all the persuasion she needed.
‘What’s up with you using my full name?’ Johnny enquired. ‘Why Johnny Rose and not just Johnny?’
‘I like your surname,’ Moira smiled innocently at him.
‘Would you like it to be your surname?’ Johnny asked, confused at where his sudden boldness had come from.
‘I would prefer it to my own surname, but I would prefer any surname to my own,’ Moira replied cryptically. She had opened up enough for one night. ‘I don’t want to go back to Bert and if I go to my apartment then he will come and find me,’ she quickly changed the subject.
‘You will have to confront him at some point,’ Johnny informed her, not what Moira wanted to hear. ‘Do you want to sleep at my place?’
Moira suddenly perked up. ‘Can I?’
‘If you want to, I have a spare room that’s all made up at the moment,’ Johnny replied, not wanting to push their relationship too far too quickly.
‘Yes!’ Moira stood up with excitement.
‘And where are you going?’ Johnny frowned at her.
‘To your apartment! Coming?’ Moira helped him stand up.
‘Do you want to go by your apartment to grab a few things?’ Johnny suggested, aware of not crossing any lines. He didn’t want to be accused of cheating.
‘I guess I should, yes,’ Moira decided, trying not to get ahead of herself.
They got back in the car and went to Moira’s apartment. Johnny watched as she grabbed a few items, looking with interest at how she had styled her space. It didn’t take long before they were headed back out.
Johnny led her to his spare room and helped her get settled in, whilst trying to keep his distance. The temptation to pull Moira into an embrace was growing with every minute. ‘Do you need anything else?’ Johnny asked after he thought she was all sorted.
‘I’m good thank you,’ Moira smiled at him. ‘Thank you for coming to the rescue.’
‘I would do it again in a heartbeat,’ Johnny replied before kicking himself at his cheesiness. He had fallen in love with Moira the second he had set eyes on her, but had only just started dating Becky then, so had wanted to give her a fair chance first. It had been a few months, what he thought was enough time for him to move on.
‘Goodnight,’ Johnny smiled at her as he closed the door.
‘Night. Thank you,’ Moira repeated, wanting him to know how truly grateful she was for him.