Chapter 42: Chapter 42

“You sure are awfully quiet,” Charles remarked as he drove Ella back to the house. His voice brought her head around, the cityscape blurring in the corner of her eye as she realized she hadn’t seen any of it anyway.

“Sorry. Just lost in thought.” She smiled, thinking for once the thoughts she’d been lost in were productive and satisfying, not terrifying and pessimistic.

“Did your meeting go well, then?” he asked, his tone conveying he was making conversation, not attempting to be nosy.

“It really did. As soon as I get home, I’m going to start making some plans for the future. Fae is… amazing.” She’d had such a great conversation with the artist about how Ella could use her paintings to launch herself into the art world. If she wanted to, Ella could use that platform to begin her own graphic design company. Or she could stick with visual arts. She already had ideas for paintings of her own, and Fae had offered to give her private lessons to improve her skills. The idea that Fae Ward could teach her to paint the same sort of magnificent works of art as Ella had discovered in her attic was enough to make her genuinely smile about something other than Rome for the first time in months. And the fact that she’d inspired Fae to start painting again was also remarkable.

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Charles said, his expression conveying moderate pleasure. Ella knew him well enough already to understand that was about as excited as Charles got about anything.

“It is. You’ll probably be driving me to see her a lot in the future. I hope that’s okay. Or I guess I could drive myself. Or get a driver….”

“I’ll be happy to drive you,” Charles assured her.

“Cool.” Ella didn’t really want to drive herself in LA traffic anyway, and the idea of hiring someone else wasn’t appealing anyway. The fewer people who knew the truth, the better. “Charles, can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” he said, though he didn’t sound thrilled about the inquiry.

“You know who I am—don’t you?”

He looked at her out of the side of his eye for a second before slowly nodding. “I think so.”

“Then you know my real name isn’t Cindy? Right?”

Again, he nodded.

She sighed, glad that he was on the same page as her but still frustrated at her dilemma. “Do you think I look like a Cindy? I mean… I didn’t pick that name for myself. Not that most people do pick a name for themselves. But do you think I need to change it? Again?”

They were stopped at a light, so Charles took a moment to turn and look at her before turning back to traffic and following the taxi in front of him through the light. “I don’t really think Cindy suits you much. You need something a little more sophisticated. A little more… elegant.”

Ella felt her face light up at the compliments. So Charles thought she seemed sophisticated and elegant? That was nice to know. “I was thinking a professional artist, even a professional art dealer should be called something a little more exotic, don’t you think?”

Charles shrugged. “Yeah, probably so.”

“Something… sparkly. Like a rare jewel.”

“So… why not Jewel? Or Ruby? Or Sapphire?”

“Sapphire?” Ella repeated, trying not to laugh at any of his suggestions. “Is that a name?”

“Hell if I know. Anything can be a name these days. This is LA. There are people named Apple. And North.”

“True.” She had heard of some celebrities naming their children some odd things. “I like Jewel, but that seems a little pretentious.”

“Julia? Julianna? Juliet?”

“Juliet?” Ella repeated. “Now that would be fitting wouldn’t it? But I’d have to change my last name, too, if I chose that, wouldn’t I?” She remembered Juliet being one of the names Bart had given her when they were on the run.

“Sure, I guess so. If you’re going with the Shakespeare theme, may as well go the whole way. Wasn’t Montague Romeo’s last name?” Charles asked.

“I think so. I think that’s why Bart picked it for me at one point. He thought he was being funny.”

“Okay, so in the play, if Juliet would’ve lived, she would’ve been Juliet Montague, right? You’re like her--except you did live. Why not? Why not be the girl who came back from death--the girl who walked out of the tomb?”

Ella listened, her eyebrows arched, as she considered what the overly-serious, yet apparently profound, security guard had to say. Had that been what Bart was doing, too, or had he just been trying to get a chuckle out of her? “Do you think my father will suspect it’s me if he hears a name like that?” she asked. Would Lloyd Sinders be clever enough to put two and two together?

“Hell if I know. Do most people even know Romeo’s last name?”

“No. In fact, most people probably don’t even know who wrote Romeo and Juliet, not anymore anyhow.”

“So… I don’t know, girly. Maybe your old man will figure it out. Maybe not. I’m just here to make suggestions.”

Ella put her hand on his shoulder. “It was a good one. I especially like what you said about me being the girl who lived, the girl who walked out of the tomb. That’s how I’ve felt this whole time, like someone who died and came back to life. Lost and afraid but ready to make myself into something new, someone I couldn’t have been before, if I hadn’t gone through that experience.” Outside, the city was turning into beach, and Ella realized she was going back into hiding, but this time, she was taking a small piece of the world back with her, thanks to her two new friends.

“You can be whoever you wanna be, Mrs. V.,” Charles reminded her. “The world is just gonna have to get ready for you.”

Ella giggled. She’d never thought of herself as a force to be reckoned with, but Charles had a point. If she was going to be someone else, she may as well be someone fierce. Someone who knew what she wanted and was willing to grab it with both hands. “Thanks, Charles. You’re the best.”

She turned to look at him and noted his cheeks were slightly pink. He shrugged but didn’t comment, and she looked away, glad she’d decided to let him drive her. This new world was beginning to reveal itself to her, slowly, but it was happening just the same. He was right. The world had better get ready because Juliet Montague was about to take it by storm.

* * *

The house was dark except for the light in the largest bedroom in the back of the house. Rome waved goodbye to the rideshare driver who’d brought him home and went inside, wishing he’d gotten there before the sun went down, but that was just how things were going to be for a while, at least until he was done making movies.

Inside the house was quiet, but as he approached the bedroom, he could hear the soft sound of Ella typing on her laptop.

As he entered the room, she closed it, smiling at him and setting her device aside. She was so beautiful, he just stared at her for a moment, leaning against the doorway. Even with her hair a little messy, wearing an oversized T-shirt and leggings, she was the most gorgeous girl he’d ever seen.

“Hi there,” she said, patting the bed next to her. “How was your day?”

“Good. How was yours?”

“Busy.” She wore a satisfied smile on her face as she nodded. “I assume yours was, too?”

“Very busy. We got a lot filmed today, though.” He plopped down on the bed next to her, the force of him dropping onto the mattress bouncing her up into the air, which made her giggle.

“That’s awesome,” she said, settling back down. “Still on schedule to finish as planned?”

“I think so,” he said with a nod. “And I got a call from the new studio today. I forgot to ask what they’re calling it these days since I’m guessing Verona isn’t going to be part of the title anymore. I’m going to go meet with them soon and get everything outlined. The new owner is flying in from France.”

Ella’s eyebrow shot up slightly before she caught control of herself and brought them back down. “France? That’s interesting. Still no idea who it is?”

“Nope, but I’m not too worried about it. My dad made sure it wasn’t your father.”

“Right.” Ella still looked concerned, despite her response. “Well, it will be nice to have your schedule fixed.”

“Exactly. What about you? How was your trip into the city? I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance to talk today.”

“No, it’s okay, but I do have a lot to tell you. You look tired, though, and I know you have to get up early. Maybe now’s not the time to tell you what I’ve been up to.”

Rome reached over and took her hand. “Ella, I am tired, but I always have time for you. I feel like you have some secret project going on that I haven’t heard about yet. What is it?”

A mischievous smile pulled at the corners of her mouth as she turned to clasp his other hand so that she had both of them. “Okay, I’ll tell you. The other night, when you went to meet with your parents, I went up into the attic.”

“What did you go up there for?” Rome asked, cocking his head to the side.

Ella shrugged. “I don’t know. I just hadn't been up there yet. I guess part of me was probably trying to figure out if I’m still that girl--the girl who was locked up there for so long. Anyway, our attic didn’t have any prisoners in it. But it did have something else.”

That mischievous glint was back in Ella’s eyes. “What’s that?” he asked, wondering how she’d kept this information from him for so long.

Rather than answering him right away, she picked up her phone off of the nightstand and scrolled through the apps, opening something and then turning the phone around so he could see. Rome scooted back onto the pillow, lying flat on his back as he took the phone to study it, trying to figure out what he was looking at. “Is it a painting?”

“Yeah. Scroll through.”

He did as he was instructed as Ella shifted so that she was lying next to him, her head on his shoulder. Still unsure exactly what she was getting at, Rome asked, “All of these paintings are in our attic?”

“Yes. Three dozen of them. It took me a while, but I tracked down the artist. Her name is Fae Ward. She’s ninety-five and lives in an assisted living facility in the city. That’s where I went today.”

“You went to see an old woman who left a bunch of paintings in our attic? Why?”

“For a few reasons,” Ella said as she shifted. Done with her phone, Rome handed it back, and she set it on the nightstand before propping her head up on one elbow and staring down at him. “First of all, she’s very talented. I was in awe when I found them. I wanted to give them back to her. Secondly, I was curious about who used to live here. But then I did a little research and found out she was quite a big deal when she first started selling her paintings. Then, she just sort of disappeared. I wanted to know what happened.”

Rome nodded. He could see why Ella would be drawn to a woman who just seemed to disappear. “So you found her?” Her head rocked back and forth. “And you met with her today?”

“I did.”

“And… you said she’s ninety-five? Does she want her paintings back?”

“No. She said I can keep them.” That twinkle was back in her eye. “We came up with a plan. I’m going to need your help to get this business going, but… I think it’s going to be exactly what I need in order to re-enter the world.”

Knowing Ella, she already had all the details worked out, including some sort of a business plan, and he really did want to hear all about it, but Rome was on information overload, and by the look on her face, he had a feeling she wasn’t quite ready to reveal the plan in its entirety anyway. “That all sounds… fascinating.” He grinned at her, so happy she was finally getting back to her old self. She’d been so gloomy ever since he’d said he wanted to come back to LA. While he couldn’t blame her, he had been hopeful she would just snap out of it. Now, maybe she was beginning to. “When you get it all worked out, just let me know what I need to do, okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed, leaning down to kiss him. Her lips were so soft and warm, it was tempting to forget how tired he was and that he had to get up in about six hours to head back to the set.

Ella hadn’t forgotten, though. She rested her head on his chest, and Rome wrapped his arms around her, hopeful for the future. He had no doubt Ella would figure out a way to make a name for herself, even if that name wasn’t Ella Verona. He’d do whatever he could to help her make a success out of her new plan. He owed that much to her. After all, she was risking everything by coming back to LA with him, to a place where everyone thought she was dead and no one could know that she was still alive. He kissed the top of her head and then felt his eyelids grow heavy. She said something, but he didn’t quite catch it. No matter how badly he wanted to stay awake, he was exhausted. A peace settled over him as he drifted off, certain that everything was going to be okay now that Ella had herself sorted out.