Ella examined his goatee again with a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Of course, even this would look good on you.”
He told her about Abel and Nellie and the girl at the entrance not recognizing him and how Nellie had actually thought he was a thug coming in to rob the place. Ella laughed.
“How’d you know it was me so fast?”
“Your stance,” she said without hesitation.
“My stance?”
“Yes. Your stance,” she said very matter-of-factly then touched his shoulders and arms. “And these.” She touched his chest, running her palm over it. “And this.” She lowered her voice. “I’d know this masterpiece anywhere.”
She winked and asked him to give her a minute as she walked away toward the desk. Felix stood there flabbergasted. “My stance?”
A few minutes later they were out of there and on their way to the happiest place on earth. As expected, the place was packed. If Felix had had more time he might’ve been able to arrange to bring her on one of the days the park opened up only to VIP guests. Not only would it be far less crowded, but among the VIP’s would be other celebrities. Because they were all in the same boat, they respected each other’s space, so he wouldn’t have had to wear this stupid getup.
Still, the last thing he wanted was for Ella to think him a diva, so he went the flow and waited in the long lines like everyone else without complaining. By lunch time, they’d been there over three hours and had only been on four rides. And even though his mustache was now itching, Felix didn’t have a single complaint. It turned out waiting in the long lines had been the best part so far. They got to talk extensively, and Ella did a lot of giggling because every time he kissed her she said it tickled. That only made him want to do it more.
Felix himself had never been a huge fan of Disneyland. Like Ella, he’d been on the older side when he was finally able to afford to go. Though not nearly as old as Ella on her first trip, he’d still been older. It was decidedly a place for the very young or the young at heart. Felix preferred the parks with the edgier more heart-stopping rides. Ella, it seemed, was young at heart. The smile on her face when she’d looked in the mirror after putting on the pink princess ear hat just like the ones she’d described her neighbors wearing was priceless. She spent most of the day in a whimsical daze. Felix had even bought her a bouquet of the Mickey head balloons she’d spoken of on their way there. At first, she’d protested he shouldn’t, that those balloons were for little kids and he was being silly. But he’d since caught her several times looking up at her balloon bouquet with that same blissful smile she’d worn throughout all the rides she said she’d only dreamed of getting on some day: It’s a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, and even some of the kiddy rides like Alice In Wonderland. He’d kissed her every single time he caught her because she was just too damn adorable.
They’d just finished with Disneyland and were on their way over to California Adventure when Felix got another call from Adelina. He’d already ignored her first two, but she’d texted earlier after he hadn’t returned her calls to say that it was critical that he get back to her ASAP.
He took advantage of the time he had standing outside the ladies’ room and waiting for Ella to answer the call. “Make this fast, Adelina. I’m busy right now.”
“Where are you?”
“Why?”
“You’re still in Los Angeles, right?”
“Yes. Anaheim,” he clarified. “But yeah, I’m still in town.”
“Good. How soon can you get to Burbank?”
“Today? Not at all.”
Ella walked out of the ladies’ room and over to him. Felix had to smile at the ridiculous hat that she apparently wasn’t taking off all day. He readied himself to either hurry Adelina off the phone or hang up on her because he wasn’t going to waste any of his Ella time on his publicist.
“Why? I don’t have you down for any appearances or interviews today. Aren’t you just hanging out at 5th Street?”
Annoyed that she’d think he’d be ready to just jump when she asked him to, Felix asked Ella to give him just a minute. She motioned for him to take his time as she took the balloon bouquet he was holding for her from him. He started to respond when two of the balloons flew away. Ella stared up at them helplessly then turned to him and pouted.
He laughed, putting his phone aside so he could kiss those pouty lips, and promised to get her more. Done with Adelina, he brought the phone back to his ear.
“Whatever it is will have to wait for another day. I’m indisposed for the rest of the day to be anywhere and,” he said firmly then added with even more inflection, “to take any more calls unless it’s a real emergency.”
“But this is Mercedes-Benz. It’s a huge endorsement and you’ll be gone next week. Okay, okay!” she said quickly as if she knew he was getting ready to hang up on her. “I doubt they’ll wanna do this on the weekend, but if I can get them to agree, because tomorrow is your last day before you leave for Big Bear, are you okay with tomorrow?”
It was also his last day with Ella, and he didn’t want to cut into that, but he also knew Ella was working, so he agreed quickly just to get off the phone already.
“I can’t believe I did that,” Ella said as soon as he was off the phone, looking genuinely upset with herself as she glanced up at her balloons. “You don’t have to get me more. I still have plenty.”