Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
I rubbed my hands over my face and sighed. Being back home felt odd. I hadn’t visited my hometown in over five years. Some would say I made it a mission of mine not to make it back home. By “some,” I meant my mother, but I saw her often enough. I spent pretty much every day with my father since he was my manager. Mom would’ve been out in Los Angeles with us, but she had her restaurant in Chicago to tend to. Still, she flew out often for visits.
A part of me never wanted to come back to Leeks. I felt like a complete asshole when I arrived in town with all the fanfare shown to me by the townspeople. My face was plastered all over the town’s shops, and there were celebratory decorations across our downtown. The streets were blocked off for a huge festival happening that night to welcome me home for the next few months.
My father hated that I wasn’t staying at their place, but the idea of being in town and sleeping in my childhood bedroom seemed like a personal nightmare. Especially if Hailee was right next door at any point in time.
Hailee.
Just being in town made her come to my mind often. I couldn’t walk down the street without a collection of memories shooting through my brain.
A knock on the door broke me out of my thoughts, and I was thankful for the interruption. I opened the door to find Henry, the bellhop, standing there with a huge welcome basket in his hands. He wiggled his nose and tossed his head back a bit to try to push up his falling glasses.
“Hey, Mr. Walters. Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to bring you a welcome basket for your stay. I read online that you’re allergic to tree nuts—just like me—so I checked and double-checked all the ingredients in each product. If you want anything else, I can run to the grocery store and pick it up for you, no matter what. Day or night, sir. I mean, school is starting back soon, so I’ll mostly be here at night, but I can skip classes if you need me to.”
I took the basket from him. “No need to skip school, but thanks, Henry. I appreciate it.” I set the basket down on the nearby table, then reached for my wallet to give him a tip.
“Oh, no, Mr. Walters. It’s fine, truly. I just wanted to drop it off. You don’t have to pay me a cent. Honestly, just being able to be in your presence is a gift. I don’t know if you know this, but”—he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose—“I’m your biggest fan. I’ve seen every movie you’ve done and watched every interview. I don’t think anyone out there could be a better Superman than you, and I know you’ll do the next trilogy justice. I know people can say a lot of negative crap online, but I hope you don’t let it get to you. I know you’ll kill those roles in the best possible way. Internet trolls are just jealous jerks.”
I liked this guy.
He had heart.
“Thanks for the reminder, Henry.” I handed him a couple of twenty-dollar bills. “And you can call me Aiden. I’ll be here for quite a few weeks, so we might as well be on a first-name basis.”
Henry’s eyes bugged out of his head as if I’d just asked for his hand in marriage. He nodded rapidly. “Of course, Mr. Wal—er—Aiden. Thank you. Also, there are two people downstairs who were hoping to see you. Mr. Lee made it clear that no one should be able to bother you, but—”
“I figured your parents were worth breaking those rules for,” a familiar voice said, walking up the staircase down the hall.
I smiled wide as I saw my mother coming my way, with my dad not far behind her. Henry excused himself, leaving me with my greetings.
I held my arms out for a hug from Mom, and she swatted my shoulder with her purse. “Aiden, how dare I find out you made it to Leeks through the gossipy women in town. How did you not stop by our place before prancing through downtown? My goodness, you were out here hugging strangers before your own mother.”
I pulled her into the hug she was fighting against and held on tight. I kissed the top of her head as her small figure settled into my embrace. “Sorry, Mom. I was hoping to come straight to the inn but got noticed.”
Mom returned the hug, then pulled back and playfully tapped my cheeks with her hands. “Of course, you were noticed. You’re Superman!” Her eyes started tearing up as she said those words. “You’re Superman, Aiden!” she exclaimed. I hadn’t seen my mom in person since the news came out that I’d be the next in line tackling a worldwide favorite fictional character.