Free She's a Star (a Hollywood Hotwife story) by Max Sebastian

was, hoping for and fearing the possibility that all this would tempt my beautiful wife into some naughty indiscretion. This was just business. It wasn’t what you knew, it was who you knew, and like any actress plucked from nowhere to star in a major motion picture, Hayley had to make connections fast, else she’d quickly slip off the fast-track career ladder.
    “Haaay-leeee!”
    And there was Aaron Simpson, Jesus. A man I had been watching in darkened movie theaters since I was a boy.
    “Oh my God!” He was making a beeline for us. Jesus.
    “Hey, Aaron,” Hayley was all smiles, of course. The perfect networker.
    “My God, you look good enough to eat,” the Hollywood megastar said, unconcerned that she might have a date on her arm.
    “This is…uh…my husband.”
    Aaron Simpson turned his hundred million dollar smile toward me. He did a good job faking friendliness, but his practiced smile didn’t quite touch his eyes.
    “Nice to meet you, sir,” he said, full of false enthusiasm.
    “Uh… hi. Great to meet you—I’ve seen all your movies,” I said, feeling small, pathetic, that last comment slipping through my lips without thinking, embarrassing me as it turned out.
    “Good to know,” Aaron nodded, making me feel he’d heard such platitudes so many times before, it wasn’t worth commenting on these days. He turned back to Hayley, undressing her with his eyes.
    “Listen, sweetie, I wanted to talk to you about another project we might do together,” he said.
    Hayley’s eyes lit up, a faint flush appearing in her pale face. Jesus, she looked like a schoolgirl with a crush who had just noticed her and suggested they go out for coffee some time.
    “I’d…I’d love to,” she said, slightly out of breath, dazzled by this most famous of men despite having worked with him so closely for so many weeks. A moment passed, and she realized her utterance wasn’t quite fully professional. She clarified herself: “I mean, of course. We’ll have to set up a meeting.”
    Aaron nodded, smiling warmly this time, genuine when it was directed at Hayley.
    For a beat, they just stared at each other, as though flirting telepathically.
    “Enjoy the movie,” Aaron said to me as he turned on his heels and sauntered away. I couldn’t fault the guy, he was charming.
     
     
    *
     
     
    I watched my stunning wife silently observing the superstar floating off into the crowd, feeling faintly nauseated and yet elated by just how bewitched she seemed to be by him. As I excused myself for a moment to visit the restroom before the movie began, I also found to my surprise that I was quite unbelievably erect in response to the way this other man so thrilled Hayley.
    Even after a while of experiencing this fantasy, I couldn’t really tell whether I’d actually be able to cope with it happening right before my eyes. It was complicated.
    “See you in there?” her voice now broke me from my thoughts.
    “Uh…sure,” I said, concealing the confusion circulating inside me.
    “Don’t take too long—it’s supposed to start in five minutes.”
    “Sure, honey. Won’t be a minute.”
    I didn’t really need the restroom. I just needed a breather. I wandered upstairs, and found another bar catering to a similarly stellar crowd, though without Hayley on my arm I could slip in undetected. People stared through me—I was the invisible man. It was fine: I headed to the quietest corner of the bar and ordered an iced water, and at least there I felt I could just pause and think for a moment or two.
    Hayley was a professional actress now, and by the signs of it, her career was really starting to take off. The sense I got from the people surrounding her in this party was that she had a future. There were so many people trying to butter her up, get on her good side. Of course she was going to come up against some of the most attractive men around. I’d always known I’d have to deal with it at some stage—I’d always had confidence