Daydreamin' • Ariana Grande

"So, I'm daydreaming
With my chin in the palm of my hands
About you,

-

Two weeks later

Los Altos, CA

"Yeah, I just got the itinerary for the shoot, it says that I'm flying to Santa Fe this Monday and we start shooting that Tuesday," Amora said with a huge smile and excitement coursing through her body.

A response came from her mother, who was away on a business trip. "That's amazing, I'll be back in time to see you off!" Arianne's voice rang out.

Amora smiled at her mother's words, as she continued to read the itinerary.

Flight to Santa Fe, NM from LAX 8:30 A.M. Monday, January 21, 2019

Landing in Santa Fe, NM 12:10 P.M.* time subject change* Monday, January 21, 2019

Arrival at Filming Location, Bailey Ranch, 12:40 P.M.*time subject to change* Monday, January 21, 2019

Her eyes stopped at the shooting location, curiosity struck her. "Ma, I'm gonna have to call you back. Love you!" She said in a hurry, opening her laptop Amora searched for the Bailey Ranch on Google.

The search results came up, she scrolled down a bit to see more information, and maybe the picture of the owner. It read, Melchizedek Bailey, but as Amora's luck would have it, her best friend Chanel came like a bat from hell, scaring Amora.

"HEY, my love!" Chanel screamed with a mischievous smile, making Amora raise a brow.

"What on earth is wrong with you? You just don't show up in someone's bedroom like a maniac." Amora was slightly agitated, Chanel was such a pest at times, even worse than her twelve-year-old sister, Raina.

"Whatcha looking at? You looked very deep in thought." Chanel could always read Amora like a book, so she knew something was up.

Chanel grabbed Amora's laptop and raised a brow. A quick gasp came from Amora, but Chanel ignored it and continued to snoop. "Ooh, looks like someone is a stalker." She sang in a purposely annoying voice.

Amora's eyes widened as she tried to explain herself, "W-well I was, I just wanted to know about who's ranch I'd be staying on! It's not like I was trying to see if he was attractive or something." She was flustered for sure because she knew how Chanel could get.

Chanel, on the other hand, had to hold back her laughter. But she soon realized that Amora still didn't know that Melchizedek was the man she danced with.

This ought to be fun, She thought with a slightly mischievous look.

"Oh, well Melchizedek is an older man, maybe in his late forties. He was an actor in the eighties and nineties, he was a major heartthrob. Now, people say that he's a bitter recluse of a man, and some say that he's never fallen in love because he could never communicate his true feelings, you know other than anger and bitterness. Other than that, I'd say that he's pretty normal." Chanel finished with a smile, she knew that her friend would be shocked to the core when she found out that she danced with Mel.

"Let's go to the country club, we can go ruin some games of golf." So the girls left for the country club, but Amora was slightly haunted and even more, intrigued by the description of Melchizedek, she couldn't help but feel for the man.

How someone could go through life without ever loving someone? She thought with a frown.

Once the girls made it to the country club, an unexpected guest was found chatting with Robin.

"And so I said, 'You can't expect me to keep you here after what you've done!' I had him removed from my office." Valentine told Robin with a triumphant smirk.

Robin knew that he was making a great decision by playing matchmaker for his daughter, he finally found the right guy for her. "Wow, Valentine. That was a bold move to make, you're a great businessman." Robin placed his firm hand on Valentine's shoulder and smiled.

Robin spotted Amora and Chanel walking into the club, and he walked towards them with a mischievous Valentine following behind.

"Amora, Chanel! I was just about to send for you. You remember Valentine from the New Year party?" Robin said with a conspiratorial look, he knew that his plan would work sooner or later, he just hoped that it would work sooner.

Amora jumped at her father's voice and forced a smile toward Valentine. "Of course, I remember him, daddy. How are you, Mr. Harting?" Amora didn't really like Valentine, she didn't know why, but she didn't feel very safe with him.

Before Valentine could respond, Robin motioned his hand towards Chanel. "This girl here is practically my daughter, this is Chanel Freeman." Robin was excited to have two out of four of his favorite girls chatting with Valentine.

Valentine stared Amora and Chanel up and down, and his eyes lit up with lust and desire.

Chanel scurried away, not wanting to deal with the man.

Clearing his throat, Valentine spoke. "I'm wonderful, and please, call me Valentine. Might I say that you look overwhelmingly beautiful? Just amazing." His tone made Amora's skin crawl, he had an ulterior motive, and she didn't want to find out what it was.

Her father, on the other hand, was pleased. Robin approved of Valentine for Amora.

Amora forced yet another smile, internally she wanted to shank Valentine, he was an absolute pig. "Well, it was nice seeing you again, Mr. Harting. Daddy, I'll be on my way, I still have much to pack. Good day!" And with that, she left the country club, she was disgusted by the way that Mr. Harting looked at her.

Her abrupt departure made Valentine curious. "Robin, where is Amora going?"

Robin smiled with pride. "She's going to Santa Fe, to star in a new movie. I'm so happy for my little girl. She's always wanted to act, and now she gets to star in a movie." Valentine grimaced, his plan wouldn't work very well if Amora was in another state.

The two men continued to talk about business and Amora. But of course, Valentine was plotting a new plan to have his trophy wife.

-

'knock'

'knock'

Lawson stood at the Jeans front door, he was nervous, but he had to see Amora. If he wanted his plan to work, he'd have to tell Amora how he feels and woo her.

Wooing her would be the easiest part.

Soon enough he heard footsteps running down the stairs and the door was opened. "Law! I didn't expect to see you today! Come in." Amora greeted her friend with a huge smile and a hug.

Lawson inhaled Amora's scent, beautiful. He thought with a smile.

"So, what brings you here?" Amora asked as she pulled away from Lawson.

Lawson sighed, he was going to confess his feelings for her.

He had to.

"Well, I just wanted to see if you'd be busy this coming Wednesday." His nerves were shot, Lawson didn't know what he'd do if she rejected him.

Amora smiled, it was a bit of a confused smile, but a smile nonetheless. "I'm going to be out of town, I'm leaving Los Altos on Monday." Her voice was sweet and soothing to Lawson, he loved it.

"Oh, I thought you said that you were free from modeling until May. I guess this must be pretty important!" Lawson was kind of irritated that Amora didn't tell him that she was leaving, but he tried to calm himself down by looking at her beautiful face.

Amora groaned silently, in times like this, she wished that Lawson wasn't attentive, it got overbearing when he remembered every detail of her life. But, she still loved her friend.

"It's not for modeling." Amora knew that Lawson would get upset, so she tried to ease into the news. "I got cast as the star of Regina King's new movie. She handpicked me at the New Year party, I didn't even have to audition." Amora was kind of afraid of how Lawson would react, she didn't know what would go down.

Lawson could swear that he'd heard a fuse blow in his head, Amora was keeping secrets from him. "Oh, okay." He started calmly. Amora knew that it was only the calm before the storm. "We're so-called friends, but you can't tell me something as big as this?!" He yelled out angrily, now he didn't get like that often, but sometimes Amora just drove him crazy.

Amora flinched at her best friend's behavior. "Oh, so it's my fault! I haven't seen or heard from you since the party, and when I called you two days ago, you didn't even care to answer or even text me!" Even though she was slightly afraid of Lawson right now, Amora knew how to stand her ground, Lawson Hunt was not going to ruin her.

"Please get the heck out of my house. Right now." Amora said with clenched teeth. She was serious as a heart attack, and she didn't like to curse, but Lawson was being out of hand.

Lawson snapped out of his anger and shook his head. "I'm so sorry, Amora. Please forgive me, you know I didn't mean to yell." Amora rolled her eyes at him and scoffed.

"I let it slide the first few times, but you don't seem to understand that I'm not your toy to control! Best friends don't lose control over a simple issue. Now get out of my house, and don't come back until you get your mind right." And with that, Lawson was gone. He wanted to try Amora, but after the whole Mr. Harting thing, she wasn't going to let it slide.

"I need a martini." She whispered to herself.

-

Six days later

Los Altos Airport- Santa Fe, NM

Amora stared out the window of the airplane, she was excited, nervous, and ready for a new page in her life, and well for some reason she felt like something was going to change.

To end her slight boredom, Amora pulled her phone out and opened Wattpad, it was her guilty pleasure. She opened the app and the book The Beast was opened. Her eyes started to sparkle as she read her favorite book for the twentieth time.

With a few giggles and sniffles here and there, Amora was so enthralled with her book that she didn't realize that the three-hour trip was coming to an end as the pilot announced to everyone to put their seatbelts on.

This is it. She thought solemnly. Her nerves were only getting worse, she didn't know what to expect, she didn't know if Regina would change her mind and send her home.

God help me! She prayed to calm her nerves.

"We've arrived in Sante Fe, New Mexico. It's 36 degrees, and sunny. Thank you for flying with SouthWest." The pilot's voice rang out through the entire plane, and Amora could hear her heart beating.

Everyone exited the plane, and Amora wandered to the front of the airport and waited for the chauffeur to pick her up. While she waited for the chauffeur, Amora sent a quick message to her family, and Chanel saying that she arrived safely and that she'd call them later.

The airport was quite peaceful, she sent a quick thanks to her mother for suggesting a slightly unrecognizable look, no one recognized her.

"Ms. Jean. Your limo is outside, and my partner has picked up your luggage." An older man with greying hair spoke.

Amora smiled at the man and stood to her feet and followed him to the limo. As they neared the limo, Amora spoke up. "Sir, you're quite punctual! How'd you know that I'd be sitting here, and how'd you know It was me?" She asked curiously, and the man who was trying hard to stay professional cracked a smile at Amora's youthful curiosity.

Once they got in the limo, he responded. "Ms. Jean, my associates, and I pride ourselves on being punctual, which means being fifteen minutes early, and we also like to know exactly who we're working with."

Amora wrinkled her nose at his formality. "Please don't call me, Ms, it's just Amora. Wait, what's your name?"

The chauffeur smiled at Amora, she was too sweet. "Cleo Fairchild pronounced like the word 'clay' and you just add an 'o' at the end. We'll be at the Bailey Ranch in thirty minutes." He said kindly.

Amora sat back as they rode in comfortable silence, as they made their way out of town all of the buildings and restaurants turned into green grass and cows. Her eyes widened at the beautiful scenery, she couldn't wait to see the ranch.

Thankfully time passed quickly, and eventually, the limo pulled up to a beautiful lot of vibrant green grass, and a sign that read, 'Bailey Ranch'.

Amora could no longer hold in her excitement, a squeal passed through her lips, which made Cleo chuckle.

Cleo entered the gate code and they continued down a smooth concrete pavement. As they were riding, Amora remembered something. "Excuse me, sir. What's your name?" She felt kind of rude for not noticing the other man in the front.

The man perked up. "Anthony." He spoke in a foreign accent.

Amora got the idea that he didn't speak much, so she just sat back.

They rode down the road for a few more minutes, and Amora stared out the window at all of the animals, and she spotted a sign. 'say NO! to GMO'

She smiled to herself, that Mr. Bailey man must be very healthy and earth-conscious.

"Amora, we have arrived," Cleo announced, and Amora perked up and smiled. She'd been ready to get here, so now she was revving to leave the car.

Cleo opened her door, and Anthony got her luggage.

Here goes nothing... She thought with a weak smile, her nerves were starting up again.

Before Amora could take a step out of the car, she was greeted. "Amora! You made it! C'mon, I'll show you to the living room." Regina was beyond excited about her best friend's daughter, and her leading lady.

Amora smiled and followed her. "I'm so glad to finally be here, I've been ready to shoot since New Year!"

The two of them walked into the humongous house, and Amora's looked around in awe. Along with the gorgeous Western-style home, she also saw all of her castmates.

But, what she didn't notice was a certain mystery man standing in the kitchen having a conversation...

Regina smiled and sat on the couch. "Alright, everyone!" She announced loudly so that everyone could hear. She motioned to Amora. "Our leading lady is finally here, and now we can have a brief meeting to discuss in more detail how things are gonna go." Everyone waved to Amora and directed their attention to Regina.

"Yes, I understand. I must call you back, I have a meeting." A deep voice grabbed Amora's attention.

Amora's jaw went slack at the sound of his voice. She didn't need to turn around to know that it was him. The mystery man was here, and he could possibly be her co-star.

"We'll be residing at the Bailey Ranch, as you all know. Here's Mr. Melchizedek Bailey himself." And before Amora could calm down from a few seconds earlier, the mystery man walked into the living room. And maybe Regina said more, but the moment Regina introduced Melchizedek, he put all of his focus on Amora, and she couldn't see anyone but him.

Her heart started to race, and there wasn't enough time for her to think about an appropriate reaction to seeing him, so she just went with what came naturally to her.

Wide eyes and a dreamy smile directed at Melchizedek.

Oh, sweet inexperienced Amora...

[AUTHORS NOTE]

The song of the chapter is Daydreamin', just a reflection of the whole theme of the chapter.

Hey, Hey, Hey! Don't mind me, just wondering if you enjoyed this chapter?

Yes? Well, why don't you star it?

Happy reading!