Zenith of Desire: The Hollywood Incubus

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”...Marvin.”

He smiled. ”Good?”

She slowly lowered the spoon. ”I’ve eaten in Michelin-starred restaurants.” She shook her head, almost laughing at herself. ”I’ve had private chefs all over the world.” Another small taste.

”No...” She looked at him with genuine amazement. ”This is the best breakfast I’ve ever eaten.”

There wasn’t a trace of exaggeration in her voice.

She meant every word. The meal he’d cooked for her before had already very impressed her.

This somehow surpassed it.

Not by extravagance. By care.

Every bite carried the unmistakable feeling that someone had cooked with only one person in mind.

Her. The fact that her lover made it for her made the food more delicious to her.

Marvin’s smile softened. ”I’m glad you like it.”

”I don’t like it.” Nicole reached across the table and squeezed his hand. ”I adore it.”

He chuckled before filling another spoon.

As he brought it toward her lips, he suddenly pulled it back.

Nicole blinked. She leaned forward again. The spoon retreated once more.

She narrowed her eyes. ”Marvin...”

He looked entirely innocent. ”What?”

”You know exactly what.”

”I might.”

Nicole folded her arms. ”You’re impossible.”

”So I’ve been told.”

She reached for the spoon herself.

He calmly moved it out of reach.

Her lips parted in mock disbelief. ”You’re teasing me.”

”I am.”

She couldn’t stop smiling. ”What do I have to do?”

Marvin leaned closer until his voice barely reached her ear. ”I want to hear something.”

Nicole listened. A second later her entire face flushed scarlet.

She immediately looked away. ”No.”

”Why not?”

”You know why.”

”It’s embarrassing... especially when I look at how young you are.”

Marvin rested his chin on one hand. ”I’d still like to hear it.”

Nicole hid behind a loose strand of red hair. ”I can’t.”

”I think you can.”

She laughed helplessly. ”You really are relentless.”

”I’ve been called worse.”

Nicole looked at the untouched spoon, then back at him. ”You won’t give me breakfast otherwise?”

”I didn’t say that.”

”You implied it.”

”I may have.”

She sighed dramatically. ”You negotiate everything.”

”I produce films. It’s occupational.”

Nicole covered her face for a second before peeking at him through her fingers. ”You really won’t let this go?”

He answered with an innocent smile. ”I’ve been looking forward to hearing it.”

She stared at him for several long seconds. Finally she let out the smallest sigh. ”...Fine.”

She leaned closer, her voice barely audible. ”Husband...” Even saying the word made her blush. She swallowed before forcing herself to continue. ”...please give me another bite.”

The last words dissolved into a whisper.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at him afterward.

Marvin’s smile widened despite himself. ”There.”

He gently offered the spoon again. ”Anything for my cute wife.”

Nicole accepted it, still hiding her face as she ate.

When she finally dared look up again, she caught him smiling at her with quiet satisfaction. ”Oh, don’t look so pleased with yourself.”

”I can’t help it.”

”You absolutely can.”

”I don’t want to.”

She laughed, shaking her head. ”You really are terrible.”

”And yet...” He filled another spoon. ”...you’re still here.”

”I suppose I am.”

A few minutes later she stole the spoon from his hand. ”My turn.”

She scooped up a bite of potatoes and held it toward him. ”No conditions. No negotiations. Just eat.”

Marvin accepted the bite obediently.

”See?” Nicole smiled triumphantly. ”That’s how normal people feed each other.”

”We’re normal?”

She burst into laughter. ”Perhaps not.”

Breakfast stretched on without hurry. Sometimes she fed him. Sometimes he fed her.

Between bites they talked, teased each other, laughed over nothing in particular, and simply enjoyed the rare luxury of having nowhere else they needed to be.

For Nicole, it was the happiest breakfast she could remember.

After breakfast, they left the villa through the back entrance and wandered toward the beach.

Both wore simple clothes that wouldn’t attract attention. Nicole had tucked her red hair beneath a baseball cap, while oversized sunglasses hid most of her face. Marvin walked beside her with effortless ease, his presence and subtle aura causing the handful of early joggers and dog walkers to glance past them without a second thought.

It was still early.

The beach belonged to the morning.

A few fishermen stood farther down the shoreline. An elderly couple strolled hand in hand along the water’s edge. Gulls drifted overhead, their cries carried by the ocean breeze as waves rolled lazily onto the sand.

Nicole’s steps were slower than usual.

She still felt the lingering ache in her body, and Marvin instinctively shortened his stride to match hers. Neither of them mentioned it. He simply remained close enough that, whenever she faltered on the uneven sand, his hand was already there waiting for hers.

Eventually they reached a weathered wooden bench overlooking the Pacific.

Nicole lowered herself onto it with a quiet sigh.

Marvin sat beside her.

Without thinking, she slipped closer until her shoulder rested against his, then gently laid her head there as though she’d done it a hundred times before.

The salty breeze played with the loose strands of hair escaping beneath her cap.

”This is nice,” she murmured.

Her voice carried none of the polished confidence Hollywood expected from Nicole Kidman.

It was simply Nicole.

She watched the quiet beach in silence. The young father throwing a tennis ball for his dog. The old man folding up a fishing chair. Two children chasing each other near the surf while their mother laughed from a distance.

Ordinary lives. Ordinary mornings. No photographers hiding behind bushes. No studio executives making promises they never intended to keep. No reporters waiting to turn every smile into tomorrow’s headline.

Just people living. A faint smile touched her lips. ”I used to think all of this looked terribly boring.”

Marvin glanced at her. ”And now?”

”I think I was jealous.”

He didn’t interrupt.

Nicole continued watching the waves. ”Do you know what the strange thing is?”

”I’ve spent years chasing bigger films, bigger houses, bigger premieres...” She laughed quietly. ”...and somehow the thing I wanted this morning was to sit on a bench with someone who’d made me breakfast.” Her fingers found his. ”I don’t think I understand myself anymore.”

Marvin intertwined their fingers without a word.

His thumb slowly brushed across the back of her hand.

Nicole closed her eyes for a moment. That tiny gesture settled something inside her. She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been until now.

”What happened?” Marvin asked softly.

She was quiet for several seconds. The wind carried the scent of saltwater between them. ”It’s nothing.”

He smiled faintly. ”I don’t believe you.”

She rested a little more of her weight against him. ”...I was just thinking.”

”About?”

”You.”

He waited.

”In a few hours you’ll leave.”

The words came out smaller than she’d intended. ”And I’ll go back.”

”Back where?”

Nicole looked toward the horizon. ”Back to the house.”

She didn’t call it home. ”The staff will be there.”

”My assistant will have tomorrow’s schedule. The phones will start ringing. Someone will ask about interviews. Someone else will ask about wardrobe. There’ll be another dinner. Another meeting.” She paused. ”And somehow...” Her fingers tightened around his. ”...it all feels terribly empty now.”

She had spent years surrounded by people.

Agents. Publicists. Stylists. Security. Studio executives.

Friends who appeared whenever a film opened and disappeared the moment it stopped making money.

The mansion was never truly quiet. Yet she had never felt so alone inside it. Tom was rarely there.

Even when he was, there always seemed to be another call, another meeting, another obligation pulling him away before they could simply exist together.

Somewhere along the way, she’d stopped expecting companionship.

She had learned to mistake company for closeness.

Then Marvin had walked into her life.

In only a handful of days he had listened more carefully than most people had in years. He noticed when she was frightened before she admitted it.

He remembered small things she mentioned in passing. He made her laugh when she forgot how. And, perhaps most dangerous of all...

Around him she never felt like Nicole Kidman, the actress everyone wanted something from.

She simply felt like a woman. ”I know it sounds foolish.”

She smiled faintly. ”We’ve known each other such a short time. But somehow...” She looked up at him. ”...when you’re beside me, everything becomes quiet.”

The waves rolled onto the shore again.

Marvin lifted her joined hand and kissed her knuckles. ”Then I’ll make sure you don’t have to wait very long before the next time.”

Nicole searched his face. ”You promise?”

”I do.”

She believed him immediately.

Not because promises were always kept.

But because, somewhere along the way, she’d begun believing Marvin’s promises more readily than her own doubts.

She smiled to herself before settling comfortably against his shoulder once more.

”For now...” she whispered. ”...let’s stay here a little longer.”

Neither of them moved. The waves continued their slow rhythm against the shore.

After a while, Marvin released her hand and slipped his arm around her waist instead, drawing her gently against him. Nicole relaxed into the embrace without hesitation, her cheek resting lightly against his shoulder.

He looked out toward the water as he spoke. ”You know... I don’t think that house is going to feel very empty for much longer.”

Nicole tilted her head. ”What makes you say that?”

”*The Others* is changing the conversation around you.” He smiled faintly. ”When the dust settles, your phone won’t stop ringing. There’ll be directors you’ve wanted to work with. Studios. Scripts. People who suddenly discover they’ve always believed in Nicole Kidman.”

A soft laugh escaped her. ”That’s Hollywood.”

”It is.”

She watched the water for another moment before looking back at him. ”You know... I should be excited.”

”You are.”

”I am.” She nodded without hesitation. ”I love working. I always have. I love disappearing into another woman’s life for a few months. I love opening a script and finding someone I’ve never met before.”

Her smile grew warmer. ”And I adore being on a film set. The long hours. The rehearsals. The endless takes. Most people think we’re mad. We probably are.”

Marvin laughed quietly. ”I’ve noticed.”

Nicole laughed with him. ”So no...”

”I don’t dread going back. If anything, I miss it whenever I’m away too long.”

Her fingers absentmindedly traced circles against the back of his hand. ”It just feels different now.”

She searched for the right words. ”Before... I’d finish work, drive home, and everything simply... stopped.”

”The excitement belonged to the set. The house was just where I slept...” She looked at him. ”But these last few days...” Her voice softened. ”I kept wanting to tell you everything. What happened during the day. What someone said. What I was worrying about. What made me laugh.”

She smiled at herself. ”I’d catch myself thinking, ’I’ll tell Marvin tonight.’” Nicole let out a quiet breath. ”I’ve never really had that before.”

Marvin looked down at her. ”You have now.”

She met his eyes. ”I know.”

There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in her answer.

Marvin brushed an errant strand of curly hair away from her face. ”When those scripts start arriving... They’ll still be there after dinner. They’ll still be there tomorrow morning. But moments like this...”

He glanced toward the nearly empty beach. ”...don’t come around very often.”

Nicole studied him for a long second before smiling. ”I suppose that’s another reason I don’t want today to end.”

”Then don’t think about a few hours from now.” He squeezed her waist gently. ”Think about breakfast. The beach. The rest of today. And when I leave...” He smiled. ”...you’ll call me that night anyway.”

Nicole couldn’t help laughing. ”You’ve become terribly confident.”

”Haven’t I?”

”You have.” She nudged him lightly with her shoulder. ”And the annoying part...”

She shook her head with an affectionate smile. ”...is that you’re probably right.”

Marvin grinned. ”I usually am.”

”Oh, listen to yourself.”

”I have to.”

”No one else is going to compliment you that much.”

He looked at her with mock surprise. ”I thought that was your job now.”

Nicole laughed, the sound carried away by the breeze. ”Careful. I haven’t agreed to that.”

”No?”

”No.”

She slipped her hand back into his, their fingers finding each other with the quiet ease of something long familiar.

For a moment neither spoke. The pale gold of sunrise brushed the water, and she felt the steady rise and fall of his breathing beneath her cheek. Then, almost without thought, she lifted her face. Their eyes met—soft, unguarded—and she leaned in.

Her lips touched his with a tenderness that held nothing hurried.

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