UnChained Melody:A Chronicles of Cashmere Series

 **So thanks to my slight TikTok addiction I found out Chris Evans is a private freak.  Into whips, chains and them thangs.  So knowing that I bruise easily and am a lightskint Black person, I realized I  still wouldn't care if Chris was the one doing the handling of my ass.  Of course that meant writing a fanfic involving he and I exploring this..... Enjoy!**

** I also created a soundtrack to go along with the series! Unchained Melody Soundtrack **

1-

    This wasn't going to be a typical audition.  Tiana could tell by the waiting area.  It was dimly lit with cozy plush chairs and the scent of vanilla in the air, a Pottery Barn catalogue brought to life.

"Have a seat and the team will be right with you."  the young woman says, she shifts a little in her heels showing discomfort but still manages to sashay in a way that even made Tiana watch her walk away.

Anything to take Tiana away from her present situation where she was preparing to audition for a role in a Chris Evans directed film.  A Chris Evans directed film would be her ticket out of sitcom land and the 'bit part best friend', and fast track her to brunches with Lupita Nyongo and her pick of projects.  She just had to get through this process and show she had the range.

The film was about a group of friends in their 30's who band together to help kill their one friends whole family.  It was supposed to be indie, provocative, raw.  Tiana was auditioning to play the level-headed friend who tries to talk them out of doing this.  Sure the character felt boring, but she knew she could add something to it to at least make one notice her on the screen.  She didn't want to just rely on her auburn curly hair and her freckled cheekbones- her face was her ticket into many doors.  Tiana was pretty but not intimidatingly so.  Pretty enough to hold interest, but not enough to make women hate her.

She just had to get past her usual nervousness and the fact that she would be auditioning for thee Chris Evans.  He was a young director, but well respected and everyone who worked with him either won or was nominated for an Oscar.  He seemed to require an easy going set even with an intense work ethic.  Tiana was afraid he would see right through her and tell her to go back to laugh tracks and one liners.  The thing that gave her slight confidence  though, was the fact that Chris's 'people' were seeking her out.  Well 'fact' is a stretch since it was coming from her agent.

"Ms. Jordan, they are ready to see you now."  The same young woman in the heels seemed to appear out of nowhere.  She then led Tiana down a fluorescent lit hallway to an unmarked closed door.  She turns to Tiana, "This is your moment to take a breath because once you go in, they are watching everything."  She winks and then whispers, "You're my favorite character on 'We Were Never Friends'." With that she walks away with a little pep in her sashay.

Tiana does take her moment to collect herself and was especially happy she had her sides memorized.  There would be no shuffling of papers.  Just her walking in with a cashmere sweater that skimmed her ample bosom but in a way that said she loved her body and that she also knew her body could possibly get her this role.  Hollywood!

Her new found limited confidence caused her to open the door and upon seeing Chris Evans sitting alone with a camera faced towards her, the confidence left causing her to stay frozen holding the door open.  They both seemed to be frozen.  She in the doorway and he sitting in a 'thinker' position staring at her.  His eyes sparkled and there was an energy that almost knocked Tiana off her feet.

Chris slowly smirks, "Ms. Jordan, please step in and close the door behind you."  Though he sounded pleasant, there was an authority to his voice that made her want to step out of the room and then close the door.  She couldn't do that though.  She had come too far.

Tiana steps in and closes the door behind her and really takes in that it is just them in the room, "I'm sorry, I thought there would be more people."

"Will this be a problem? My production staff had to take care of other duties and I didn't want to delay your audition.  I can have my assistant sit in if you are uncomfortable."  Again, he sounded so pleasant but it all made Tiana want to run and hide.  Between the nerves and his eyes never leaving her face she was afraid her blushing would ruin her face for the camera.

"No this will be fine.  Let me know when you're ready for me to begin."  She smiles, a look comes across his face that he quickly shakes away.

"Begin..."

2-

  It had been two weeks since the audition and Tiana was now at a sushi bar with one of her best friends Marlo Lane.  She and Marlo went to college together except while Tiana ditched her psychology degree for 'fame'. Marlo went on to be a doctor and is a practicing psychologist in Los Angeles!  Needless to say, though Tiana had some TV success and could pay for dinner, Marlo was rolling in it and always paid for dinner.

They were sipping sake and excitedly talking about everything but the audition because Tiana had not heard anything and really thought she did a great job.  I mean Chris Evans had no reaction but he asked her a lot of questions about why she is an actress and why this film...and just seemed to generally not want the audition to end in a real subtle way.  Perhaps Tiana read that all wrong but one of the things she prided herself on was her lack of delusion which was tough in L.A..

She feels her phone vibrate because one of she and Marlo's dinner rules: no phones out.  Her eyes pleaded with Marlo.  

"Can I answer this?  Or at least look to see who it is?"

"Yes!" Marlo seemed to almost want to reach across the table into Tiana's pocket.  When Tiana see's it's from a random number she felt cautiously optimistic- at least it wasn't her mom again.

"Hello?"  She tried to sound like she wasn't on her second bottle of sake.

"Ms. Jordan, hello..."  His voice almost caused her to drop her phone and run home from the restaurant...which would've been impossible.  Chris Evans was calling her.  Not his assistant who loved her character on a TV show.  He was calling her.  She shuts her eyes to really concentrate on not sounding drunk- then Marlo hits her hand.  She opens her eyes to see her mouth 'go outside'.

"Yes, let me step outside.  Is this Mr. Evans?"  She tries to mask her buzzed-ness with cute humor.  There was silence.  "...uh hello?" She asks once she is outside.

"Yes this is Chris.  I was giving you time to step outside so you could hear what I am about to say."  

Tiana hoped he didn't hear her gulp, "I can hear you clearly."

"Good.  I want to give you the lead in the movie.  I know you auditioned for a smaller role, but you are perfect for the lead- I just hope this won't conflict with your schedule since you thought you would only be shooting for a week and now it will be two months."  

Tiana is shaking, now it was her turn to be silent.  Was this really happening?

"Ms. Jordan?"

"Yes!  Sorry.  Thank you!  I'll make my schedule work."  Everything came out in spurts, but she knew to limit herself or she would say the wrong thing and somehow ruin this 'reality dream'.

"Great.  My assistant will be in touch.  Another thing Ms. Jordan...."

"Uh, yes..."

"When we are done filming I would like to take you to dinner...I don't want to start anything while filming as to cause rumors and possibly make people think you don't deserve this role-"

"Oh shit..."  Tiana says breathlessly.  Now she really needed to determine if she was having a sake open eyed dream!

"Are you okay?"  She could hear the smile in his voice.

"I just thought I heard you say you wanted to take me to dinner....and I've been drinking a lot of sake tonight."

"You did hear that correctly, and perhaps when I do ask you out to dinner you will be sober.  For now, we'll be professionals..."

"Of course."  She could feel her heartbeat through her entire body.  She felt this energy between them- and he was obviously attractive- but she knew it was more than that.  There wasn't much known about Chris personally so Tiana wasn't sure what his type was. Man, woman...robot.  

"Thank you for this opportunity and I look forward to working with you."  Tiana almost jumped in the air to celebrate her moment of sake clarity and ability to put together a rather decent sentence.

"I look forward to you."  He says and she hears the line click. She stands outside a while still holding the phone to her ear. 

When she was able to pull herself together, Tiana sat back down with Marlo. She proceeded to tell her friend about getting the role- which caused them to order more sake- and then how Chris intended on asking her out after the movie to which Marlo felt the need to exclaim 'Oh shit!' several times.  They agreed that the main thing was getting the lead role  and that the Chris Evans wanting to take Tiana out was a whole other thing they couldn't comprehend at the moment.  Marlo did say she respected him wanting to wait and that may mean he sees her as a potential partner.  Tiana felt that maybe he tried the whole fucking a starlet thing and didn't want the mess.  

-----

    Chris held her headshot in his hand, looked at it a bit longer then placed it with the rest of his notes and pictures for the upcoming movie shoot.  He felt the excitement of prepping a new film, but more so the anticipation of having her.  He knew he was getting ahead of himself because he simply asked her out for dinner...but he knew where he wanted it to lead.  

He remembered when he first laid eyes on Tiana, he was having dinner at Chateau Marmot and she walked in with her agent.  L.A. was filled with beautiful women, that was not why Chris noticed her, he noticed how she walked, an innate confidence.  That, mixed with an amused look as if she didn't take herself seriously.  He only noticed because it was so rare in this town.  He was intrigued.

"Ah, that's Tiana Jordan.  Definitely hot, does sitcom work....seems she worked to get it haven't heard about anyone she's fucked-" Sebastian Stan, Chris's production assistant stops speaking when he see's Chris is glaring at him now.

"So crass, Seb.  What show is she on?"  His eyes go back to Tiana, who is laughing at something.  He smiles in response.  She has an inviting face, but there was something behind her eyes...also the way her hair bounced made him shift in his seat a little.

"She's done a few bit parts but is on that 'We Were Never Friends' show."  Sebastian goes back to his burger because he knew how this would play out.  Chris would quietly 'stalk his prey', then acquire this prey, and then grow bored when the prey develops feelings for him and quietly steps back into the shadows almost as if he was never there.  The women are left heartbroken because he's such 'a catch'; they know there is no other feeling like having Chris's full attention.

Chris watched Tiana a bit longer before he decided he was verging on being creepy.  He seemed to have logged her face and luscious body into his memory.  Once he was home he would binge the show she was on.  He hoped it wouldn't be too horrible to watch.

3-

    The movie was being shot in Toronto one Tiana's favorite cities.  The weather was mild and when she wasn't shooting she would explore the city by herself finding a new place to eat or have a chat with a local about the art scene.  Mostly she was avoiding being around Chris any longer than she needed.  He was an amazing director and was so helpful and straight forward, but this made it harder for her not to want to have that dinner with him so she should stare into his sparkling greenish blue eyes more.  When he thought she wouldn't notice she would catch him studying her.   It was rare, but when they were alone in a space she could feel currents...waves of energy between them.  He almost seemed strained not to move closer to her.  It was all very subtle though, no one would ever guess he was counting down the days until production was over and he could...have her.

The only time he would almost slip is when her film husband Hasan Minaj would flirt with her between takes.  Tiana and Hasan had known each other for years since they were always at the same sitcom auditions.  Hasan was handsome and fun-loving, but he was also very L.A. and Tiana was more lowkey.  She didn't mind the attention from him especially when she would see fireballs appear briefly in Chris's eyes before he put his veil of indifference back on.

"Earth to Tiana!"  Hasan says, a smile on his face as he strides up to her as she sat outside her trailer preparing to leave the set for the day.

"Hey, wassup?"  She stands and stretches.  When she goes to grab her duffle bag, Hasan's hand swats it away as he picks it up.  "Ah, such a gentleman."  They begin walking in the direction of the Lyft/Uber pick-up area.

"So a few of us are going to grab drinks and since you don't have to be on set until tomorrow night I figured you had no excuse but to join."  He wiggles his eyebrows.  Tiana wanted nothing but a shower, ordering room service and falling asleep with her TV on as a lullaby...but she knew part of the filming experience was going out a few times with the cast and crew.  She wanted to do more films she had to establish herself as a gracious leading lady.

"Sure, can I go change?"  

"Giving you an hour.  I'll come scoop you up."  He smiles and hands her the duffle bag.  She winks at him- then almost falls over as she sees Chris Evans walking towards them.  There were the brief fireballs again...and then the veil.

"Oh hey Chris..."  Hasan says.

"Hasan, Tiana.  Good work today."  He smiles and then continues on.  Tiana and Hasan both nod and smile.

"Hey Chris..." Hasan says, Tiana's eyes go wide. "We are going for drinks later at The Roundaboot if you wanted to join."  Tiana almost started shaking her head no.  It was one thing to see him on set, they were professionals....but what would happen when there were drinks and casual conversations?

Chris stops and looks at Hasan, indifference still on his face.  "Sure."  He looks at Tiana and smiles almost wickedly, and then walks away.

----

    Tiana sat in the back of her Uber going over the days events and how she would get through these cast drinks now with Chris Evans being there.  That smile he gave her made her tingle.  Suddenly her pocket was vibrating, it was a text.  A text from Chris Evans or as he appeared on her phone: CE

CE: I'm sorry if I am intruding on your time with Hasan but I need to ensure that we have our dinner...that's if you're still interested.

She almost drops her phone.  Her heart thuds.  Still interested?  

Tiana: I was just invited before you to this group event. I'm slightly disturbed that you aren't into healthy competition.  I hear it maintains interest.

Tiana could never shy away from banter.  She felt Chris would be smart enough to keep up.

CE: Competition?  Just don't want you distracted by the shiny object.

Tiana: Lol- Hasan is far from shiny, but I am a single lady who won't have to worry about career climbing if I go to dinner with him....

She smiles as she typed and then she waited for the three dots to appear.  She waited some more.  She had arrived back at her hotel with no response from Chris.  

While in the shower, Tiana decided she wasn't going to freak out.  If Chris did come to drinks he would most likely stay away from her...she did like that he was little jealous of Hasan.  Made her feel like she was in control, like he didn't know how she tried not to obsess over him.  She fought against becoming a puddle of mess when he was around.  How she anticipated seeing him.  Two light knocks on her door.

She tightens her bathrobe around her.  Luckily, she had just finished putting product in and fluffing her hair.  She opens the door to Chris Evans.  He filled her doorway, and without saying a word, with his eyes never leaving her face...he makes her walk backwards into her room and closes her door behind him.

Chris in his fitted cashmere sweater and dark jeans; he smelled like a dream.  He stops her from walking by pulling her close to him.  He runs his nose up and down her neck, then along her jawline.  Suddenly his lips are on hers. His kisses start softly, then progress with more passion.  A hand is tangled in her curls.  Tiana could almost guarantee she had never been kissed like this before.  She could barely remember her name much less the reasons he should not be opening her robe and caressing her breast.  This was about to go to the point of no return.  She pushes back from him breathless.

"Wait..." She says, he almost seemed dazed, but then immediately begins closing her robe.

"I'm sorry...I...I was coming to talk to you in person but when I saw you and smelled you...I just." He still has an arm around her waist.  The raspiness in his voice made her want to rip his sweater off.

"I just think we should stick to our dinner plan.  It's quite obvious we both want this and we have been doing so well..." He starts to pull away from her, but she wraps her arms around his neck.  He smirks.

"Okay," He then leans close to her and whispers, "I don't want you fucking anyone until we have our dinner."

She holds his head close to her face, "As long as you don't."  

He kisses her again, and bites her bottom lip before he leaves her standing in the middle of her hotel room with her robe slightly open.  Tiana was savvy enough to know that whatever was happening with Chris was going to either ruin her or be the best thing she had ever done...either way her life would be changed.

4-

    The Roundaboot bar was dimly lit yet still seemed bright with its mix of subway tiled white walls and cream colored couches.  Some of the cast and crew had taken over a small corner with a couch and a few wooden barstools.  Tiana was at the bar with one of her costars awaiting their drinks.  Everyone was buzzing and feeling good because production was going well and that's the kind of environment Chris liked to work in.  Tiana tried to avoid staring at Chris and then stop having flashes of their encounter in her hotel room.  She needed to be more like him.  He stood casually holding a beer and chatting with a mix of cast and crew.  He laughed, he smiled...and never made eye contact with Tiana.  If they were near each other, he would do the nod and smile thing, but then move on to give his full attention to someone else.

She wondered if he knew how this drove her crazy, but again she respected it.  This is why these 'professional interludes' never work because everyone knows who's having sex and things get awkward.  Tiana decided she needed to be more like Chris and just enjoy herself and act as if nothing happened.

Once she had her fill of conversations, flirting with Hasan and cocktails, she did her usual 'Irish exit' and simply faded away...towards the door then outside where she would order a car. 

As she was about to open the Uber app a text from Chris appears....

CE: Leaving so soon....meet me at my hotel in 10 mins. Room 11D

Tiana's almond shaped brown eyes goes a little wide.  She knew if she went to his hotel they would not be having dinner...or talking.  Then she has a flash of him kissing her.  Perhaps they could show some restraint...and it had been too long...and his lips.

Tiana: Okay.

    As Tiana walked through the hotel lobby she tried to keep from briskly walking to the elevator, she didn't need to be breathing heavy when she arrived at his room, she needed to play it cool.  She took a deep breath as she hit the up arrow.  Once on his floor she felt herself sauntering to his door.  She knocks.

Chris opens the door after little bit.  He has on a white t-shirt and drawstring pajama pants that Tiana tried not to stare at too long.  She smelled food- he steps aside allowing her to walk in.  She sees a table set up with poutine fries, salads and lobsters.  A bottle of wine is chilling.  The sound of the door closing behind her shakes her our of the deep thoughts.  She realized she was hungry.

"I figured we did all that drinking, we would need to eat something.  It will at least keep us from making some questionable decisions."  He stands a little too close to her.

"I am hungry..."  Tiana says, the look in Chris's eyes let her know that that came out a little risque`.  She steps back and goes to grab a French fry.  

With that they eat and talk about various things...how they both grew up on the East coast which is why they never got into the 'L.A.thing'...what brought them to Hollywood....who were worse sports fans- Boston people or New Yorkers....

The conversation flowed and admittedly Tiana knew her gut was right there was more to this...attraction, but she also knew she had to be cautious.  She didn't believe in fairytales.  She knew to someone like Chris she would just be another conquest.  Since she was a grown woman who knew how to protect her heart, she would enjoy their time together and pick up what ever pieces of her were left to rebuild and move on.

They were sipping wine on his couch silently. It felt nice.  Chris knew he was going against everything he usually did, what protected him but he couldn't help himself with Tiana.  He felt safe.  The connection was undeniable and haven't ever had these feelings for a woman he was attracted to, he was ready to explore.  Silently, he put his wine glass on the table in front of the couch and then took hers and did the same.  He stood and held out a hand to her.  Fear flashed in her eyes and then she placed her soft honey colored hand in his.  He pulls her to stand in front of him.

"If at any point you want to stop...just say stop."  He says breathlessly as he pulls her off her soft v-neck tee.

Tiana can't recall how, but her hands were tied together to Chris's headboard.  There was a lot of massaging and kissing and him taking both his and her clothes off...and now her hands were tied.  Though she had never done anything like this, she had always been interested and with Chris whispering both naughty and reassuring things in her ears she felt like she could go there.

She notices he has stopped touching her and is standing at the foot of the bed staring at her.  He is completely nude, her mouths drops.

"Tiana, I need you here with me at all times.  No zoning out."  His eyes never leave hers as he crawls over her.  His dick grazing her thighs as he kisses her chin. "The only time I want your eyes to leave mine is when they close because I am inside you and you cannot help it."

Tiana swallows hard. She was both nervous and wanting.  She bites at his chin.  He chuckles.

"You are very beautiful and I am sure men probably couldn't help but finish too soon.  I am going to go too slow...I want you to remember this...I want you to feel me even when I am across the room.  We will not be doing this again until production is over....I just cannot wait...I have to have you.  Do you want me?"

"Yes..." She had never wanted anything more.

"Good." With that he kisses her, pulls her legs around him and enters her fully causing her to gasp for air and her eyes to close.

To be continued.....