Extremely Famous (18 page)

Bruce drops me and Evan off at my Mom’s after work and a quick nap. He promises to be right outside until I’m ready to go back to Drew’s.

My mom hurries to greet me, looking radiant as I open the door using my key. She smiles and pulls me into her arms. “Sydney!”

“Mom, you’re looking great.
” I step back and admire my gorgeous mother.

“Thanks Syd, you too.
I had Rita prepare salmon, I hope that’s okay.” She turns and leads me into the kitchen. Rita has been my mom’s cook/head of household for the last five or six years. She pretty much keeps her house running.

“That sounds great Mom, I didn’t have lunch so I’m starving. I’ll pretty much eat anything at this point.”

My mom watches me carefully as she sits down at her kitchen table, two plates of grilled fish with a mixed green salad already set in place.

“So, what’s up? Why aren’t you staying at your place? Drew isn’t with you, right?”
Her eyes flick over to Evan who is standing stoically by the door, pretending not to hear every word we say.

I roll my eyes, irritated at his eavesdropping, no matter how unintentional it may be.
“No Mom, he’s in Toronto until tomorrow then here for a few days. Then the overseas part of the press tour starts.” I pick up my fork and take a bite of salmon. “This is delicious by the way.”

“Rita’s great
, what can I say.” She casually waves her hand. “Stop stalling Sydney. What happened that has Drew keeping you at his house,” she glances again at Evan.

She asks all of the questions that I don’t feel like answering, mostly because I have no idea what
caused Drew’s irrational behavior after that phone call.

“I’m not sure Mom. Drew found out that I went out in L.A. by myself and got upset
.”

She gives me her ‘mom’ look, the one that lets me know I’m in trouble.
“Well, you really shouldn’t be out alone Syd, especially after the whole… incident.” My mom avoids eye contact when she mentions the attack by the crazy stalker earlier this year.

She’s the only person besides Leah who knows about the miscarriage I suffered that day. I can tell it still upsets her, it still upsets me. I try not to think about it too much or the pain is overwhelming.
Denial, it’s my best friend and constant companion.

“I know that Mom. I guess I’m still having a hard time coping with the whole fame thing.” I wave my arms around
and frown to emphasize my distaste. “Anyway, Drew got a weird phone call that made him angry. Like berserk, smashing things in the hotel room angry.”

My Mom’s eyes go wide and she puts down her
glass. “What was it about?”

I let out a frustrated sigh. “That’s the problem Mom, he won’t tell me. It’s nothing for me to worry about according to him.
” I scoff and push my food around the plate. “After that call though, he went out to meet Rhys and came back drunk with bruised knuckles. So clearly, it’s not nothing.” I scowl at my lunch and drop the fork.

“Why don’t you ask Rhys?” she encourages.

“I did Mom. He gave me the same explanation as Drew, blowing me off. But ever since that call, he wants me at his brownstone so Steve and Evan can stay with me in the spare bedrooms. It’s not enough anymore that they go out with me…” I dart my eyes in Evan’s direction again, “now they have to live with me too.” I toss my napkin on the table and push back, disgusted by my situation.

“Honey, I know it’s a hard adjustment, being in the public eye. But if you love him, it’s worth it.
” She holds my gaze for a moment. “Which reminds me, where’s your engagement ring?” Her eyes flick down to my hand and back up to my face expectantly.

“That’s th
e other thing we can’t agree on.” I cross my arms stubbornly and stare at my fingernails. “He wants to tell the world that we’re engaged. The thought of the media’s reaction to that makes me physically ill. I can’t do it, not yet.” I’m sure my face goes an interesting shade of green as I discuss what the paparazzi’s reaction would be to us announcing our engagement.

“I have to say Sydney, I agree with you on this one. It’s not a wise thing to purposely draw so much attention to yourself if you don’t want the publicity. Why do you think he’s so determined to release a statement?”

“Adam Reynolds,” I blurt out before I can stop myself.

Mom leans back in her chair, her mouth
gaping open in surprise. “What does he have to do with anything?”

“He doesn’t.
” I press my lips together in a tight line to hold in the giggle that threatens to burst out. “Drew thinks he wants to steal me from him. God, it sounds so ridiculous when I say it out loud,” I laugh. “Honestly, I just think he wants Adam to know that he doesn’t stand a chance, which he doesn’t. We’re just friends Mom. He’s never done or said a single thing to make me think he wants me like that. Drew just hates him. They have some bizarre antagonistic relationship that I don’t know a lot about.”

My Mom laughs
with me. “I forgot how dramatic my life used to be when I was your age and with your Dad. Syd, just do what feels right and be happy. Everything else will fall into place, including your stubborn fiancé.” She gives me a stern look, “Except don’t go out alone anymore, okay?”

I smirk at her protective mothering.
“Fine, I won’t go out alone. Just so you know, I already promised Drew that I wouldn’t so you don’t have to worry.”

“Good to know,” she says, smirking right back at me.

Mom tells me about the release date for her movie,
Atlanta Burns
. It’s tentatively scheduled for Christmas Day, the biggest opening day of the year for films. I’m ecstatic for her and she seems to love being back in front of the camera. At least someone’s life is going well.

A few hours later I’m sitting on the massive bed in Drew’s brownstone with my laptop, looking out at the lights of the Empire State Building.
Forcing myself to focus, I finish up a few final preparations for my client meeting tomorrow to discuss the Sixth Avenue penthouse. Just as I save the file and click to close it, my phone rings from the nightstand. I check the ID, Drew.

I answer as I close my computer and push it aside.
“Hey.”

“Hey babe. What are you up to?” His rich voice is like a shot of adrenaline in my heart, causing it to beat wildly in my chest.

“Just finishing preparing for my meeting tomorrow.” I’m now squirming uncomfortably on the bed with desire from speaking to him. “How was the junket today?”

Th
ere’s a pause before he answers. “Fine. The usual, just busy.” He sounds off, unhappy or tired, I’m not sure which.

“Are you okay?”
My concern for him brings my libido to a screeching halt. I sit up on the bed to concentrate on Drew.

His
deep exhale into the phone makes my heart heavy. “No, I mean yes. I’m fine. I just miss you, baby.”

He’s lying. There’s something else going on, I can tell from the tone of his voice.

“Is this about the phone call you got the other night?”

He sighs again
. “Syd, I told you that you don’t have to worry about it. Please, let me handle everything.” His tone is final. I can’t change his mind about this.

I don’t want to fight with him right now so I let it go, determined to discuss it tomorrow when he gets back to the city. “Alright, I won’t ask, for now. But when you’re upset, it upsets me.
I want to help.”

“I know, a
nd I love that you care so much.” His sweet words dissolve my anger in an instant.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yes. We should be in around 3 or 4pm, I believe. The next few days are crazy with interviews and talk shows, I probably won’t be around much.” I can picture him raking his hands through his messy hair in frustration at the busy schedule.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow night. You don’t have anything after you get in, right?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Okay, well, I’ll see you when you get home,” I say sweetly, trying to pull him from his dark mood.

“Okay Syd, love you.”

“I love you too.”

I flop back on the bed and toss the phone somewhere next to me. I need to get started on this project so I won’t have time to think about Drew’s wildly fluctuating temperament for a while. I love that he wants to protect me, but there’s a difference between protecting me, keeping me in the dark, and shutting me out. When I go to sleep all I can think is that I don’t have a great feeling about this.

****

“This is so much fun Sydney!” my friend Lexi says as she gets out of the massive pool in my backyard.

“Yeah, it is,” I agree, kicking my feet as I sit on one of the huge fake boulders that make up the back half of my parents’ backyard oasis.

Not satisfied with just a regular pool, my Mom and Dad had to hire some fancy landscaper a few years ago and redesign the entire backyard. Now we have a waterfall that looks like it’s cascading down real rocks into a huge free-form pool, a hot tub that seats twelve, and a swim up bar.

I like it, but don’t normally have a lot of people over to the house to swim with me. I never know if they’re here because they’re my friends or because they want to see my parents, the ‘famous’ movie stars.

Lexi is different. Her dad is a big time actor too, so she knows what it’s like to not trust people, especially when it comes to inviting them over your house.

“Dammit Eva! What the fuck do you want me to do!”

Lexi and I jerk our heads up at the sound of my Dad yelling from inside the house. I didn’t think he was here.

“Reid, you can’t let them print those pictures!” Mom yells back.

I glance over at Lexi and see that she’s staring over at my parents’ bedroom above the pool. The doors on their balcony are open and they don’t realize that we can hear everything they are saying. I lower my eyes and feel the deep blush creeping up my neck. They’ve been arguing whenever my Dad is home which isn’t often. I shouldn’t have invited Lexi over.

“I have all of our lawyers working on it Eva! If the magazine decides to print pictures from the accident now and worry about paying up over a lawsuit later, there’s nothing I can do!” Dad
dy roars. “Do you think I want those bastards to win? You weren’t there, you didn’t see what it did to Sydney! I would have killed that photographer if those bystanders hadn’t stopped me!”

Oh my God! They’re talking about the accident. I look down at my right arm, pale and slightly smaller than the left from having a cast on up until last week. I run my finger down the huge, jagged scar and shiver, knowing that there are metal pins under my skin.

My mom’s voice is near hysterical. “I can’t believe they can get away with this! We have to be able to stop them!”

Right now, I want to die of embarrassment. Lexi walks over to me, her towel wrapped around her. “Ummm, I think I should go Sydney,” she says quietly.

“I’m sorry Lexi.” I jump up and grab her arm as she starts to leave. “You won’t tell anyone, right?”

She looks at me sadly.
“It sounds like everyone is gonna know pretty soon Syd, but no, I won’t say anything. I know how it is.”

I nod and she goes through the door to the kitchen. Her driver is right out front and she knows the way so I don’t bother following her.

Angry, I storm in the house and slam the door. Stomping upstairs, I go into my room and blast the music from my stereo as loud as it will go. I know Anna, our housekeeper, saw me run up here and certainly heard me slam my bedroom door. It’s only a matter of time until someone comes and makes me turn the music off.

“Sydney!” A
loud knock on the door vibrates it in its frame. I ignore my dad and throw myself down on the bed, crying into my pillow.

I hear the door open and my d
ad’s heavy footsteps as they cross over to the stereo and turn it off. The silence allows him to hear my sobs clearly. I feel the bed sink under his weight when he sits next to me.

“Sydney, what’s going on?” he asks calmly.

“Go away! We heard you!” I scream, turning over so I can look at my Dad.

His eyes go wide when he realizes exactly what I was able to hear.

“Who’s we?”

“Lexi and me! We were swimming, you didn’t close the balcony doors Daddy! You’re both so embarrassing! Don’t you even care about me?” I choke as the tears stream down my cheeks.

A dark look crosses my dad’s face and in a heartbeat, it’s gone. He puts his hand on my chin and tilts my face up to his, “Sydney, it’s because we care about you that we were yelling. I can’t explain it to you so it will make sense, but everything your mother and I do is because we both love you.”

“No you don’t! I hate this! I hate that you guys fight all the time! I hate that people want to take our picture and chase us and I can’t have friends over!” I flop back down on the bed and cry.

Daddy lies down next to me and lets me cry myself to sleep.

****