HDU (14 page)

“
What
are
you doing?” she blurted before realizing that he wore a white T-shirt underneath.
 
He laughed, that stupid, smug laugh
that seemed reserved just for her.

“Catch,” he said, tossing her the sweater.
 
“Girls are supposed to look good in guy
clothing.”

Amanda stared at him and then the cashmere V-neck in
her hands.
 
Looking good in menswear
seemed like a trait that only waifs and models possessed, but the black
material was so thin and soft that it actually inspired some kind of hope.
 
She looked up at Liam.
 
“You need to leave the room,” she said,
not meaning to sound as short as she did.

“Not even a problem,” he responded, managing to annoy
and comfort her at the same time.
 

- Chapter 5 -

A crowd spilled outside the doors of the West Village
hotspot, waiting to be seated in the bitter New York cold.
 
Upon noticing Liam, members of the herd
murmured and nudged one another but refused to appear openly giddy.
 
At Lilac, they were supposed to be
accustomed to the sight of celebrities.

“Don’t look like that,” Liam said, referring to the
apologetic glances that Amanda gave the crowd as he pulled her through them and
into the restaurant.
 
The dimly lit
space was packed and busy, but it didn’t stop both hostesses from rushing to
make a greeting.

“Hello, Mr. Brody,” one managed to say before the
other, subtly straightening the black mini dress on her long and slender
frame.
 
“Your table is ready for
you.”

“Thank you,” Liam smiled, making eye contact with her
for perhaps a little too long.
 
Amanda took the time to readjust her outfit.
 
Liam’s sweater fell like a dress on her body, the slouchy
look seeming to translate as chic or at least passable.
 
No one seemed to notice her worn-out
tights.
 
If anything, the crowd
stared at her face, trying to place her in their memories.

“Is she that girl who hosts the show on Travel?”
someone asked.

“No, she has a shorter face,” came the answer.

Amanda let out a breath of relief upon hearing such
neutral words.
 
They weren’t bashing
her, and that was all that she had hoped for from a place like Lilac.
 
All her ego needed for a boost was to
survive dinner without anyone laughing in her face.
 

“Enjoy your meal,” the flirty hostess said, daring to
wink at Liam before sauntering off from their cozy corner booth.
 
Amanda watched him watch her go.
 
He turned back only to grin,
unrepentant.
 
“What?”

Amanda laughed.
 
“You’re going to have trouble with this.
 
I can tell.”

“Trouble with what?” Liam scoffed.

“Staying faithful to me,” she smirked, studying her
menu.
 
She could tell that his eyes
were still on her though hers were decidedly on the cocktail list.

“You do remember that this is a
fake
relationship, right?” he asked.

“No way, really? I’m just saying it has to look real
to the press, and if they catch you cheating on poor little me you’ll look
worse than you did before I came along,” Amanda pointed out, trying not to
cackle at the realization taking over Liam’s face.
 
“I’m sorry,” she said, laughing.
 
“I know it sucks.
 
Maybe we can hire someone for you to cheat on me with and make her sign
a contract of confidentiality.”

Liam thought about it hard for a few long seconds
before shrugging it off.
 
“I’m
stealthy.
 
Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay,” Amanda snorted.
 
She suspected he probably
was
stealthy anyway – there had to be hundreds of women he
had slept with that the media had never known about.

“For example, I just noticed the idiots across the
room without actually looking at them,” Liam said.

“What idiots?”

“The ones recording us on their phones,” he answered
nonchalantly, reading through his menu.
 
“Doesn’t usually happen here.”

“Well, just make the best of it,” Amanda said
simply.
 
Before she could suggest
how, Liam slid down the booth, sidling up next to her and draping an arm around
her shoulder.
 
She held her breath.

“Alright.”
 
He leaned in close, his lips grazing her ear.
 
“This is me whispering sweet nothings to you,” he said in a
smoldering voice.
 
Amanda burst out
laughing, covering her mouth as he continued.
 
“Now I’m complimenting something about you, probably not
your ridiculous outfit,” he whispered through a smile.
 
She rolled her eyes.

“I’m being receptive despite the fact that you’re a
total douche,” Amanda murmured, daring to take his hand.
 

“Nice touch,” he said.
 
“You ready?” he asked.

“For wha – ”

Liam cupped her face with his free hand and kissed
her on the lips.
 
The shock
eventually subsided into amusement.
 
She was kissing Liam Brody.
 
He was pretending to like it.
 
She kind of was too.
 
Through
a laugh, she kissed him back.
 
Before Amanda knew it, the unreal moment was over and she thankfully
hadn’t done anything extremely embarrassing.
 
An A-List actor had just kissed her in public and she had
been too amused by their previous banter to really think about it.
 
Liam leaned back in his seat to watch
her laugh.

“I can tell you’re actually happy right now because
you have one of those ugly laughs.”

Amanda wiped the tears in her eyes that had emerged
from cackling so hard.
 
“You’re so
annoying.
 
You’re worse than I
could’ve imagined.”
 

“I’m glad we’re having this conversation.
 
It’s good to hash things out.”

“Totally,” Amanda agreed, fanning at her face as she
came down from her hysterics.
 
Her
cheeks actually felt sore from laughing so hard.
 
“God, I hope they didn’t get all of that.”

“Oh, they did,” Liam replied simply, barely able to
peck her cheek without snorting.
 
“But it’ll be good for us.”

VIDEO:
YES, THAT’S LIAM’S NEW GIRLFRIEND!

Celeb-O-Matic

January 13 12:02AM

Can’t believe it? Well try!

Liam Brody proved his doubters wrong tonight when he
dined at Lilac with his latest lady – the mystery woman whom he was
spotted with yesterday at his SoHo apartment.
 
Holding hands in a cozy booth, Liam romanced 22-year-old
Amanda Nathan, who was identified by a close friend to Celeb-o-Matic.
 
A video even shows the couple sharing a
steamy kiss during their romantic dinner.
 
Could this bewitching brunette be
the
one
for Liam?

“He checked out the hostess, but she didn’t care,” cited
an onlooker.
 
“She just laughed at
him and he laughed back.
 
They
seemed really comfortable together.”
 

Incredible! Could it be that someone has finally
tamed the beast? Who in the world is this young woman who seems to have done
what world-famous models and actresses couldn’t do? A look on her official
website gives only vague clues, boasting images of flowery plains and a
particularly interesting set of photos – one of a charming mom-and-pop restaurant
featuring the sign “L.J’s Diner.”
 
Below, a caption reads, “Right before we left for NY.”
 
Could it be that she and Liam dined at
the quaint eatery before their flight to New York? For now, no one knows, but we
can only hope that more pictures are posted to provide a few more glimpses into
the life of Liam that we never knew.

In the meantime, here’s to Amanda Nathan and a
Hollywood romance that we can root for!

SO
SHE WASN’T THE MAID, GUYS.

January 13
4:21PM

Posted by
FilmFreak

HDU via Pop
Rock Gossip

Liam Brody
has officially stepped out with new girlfriend, 22-year-old blogger Amanda
Nathan.
 
Brody, known for his
repertoire of supermodel exes, has shocked just about everyone by showing off
his new relationship with Nathan, a virtual unknown in the Hollywood
world.
 
Could this be some sort of
publicity stunt? A video of the couple at New York’s Lilac seems to prove
otherwise.

Footage recorded
of the date shows the lovebirds laughing and whispering throughout most of the
night, even sharing a hot and heavy kiss right before dinner.
 
Also seen in the video is a confident
Nathan unruffled by Brody’s wandering eyes around a flirty hostess.
 

“This is a
sign of a true and healthy relationship,” says celebrity analyst Monica
Kinsey.
 
“We’ve heard a lot about
jealousy issues with Liam’s former girlfriends.
 
Here, Amanda appears at ease and can even joke with Liam
about his behavior – she is confident that there is nothing to worry
about, and he is unabashed because he knows that she knows this.”

(Hold on… is this real life?? Somebody find Pretty
and ask her what she thinks about this because I don’t know how to feel right
now.
 
I thought Liam Brody was
supposed to be HDU’s favorite douchelord.
 
What’s going on? :-(
 
-
FF
)

TOP COMMENTS

so_effin_cute

publicity
stunt. liam brody is a pervy asshole and always will be

howboutno89

i want to
believe this for how sweet it’d be but i feel like she’s got to be a paid
actress. if not, he’ll prob cheat on her FAST

mrstylerchase

idgaf that
video is kind of adorable. but ia with everyone, he’ll probably cheat on her

Amanda chewed her fingernail as she rounded the
corner of her hotel, spotting the French bistro she had dined at the day before.
 
It was surreal to think that such a
short time ago, she was able to go somewhere unwatched and undisturbed.
 
In a matter of twenty-four hours,
everything had changed.

“How are you liking New York, Amanda?”

The question came from a stranger.
 
Every paparazzo following her was strange,
yet they acted so familiar.

“Do you miss Missouri, Amanda?”

“How was your dinner with Liam last night?”

“When’s Princess coming to New York?”

After he anonymously identified her to Celeb-o-Matic
the prior night, Ian had advised Amanda to briefly deactivate her
Facebook.
 
Strange facts about her
had begun appearing on the Internet.
 
Suddenly, the information known about her ranged from her middle name,
Bree, to her affinity for her six-year-old cat, Princess, whom she had to leave
back at home in Missouri.
 
Ignoring
over fifty new friend requests, Amanda deactivated her Facebook.
 
It was a good move, she decided, and
likely one of many more tips she would take from Ian.

“You need to update your blog,” he murmured, sipping
coffee behind shades as they made their way through the paparazzi.
 
“I checked your traffic last night and
it was kind of crazy.”

Amanda had suspected as much.
 
In about twelve hours, the subscribers
on her blog had gone from none to over three hundred.
 
Comments admired her photos, some musing over where they
were taken, one identifying the location as Merit by recognizing L.J’s Diner.

“
Omg this girl
is from my town…
” it read.
 
Amanda resisted replying to ask whom the commenter was, though she was
certain she would know him or her as well.
 
Merit was only so big – everyone knew each other and
their business.
 
Because of that, she
was grateful that the person didn’t answer the questions from others that
followed – everything from where Amanda may have met Liam to where she
attended college to whether or not her ex-boyfriends were good-looking people.
 
The burst of curiosity was what she and
Ian had planned for, but Amanda soon realized that it was as disturbing as it
was rewarding.
 
Now anyone who knew
anything about her could publish or sell the information to satiate the hungry
blogosphere.
 
And there was nothing
she could do about it.
 
It was
simply the life of a public figure – the one she’d just signed up for.
 
Apparently, consequences of celebrity included
far more than being called “ugly” on HDU.
 
It was a troubling thought.
 
But even as she walked with Ian and a handful of aggressive paparazzi,
she tried to remind herself that it was either New York or Merit, and Merit
simply wasn’t an option anymore.