Relatively Famous (20 page)

“Well, you’re coming with me to meet him. I’m not going by myself.” She grabs my arm and pulls me behind her, making a beeline for the attractive guy on the other side of the room.

“Hi,” Leah says nervously. “I’m Leah and this is my friend Sydney. She designed the club, do you like it?”

Crap, way to put the focus on me Leah.

“Hi, I’m Ryker. Nice to meet you ladies.” He politely shakes our hands and shoves his unruly hair out of his eyes.

Leah is
super nervous around him, which is rare for her. She keeps it toned down, but I can tell she’s freaking out. I try hard to push away the memories of people acting like that around my dad, all giddy and foaming at the mouth. It was so uncomfortable, especially when women would openly proposition him right in front of me.

“Nice work on the design,” Ryker says to me. “It’s really cool here.”

I just nod and smile at him, grateful to have a glass of champagne to keep my hands busy so I don’t tear my hair out or slap Leah for acting like such a fangirl right now.

He’s cute in a bad boy kind of way, and he’s very friendly with us, especially Leah. They discuss living in New York and other things. I just tune them out, too anxious about Drew to
pay attention.

“So Sydney,” Ryker takes a break from flirting with Leah to turn back to me, pulling me from my destructive thoughts. “Has anyone ever told you that you look
a lot like Evangeline Allen?”

Leah’s mouth drops open
. I panic and excuse myself to go get a refill on my drink. He can think I’m rude for all I care; I’m not having
that
conversation. She can talk to him by herself.

By 11pm I’m starting to get really worried that Drew hasn’t shown up. I hope everything is okay with his flight. He’s late.
Very, very late. I’m about to go check my phone when I feel a warm hand on my bare shoulder. “Hello Sydney.” I know that accent. Freezing, I stiffly turn around to see Adam standing behind me, smiling like the cat that ate the canary.

I have to admit, Adam looks unbelievable tonight. Gone
is the hat and winter coat and scarf that hide his gorgeous face. His fitted  white dress shirt clings wonderfully to his sculpted torso and his masculine jaw is covered with the appropriate amount of sexy bad-boy scruff.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. GQ.” I
tease even though inside I’m completely falling apart, worried about Drew and about Adam’s reasons for wanting to be here with me.

Don’t go off on him for being famous Sydney, he made this night a success for you.

It’s not his fault I have massive issues. I take a deep breath and smile, pretending everything is just great.

He grins at me and looks me up and down appreciatively, then leans in for the cheek kiss that everyone in Hollywood loves so much. “You look a vision tonight, Sydney. I see you went with the leather and chrome bar sto
ols. Great choice, Sweetheart.”

He runs his
large hand across the distressed leather seat and accepts a drink from a circulating hostess taking a hearty sip. I look to Leah for help and see she’s still all wrapped up in Ryker something or other the actor-guy.

Great friend she is
.

“Yes, thank you. They do look perfect don’t they? Great work Mr. Reynolds, you could have a future in interior design if being a world famous singer doesn’t work out.” I bat my eyelashes and pretend to be a huge fan. Time to give him the attention he wanted,
“Just kidding, would you like a tour?” I smile playfully at him, nodding in the direction of the main area of the club.

“Why yes I would like that very much. Who wouldn’t want a personal tour from the woman behind the vision?” He reaches down
, grasps my hand in his, and I can feel the callouses that cover his fingers
guitar player?
as he tows me through the crowd.

I’m initially uncomfortable with the personal contact, but he’s been nothing but gracious so I allow him to pull me around from one area of the club to another. We stop frequently to speak with people who either know him or want to meet him, introducing me to each one but never letting go of my hand. It’s a little possessive, but without Drew here Adam will at the very least keep any handsy men away from me.

It takes forever to get through each space because of Adam’s celebrity status. I don’t see how my parents could deal with it, strangers constantly interrupting you, making small talk, acting like they know you and kissing up. It’s nauseating to watch, and very annoying. If this were a real date, I’d be pissed that it kept getting disrupted by random fans and other celebrities.

Adam is just introducing me to a ‘big rap star’ that collaborated with him on his last song, when I see a tall, stunning blonde in a dark blue dress stalking
toward us from across the room.

She stops directly next to me and scowls at our intertwined hands. I drop Adam’s hand like I’ve been burned, blood rushing up to my neck and face. Adam’s
rap star friend is smarter than me and excuses himself, vanishing before I can blink. I find myself alternately admiring and hating him, wishing I could do the same and just disappear.

“Adam,” she purrs, “Intro
duce me to your little friend.”

My embarrassment turns to anger as she belittles me at my own event.
Bitch!

“Sydney Allen, this is my
ex
-girlfriend, Kiera Radcliff. Kiera, Sydney is the one who did the interior design for Verve. She’s quite the talented one, isn’t she?” He looks at me proudly and smiles, putting his hand around my waist in a way too intimate gesture.

What the hell, Reynolds!

Kiera is pissed to be referred to as his ‘ex’ girlfriend and she’s clearly jealous that Adam is here with me, even though he isn’t here with me on an actual date. She doesn’t seem to know that, especially when it seems as though he’s deliberately trying to make her jealous.

“Nice to meet you, Sydney.”
She doesn’t offer to shake hands and there is no way I’m air kissing her.

“You too, Kiera.
So, what do you do that earned you a spot on the list tonight?” I ask, not caring what she does, but diverting her attention from me would be a good thing. And she seems like the type that loves to talk about herself.

She’s as beautiful as any supermodel on the pages of Sports Illustrated. Her flawless skin is radiant and her blonde hair hangs in perfect beach worthy waves down her back. She’s wearing a dress that I had seen at Bergdorf’s but passed on, a double layer, one shoulder
, indigo silk Donna Karan with an asymmetrical hemline. She had it tailored from its original floor length style to above the knee. It looks stunning on her tan skin. It washed me out completely.

Kiera gasps at my question
. “Don’t you know who I am?” I cringe as if she dragged her nails down a chalkboard. That sentence is one of the things I hate most about some famous people. They are so used to adoration, that their ego can’t take it when someone doesn’t recognize them.

Adam’s fingers dig into my hip as he
interrupts. “I don’t think Sydney is much into the scene, Kiera.” Hmmm, so he knows I didn’t recognize him at the café.

He is the complete opposite of this woman, modest, shunning attention and trying to just be himself without all of the bullshit. I get the feeling he loved the fact that I treated him normally, just two people hanging out and having coffee.
Why the hell was he ever with her?
Well, besides the obvious jaw-dropping beauty, because frankly, her personality sucks. And frankly, I don’t appreciate being used to piss her off.

“Well,” she huffs, “I’m an actress, obviously. I’ve been in some of the biggest movies of the last few years.” She glares at me with her piercing blue eyes. If looks could kill, I’d be dead right now. I so want to sarcastically clap my hands for her but I manage
to hold it inside.

Yay for you, you’re an actress!

“I’m so sorry, Kiera. I don’t go to the movies. I’m sure your films are wonderful.” She narrows her gaze, trying to figure out if I’m being sincere. I’m not sure if I am or not, maybe her films are wonderful and maybe they’re total crap. What the hell do I know?

“Yes, well, they are.” She turns her angry stare on Adam
’s arm, still wrapped around me, then up to his face, “I didn’t realize you had moved on already, Adam. I thought you still loved me.”

What? I’m so not getting involved in this
.

“Oh, Kiera.
We aren’t involved like that. I’m just showing Adam around the club because he asked me for a tour. We have coffee every once in a while, that’s all.” I take a step away from him and she looks at me, irritated that she should even have to stoop to asking about our relationship. Clearly, she didn’t get the memo that she and Adam are no longer a couple.

“In fact, I’m waiting on my bo
yfriend. I haven’t seen him yet.” I continue babbling like an idiot because of my nerves.

I look around the packed club, as if I’d actually be able to see him in this crowd. Maybe the mention of my being involved with someone will make both of them stop acting so annoying. Adam seems surprised that I have a boyfriend. Probably because I’ve never mentioned one, but then, he didn’t ask either
when he trapped me into this date.

“Sydney,” s
he says in a syrupy sweet voice. “What’s his name, I know almost everyone here.” Yuck, she sounds so full of herself. I’m sure you do know everyone here, probably half of the men intimately.

Skank
.

I look at her skeptically. “I doubt you know him
.”

She doesn’t like that I challenged her,
because she lobs it right back at me. “Try me. Unless you’re just trying to hide the fact that you’re here on a date with Adam.”

“Kiera…” Adam says in a voice that is telling her to back off as he moves to step between us.

I put my hand around Adam’s surprisingly muscled arm to hold him back. “No, it’s okay Adam, I’ll play.” I turn to face her, “My boyfriend is Drew Forrester. His flight from L.A. was delayed, he should be here soon,” I say confidently, knowing that there’s no way in hell she’s ever met him before.

Kiera starts laughing at me in a patronizing tone. “You mean
Andrew
Forrester? Yeah right. That’s funny.”

Now I’m fuming.
“It’s not funny. I don’t see what your problem is. And his name is Drew. How would you even know him?”

What is this girl’s issue?

Oh my God, what if she used to fuck him? I don’t think I could stand it if she did. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I start to feel the nausea that’s been plaguing me return to my empty stomach. Suddenly, I feel as if I might be sick.

“Andrew Forrester, Hollywood’s highest paid actor for the last three years.” She takes in
my queasy expression and smirks. “
People
magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive… twice. The notorious bachelor who hasn’t been photographed romantically with a woman in years? The co-star of my next film.
He’s
your boyfriend?” Kiera says patronizingly.

I swallow nervously and look to Adam for help. He just shrugs, confused and unsure
of what to say.

“No, he’s not an actor, you must be thinking of a different Forrester. It’s a common last name.”
My skin feels clammy and the temperature in the club seems to rise as my panic rises up.

Leah comes up behind me and greets Adam. When he doesn’t take his eyes off of Kiera and me to respond, she knows something is wrong and freezes.

“Here, we can solve this quickly enough.” She whips out her phone and taps on it.

“What’s going on Sydney?” Leah steps forward to talk to me, but I can’t make any words come out.
“Syd?”

Kiera turns and holds the phone up so I can see the screen. On it there’s photo of a man standing on a red carpet, smiling at the camera, with his hands tucked into the pockets of his perfectly fitted suit pants. I see the gorgeous
face that I know so well, Drew.

My mouth gapes like a fish and I feel the blood in my head rush to my aching stiletto-clad feet. I’m no longer worried about throwing up, I’m worried about passing out. The caption reads “Actor Andrew Forrester arrives at the
L.A. premiere of his new film”.

Leah takes in my expression and grabs Kiera’s hand to tilt the phone toward her so she can look. She
shoves it away in disgust and puts her arm around my back, hugging me to her.

“Sydney
, it’s okay,” Leah says calmly.

I can’t do this.
I can’t be here. I’m suffocating. Drew, actor, celebrity, highest paid…no.
No!
Kiera and Adam are gawking at us, puzzled by my bizarre reaction.

I twist out of
Leah’s grip. “I…I have to go. Nice to see you again Adam, nice meeting you Kiera.” I turn and bolt for the elevator.

The crowded club closes in around me, my hard work twists and spins in my blurry vision as I struggle to breathe. I get to the elevator and stab the button furiously, willing it to show up before people notice that I’m absolutely freaking out.