Rising Star (17 page)

Chapter 20

Selena’s cellphone rang the following day as
she was driving to Albuquerque to meet Matt at the airport. She
assumed it was Matt; maybe his plane had landed early. “What’s up?”
She said happily into her phone.

“
Selena Summers?” Selena
was surprised to hear a lady’s voice on the phone.

“
Yes?”

“
My name is Rose Dalton.
I’m with the Morgan/Helm Agency. Are you the Selena Summers that’s
been in the magazines? From Hollywood?”

“
Yes.” Selena had no idea
who this person was or where this conversation was leading, but she
was prepared to give a flat refusal for any modeling or acting
offers.

The lady took a deep breath. “I have your
manuscript in front of me. I read the whole thing the other night.
I couldn’t put it down, it was so entertaining.”

Selena slammed the brakes and whipped the
car off the shoulder of the highway, as horns honked behind her.
Her hands were trembling as she held the phone. “Yes?”

“
I sent a letter off to a
publisher with an excerpt from your manuscript and they are
prepared to make you an offer.”

“
Yes?” Selena’s voice
trembled now along with her hands. She thought soon she’d be able
to say more than just ‘yes,’ but it was all she could manage at the
moment. Her heart was pounding against her chest and her stomach
felt a little sick. Could this possibly be it? The phone call she’d
so desperately hoped for?

“
The editor, Sam, would
like to meet you to discuss a contract,” Rose continued. “Is there
any chance of you coming to New York, maybe within the next week,
for a meeting?”

“
New York City?”

Rose laughed. “Of course New York City. The
Big Apple.”

“
Yeah, I can come there,”
Selena’s voice had grown stronger over the sound of traffic
whizzing by on the interstate, but she could feel her palm sweating
as she held the phone.

“
Call me and let me know
when and I’ll set it up with the editor?”

“
Okay.” Selena’s sweaty
hands shook as she hung up the phone. She sat on the shoulder of
the highway for a few minutes, waiting for the rush of adrenaline
to subside. Her hands were actually trembling. She held them in
front of her face as she thought about it. Was she dreaming or did
this just happen? It certainly felt like a dream. One of her
ridiculous fantasies, where she had a bestselling novel and
thousands of fans. This is how I was supposed to feel, I guess,
with the modeling and acting, she thought. Excited and exhilarated.
She couldn’t wait to tell Matt! She threw her car into gear and
pulled back onto the highway.

She drove the rest of the way to the
airport, barely able to focus on the road ahead of her. Her mind
was a turmoil of emotion and she still had trouble believing it had
really happened. She was afraid she was going to wake up and
realize she was dreaming. She looked at the caller ID on her phone
as she walked into the airport, staring at the strange number from
New York City. It had been real. “I’m going to New York to meet
with an editor,” she said aloud as she boarded the escalator, still
moving as if in a dream.

She stopped walking and watched as Matt
walked toward her, carrying one small black bag. His striking good
looks still took her breath away and she noticed other women make
furtive glances toward him as he walked. He walked tall and proud,
a smile lighting up his face and his blue eyes twinkling when he
saw Selena. She ran and jumped into his arms, squealing, bubbling
over with excitement. She was pretty sure this was one of the
happiest days of her life.

“
Whoa, I’m happy to see you
too,” Matt chuckled as he set her on her feet. Selena noticed other
people glancing toward them as they passed. They were making a
spectacle of themselves, but she didn’t care.

Selena described the call she’d had on the
way to the airport, her face flushed with excitement. Matt picked
her up off her feet and swung her around the middle of the airport
as passersby stared and smiled. “I told you it would happen,” Matt
said excitedly. “I knew when I read it, that book had a lot of
potential. Let’s go out and celebrate.”

“
I’m not dressed for it,”
Selena glanced down at her jeans and cowboy boots.

“
Neither am I, but let’s do
it anyway.”

“
Okay then,” she smiled
happily. “I definitely feel like celebrating.”

They picked up Matt’s car from the airport,
which Selena thought cost an exorbitant amount after how long it
had been there. The shiny black paint was a dull matte color from a
heavy coating of dust. The desert heat had baked the interior and
it felt like an oven when they opened the doors. Matt ran the air
conditioning and they stood outside and kissed like newlyweds until
the car had cooled down. “I’m so proud of you, Selena,” Matt said
between kisses. Selena basked in his praise, a warm feeling washing
over her as she stood in the circle of his arms.

As he drove, Selena held his hand tightly
between them. She directed him to the top of Sandia Mountain, where
a restaurant sat on the summit, looking out across the city of
Albuquerque. The sun was setting to the west, turning the sky
different shades of orange and purple. As the light faded, the city
lights began to twinkle far below them. They were seated in front
of the glass windows, with a beautiful view of the city below them.
“It’s like we’re looking at it from an airplane,” Selena said
happily. She had never been to this restaurant and she couldn’t
believe the views she’d been missing her whole life.

They discussed her book over dinner. “I
don’t really know any details yet,” she told Matt. “And I was so
excited, I could only answer ‘yes, yes,’ to every question. I threw
my car off onto the shoulder and sat on the side of the highway
while I talked to Rose, the agent.”

Matt threw his head back and laughed
merrily. “Well, congratulations, Selena. You’ve worked hard for
this and you’ve earned it.”

“
I was also offered another
modeling gig before I left L.A.” Selena told him about her meeting
with Michael and his offer of a job. “But I don’t want anything
more to do with Hollywood. I don’t want to be a supermodel or a
movie star.”

“
You’d rather be a famous
author instead?”

“
I don’t know. I hadn’t
really thought about being famous. I just want to be a published
author and have people read my books.”

Matt laughed again. “God, I love you Selena.
Acting and modeling fall into your lap when so many are struggling
through auditions, but you turn it down to be a
not
famous
author. You’re too much.”

“
You do?”

“
Do what?”

“
You love me?”

“
Of course I love you. I
thought you knew that already.”

“
I love you too,
Matt.”

Matt leaned across the table and kissed her
tenderly as Selena’s heart swelled with happiness. She put both
hands on his face as she kissed him back. This was, for sure, the
happiest day of her life.

They were interrupted then, as a family of
four stopped at their table. “Aren’t you Matthew Mason?” A young
mother asked, holding the hands of a child on each side of her.
“And Selena,” her husband said, admiration in his voice. “One of
the guys at work had her picture in the break room,” he said as his
wife stared at him.

Matt flashed his brilliant smile, the one
Selena had come to recognize as his ‘public’ smile. “Yes, guilty as
charged,” he said.

“
Could I get your
autograph,” the wife said, as her husband continued staring at
Selena.

Selena felt herself blush as the husband
snatched the notepad from his wife’s hand after Matt had signed it.
“Yours too, Selena,” he said. “The guys at work won’t believe
it.”

Selena laughed with Matt after the couple
had left, each dragging a tired child by the arm.

“
I can’t believe anyone
would want my autograph,” she said with a sardonic
smile.

“
You’re becoming a star,
Selena,” Matt said. “Whether you want to or not.”

“
That’s ridiculous,” she
said. “I am not.”

“
You mark my words, young
lady,” he imitated Don Broward’s fatherly tone. “You’re going to be
rich and famous.”

Selena laughed, enjoying Matt’s antics, the
embarrassing scene with the young couple all but forgotten.

Selena stayed with Matt in his hotel in
Albuquerque that night. They only had two days together before he
had to be back in L.A. and she didn’t want to waste a minute of it.
They made love slowly that night, professing their love for each
other. She slept cradled in his strong arms, content and happy with
his love.

She cried again as Matt drove away two days
later. It was getting harder to watch him go each time. But, she
was flying out to New York the following day and she was hugely
excited for a change, instead of the nervous knots of tension she
had felt with acting and modeling. This is going to be my big
break, I just know it. The sentence reverberated through her mind
as she passed the time until her flight left.

Her parents had been shocked and excited
when she told them about her books.

“
Why didn’t you tell us you
were writing books?” Her father asked.

Her mother was unnaturally quiet as Selena
blushed and mumbled an answer. She stared at Selena with a quiet
look of joy and pride on her face. “I knew,” she finally said. “I
was dusting your computer last year and the screen turned on. I
guess you left your writing up on it. But, I didn’t read it,” she
added quickly.

“
It’s okay, mom. I’m sorry
I never told you guys. I guess I was just a little embarrassed to
let anyone read my stories.”

“
But, won’t everyone be
reading them now? Or is it another audition?”

“
No, they will be
published.” The words sounded strange to Selena’s ears as she said
them. She was still in shock herself. “Well, at least one of them,”
she continued. “I don’t actually have a lot of details
yet.”

“
Either way, we couldn’t be
more proud of you, little girl,” her father said as he stepped
forward and hugged her.

Selena basked in their praise, the complete
opposite of the modeling and acting. She hadn’t even felt proud
when she’d watched herself on TV, but having even one of her books
published, this was something to be proud of.

Her planed touched down at JFK on a sultry
afternoon and Selena took a taxi to the address Rose had given her.
She was not used to humidity and she could feel her shirt sticking
to her back as watched out the window of the cab. And the heat was
worse between the tall buildings. Everywhere she looked was only
concrete and store fronts. The heat seemed to bounce off the
concrete jungle in waves. She had thought L.A. was a huge city, but
New York was unbelievable. The buildings were so tall and the
streets were so busy. The sound of car horns echoed off the tall
buildings as she stared around her. She could not imagine living
here and fighting her way through the streets every day. Even the
sidewalks were packed with people in business attire, carrying
leather briefcases. She suddenly missed L.A. as she looked at the
overwhelming scene. The cab driver hardly seemed to understand
enough English to find the address she’d given him. She tried
Spanish, but he didn’t understand it either. Where is this guy
from, Mars? She thought as she finally tapped his shoulder and
pointed at the tall building with the address Rose had given her
etched into the front of it.

Rose met her there at one p.m. and they
shook hands, then went inside together. Selena felt a little
underdressed next to the expensive business suit Rose wore. She was
an elegant older lady with a few extra pounds, but she dressed and
carried herself with a grace and style that Selena envied. She
walked through the tall building as if she owned the place,
self-assurance evident in her purposeful stride.

They took the elevator to the fifteenth
floor and stepped out into a lush lobby. A receptionist took their
names and ushered them into a meeting room with a long table down
the center.

A handsome, well-dressed man entered the
room shortly and shook both their hands. “I’m Samuel Cage, but
everyone calls me Sam,” he said. “And you are Selena Summers. I
recognize you from the magazine ad. And several other pictures in
the magazines lately.”

“
Rag Mags,” Selena said
angrily, her face reddening.

“
Excuse me?”

“
That’s just what everyone
calls those kinds of magazines, Rag Mags. There’s not much truth to
them.”

“
What is the truth, if you
don’t mind me asking?”

“
The only thing they’ve
reported correctly is that I’m dating Matthew Mason.”

Sam smiled, as if he was happy to hear that.
“And there’s also a rumor that you’re starring in a movie with Paul
James?”

“
Yes, that’s also true.”
Selena was confused. She thought she was here to talk about her
book, not her unwanted movie career.

“
Anything else?” Sam asked.
“Any other movies or modeling?”

“
There’s a movie coming out
next week, but I only had a tiny part. Oh, and I was offered
another modeling gig by Michael Sabatino, but I’m really not
interested.”