Spin Control (19 page)

"You're going to have to do some follow-up press for
them after they're married anyway, so don't consider
this a request, consider this an order."

"What if I don't go?"

"I'd say you're an idiot for not going to a tropical
paradise for free"

"Can't I just let Michael handle this one?"

"He's MIA, remember? Quit being such a ninny and
just go," Gwen demanded.

I rose from my chair to become face to face with
Gwen. "Fine," I succumbed. My mind was so clouded
that I couldn't have put up a fight even if I'd wanted to.
"I need to go home and pack. If you don't mind, I'll just
finish up a few things around here."

"I'll have Rita book you a flight and a room at Hotel
Bella, obviously." She left my office and shouted
halfway across the hall. "Rita, get Kate on a flight to
Bermuda immediately!"

I re-read the article. "That's probably what attracted
Miranda to Devin, the fact that they both so strongly
believe in the power of charitable giving." Devin could
care less about charities before we got our hands on
him. Witnesses knew how serious Underhill was when
they spotted him last week purchasing an engagement
ring at Tiffany.

How did I not know this? All along Michael insisted
that Miranda was not interested in Devin, and she herself made that pretty clear too. Had Devin finally won
her over behind the scenes? And if he really was en gaged, he had no business trying to kiss me on Friday.
Something wasn't adding up.

I had grown to consider Miranda a-gulp-friend,
and because of that, I felt this sense of obligation to
warn her about the fact that her fiance was hitting on an
ex-girlfriend days before their wedding. For that reason
alone, I could justify going to Bermuda.

Where was Michael? I needed to know what, if any,
role he played in this mess. Perhaps "family emergency" meant staying out of the office until the fallout
had cleared. I had to call him, but I needed to make another call to someone who might help put some of the
pieces of this obtuse puzzle together.

"Hello," a groggy voice answered.

"Anna, it's me. Why aren't you at work?"

"They didn't need me until later in the week since
we're shooting extras only. No Miranda for a few days."

"Yeah, about that. Do you know where she went?"

"Bermuda, I think. Why?"

"I'd tell you to grab a New York Post, but since you
just woke up, I'll give you the abridged version. Did
you know that she and Devin are eloping?"

"What!" I knew that would jolt Anna into the waking world.

"You didn't happen to see Devin hanging around the
set, did you?"

She paused thoughtfully. "Not that I can remember,
Kate. But they keep us makeup people pretty sheltered,
so I'm not the best person to ask. I can find out for you,
though."

"It doesn't matter at this point, but thanks anyway"

"How did this slip past you?"

"That's the question I can't stop asking myself. I
mean, we're with this guy what feels like day and night
for the last three months, and to hear something like
this ... it's unbelievable. Of course, Gwen thinks I just
cured cancer. You know what the worst part is?"

"Can you even pick a worst part?" Anna was fully
awake and engaged in the conversation.

"Devin was waiting for me Friday night at my house.
We're standing outside, when he decides to tell me how
wonderful I am and kisses me"

"What in the world?" Anna fumed.

"I know!"

"You slapped him across the face, right?"

"Even better. I told him that I didn't want him."

Anna squealed. "Girl, you're right, that is better than
a boring old slap!" She paused. "You know, it just
doesn't sound like Miranda. Why would she do this
knowing that she's returning to California in a month?"

"Love makes us do crazy things, or so I'm told."

"Are you sure it's even true? After all, it seems awfully suspicious that you wouldn't know. What's
Michael's take on all of this?"

"Don't know. He had a family emergency today."

"How convenient."

"I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but
I'm sure he doesn't want to hear from me after I
stormed out of the coffee shop on him on Friday."

"Why didn't you call me this weekend and tell me
any of this?" Anna sounded offended.

"I'm sorry, hon, but I was so wrapped up in formulat ing how to tell Michael that I'm feeling something for
him, and in proving my worth to Gwen after she almost
fired me last week that I-"

"Let me get this straight. You almost got fired, you're
finally admitting your feelings for Michael, and you
told your ex to buzz off? And you forgot to call your
best friend?"

Guilt washed over me. "I'm sorry. I've been so
caught up in my own world that I haven't been letting
anyone in." Including Michael, I now realized.

"You know I'm just teasing you. Phone works both
ways, they say. I'm just glad that we're talking now"
Anna hesitated. "There's something I've been meaning
to ask you about too."

"Shoot."

"So, Miranda has-"

Rita appeared in my door. "Anna, can you hold on a
sec?"

She tossed paperwork onto my desk. "You leave in
three hours."

"Wow, that's efficient. Thanks, Rita." I put my mouth
back up to the phone. "Crap. I'm sorry, Anna, but I
need to run home before catching my flight to
Bermuda. Can I call you from the airport?"

"You're going to Bermuda?"

"Woops, guess I left out another minor detail. It's not
for fun. Gwen has kind of pushed me into going to do
some spin control for something I didn't even know about
in the first place. Lord knows I shouldn't go as a matter of
principle, but apparently I'm in self-torture mode. If
nothing else, I have to get Miranda out of this jam"

"Good luck. If you don't have time to call me from
the airport, don't worry. We'll catch up soon enough.
Be safe, now go! You've got a very important flight
waiting for you."

I'm wondering if you could tell me if Devin Underhill is staying in his penthouse," I asked the Hotel Bella
concierge as sweetly as I could.

"Ma'am, you know we don't give out that kind of information," he kindly but firmly answered.

"But I'm his publicist."

"If that's the case, you should know where he is," he
smirked.

"What if I told you he was in grave danger?" I almost
laughed at myself for trying to be so mysterious.

"Then I'm sure we'll take care of it." The concierge
walked to a back room, likely calling security to drag
the crazy lady away.

I slumped on one of the plush gold chairs in the
open-air lobby. Despite my reasons for being here, I
couldn't help but smile at the warm, lilac-scented
breeze that blew over me. And the locals (except the concierge, unfortunately) were so helpful, so welcoming. Someone on this island had to be able to help me;
Devin was a familiar face here. He came to Bermuda at
least once a month, always telling me when we dated
that this island was his home away from home.

For now, I had to keep watch. I was afraid to bring
my luggage up to my room, because Murphy's Law indicates that the minute I left my post, Devin would appear. So I crossed my legs and stared at the front
entrance. I really needed a hobby, as I was being left
alone too often with my thoughts.

I robotically bit my nails, contemplating whether I
should get on the next plane home. Despite the green,
lush beauty of the island, I had no business being here.
What if Miranda and Devin really were happy together? Then I would just be the jerk who tried to break
them up, and who knows what would happen with my
career then? As far as Michael goes, I tried him on his
cell one last time while I rushed to get my seat on the
plane, but his phone was still turned off. I didn't leave
him a message.

I saw a tall, tanned man get out of a taxi and walk toward the entrance of the hotel. Heart thumping, I rose
from my seat thinking the man was Devin, but as he
came closer, I realized it was just a stranger. I sat back
down, but knew that I couldn't wait here by myself
much longer. This island wasn't that big; if I didn't see
him at the hotel, I was bound to run into him somewhere else. So I rolled my luggage behind me and
dropped it off in my room on the king-sized bed.

I went behind the property, which was located right on the ocean. The pristine, pink-tinged sand was almost
surreal. The salt of the crystal-clear sea hung in the hot,
humid air. My only regret was that I didn't change
clothes before I left the hotel room. I was still wearing
a blue v-neck sweater and jeans from the flight, and I
already could feel the shirt sticking to my back.

I scoured the beach for any sign of Miranda and
Devin. From a distance, I saw a couple lounging on a
blanket, feeding each other fruit and giggling. I knew it
wasn't Miranda and Devin, but watching that happy
pair, oddly enough, made me really miss Michael.

There was a lot of activity further up the beach. The
closer I got, I noticed people frantically running
around, with lots of headsets and cell phones. Upon
even closer review, I saw a bunch of tall lights and a
large white canopy. This was it. This was the site of the
wedding.

I looked around for a familiar face, but I didn't see
anyone. I consciously sighed. Maybe this was someone
else's party. And that's when I saw Miranda.

She stood in a white bikini, showing off her
incredibly-shaped abs and tanned body. She looked serious while a man in a white T-shirt holding a clipboard
asked her questions and took notes. When he moved to
the side, Michael was in clear view. He walked over to
Miranda and put an arm around her shoulder.

This is why Michael couldn't work with me; he was
in love with Miranda and was probably moving back to
California with her. Ohhh, what am I doing here? I
thought desperately. I had never felt so humiliated, so
ashamed, so depressed in my life. I backed away before they could see me, but I tripped over one of the electric
chords and landed ever-so-ungracefully in the sand,
right on my bottom.

"Kate!" Miranda bounded over to me, looking a lot
like Bo Derek in 10, sans the gold bathing suit and
braids. "I can't believe you're here"

Michael was right behind her, looking happy yet extremely confused.

"I can't believe I'm here, either," I mumbled. I tried
to nonchalantly look for a huge diamond sparkler on
Miranda's left ring finger, but it was empty.

"What are you doing here?" At this point Michael
had extended his hand to pull me out of the sand.

"There's, well, I can't. . " Deep breath, gather
thoughts. "Don't marry Devin!" I blurted. "Or
Michael!" And I had accused Michael of not thinking
before he spoke?

Miranda looked at Michael with daggers practically
coming out of her eyes. "You didn't tell her?" This was
the least amiable I had ever seen her. Michael hung his
head, then looked away.

"I don't believe this." Miranda put her hands on her
hips. "My big brother here didn't tell you that we're
related."

I thought I was going to end up in the sand again.
"S-s-siblings?" I stuttered.

Michael stepped toward me. "Kate, I know that I've
said this a lot in the last few days, but let me explain."

"Why didn't you tell me?" My face fell.

"To his credit," Miranda jumped in, "we've had an
agreement that we would not let anyone know we were brother and sister. He didn't want to be an actor, and I
already was getting some parts on TV. He wanted to get
his foot in the door in PR without the help of his famous sister." She shook her head sympathetically. "I
thought for sure he would tell you, considering how he
feels about you."

"Feels about me?" I meekly parroted.

"You're making it worse," Michael hissed at his sister.

Miranda threw her hands up in the air. "Well, from
what I'm seeing and hearing, you're not doing a very
good job at telling her yourself."

"I really do have a good excuse for why I haven't
called you back," Michael said sheepishly as he stepped
even closer to me.

"I'm all ears" I clasped my shaking hands together.

"Miranda called me last night saying that her agent
warned her about this false report that was going to appear in the Post today."

"Little did I know I was marrying Devin Underhill
this week," she added dryly. "So, Michael came down
to give me moral support in case I ran into Devin."

I looked between the two of them expectantly. "So,
what happened?"

"Devin showed up on the set a few times in the last
month or so," Miranda said.

"Uninvited," Michael interjected.

"I blew him off, but I didn't want to make a big
scene, since I know what you guys were trying to do
and that he needed good press"

My brow was furrowed. "How did he make the leap
from that to an engagement?"