Read The Hollywood Effect Online
Authors: Marin Harlock
The Hollywood Effect
Copyright © 2016 by Marin Harlock
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organisations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Holly Monroe Caught in CHEATING SCANDAL With Her
Rain Beat
Co-Star!
Say it ain’t so! Holly Monroe has reportedly put her relationship with Aussie heart-throb Liam Burns in SERIOUS jeopardy by cheating on her handsome fiancé with Jack Lemon, co-star in her most recent film
Rain Beat,
only months before Holly and Liam’s planned wedding. Pictures of Holly and Jack looking entirely too cozy have recently surfaced. According to a source close to the actress,
“Holly is absolutely devastated. It was a complete lapse of judgement and a one-off mistake. She’s not having an affair with Jack, it was just a one-off moment that will never ever happen again. She didn’t mean to hurt anyone, especially not Liam, who she loves with all her heart and soul.”
Liam didn’t seem to take the news so well - he was last spotted getting on a plane to his home country without Holly. There’s no official word yet from Liam’s people, but an anonymous source close to the actor said that he’s gone to “clear his head and figure stuff out.”
What this means for the couple who met 3 years ago on the set of the hit film
April Song
remains to be seen. Check out the incriminating pics below and tell us what you think!
~*~
“Miss Pike?”
I looked out over my Year 8 history class and focused on the blonde girl sitting at the back of the room with her hand waving eagerly in the air.
“Yes, Marnie?”
“Is it true that you know Liam Burns?” I groaned inwardly. I hadn’t even been here a week. This was only my third class with this lot.
“I was under the impression we were discussing the Black Death, not contemporary movie stars, Marnie.” I gestured for the class to keep reading.
“But, Miss, you do know him, don’t you? My cousin Sara said you were, like, his best friend or something? Is that why all the reporters are in town? Is he back? Do you know him? Have you seen him?”
I raised my eyebrows at the rapid-fire questions, and then sighed. Might as well get it out of the way, I told myself. Judging by the way the rest of the class were suddenly paying a lot more attention, I wouldn’t get much sense out of them until I buried this nonsense. He was an actor; it wasn’t a big deal. We also had a professional footy player amongst our recent alumni, but he didn’t seem to get quite the same response, from the girls at any rate.
The current Year 12’s would probably actually remember Liam from our own school days, before he got famous and wouldn’t be quite as star-struck. To the younger ones though, he was a living legend. The kid from their small town who made it big in Hollywood and dated famous movie stars and graced the covers of the magazines in the supermarket check-out.
“Yes,” I said. “Liam is an old school friend. No, he’s not back in town as far as I know, and wait, what reporters?”
“There were some in the bakery this morning,” Marnie said quickly.
“And there were some in the milk bar. They were asking Betty where Mr and Mrs Burns live,” volunteered Jeremy Schmidt from the front row. I’d been studying their class photos since I landed the job a month ago and had most of their names memorised.
I frowned. “Did Betty tell them?” I’d have to have a few stern words with Betty if she had.
“Nah, she told them to bugger off... but with a worse word.” I nodded. That sounded like Betty.
“Did they really break up? Holly Monroe and Liam Burns, I mean?” Marnie asked.
I narrowed my eyes at Marnie, but couldn’t help my mind wondering. I hadn’t actually heard from Liam for a few weeks. That wasn’t entirely unusual. He was a busy guy after all, and I made a point not to read any gossip magazines or websites, although it was definitely weird and hard to ignore when he appeared on the front covers, especially when the local businesses liked to place those particular issues in prominent displays.
Liam had assured me (and his worried mother and grandmother) that 95% of what they reported was pure fiction. Trying to figure out the 5% that was true had driven me nuts at the start when he’d first started popping up in their vapid pages.
“Why do you think they broke up?” I asked and immediately wanted to take the words back. Marnie and her side-kick Sophie leaned forward eagerly.
“I read it online. Holly was seen without her engagement ring getting cozy with Jack Lemon and apparently Liam was spotted boarding a flight to Australia.”
I blinked. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time. If it was true. Which it probably wasn’t.
“If you lot paid more attention to your history lessons than to Hollywood gossip, you would make me a happy teacher.”
“But, Miss, do you know what’s going on? Did they really break up? Oh, I love Holly so much. They can’t break up!” Sophie sighed melodramatically. I resisted the overwhelming temptation to roll my eyes.
“Even if I did know what’s going on, I wouldn’t tell you lot. It’s none of our business. If Holly and Liam are having problems, then that’s between them.” I took a deep breath. “Now, can we kindly return our attention back to what we’re meant to be doing? The Black Death? It’s much more interesting than celebrity gossip, I promise you.”
“Miss?”
I hesitated. I was pretty sure this wouldn’t be a question about plague symptoms. “Yes, Marnie?”
“Have you met Holly Monroe? Like, in real life? She was here last year with Liam. I wasn’t here though. I had to go to Sydney to visit my dad. I was so mad when I found out-“
“Enough, Marnie. Page 112. Read from the top, please.”
“But, Miss-“
“Enough! Read!”
I gathered up my books, papers and spare whiteboard markers, and waited a few minutes before following the kids out of the classroom. I shook my head to myself. I didn’t begrudge my friend any of his success or fame; on the contrary, I was super exited for him... but I doubted he had any idea how much it impacted my life or work. I should have taken the job in Melbourne. No one would have any idea who my best friend was in Melbourne. But no, I’d had to go and take the job in our home town. At our old school. Where absolutely everyone knew exactly who Liam Burns was, and exactly who his old friends were.
I stalked into the staffroom and made a bee-line for my desk. Old Mrs Mac, the art teacher, jumped. She still wasn’t used to seeing me as a teacher rather than a student. I swear she’d been on the verge of telling me to knock, or get out at least a dozen times since I’d started working at the start of the term. It’s just temporary, I told myself. Just until Dad starts getting better. Then I’d move out of here. Back to the city. The nice, anonymous city.
“So is it true? Are they over for good this time?”
“What? Who?” I dropped my arm-load of paper and pens on my desk and looked over at Jacinta, one of the other younger teachers on staff. She was leaning back on her chair, in exactly the same pose that I’d told Kyle Harrison off for earlier in the day, looking at me with her wide, brown eyes.
“Is it true about our famous movie star and his sweetheart? It’s all my kids in English could talk about.” Jacinta laughed, and then shook her head.
“Not you too,” I groaned. “Why do they care so much? And no, I have no idea. It’s probably not true. Last time I talked to Burnsy they were picking out wedding colours and sampling cakes or something exciting like that.”
“Just another beat-up then?” Jacinta nodded wisely.
“Yeah, probably.” I shrugged. “No other starlets shaving their heads or running down Hollywood Boulevard in the buff, so they have to make up something to soothe the raging masses. You’re an English teacher, you should know not to believe everything you read!”
Jacinta laughed again. “I suppose so. I was just telling my Year 11’s that… Do you want to grab a beer after work? Tommy’s coming too. And maybe Veronica and Simon.”
I thought about it for all of half a second. “Yeah, that’d be great. It’s been a long week. What time?”
“We’re going straight there. I can give you a ride if you want, pick your car up later.”
“Oh. Nah, it’s okay. I have to swing by my dad’s first. I’ll meet you there afterwards.”
“No worries!”
I drove through the small town that I’d called home for the first eighteen years of my life. I never seriously thought I’d end up living here again. As wide and beautiful as the tree-lined streets were, they were confining. You couldn’t do anything in this town without everybody else finding out about it in three seconds flat. Sometimes you even found out you did things that you’d never actually done. Like sleep with Liam in the back of Sara Tyler’s Volkswagen Beetle at Sara’s 18
th
birthday party. Besides wondering about the physical logistics of it even happening - Liam was 6ft 4 even back then, and I’d wondered if he could actually even fit in the back of that tiny car, let alone get me in as well (and I was no tiny waif!), and then also have enough room to manoeuvre for awkward teenage sex - we hadn’t actually done it. I was pretty sure I would remember that. Liam had rolled around on the floor of my bedroom, clutching his belly and laughing uncontrollably when our friend Dan had gleefully repeated that particular rumour to us.
“As if I’d ever sleep with you!” he’d howled. I’d felt more than slightly indignant at that.
“Gee thanks, shithead.” I’d aimed a kick at him. He’d caught it before it connected.
“Sorry,” he hiccupped. “It’s not that you’re hideous or anything. It’s just that… well, you know. You’re like my sister, Jen. It’d be weird. Really weird.” He’d shuddered at the thought. “Don’t you think?”
“Yeah… really weird…” I’d scowled.
Dan had laughed at the look on my face. Grant had shot me a quick look of sympathy though, but hadn’t said anything. He’d been the only one that knew I’d been nursing a crush on Liam for the previous three years. As far as I knew, he’d taken that particular secret with him to the grave.
I pulled up in front of my parents’ place. I glared at the photographers camped out front of Frank and Linda’s place from the safety of my car. There was about half a dozen of them staked out on the lawn, chatting lazily to each other. I’d have to call Liam and get him to make an appearance elsewhere, far away from Tarang. The living-room curtain flickered as I watched, and I caught a glimpse of Linda’s eye glaring out. The vultures didn’t pay much attention to me as I unloaded the bag of groceries from the back seat of my car, but then one of them - a young man with white sunglasses and a large camera hanging around his neck - came ambling toward me.
“Can I help you carry that?” he said smoothly in an accent I couldn’t quite place.
“No, thank you,” I said stiffly.
“Matt Rivers, pleased to meet you.” He held out his hand to me. I just looked at it, and then up at him again. To my irritation he fell into step beside me as I walked towards the gate.
“Have you always lived here? Did you know Liam when he was a child?” Matt Rivers paused, waiting for an answer. I just looked at him for a moment.
“I don’t live here. I hope you enjoy your stay in Tarang, but
unfortunately there’s not really a lot going on here. You might have more luck finding something productive to do with your day down in Warrnambool, or even better, back in Melbourne or Sydney. Have a nice day.”
