The Next Big Thing (32 page)

“Okay. That would be great—”

“I ain’t getting any younger here.” My father was on the extension again.

“Dad! It hasn’t even been
one
minute! You said I could have
five
!”

“When you pay the phone bill you can have as much time as you want.”

Ugh!
This was like being in high school all over again.

Dad
hung up again and I let out a sigh.

“When exactly are you going home to
Memphis?” Jagger asked, laughing.

“Five more days,” I groaned. “Five more days.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The final week at my parents’ condo flew by. I had expected it to drag, but before I knew it, I was hopping a Delta flight back to Memphis.

Jagger and I had exchanged several e-mails, since I didn’t dare attempt to talk to him on the phone again until I was in my own apartment. He was intriguing and complicated—two qualities I love in a guy—and we continued our flirtation. But we never discussed the kiss. I was dying to learn what his intentions toward me were.
 
 
***

I arrived home to find things in an unexpectedly pristine condition. My apartment had never looked so good. It was spotless. No, make that impeccable.

Someone had cleaned the place within an inch of its life. The kitchen floor had been mopped and waxed. The refrigerator—barren, except for a few canned soft drinks and light beers—had been scrubbed. My bathroom was immaculate. My living room and bedroom had been dusted and vacuumed, and my bed was freshly made with clean sheets. My fish were alive and well-fed.

Donna was the only person who’d had access to my place while I was away. Why would she do something like this? A peace offering? A guilty conscience?

On the middle of the coffee table was an envelope with my name scrawled across the front in Donna’s loopy handwriting. I ignored it, instead opting to take a shower and unpack my suitcases.

Then, since there was no food in the house, I called the nearest Chinese take-out and ordered a carton of vegetable lo mein and garlic broccoli. When the food arrived, I devoured my meal in silence, not even bothering to switch on the television. It was an intense, dizzying feeling being alone again.

I had just finished eating when the phone rang. The sound was so deafening in the quiet apartment that I nearly leapt out of my skin. The Caller ID showed a Los Angeles area code, which caused my heart to flutter in my chest.

There was only one person it could be.

Jagger.

“Hi, Kat,” he said. “Is this a good time to talk?”

“Of course,” I said,
it’s always a good time to talk to you.

He was awkward at first. “Did you make it back okay?”

“Safe and sound,” I quipped. “God, it feels good to be home.”

“I’ll bet. What’s it been, four months?”

“Something like that.”

“Do you have a roommate?” Jagger asked.

“Nope, just me, myself, and I.”

“How’d you keep your place up while you were in
L.A.?”

It was a logical question, though it sent my mind reeling back to Donna, and the letter she had left. “Uh, my friend kept tabs on it.”

“Nice friend,” he said, not questioning the issue.

“So, what’s been going on?”

“I found out yesterday I didn’t get the Disney part. There will be no talking snail in my future.”

“Oh, no! I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, I’m sure that other guy will do a horrendous job. They’ll rue the day they didn’t hire you.”

“Woman,” he corrected. “They went with a woman.”

“Well, they should have gone with you.” I paused, gathering up my nerve. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. The other night when we were talking on the phone and my dad picked up, you were about to say something. What was that?”

“Ahhh,” he said, chuckling. “I was wondering when we’d come back to this. You can’t see me, but my ears are turning pink right now.”

“Don’t be nervous,” I said, but secretly I found it adorable.

“So, uh, yeah, what I was saying the other night . . . I kind of thought of us as friends. I really liked being around you and having fun together. And I thought maybe we could keep in touch after the show wrapped.”

“Uh-huh. Was that all?” I prompted him.

He laughed. “But then when you kissed me it was strange.”

“Strange?” Oh God, I was a
strange
kisser?

“Unexpected is probably a better way to describe it. I felt so awful, knowing what Nick did to you. You played it off like you were strong, but I could see you were upset. And so I wasn’t thinking in terms of anything happening with us. But then you kissed me, and it felt
amazing.
And I hadn’t expected that. But I worried that maybe you had done it because you were vulnerable, and on the rebound.”

My body tingled
all over. “No, it was nothing like that at all. I did it because I wanted to. But I was so drunk I honestly don’t remember it very well.” As soon as the words had left my mouth I wanted to take them back. “That probably didn’t come out right.”

“I know what you meant. That gives me an excuse to refresh your memory,” he teased.

“I’d like that,” I said. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t asleep.

“I had an idea the other day,” he began slowly. “I hope this isn’t too forward, but would you like to come out and visit me in
L.A.?”

I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but I decided to run with it. “I’d love to. Just say the word and I’m there.”

“How about the week after next?”

I gasped. Apparently he
was
serious.

“Really?”

“Sure, why not? I’d love to see you again.”

“I’m supposed to go back to work at Hood and Geddlefinger soon. I mean, I’ve gotta call my boss and set up a start date. Besides, I’m totally strapped for cash.”

“I could buy your ticket,” he offered. “My dad’s a pilot for United, so I can get plane tickets dirt cheap. It would be like $50 dollars, tops.”

“That’s really sweet of you to offer,” I said.

“Where would I stay?”

“
You could stay at my house. I’ve got a guest bedroom that I never use. I could take you out, show you around L.A. How does that sound?”

It sounded amazing, magical, enticing . . . scary. “Can I have a few days to think it over?”

He laughed. “Of course you can. But there’s something else I should probably tell you. I do have an ulterior motive for inviting you here.”

I braced myself. “A good friend of mine named Ronnie Mendhelson is working on a project for MTV,” he said. “She’s developing a morning show,
Wake-Up Call,
that’s being billed as
The View
for the eighteen-to-twenty-five set.”

“Okay,” I said, not seeing where he was headed. “Anyway, I mentioned to Ronnie how you and I were close and she got
very
excited. They’ve still got two hosting slots open and they’re looking to fill them with a soap-opera vixen and a reality star.”

My pulse quickened. “Meaning what?” I asked, not wanting to jump the gun.

“I was supposed to keep this on the down-low, but I can’t resist telling you. Ronnie said you were on their shortlist, along with a girl from
Big Brother
and an
American Idol
runner-up,” Jagger told me. “So I talked you up, told her you’re really funny and charming, and that there’s never a dull moment when you’re around. By the time I was finished, she was practically salivating!”

I wasn’t sure which was more exciting—that Jagger had called me “funny and charming” or that
I was on the shortlist for an MTV show
!

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope, I’m totally serious. Now I don’t know if you’d be interested in doing another TV show. That’s something you’d have to decide. But Ronnie’s dying to talk with you. My gut tells me you’re a shoo-in for this, Kat. If you flew out here week after next you could kill two birds with one stone—hang out with me and meet with Ronnie and the MTV team in person.”

“Why on earth would she be interested in me? Why not get some twenty-something hard body?”
Good move, Kat. Talk yourself out of a job.
But I couldn’t help it, I had to be honest. “I have no track record. I’m a reality TV has-been. I’m ‘Kat the Brat!’ What good am I to them?”

Jagger laughed. “Don’t you get it? Yes, you were ‘The Brat’ but everybody knew your name. A lot of people loved you and a lot of people hated you, but either way, they all tuned in to
watch
you. Kat, don’t you know? You were the breakout star!”  
 

***

I’d been putting it off for long enough and I knew it was time. With a pit the size of a boulder in my stomach, I retrieved Donna’s letter from the coffee table and tore into it: 

Dear Kat,
I owe you an explanation. I don’t know if what I have to say will change anything or not. But I have to try.
Yes, I told Nick about the show. Not that it matters anymore, but I’ll tell you my reasons. When you went out to Los Angeles, I sent out the e-mails just like you’d asked me to and things were going smoothly.
At first, Nick was worried about your dad. But then he called your parents’ house and found out your father wasn’t sick, and he was livid. He wanted to know why you’d lied. He was threatening to end things—to never speak to you again. He said that, no matter how bad the truth was, it was better than lies.
So I told him. I told him about
From Fat to Fabulous
. I thought that maybe if he knew the great lengths you were going to—that you were willing to lose weight just to be with him—he’d finally be convinced that you cared. How many women would embarrass themselves on national TV to win a guy’s heart?

I thought he’d understand, and that everything would work out for you two.
Never in a million years did I dream it could backfire the way it did. When I found out Nick had contacted Zaidee and was being brought onto the show I didn’t know how to react. I wanted to protect you, to warn you.

But there was nothing I could do. I had created this monster, and now I had to watch you live through it on national television.
When you first got out, I couldn’t face you. I was too ashamed. I saw the way you’d been talking about me, and I knew how angry you were. I had nothing to say for myself. I didn’t think I could make the situation any better.
I wasn’t trying to be malicious. I really thought I was doing the right thing. That doesn’t make it better, but at least now you know why.
There’s something else you need to know. If you never listen to another word I say, hear me now: I love you, Kat. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.

On the show, you wondered out loud if I could name even one thing about our relationship that I valued.

I can’t name one thing. I value everything.

Love,
Donna

 
I folded the letter up and placed it back in the envelope, letting her words sink in. For the first time, I understood the position I’d put her in. She’d been backed up against a wall, sucked into a stupid web of lies that I’d created. She’d only been trying to help.

I looked around my immaculate apartment. My plants had all been watered, my fish had been fed. Without Donna’s relentless care, my place would have fallen into total disarray. But she’d been over here, meticulously tending to the details of
my
life while I was away. I didn’t know another person in the world who would have done that for me.

With trembling hands, I reached for the cordless and dialed her cell. She answered on the fourth ring.

“Hi,” I said timidly.

“I was going to let the voice mail pick up, because I was afraid you might yell at me. But then I figured it was better to go on and face it.”

“I’m not going to yell.”

“You have every right to.”

I shook my head vehemently even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “Donna—”

“I’m sorry.”

“No,” I said. “Please don’t. I’m the one who screwed up. I never should have dragged you into this.”

She paused. “He’s an asshole, Kat. You’re better off without him.”

“I know that,” I said, my throat tightening. I was on the verge of tears. “I love the apartment. It looks amazing over here. I can’t thank you enough for keeping up with it.”

“Hey, what are friends for?”

I couldn’t think of anything to say for a long moment, and then I threw out, “You want to go do something tomorrow? Get a cup of coffee, or go see a movie?” It seemed best to meet on neutral ground.

“You know me. I drink like ten cups of coffee a day. What’s one more?”

“Starbucks?”

“I’ve got a better idea,” she said. “A little coffee shop I discovered. It’s pretty unusual and I guarantee you’ll like it. And you won’t even have to go incognito. I doubt anyone there has even heard of
From Fat to Fabulous.
”

“Sure, sounds great,” I said. A root canal would have sounded great. I was dying to see her.

“Grab a pencil; I’ll give you directions,” she said.

I rummaged through my desk for something to write with. “You’ve organized this place so well I can’t find anything,” I told her, laughing.