hiding his expression from me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“You scared me. Are you okay?”
He sighed. “I’m fine. Get some rest.”
I squirmed beneath his grip. “You’re squeezing me.”
“Sorry.”
He relaxed enough for me to get comfortable. Sleep wouldn’t come for several hours. When I woke, the sun was up, filling the room with blinding light. I blinked and rubbed my face. Theo sat on the edge of the mattress staring at his hands.
“Theo…?”
Without turning to face me, he said: “You should get dressed. We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”
With that, he rose and walked out of the room.
5
Drawn by the smell of coffee, I stumbled into the kitchen. Theo had his back to me. He was pulling several Styrofoam boxes out of a brown paper bag.
“I ordered breakfast,” he said. “There’s not much to eat around here.”
I remembered the empty refrigerator.
“I got you some pancakes, hash, breakfast tacos, biscuits and gravy…”
“Is that all?” I said jokingly.
It was a huge amount of food. More than I could eat alone.
“You need your strength,” he said humorlessly.
He put the food out in front of me then returned to the counter. He stood while eating a breakfast taco. It was odd. Why didn’t he join me at the table? Why was I getting such an icy reception this morning?
I started to dig into the food when I caught the headline of the morning’s paper. I dropped my fork. On the front page was a picture of me from the other day when Theo had abandoned me to the fans in front of my hotel to teach me a lesson.
The photo was heavily photoshopped. The screaming fans had been cropped out of the image. All that remained was my face. My eyes were wild with fear; my hair was a mess of long tendrils and my mascara was smudged.
Above my photo, the headline screamed: ‘Kidnap Horror!’
I opened the paper, flipping through the pages until I got to the story. There was a second photo. This one was of Louis. He looked stoic and handsome, like a soldier returning home from war. I recognized the photo as an unused publicity shot from his new movie.
What the hell was going on?
I skimmed the article.
Disaster befell Hollywood’s hottest couple last night when a deranged homeless man attempted to kidnap the young starlet, Jamie Kelly. Luckily, her beau Louis Huntsmen was there to save her. Single-handedly, he subdued her would-be attacker. He took custody of the man until the police could arrive. We’re told Miss Kelly suffered minor injuries that were treated at the scene.
‘Jamie’s just so grateful for Louis,’ an insider with firsthand knowledge of the couple tells us. ‘He’s her hero. He saved her life. Louis would do anything for Jamie. They’re just so in love. They’re such an inspiration to everyone.’
The source went on to add : ‘Louis’s been doing a lot of training for his latest movie, Field of Honor. He plays a soldier that returns home from war only to discover his wife has been kidnapped by terrorists with a vendetta against his unit. The movie is set for a summer release. He really got into character for the role. It’s consumed him. So you can imagine how close it hit home when someone tried to kidnap the love of his life.’
The article went on to describe the scene of my attack. The details were all completely wrong.
“What the hell…?” I said. “Have you read this?”
“I have.”
“It’s bullshit.”
“Indeed it is,” he replied drily. He looked nonplussed by the situation.
“Doesn’t it piss you off?”
He shrugged. “It’s just more of your Hollywood PR bullshit.”
“This isn’t Shonda’s doing. She would never…”
Would she? Probably- but this wasn’t her work. This stunk of Louis’s PR team. They’d caught wind of what happened to me and used the opportunity to spin the story and make Louis a hero. They even managed to plug his latest movie multiple times. They were slimy snakes.
“I’m going to
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“You scared me. Are you okay?”
He sighed. “I’m fine. Get some rest.”
I squirmed beneath his grip. “You’re squeezing me.”
“Sorry.”
He relaxed enough for me to get comfortable. Sleep wouldn’t come for several hours. When I woke, the sun was up, filling the room with blinding light. I blinked and rubbed my face. Theo sat on the edge of the mattress staring at his hands.
“Theo…?”
Without turning to face me, he said: “You should get dressed. We’ve got a big day ahead of us.”
With that, he rose and walked out of the room.
5
Drawn by the smell of coffee, I stumbled into the kitchen. Theo had his back to me. He was pulling several Styrofoam boxes out of a brown paper bag.
“I ordered breakfast,” he said. “There’s not much to eat around here.”
I remembered the empty refrigerator.
“I got you some pancakes, hash, breakfast tacos, biscuits and gravy…”
“Is that all?” I said jokingly.
It was a huge amount of food. More than I could eat alone.
“You need your strength,” he said humorlessly.
He put the food out in front of me then returned to the counter. He stood while eating a breakfast taco. It was odd. Why didn’t he join me at the table? Why was I getting such an icy reception this morning?
I started to dig into the food when I caught the headline of the morning’s paper. I dropped my fork. On the front page was a picture of me from the other day when Theo had abandoned me to the fans in front of my hotel to teach me a lesson.
The photo was heavily photoshopped. The screaming fans had been cropped out of the image. All that remained was my face. My eyes were wild with fear; my hair was a mess of long tendrils and my mascara was smudged.
Above my photo, the headline screamed: ‘Kidnap Horror!’
I opened the paper, flipping through the pages until I got to the story. There was a second photo. This one was of Louis. He looked stoic and handsome, like a soldier returning home from war. I recognized the photo as an unused publicity shot from his new movie.
What the hell was going on?
I skimmed the article.
Disaster befell Hollywood’s hottest couple last night when a deranged homeless man attempted to kidnap the young starlet, Jamie Kelly. Luckily, her beau Louis Huntsmen was there to save her. Single-handedly, he subdued her would-be attacker. He took custody of the man until the police could arrive. We’re told Miss Kelly suffered minor injuries that were treated at the scene.
‘Jamie’s just so grateful for Louis,’ an insider with firsthand knowledge of the couple tells us. ‘He’s her hero. He saved her life. Louis would do anything for Jamie. They’re just so in love. They’re such an inspiration to everyone.’
The source went on to add : ‘Louis’s been doing a lot of training for his latest movie, Field of Honor. He plays a soldier that returns home from war only to discover his wife has been kidnapped by terrorists with a vendetta against his unit. The movie is set for a summer release. He really got into character for the role. It’s consumed him. So you can imagine how close it hit home when someone tried to kidnap the love of his life.’
The article went on to describe the scene of my attack. The details were all completely wrong.
“What the hell…?” I said. “Have you read this?”
“I have.”
“It’s bullshit.”
“Indeed it is,” he replied drily. He looked nonplussed by the situation.
“Doesn’t it piss you off?”
He shrugged. “It’s just more of your Hollywood PR bullshit.”
“This isn’t Shonda’s doing. She would never…”
Would she? Probably- but this wasn’t her work. This stunk of Louis’s PR team. They’d caught wind of what happened to me and used the opportunity to spin the story and make Louis a hero. They even managed to plug his latest movie multiple times. They were slimy snakes.
“I’m going to
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