Richard showed her a site with a large picture of her and Jude kissing. The article mentioned them being on tour together but little else. It ended with the promise of moredetails.
Lucky wondered if Jude was embarrassed to be seen kissing her. She wasn't the type he was normally seen with, so maybe that's what bothered him. As she thought of their day together, she decided she was wrong. He wouldn't have taken her out like that if he was ashamedofher.
She stopped herself. She was doing it again. Getting in her head and overthinking and analyzing everything. Reminding herself she never had a boyfriend before, she realized she didn't have one now. She mentally kicked herself as the helicopter lowered itself onto the roof of thehotel.
Jude draped his arm around her shoulders as they entered. Richard led them towards an elevator before looking at hiswatch.
"I'm canceling tomorrow's show. We don't know what the repercussions of this photo might be. We’re better off giving you some time to deal with it. When you're a big star, you won't have that luxury," Richard said and smiled. "I'll meet up with you later, I need to take care of a few thingsfirst."
Overwhelmed, Lucky nodded. She couldn't give another response. She wanted to get home to her parents and her bedroom, forget the craziness, and simply be normal again. None of this was turning out how she thought itwould.
As she and Jude rode the elevator down, the doors opened and a tall blonde stepped in. Lucky thought she looked familiar and wondered if she was a model or acelebrity.
She was beautiful, with full blonde hair that hung mid-way down her back. Dressed in tight stone-colored pants tucked into brown knee-high boots and a stone top with brown embroidery, the model looked completely put together and confident, something Lucky never felt unless she wasperforming.
"Well hello there. This must be myluckyday." The model smirked as if she was proud of herself for coming up with that. "I'm Donna Trevose. Kat'sagent."
"Nice to meet you," Lucky said even though she didn't mean it. She had a bad feeling about her but didn't want to be rude. It was Kat who said bad things about her, notDonna.
Donna turned to Jude and smiled. "Aren't you going to sayhello?"
"No, actually, I wasn't,"Judesaid.
"That's no way to treat your wife,youknow."
"Wait, what?" Lucky said, her mouth hanging open in shock. "Jude? What's going on? Isthattrue?"
She didn't wait for an answer. Her eyes began to sting as the weight of the day became too much. He already saw her cry once earlier, it wasn't going to happen again. Luckywasdone.
Pushing Jude away, she rushed out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened again. She didn't care what floor she was on, she had to get away. Her chest filled with a dull ache as she ran down the hall trying to get away from the elevator as quickly as possible. Once she turned the corner, she pulled out her room key to check what floor sheneeded.
As she caught her breath, the tears began to fall. She tried reading the number on the small wall plaque to find out what floor she was on, but it was useless. Her sight was tooblurry.
She couldn't get the thought of Jude's lips out of her head, but the memory was tainted now. He admitted he was the reason he had a bad reputation, and she wondered if their time together meant nothing to him. How could she be so wrongabouthim?
Her legs went weak as the ache in her chest deepened. Even though she had written about heartbreak before, thinking about Jude made her realize how awful itreallyfelt.
She felt stupid. How could she not know he was married? Hadn't she read that once? Was that why he didn't kiss her sooner? She slid down the wall as her legs buckled underneath her and exhaustion overtook her. Pulling out her cell phone, she tapped onJordan'sname.
"Jordan? I need you," Lucky said. "I'm so tired and…I don't know. Ican'tmove."
"Where are you? Are you okay? Just tell me whereyouare."
"I…I don't know," she said as she looked up and down the hall. "All these floors lookalike."
"Look around, Lucky. Is thereanything?"
Lucky sniffled and swallowed hard, trying to control her crying. "Wait, I smell chlorine. Is thereapool?"
"I know where you're at," Jordan said. "I'll be rightthere."
Jordan, dressed in yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt, kept Lucky on the phone as she took the elevator up to the pool. Lucky was still seated on the floor when she found her. Helping Lucky get back on her feet, Jordan wrapped her arm around her waist for support as they walked back to theelevator.
Lucky hugged Jordan before leaning against the chrome rail. It didn't matter how much they drifted apart, Jordan would always be her best friend. She didn't have to give Jordan details to know she understood what she was going through. Lucky could give Jordan a look or tell her a couple of words and she'd understand everything. That's how close they were and always would be. Lucky knew Jordan felt thesameway.
"What happened? Is this about the photo? Lucky?" Jordan waited for an answer but didn't get one. "Olivia, saysomething!"
Lucky met Jordan's gaze and sighed. "I'm an idiot," she said. "He'smarried."
