Page 2 of A Simple Love

I sat down, waiting.

She studied me, inhaling another lungful of her e-cig. I’d warned her again and again they were as bad for her as cigarettes, but she refused to listen. And once Annie made up her mind, there was no changing it.

“What the fuck is going on with you, Oliver?”

I cleared my throat, but she carried on. She stood, rounding the desk and leaning on the old wooden edge, worn from years of being a prop.

“My golden boy, suddenly gone rogue.”

I scoffed. “Hardly.”

She held up her hand. “Two flops. Arthouse films I told you not to work on.”

“I wanted to do something different,” I argued. “And I believed in them. I had no idea what was going to happen.”

She shook her head. “You are a rom-com leading man. That is what you do, and you do it well.” She paused, the cigarette holder vibrating in irritation. “Or you used to.”

“It gets tiring.”

“It made you a star and a very rich man.”

“You didn’t do so badly yourself,” I retorted. She’d made millions on my paychecks.

She closed one eye, regarding me through yet another lungful of vapor. “Your latest stunt could be a career-ender.”

“Jesus, Annie. You know as well as I do that the tabloids make something out of nothing.”

She reached behind her, opening the latest rag and holding it up. I averted my eyes. I had seen it, and I knew what it looked like.

“Nothing happened. We went for dinner, and Vic had a few too many. She was being playful and jumped into the fountain. I went in after her to try to stop her. But she splashed me, and I splashed her back.”

One eyebrow rose.

“She pulled me in, and the next thing I knew, I slipped and fell. She came with me.”

Annie turned the paper toward herself and looked at it.

“And you end up with her straddling you, how exactly? With your tie gripped in her hand? You know this looks like you’re about to throw down right there.”

I sighed. “We were just having fun. It was nothing.”

“Just fun. Nothing,” she repeated. Then she shook the paper. “The wife of the producer who was going to use you on the film meant to restore your reputation! Have you any sense in that goddamn head of yours? You know what this looks like. My phone has been ringing off the hook since last night. Mike is furious.”

“Vic and I have been friends forever. There’s nothing going on. You know that.”

“Tell that to her very jealous husband. Who has decided to go in another direction with his leading man.”

I groaned. I had hoped to go see him and make him realize it was just a picture, capturing a split second before Vic dunked me and laughed, then pushed me off her and stood. She had eyes for no one but Mike—and the idiot knew that. Or I thought he did. I had zero interest in her other than friendship. She had been my first friend when I’d arrived on the scene a dozen years ago.

“I’ll talk to Mike.”

She shook her head. “Too late. Decision is made. Consider yourself lucky he vented to me and didn’t rearrange that pretty face of yours.”

“Fuck.”

She studied me, taking another puff on her vape. I could tell how upset she was from the number of hits she was taking. “You’ve been acting out. This. The fight with your last costar. The stunt with the motorcycle. The bungee jumping incident. You’re drinking more.”

I shifted in my seat. She was right on all counts.