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CHAPTER TWELVE
Treyton
“Nice work with the cover photo.” Helen takes a seat next to me, as I’m waiting to go in for the next scene.
“Huh?” I look over, smiling at the magazine she turns in my direction. “I was wondering when you’d turn up.” I sit up straighter. “Normally I can’t get you off my ass, but the last couple of weeks you’ve been M.I.A.”
“I know. Sorry, I was in crisis mode. And for once, it had nothing to do with you.” She silently claps her hands.
“Smart ass,” I grumble.
Helen has been with me for years, which is the only reason I put up with her shit. Because I know she knows what she’s doing. She’s proven it time and time again. And I know when push comes to shove, she’s got my back. Which I can’t say about a lot of people.
“How are things? You look good.”
“Everything’s good. Really good, actually.” I smile.
“I gotta say, when we first set this whole thing up, I didn’t think you could pull it off. But look at you now. Dinner with the parents. That’s huge.” She draws my attention back to the magazine, a picture of me and Clarke kissing the center focus, with a smaller photo off to the side of me sitting with her and her parents at the restaurant.
“Helen, you should know by now to never doubt me.”
“So I’m learning.” She laughs, crossing her pant covered legs as she leans back further in the chair.
Helen puts me in the mind of my old high school principal. She’s tidy, well put together, and is as cut throat as they come. And while I don’t always agree with some of the shit she cooks up, I have to admit, her last scheme is paying off quite nicely for me.
“I told you she’d be the perfect girl to rebuild your image. Look at you, only weeks later and you’re already filming a new movie, with a couple other offers coming in, might I add.”
“You think it’s because of her?”
I know it is, but I ask on the off chance that she knows something I don’t.
“Are you kidding? Of course, it’s because of her. People are interested. They want to follow along with the fairytale story because it makes them believe it can happen to them. It never gets old. Hollywood hunk falls for an average Jane. It’s exciting. Besides the fact that it’s completely fake.” She laughs, the sound grating on me.
“Actually, Helen…”
“I mean, honestly, I couldn’t have planned it better. And from what I can tell, she believes it’s real.”
“She does…” Again I can’t get my sentence out before she’s talking over me.
“We’ll have to figure out how to end it in a way that won’t make you out like the bad guy. I’m sure we can dig something up that will put the blame on her. But you don’t need to worry yourself with those details. I’ll take care of everything. Think you can hang in there for a few more weeks? The longer it goes on, the better the sell.”
“Actually, Helen,” I try again, raising my voice just a bit. “I don’t want you to do anything else.”
“Huh?” She seems confused, her brow furrowing.
“I know this started out as one of your crazy ass schemes, but it’s not that for me anymore.”
She studies me for a long moment, like she’s trying to figure out if I’m fucking with her or not. And who can blame her? The way I treated this situation in the beginning was atrocious. I kicked and screamed like a fucking toddler, and for what? So I could go destroy someone else’s life in a crazy attempt to rebuild my image.
“You’re joking, right? You can’t possibly expect me to believe you’ve actually fallen for the girl.”
“I have. I’m in love with her, Helen.”
Most of the color drains from her face.
“Are you trying to pull a prank on me or something?”
“No, Helen.” I chuckle. “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my entire life.”
