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“Thanks, V.” I smile and she lets out a sigh that is laced with questions and opinions.
“But…”
“Oh, here we go.”
“I’m just wondering where this is going?”
“What do you mean?”
“You just got out of a very long-term relationship that the world doesn’t even know has ended yet, and now you’re jumping into…this? If it’s just sex that’s one thing, but I know you.” She leans forward and lowers her voice. “And the way you’re looking at him and the way you’re acting, this is not just sex for you and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Damian wouldn’t hurt me,” I respond.
“Okay, maybe not but realizing thatthiscan’t work long term and ending it, would still hurt you even if it wasn’t on his terms.” She picks up a chip from the plate and moves it through the fresh tableside guacamole.
“Who said it can’t work long term?”
“No one.” She shrugs. “But how long are you planning to fly under the radar with this? What’s going on with Paxton? I know you said you’re done pretending, but nothing has come out yet, and all it takes is one picture, one time and then you’re forced to go public and I just…are you thinking about going public with this? Does he even want to? Have you guys talked about all of this?”
“Not…really.”
“Okay, well, these are conversations you need to have. Maybe even with your PR team,” she says.
“We aren’t doing anything in public, V.” My thoughts float back to the gala when we were very alone in a public restroom with his hard body pressed against mine and my panties in his pocket. I look past Veronica again and see him staring straight at me. Even with his sunglasses, I can feel his eyes on me. On my chest. On my legs that are on display based on how I’m sitting.
“Yeah, now it’s easy because you’re not shooting and you’re more accessible to each other. When you’re having sixteen-hour days and you hear me and Derek going at it in the adjacent dressing room, your vagina might think differently.” She puts her hands under her chin and flutters her eyelashes. I don’t respond and she shrugs. “I’m not telling you what to do or what not to do.”
The telltale sound of my phone letting me know that newsabout mehas broken interrupts our conversation and I’m wondering if it’s the news of the crash on set. I’m surprised nothing leaked up until now but I assume that’s all it is when I see Damian stand and move closer to our table. I frown, wondering what’s wrong when I open my phone to see the alert staring at me. A picture of me and Paxton with a line between us like a picture being torn in half indicating a breakup. “Fuck,” I whisper, just as the sound of a bunch of cameras begin to click around me.
We are sitting outside and now all of a sudden, the area feels so much smaller as a group of paparazzi is standing just beyond the perimeter of the restaurant snapping photos of me and Veronica through the metal gate. Damian has his back to me, standing as much as he can in front of me to block the cameras but there’s only so much he can do while we’re out in the open.
“Sources close to the former couple say Paxton Copeland and Shay Eastwood have called it quits,” Veronica quickly reads. She reads it faster than I can even process and I almost choke when I get to the part about him cheating on me with multiple women. “Oh my god.” Veronica’s eyes find mine.
My mouth drops open thinking about how this leaked and then Damian is at my table, staring at me with a look that says it’s time to go.
My phone buzzes with a text and I’m almost afraid to look when I see his words.
Cooper: My office. Now.
“What the hell happened? This was not the plan.” The head of my PR team, Gabe Watson paces the length of Cooper’s office like a caged animal, his thumbs furiously tapping on his phone. “We talked about this, you knew what a messy breakup would do. Did you tell someone? Who knew about this?”
I frown because who the hell is he talking to?
“Okay enough!” I slam my hand down on Cooper’s desk. Cooper leans back in his chair, his index finger over his mouth which is his tell that he’s just as pissed off about all of this as I am. My lawyer, Mark Gibbs, who took over my account after my father passed away, is here as well despite the fact that he didn’t really need to be but he was my dad’s best friend and has taken a more personal investment in my career.
“Shay, we had a plan, and now we’re two weeks away from Emmy nominations and you start filmingLA Dreamsin a few days. This is not the press we wanted for you right now.” Gabe pulls his eyes from his screen and looks at me.
“AND? What does that have to do with anything? If I’m getting nominated, I’m getting nominated. Breaking up with my asshole boyfriend really shouldn’t make a difference. This was all a ruse to keep Paxton looking cute for Oscar nomination season when it shouldn’t have mattered.” I cross my arms over my chest. “He cheated onme.” I shake my head. “And you asking me who I told is ridiculous when he slept with god knows how many women.” Gabe’s eyes widen, because even though it was reported, I know he’s not well-versed on this part of the story. “That’s right. It wasn’t just who I caught him with. There weremanywomen.Any one of them could have told someone. I told Veronica and Jeremy, and Derek probably figured it out because Paxton showed up to the bar we were at last week and tried to corner me into talking to him andmyfriendspicked up on it. He wasn’t playing by the rules you put in place.” I scoff. “And honestly, I don’t owe you any explanations. This isn’tmyfault ormyproblem, and if you think I’m going along with some bullshit story that he apologized and I took him back, the answer is no.” I pick at my cuticles showcasing how bored I am with this conversation. Paxton has done nothing over the past few weeks but hurt me and piss me off and I’m done playing nice. I want to move on.
Preferably with the man sitting in the waiting room potentially a little jealous over the idea that even after this, Paxton and I still may not be over in everyone’s eyes.
“Listen, as far as I’m concerned, I think this breakup is good for her if Paxton is going to be whoring around Hollywood. And as far as Paxton is concerned, he’ll be okay. People forgave Brad Pitt.” Cooper shrugs as he takes a sip of his coffee that I’m sure is spiked with something in response to this chaos.
I snort. “Paxton isn’t as fine or as good of an actor as Brad Pitt.”
“Are you prepared to make a statement?” Gabe asks with a deep sigh.
I nod. “Been ready. How soon can I do it?”
